Fennel Goods

This summer I got to go visit Capital Fabric Supply in Kingston NY. I absolutely love fabric stores and this one was a dreamy experience! It is particularly nice because of their curated choices of natural fabrics chosen specifically for garment making. I bought several fabrics which I'm slowly starting to sew with.

This medium weight blue striped linen pictured above was an excellent choice for the pattern by DAUGHTER JUDY . I had already sewn the tank once before, so this time I did a few alterations to the pattern to change it up:

1) moved the darts from side seam at hem to bust level.
2) did a full bust adjustment, adding 1/4" to the dart intake at side seam.
3) changed the bottom hem from curved to straight.
4) adjusted the neckline from u-shaped to v-neck.

This pattern was designed by me, Hilary Heaviside. It is a basic box top. But when drafting the pattern I took special care to build in an excellent fit and smooth sewing experience. The shoulder seam slightly rolls forward so that it hugs your shoulders. The cap sleeve is a bit long to cover more arm. The hem height is 1" to weight the cropped bottom, which can easily be lengthened if desired.

In this class you will learn sewing techniques to create a very professional looking garment. You will also learn tips for sewing bias binding.

The foxy top has a loose fit and is designed to be sewn from woven fabric. Fiber Snob has medium & 5x sample sizes. Please feel free to visit the store & try on a sample before deciding on your size!

The pattern is available in sizes xxS-5x and can be purchased at Fiber Snob as an AO file.

Hope to see you in the class!

This is the sewing pattern by DAUGHTER JUDY
The fabric was purchased Capital Fabric Supply in Kingston NY while visiting my sister.
It was a super fun make, because my muse was none other than Lucia Alcalá Magee , my og muse & creative inspiration :)

Fabric:
1) the fabric was beautiful to sew with! A hand woven linen with a looser open weave and lots of character.

Make:
2) when sewing the darts, because they are long French darts on the bias, I suggest giving the seam a little stretch so that the dart seam is not too tight once sewn.
3) for the hem, which has a very drastic 'S' curve, I didn't baste as the directions suggested. But instead ironed the first 1/4" turn, then ironed the second 1/4" turn using constant steam for both. This helped get a nice even hem role even on the tight side curves.
4) for the neck & armhole bias, I settled on a 1/2" finished width, which worked well since my fabric was a little bulky.
5) when attaching bial to the neck & armhole, I did not stay stitch the openings first per the directions. My home sewing machine did not agree with this combo and was shredding the edge of my fabric. Instead I slightly stretched the bias binding while sewing it to the openings. This worked well to prevent the low neck and armholes from stretching out too much.

Future alterations:
6) I will definitely be making the again! But next time I'll increase the dart intake to fit a larger bust size.
7) also I'll change the dart location at side seam to be a few inches higher so that the dart seam is more of a 45 degree angle. This may help create less twisting on the dart seam fabric.
8) then too I plan to pair the tank with a pair of matching shorts. So I'll convert the bottom edge to be straight across with a 1" hem. I hope this will work nicely as a short-set :)

The sewing was a bit fussy, so I would rank this pattern higher than an advanced beginner. But overall, with a lot of patience, this was a great pattern to sew! It's an elevated tank with nice elegance :)

Pants: Sew Liberated - sewing, thrifting + styling with fabric from Merchant & Mills

Meet 2 new adult styles I'll be using to teach garment sewing classes.

These 2 patterns, the Wilde Jacket & the Foxy Top are done with fitting...

I hand drafted these patterns in a size small ( 2/4). Then I sewed and fit tested 4 different samples per style. After getting the desired fit details and sewing construction, I graded both patterns to a size medium to confirm the grade and fit again.

Now it's time to carefully digitize the patterns on the computer so I can grade out to a whole size range and create PDF printable patterns :)

I sewed something pretty today - needed some joy.

This is a 1st sample of sewn from upcycled fabric. The scrap of silk I placed behind the label is dyed using oxalus or sour grass.

I used all clean finishes except for the bottom hymn which is left raw with a raw with 1/4" top stitching.

I need to sew a simpler second sample for an upcoming class . Thinking of using a lightweight linen as suggested in the pattern instructions ;)