Blog - Patterns for Pirates

2021 Holiday Freebies :: Fingerless Gloves

November 29, 2021

Happy Holidays, Pirate Friends! We are excitedly back for another year and another round of holiday freebies to share with you! Over the years, we’ve compiled different tutorials and patterns that we think would make *perfect* gifts for your friends and family. Curious about what we’ve already released in the way of holiday freebies? Head right here to see all of them: Holiday Freebies Roundup.

Today, we are bringing you the: Fingerless Gloves!

The Fingerless Gloves are a perfect accessory for cold and cooler weather months! They can be useful for outdoor adventures, or perfect for a little extra hand warmth while still allowing for some mobility indoors.

How to measure hand circumference: Using a flexible tape, measure around the palm of your dominant hand, just below the knuckles, excluding the thumb.

**Most knits will work for this pattern. You just really want something with good recovery, so it doesn’t stretch out while in use. No one wants a saggy glove!

Supplies Needed:

Fingerless Gloves pattern pieces
Less than 1/3 yard knit fabric

TUTORIAL

Step 1: Press angled edge of glove top 1/2″ toward wrong side. Top stitch.

You’re finished! Go wear your new Fingerless and then make 10 more. You know you want to!

**hint, hint. They’d make AMAZING gifts for teachers.

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In case you consider yourself a more “visual learner” here’s a video tutorial that walks you through the entire tutorial, start-to-finish.

Check out what our fabulous testers were able to create with this very same tutorial!

I la-la-love when you share your photos with me! Head over to the Patterns for Pirates Facebook Group and show us what you’ve made!

Happy Holidays, Pirates!

Sublimination Fun

November 17, 2021

What’s more fun than being able to create the exact garment you or a loved one is aching for? I’ve included a “Sublimination Bundle” as a prize in our Fall Sale and Giveaway this year, so I can gift the joy of making something even more custom to a lucky sewist. Since it’s not directly sewing related, I thought I would explain a bit more about it!

I recently got a teeny tiny bit into sublimination and I can’t help but share how fun it is with my fellow sewist! The quick run down is sublimination is the process of using special sublimination ink and sublimination paper to dye polyester. So, it is limiting to what fabrics you can use… the higher the polyester content, the better print you will get. Don’t mind a more “vintage, worn look”? Then you can get away with as low as 50% polyester. Other than that, if you want a crispt image… poly, poly, poly.

Here is a 50% poly after a wash. So you can see the difference.

If you’re a double brushed poly fan… good news 😉 Works great! So do performance fabrics, ITY, sweatshirt, sweater, waffle, french terry, that are polyester with a little bit of spandex. The lighter the fabric, the better the image will look as well. Since we’re printing with an ink jet printer, we have black, blue, yellow, and pink inks to mix. No white. So, sine we can’t print white… we can’t dye white onto the poly. Got a dark fabric and want a snowman? Sublimination ain’t going to work lol… You can get away with lighter, pastel colors as long as you’re not wanting anything white on the image. Here I’m using a white poly sweater knit knit, which is perfectly soft and cozy and will give me a nice, crisp image.

Lets go over what you need to do this process first. *These are affiliate links.

First and foremost, you’ll need a printer with sublimination ink… YouTube has told me that these Epson Ecotank printers are the easiest for someone just wanting to craft at home.

Don’t you put that ink that comes with it in the printer though! Don’t do it! Instead, you’ll need to fill it with sublimination ink… luckily I’ve found ink that matches the ink refills perfectly, meaning they’re super easy to use!

You’ll need sublimination paper as well. There are a lot of brands, and I haven’t used hardly any yet… so I’m no expert on which is the best! I’ve used this one and it worked great for me so far.

Next big item you’ll want is a heat press. Some can be pretty big, bulky and hard to store. But, I found this smaller one that will still cover a 12×10″ area and I think it would be perfect for a home crafter! Want a bigger one? Here is the one I have.

I like to use this heat tape to hold my image in place when I press as well, so I included it in the Sublimination Bundle Prize in the Fall 2021 Giveaway! Along with some teflon sheets to keep from scortching fabrics and giving a nice even heat. You’ll also want some plain paper. You can use the plain paper to put inside a shirt if it’s already sewn up so the ink doesn’t go through to the back piece and on top so it doesn’t go through to your teflon sheet or heat press.

Okay, now we have our supplies we can jump into how to do it!

First up you’ll want an image… anything you’d like on the garment. I usually create mine in my Sihlouette Studio, because it’s an easy to use software (that’s free for everyone). You can also use photoshop or Illustrator if you’re an Adobe fan. Anything you can print from.

You’ll want to set up your printing settings to mirror the image (or mirror it before you print). And to have a high quality print, with true colors… here is a screenshot of my printer settings. Some of these settings you’ll need to click through the advanced section.

Print out your image. Don’t worry if the colors look a little dull, they will brighten up when you press it… unless you’re not using an all poly content 😉 Tear around your image. You heard me… tear it instead of cutting it. The tearing helps blend that “edge” instead of a crisp line.

Place your image where you’d like on the fabric, already cut pattern piece, or finished garment. (Note… if you’re using a finished garment you’ll want to place a sheet a paper between so the ink doesn’t bleed through to the back… I’ve actually never had it bleed though to the paper yet… but you never want to cry over that and you can re-use that piece of paper over and over!) Use the heat tape to keep your printed image in place.

Set your settings as the paper instructs. Although, this paper suggests 356-374 degrees F at 25-30 seconds… and after searching the internet, asking other crafty friends, and experimenting… I suggest 400degrees at 60 seconds. It’s what has worked best for me. Now for the magic…press that sucker!

https://youtu.be/ygQAiSzwcyE

Peel off tape and image and look at your beautiful, custom design. How fun is that? My Baby Boy has REALLY enjoyed being able to ask mom to make him some special shirts of characters we can’t normally find in his size! And now Baby Girl can have all the rainbow unicorns on her things that are 2 sizes down in width than height that fit her best too.

Once you have all your things set up, this is such a quick process for adding something fun, custom and unique to a garment! Now when my kids let me know about that spirit day they’d like a custom, mom-made shirt for the NIGHT BEFORE… I can do that and not stay up half the night 😉

Fall Sale and Giveaway 2021

November 14, 2021

Fall time brings cooler weather and the thoughts of thankfulness! I’m forever grateful to anyone who likes, follows, commnets, purchases from my shop over the years. It has allowed me to follow a dream of mine! To say thank you we’re having a site side sale (we only ever have 2-3 a year… this will be our last one in 2021!) and a fun, simple giveaway for a few lucky winners! Of course everyone will be a winner who sews up something they love for their wardrobe or a loved ones wardrobe too!

The site wide sale- code is Fall2021, but don’t worry about memorizing or jotting it down… the code will pop up automatically for you at the cart, just click to apply!

The giveaway also begins today and is very simple to join in! Just put #PatternsforPiratesSew with any Patterns for Pirates garment you sew up during the time frame. You cannot enter old sews, but anything you start after today and finish before 11/27/21 ends you can enter!

We have 3 Grand Prizes for the giveaway. Winners will be picked at random- so all skill levels are encouraged to join in the fun! You can even let me know which prize you’re wishing for in your entries… so if your entry is randomly picked, I just might be able to give you the prize that would fit best in your sewing space!

(Note- I’m using affiliate links here if you happen to purchase any from these links.)

Perfect Fit Bundle includes a customizable dress form (these come in medium and plus size ranges) and one of my all time favorite fitting book! Great for any sewist wanting to step up their fitting expertise.

The Sublimination Bundle is the one for the sewist who seems to have all the sewing things already. With this printer, ink, paper, and heat press you can now customize your polyester makes with ease. Print whatever image you’d like using this ink and paper, press it onto the polyester with the heat press… and you’ve got the perfect, custom item. Don’t worry, we will write up a quick blog about this soon if you’ve never heard of it before! It’s a lot of fun… my kids especially love it!

Last prize is the Brother 1034D Serger. This is the serger I’ve always highly recommended to any beginners wanting a more affordable way to add a serger to their machines. It is such a popular model that it’s so easy finding helpful blogs, videos, tutorials on anything you might need help with learning to use it.

We will also be picking random winners through the giveaway to surprise with some freebies like fabric and sewist swag from past month Fabric for Pirates and free Patterns for Pirates patterns!

A few more details:

The item sewn up and shared must be a P4P pattern that creates a piece of clothing (shirt, pants jacket, etc. This means no accessories like hats, scarfs,etc.) You can use a free pattern as long as it is clothing like the Tulip Tee or Peg Legs.
- You need to sew it up as is, with only fit changes (so no hacks or modifications). Adding embellishments is great, just no major changes, pattern mashes, etc. Fit changes may include maternity/nursing changes. Overall we should easily recognize the pattern.
Share your pictures on one or all of the social media networks for more chances to win with hashtag #PatternsforPiratesSew — it must be EXACT to come up in our search for the winner!
Let us know what P4P pattern you sewed up and what you’re most looking forward to winning or tell us a bit about how you fell in love with sewing, what you love most about sewing, etc!
You can share as many sews as you can for more chances to win–but ALL items/images shared must be sewn AFTER the giveaway starts 11/15/2021! Any older sews will be disqualified from winning either prizes. Last entries accepted will be 11/27/2021 at 11:59PM US Central Time.
Winner will be random lottery winner! So everyone has a chance from a beginner who might be sewing their first P4P to a seasoned apparel sewist!

Since you might need to grab a new pattern to get motivated we have a SITE WIDE SALE through the end of the giveaway!

This will be the last site wide sale this year so grab them up while you can!!
Sale ends at the same time as giveaway entries: 11/27/2021 11:59PM at Midnight US Central Time.
There is a coupon code: Fall2021 but it will automatically pop up at checkout and you just need to click to apply the discount!

I can’t wait to see everyone’s entries! Go plan, cut, and sew up to enter!!!

Protected: Fabric for Pirates :: November 2021 Reveal

November 8, 2021

New Patterns Release :: The Lumberjack Patterns!

November 5, 2021

I don’t know about where you live, but here fall came in with a sneaky punch to the face here… and I am so glad to have my cozy Lumberjacks to snuggle up with this unusually chilly weather! Now you can have them to grab when the chilly weather sneaks up on you!

There is nothing I love more in the colder months then getting out my flannel shirts! I love to throw them on over a t-shirt in the cool mornings, tie them around my waist in the warmer afternoons. It’s something I have always had in my closet every year! So when you’re ready to cuddle up grab your cozy brushed flannel, sherpa, minky, and the Lumberjack pattern and make magic!

You can pick from a traditional collar, collar stand and woven cuffs or go with a more relaxed look with the hood and knit cuffs. Keep it a lighter layer with the unlined option. This is a very oversized look perfect for layering on top even bulky sweaters. Or you can line it with something warm and cozy for a jacket. No matter what you can add all the pockets! Chest pockets and in seam pockets for all the things you need to carry and to make sure you have somewhere to cozy your hands in too. The Lumberjack is drafted for woven/non-stretch fabrics like flannel, lightweight denim, lightweight wool and the like. You can line it with more flannel, cotton spandex, french terry, micro fleece, sherpa… depending on how warm you’d like it. For the knit cuffs you can grab a cotton spandex, ribbed knit, french terry, fleece. The hood can be made from a woven/non-stretch like the main shirt or a knit. The options for the Lumberjack include:

Collar and Collar Stand
Hood
Inseam pockets for both unlined and lined options
Chest Pockets
Woven Cuffs or Knit Cuffs

The youth sizes range from 3m – 14 and the adult sizes are for the full, newer size chart, extending from XXS – Plus 5X for the Hourglass Figure and XXS-6XL for the V Figure. *Want to learn more about how to measure yourself for these pattern? We’ve got you covered with an in-depth blog HERE. And in case you’re new to Patterns for Pirates and PDF patterns in general, we have a great blog full of new-user tips HERE to help you get started! As with all of our current releases and updates, the pdfs now include our layers feature and can be found in Letter, A4, A0 and projector sizes. And for even more helpful fun, we have a free* printable that you can use to help record your measurements as you take them.

Let’s take a look at the different ways we can sew up these patterns!

LUMBERJACK OPTIONS

NECKLINES :: COLLAR AND COLLAR STAND & HOOD

CUFF OPTIONS ::KNIT CUFFS & TRADITIONAL WOVEN CUFFS

CHEST POCKETS

INSEAM POCKETS

UNLINED & FULLY LINED

If you had purchased the original Lumberjack-youth on the P4P site, (which was one of my earliest patterns <3) you will have a new download link in your account here with a Coupon Code. Your code can be used toward the new updated version!

What are you waiting for? Head on over and grab yourself a copy of the Lumberjack patterns! They are available on sale (no code needed) through 11:59pm CST, Friday November 12, 2021. The bundle will get an automatic discount of 10% when added to the cart as well with our auto bundle discounts we always have on the site!

LUMBERJACK – YOUTH

LUMBERJACK- HOURGLASS

LUMBERJACK- V FIGURE

LUMBERJACK BUNDLE

Maybe hoping for a little more inspiration before you make the purchase? You can see how Alex shows how to make a fully reversible Lumberjack HERE!

Head over to our Facebook group where you can see tester albums full of amazing images!

Lumberjack – Youth Album

Lumberjack- Hourglass Album | Lumberjack- V Figure Album

Lumberjack Hack- No Exposed Seams Lined with Knit Cuffs

November 4, 2021

Hi- We have a beautiful inside finish to the Lumberjack and just to show you one more way to make the inside just as beautiful as the outside I’m going to show you how to hide the knit cuff seams if you’re lining your Lumberjack. It is simple, but you need to put together your Lumberjack in a bit different order than the tutorial- which is why we have it here on the blog (to keep the tutorial nice and streamline).

You will follow the tutorial for the lined Lumberjack until you get to the Side Seams. Don’t sew those side seams yet!! 😉

Instead, grab your knit cuff pieces. Sew your knit cuff onto your lining fabric wrist. Right sides together, stretching the cuff to fit the wrist. Or gathering your wrist to fit the knit cuff if your cuff doesn’t have enough stretch. Repeat with opposite wrist and knit cuff. Now open up your Lumberjack right sides up all flat, making sure nothing is twisted.

Lay your main piece right sides down on top your lining, matching areas (back to back, fronts to fronts, sleeves on top sleeves). Now align and sew your knit cuffs to the main (they are right sides together), again stretching the knit cuff to fit to the wrist. Make sure you don’t get anything twisted up here.

Now align your side seams down the main and lining of your Lumberjack with right sides together. You’ll stitch from bottom hem of main fabric, up through main armpit, up main sleeve, through knit cuff, down the lining sleeve, down the side of the lining to the bottom of the lining side seam hem. And repeat on the opposite side seam. (This was very difficult to take a picture of LOL).

Here’s the magic part. Put your arm through the main sleeve and grab the knit cuff. Pull knit cuff through main fabric sleeve until the wrist seams of both main and lining are aligned with knit cuff folded in half. TA-DA… doesn’t that always feel so cool?

You can carefully pin seams and top-stitch the seams to keep the lining from shifting around. I recommend taking the time to do this, otherwise you might go crazy trying to keep the knit cuff folded perfectly in half when you take on/off the Lumberjack.

Continue on through the rest of the tutorial as normal. I hope you like this little trick to give you no exposed seams there at the wrists!

Go Team SAL – day 7

November 2, 2021

Good evening, friends! Thank you everyone who joined us last week for the Go Team sew along. I had so much fun making the two jerseys for my kids. I know you are here to find out the winners so without further ado, here they are!

Congratulations, Mel Goulet! She is our first winner. Mel won a $20 gift card from Patterns for Pirates and a $30 gift card from Purple Dragon Fabrics.

Congratulations go to Naomi McGrath as well! Naomi won a gift card from Made for Mermaids valued at $20 and a $30 gift certificate from Purple Dragon Fabrics.

A huge THANK YOU to our sew along sponsor. Make sure you check out Purple Dragon Fabrics on Facebook to keep up to date with their sales and preorders.

November’s sew along will be hosted by the mermaids so keep an eye on the Facebook group! See you back here in 2022!

Go Team SAL – day 1 | cut fabric

Go Team SAL – day 2 | shoulder seams & neckline

Go Team SAL – day 3 | yokes

Go Team SAL – day 4 | sleeves

Go Team SAL – day 5 | side seams & hem bottom

Go Team SAL – day 6 | hem sleeves or add cuffs

Go Team SAL – day 7 | winners announcement

Lumberjack – Reversible Hack

November 1, 2021

It’s here! It’s here! And I don’t mean only the cooler weather! The updated Lumberjack Shacket is here and now it it’s available in V figure (based on men measurements) and Hourglass figure (women’s measurement). Everyone gets a Lumberjack shirt or shacket!

The pattern includes a lined and an unlined option so today on the b log I wanted to show you how to take the lined option and make it fully reversible! Yup, one shirt that can be worn both ways.

Let’s get started! Print and cut the pattern and fabric as instructed in the tutorial. Make sure you use the lined option. For this tutorial I used a nylon, poly blend woven (the solid black) and a custom minky (the green one) for the lining.

NOTE: the hood I used for this hack is 1″ smaller on the front that the final pattern. If you want to achieve this exact look, remove 1″ from the hood pieces as show below. If you use the pattern hood as is, make sure to read below what small adjustments you need to make.

Once all pattern pieces are cut sew the main bodice and add sleeves and pockets as instructed in the tutorial. Repeat with the lining. Set the bodices aside for now. Sew the hood as per the lined tutorial. Place the hood (lining out) right sides together on the lining neckline. The hood will be about 1/2″ shorter than the lining neckline.

Sew the hood in place with a 1/2″ seam allowance, making sure to stitch through all 3 layers.

If you use the pattern hood, you will place the lined hood right sides together with the MAIN, not lining. The center back will match the neckline back and the front point will reach the fold line of the inner fold line. Sew it in place. Lay the lining over, right sides together and stitch along the neckline. The hood will be sandwiched between the right sides of the bodices.

Tip: Tie the two sleeves in a knot for both main and lining so they are out of the way when you sew.

Place your main and lining right sides together matching the raw edges of the neckline and bottom. Pin them in place.

The main will be longer, that’s the way it is supposed to be.

Sew along the neckline, the hood will be sandwiched in between the main and lining. Sew the bottom edge too. Seam allowance for these steps is 1/2 inch.

Turn the jacket right side out. We will now top stitch the neckline and bottom hem.

When top stitching, fold the excess fabric down (or up) 1/2″ on the placket part. See picture below for how it will look both at the neckline and bottom hem.

Following the first fold marking, press the front placket once on both sides. Pin in place. I like to add a strip of water soluble double sided tape to the raw edge of the lining. It will help tremendously when sewing.

Note: if you used the bigger hood, it will go all the way to the fold on both sides.

Fold the placket one more time along the second fold line. This will no overlap over the raw edge of the lining, right where the double sided tape is. Press it down with your fingers. If you don’t have any DST handy for this step, you can always pin it in place. Sew the placket down.

I also like to top stitch all around the placket, on all 4 sides. Once you finish these steps (and your jacket looks like the pic below) set it aside.

CUFFS

Let’s work on the cuffs. Press both cuffs, length wise. Open them up and press the top of each cuff 1/2″. Thus will create a memory hem. With the cuffs opened up, sew each at the short end to create a loop.

Refold the top memory hem over the loop.

Place the unfolded raw edge of the cuff on the lining sleeve opening. You will stretch the cuff to fit the opening. Match the sleeve seam with the cuff seam. Sew in place with a 1/2″ seam allowance. Repeat this step with the other cuff and lining sleeve.

Time to make it look like a shirt! Push the lining sleeve through the main sleeve so they are wrong sides together.

Fold the cuff along the middle crease that we pressed earlier. The edge is still folded 1/2′. Once you bring the cuff over, the sleeve raw edge will be inclosed in the cuff. Pin the edge of the cuff on the sleeve all around.

Stitch the cuff down. Look how beautiful is the cuff with no raw edges on the lining! Take a second to admire your work!

BUTTONS

Sew the button holes on one of the plackets. Let’s add the buttons now! To make this Lumberjack fully reversible I added buttons on both sides of the placket. I hate to say it but the easiest way to do this is to hand 🖐 stitch 🖐 the buttons on both sides simultaneously. Make sure that you don’t pull the thread extremely tight. You need wiggle room for the buttons to be able to be fastened.

All done! This is how to take the newest Lumberjack pattern and turn it into a fully reversible shacket.

I am very excited to see if you take on this project! Don’t forget to share it in our Facebook group and on Insta!

Go Team SAL – day 6

October 30, 2021

Welcome to the last day of the Go Team sew along. All we have left to do today is add the cuffs or hem the sleeves. I did both options in today’s video. The short and 3/4 length sleeve have only a hemmed option.

When creating the cuffs it’s highly important to press the wrong sides together lengthwise. Stitch each cuff, right sides together to create a loop. Take a look over our P4P University Knit Cuffs blog to get some tips and tricks for beautiful cuffs.
If you are doing the hem option, you can use your sewing machine’s twin needles option or your coverstitch as I have. Before you start, take a look over our Hemming blog because we have a few tips for easy and successful hemming.

All done! Give your shirt or dress a good steam press and pair it with your favorite P4P bottoms for an extra cute look!

Needless to say, my little one loved both of his Mousefetti Go Team jerseys. 💜

Last Go Team sew along video is posted below. Once you complete your dress and/or jersey snap a photo of your finished project and add it to the day 6 photo comments in this SAL album. That is where the P4P team will select the winners. I do encourage you to share your pretty makes in the main P4P Facebook group so everyone can admire them. See you back here on Tuesday for the winners blog!

Go Team SAL – day 1 | cut fabric

Go Team SAL – day 2 | shoulder seams & neckline

Go Team SAL – day 3 | yokes

Go Team SAL – day 4 | sleeves

Go Team SAL – day 5 | side seams & hem bottom

Go Team SAL – day 6 | hem sleeves or add cuffs

Go Team SAL – day 7 | winners announcement

Go Team SAL – day 5

October 29, 2021

We are almost there! We made it to the 5th day and it’s an easy one. Today we sew the side seams and hem the bottom.

STOP! Before you pin the side seams, press your memory hem on the bottom of the shirt, both front and back. Trust me, you will thank me for not letting you skip this step.

Now that you have that covered, pin the sides, right sides together and stitch with a 1/2″ seam allowance. If you opted for the sewing machine, make sure you use a stretch stitch.

If you chose the dress, you will be hemming the curved edge. We have a P4P University blog with tips for hemming knits. You can read about it here. The most important thing about hemming knits with your coverstitch or sewing machine is to PRESS, press and press some more. If you are finishing the bottom hem using twin needles, a good refresher blog is the P4P University Twin Needles Tips.

Day 5 video is below. Once you sew the side seams and hem the bottom, post a picture of your progress in the comments of day 5 photo of the Go Team sew along album. You can find the album in the M4M & P4P Sew Along group on Facebook.