Patterns for Pirates

P4P stylish, modern, wearable patterns

Sunnyside Sweater :: Easy Hacks

The Sunnyside Sweater (in both Adult – Hourglass and Youth sizes!) just landed in our shop! 

With many of our pattern releases, we like to provide extra ways to style and sew them up. And that’s exactly what we are doing here! We’ve got three more ways for you to make the Sunnyside Sweater patterns. Keep reading for some quick and easy hacks!

The Sunnyside Sweater is a dolman-style sweater with a generous, oversized fit. It features two hem lengths, crop and high hip, both of which are finished with a waistband to draw the garment back to the body. Alternately, the crop length has an option to finish the waistline with a double drawstring, allowing the wearer to tie the drawstrings at both sides of the waist, providing a unique and adjustable look. Opt for a traditional neckband for a classic look or choose a hood for a more casual and cozy feel. One of the standout features is the ability to create a colorblocked bodice, giving you the opportunity to mix and match different fabric prints and colors, adding a playful and personalized touch to your sweater.

Before we get started, make sure you grab a copy of the Sunnyside Sweater patterns in our shop:

Grommet Sleeve Hack

Let’s start with a super easy sleeve hack! A great way to add some visual interest to the Sunnyside Sweater sleeves is to add grommets and tread ribbon through them. The great thing about this easy hack is that it does not require any modifications to the pattern pieces or even the tutorial, just a couple of extra steps.

You can create this hack before you sew any of the tutorial steps. You will need:

  • the two sleeves
  • fusible interfacing (I like tricot interfacing for this, but a slightly thicker one would work too)
  • 12 grommets ( I prefer 12 mm ones)
  • a marking pen
  • quilting ruler
  • your preferred hole punching and grommets tool
  • ribbon (I didn’t have any on hand but I think a 1/2″ satin ribbon would look the best)

Let’s do this! Start by marking the center of the sleeve. I like to fold it in half and press it with my iron so it creates a crease.

Open the sleeve and mark the grommets placement on the wrong side. I like to space them 3″ from the top and from each other. I also prefer 3 sets but if you want to add more grommets and/or space them closer to each other you  can certainly do that.

Cut (12) 1″x1″ pieces of fusible interfacing – you will need 6 for each sleeve. Place them on the marked location and fuse them in place. I used a Frixon pen for my markings so they disappeared when I fused the interfacing. No big deal! Using the ruler, I added them again.

Time to punch the holes for your grommets. My preferred method for this step is using a KAM press with a 12 mm hole punch die. I am also a bag maker so I had this tool already. Admittedly it is a splurge so no stressing if you do not have one. You can simple draw the grommet holes and cut by hand.

Add the grommets! You can use a grommets table press or a hand held one for this step.

Lastly, admire that sleeve and thread your favorite ribbon through the holes.

You can now sew your Sunnyside Sweater as instructed in the tutorial.

Boom! You did it! I did the high hip, scoop neckline option for this cotton spandex Sunnyside Sweater. I also likes the look of a 1:1 band with a side split so that’s what I used for my waistband. Luckily we have a hack for it too! 💥

 

Hemmed Hack

Honestly, this one couldn’t be easier! For a trendy oversized look, you can leave off the waistband and simply hem your Sunnyside instead.  Here’s how I made mine.

First you’ll want to decide on the finished length you want for your sweater.  You can either measure the length of a sweater you already have or run a tape measure down from your shoulder and over your bust, then use the tape to decide on the finished length you want.  I had already made a regular Sunnyside and wanted a long crop length for my finished hem, so I cut on the bottom cutline (for the banded high hip length).

Turn the hem up by ¾” and press.  I like to use a slightly deeper hem than the usual 1/2″ because I think it hangs a bit better.

I like to use a ¼” wash away quilting tape for hemming tricky fabrics like sweater knits. It sticks your hem in place so you don’t need to use clips or pins, and stops the fabrics from stretching or shifting as you sew.  Then it disintegrates the first time you wash it!

Then just hem using your favourite stretch stitch – I used my Coverstitch here – and you’re done!

Enjoy your new sweater.

 

Happy Sewing,

Dana xx

Split Hem Hack

I love the look of a split hem – and it couldn’t be easier to achieve with the new Sunnyside Sweater. Using the hem band pattern piece as a guide, cut 2 bands that are the width of your bodice front and back.

Complete the construction of your sweatshirt to the step where the bottom band is sewn.

Fold the short ends of your bands, right sides together, and sew using the same seam allowance.

Turn right side out and press.

Clip one band to the raw edge of your bodice, front and back, making sure to butt the edges at the side seam and baste in place.

Sew the bands in place, press the seam towards the bodice, and topstitch in place (if you desire!).

I added a little tack for reinforcement, but this is not necessary! Just my personal preference.

Can’t wait to see how many Sunnyside Sweaters you sew up.

xxoo,

Rachel

We are looking forward to seeing the Sunnyside Sweaters you make for yourself, your family + your clients!

Both patterns are available now and on sale (no code needed) through 11:59pm CST, March 3, 2024.

Grab your copy of the Sunnyside patterns here: Sunnyside Sweater | Sunnyside Sweater – Youth | Sunnyside Sweater – Bundle

As always, we’ve got more photos for you to use as inspiration! Head over to the Facebook group to browse our albums full of gorgeous photos, compliments of our tester team!

Sunnyside Sweater Adult Album | Sunnyside Sweater Youth Album

New Pattern Release :: Janet Jeans

Have you ever dreamed of making yourself the perfect pair of jeans? If so, we’ve got two words for you: Janet. Jeans.

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 Adult Hourglass 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 for even more helpful fun, we have a free* printable that you can use to help record your measurements as you take them.
  • 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.
  • We’ve also got an excellent planning tool for you with our Coloring Pages. It’s a resource that is updated with every new pattern addition, this pattern included!

The Janet Jeans are both on trend and a classic vintage vibe all in one. A nod to Janet from Three’s Company and general 70’s aesthetic, the Janet Jeans have a snug fit from natural waist through booty then start flaring out down to the ankle giving an overall A-line silhouette. Waistband is meant to hit at natural waist, just covering up belly button. You can choose from a cuffed shorts length, capri, cropped or pant length. The back darts help make fitting from full hip to waist a little easier. The slight stretch in fabric not only makes them more comfortable, but also gives a bit more room for fitting and fluctuating sizes as well…so you can wear your memade jeans throughout the month as your body might go up and down the measuring tape a bit. The waistband is a contoured fit to make sure you don’t have gapping at the back waist, but not so snug that you’re being squeezed.

The Janet Jeans can be sewn up in most stretch wovens. You will only be limited by what you like the feel of and if it is thick enough to be comfortable with it covering your booty. With all the pocket choices you won’t have to leave behind any keys, phone, wallet, snacks, or other treasures you’d like to take with you.

Pattern options for the Janet Jeans include:

  • Lengths: Shorts / Capri Length / Cropped Length / Pant Length
  • Belt Loops
  • Optional Pockets: Front Slat Pockets -Optional Coin Pocket / Back Pockets / Front Small Patch Pockets / Front Patch Pockets
  • All Options include a Zip Fly, Back Darts, Contoured Waistband

The Janet Jeans pattern is drafted for stretch woven fabrics with at least 10% stretch.

Specific Fabric Suggestions: Stretch Denim, Stretch Twill, Stretch Linen, Stretch Corduroy, Stretch Suiting, etc

We’ve loaded in ::several:: videos, walking you through various steps of the Janet Jeans patterns! In case you needed a little hand holding with some of the construction, we’ve already got you covered! The links are all available in the pattern tutorials, or you can find them on our YouTube channel.

Let’s take a quick peek at all of the pattern options:

LENGTHS: SHORTS / CAPRI / CROPPED (Adult) / PANT

POCKETS: FRONT SLAT / FRONT SMALL PATCH / FRONT PATCH POCKETS / BACK POCKETS

So grab your stretch corduroy, stretch denim, stretch twill, stretch suiting and show off your new Janet Jeans!

 

So We are so excited to see what you sew up for yourself using the Janet Jeans patterns! It is available on sale (no code needed) through 11:59pm CST, February 18, 2024.

Find your copy of the Janet Jeans here: Janet Jeans | Janet Jeans – Youth | Janet Jeans Bundle

As always, we’ve got more photos for you to use as inspiration! Head over to the Facebook group to browse our albums full of gorgeous photos, compliments of our tester team!

Janet Jeans Adult Album | Janet Jeans Youth Album

But wait, there’s more! We have an Easy Hacks blog post for the Janet Jeans pattern — helping you take that pattern a little further!

Janet Jeans Easy Hacks

You didn’t think we we would release a jeans pattern without including an option for the trendy button fly, did you? Such a fun way to add some details and vintage flare to your new Janet Jeans.

You’ll need our brand new pattern to complete these fun sewing hacks: Janet Jeans / Janet Jeans – Youth / Janet Jeans Bundle

Button Fly

Start by creating the left and right front pieces, just skipping any mention of the zipper.  The waistband is needed so you can add the button markings and space them evenly.  Fold the bottom and top raw edges of the waistband and pin it in place. You DO NOT need to sew the waistband on, just pin it. Using your favorite button hole spacing tool (I like the Expanding Sewing Gauge Button Guide *aff link) or a ruler, mark the button hole location.

Make sure you center the waistband button as shown below. I like adding 5 buttons to the Janet Jeans, which is the average for a button fly.  You might need only 4 if you’re removing quite a bit of length from the rise though.

Tip: do not space the buttons too close to each other as they will make buttoning more difficult. You also don’t want them too far or they might gap open. 

Add button holes to the front left side. I recommend using a matching thread. I know buttonholes can be intimidating, but I promise you, YOU GOT THIS! If you need any tips, tricks or hand holding, check out the Buttons and Buttonholes 101 P4P University blog we have for you.

Sew the front of the Janet Jeans as instructed in the tutorial.

Continue sewing up the jeans as the tutorial instructs. Using a small zig zag stitch, tack the front fly openings together to the left of the bottom buttonhole.

Overlap the fly and pin the waistband closed. Using a disappearing pen* or tailor chalk *, mark your button placements. I like to use the buttonholes we already made as a guide for the button location.

I highly recommend using jeans buttons*  for this hack but if you prefer to add regular buttons you can do that as well. Just make sure they are a similar size to jeans ones, approximately 20 mm.

You are all done! 👏 Take a moment to admire your brand new button front custom-made jeans!

RAW HEM

How about a raw hem Janet Jeans? Such a fun look and so easy to accomplish. If you want to keep the length of the inseam as per the pattern then you would have to shorten the bottom hem by 1 inch. I personally don’t mind a longer length so I keep the extra inch. Your call! Run two stay stitches 1 inch away from the raw hem. These stay stitches will prevent the fraying from extending past the stitches over time.

You’ll now need to make big decision 😉 …. how much do you want to fray your hem? I’d recommend starting with a little fraying… time and wear will definitely add to it. However, if you want to start off with a distressed look, go for it! Your jeans, your choice!

Ta-dah! Easy peasy! Enjoy your new pair of raw hem jeans!

Happy sewing,

Alex

 

We cannot wait to see what you create with the Janet Jeans pattern!

Here are some links to the patterns (in case you needed them):

We are so excited to see what you sew up for yourself using the Janet Jeans patterns! It is available on sale (no code needed) through 11:59pm CST, February 18, 2024.

Find your copy of the Janet Jeans here: Janet Jeans | Janet Jeans – Youth | Janet Jeans Bundle

As always, we’ve got more photos for you to use as inspiration! Head over to the Facebook group to browse our albums full of gorgeous photos, compliments of our tester team!

*Affiliate links.

Janet Jeans Adult Album | Janet Jeans Youth Album

Harriet Holiday Dress :: Easy Hacks

Get ready to elevate your sewing game with our “easy hacks” post for the Harriet Holiday Dress pattern. We’re sharing three ingenious ways to take this pattern a little further!

You’ll need this pattern to complete these super fun sewing hacks: HARRIET HOLIDAY DRESS

Ruched Tee and Facing

I have had a stripey ruched tee like this pinned for years, and when Katy popped some inspo pics of her new pattern up online, I knew that I had to hack it to make my own version.  I took some pictures along the way and I have instructions for cutting a ruched tee length top, and also for adding a facing instead of a lining here for you.

RUCHING

The first thing you’ll need to do is find a top pattern you like to hack onto the bottom of the Harriet bodice.  I went with the Rainbow Dress because I have made it before and knew I wanted a similar, slim fit look.

I used my projector to cut out the top of the Harriet bodice front, stopping at the bottom of the armscye.  Then I subbed in the Rainbow Dress bodice, matching both patterns at the bottom of the armscye, and used the Rainbow Dress pattern to cut out the bottom of my fabric down to the top length cutline.  Repeat for the back piece.

I cut a piece of 1/4″ clear elastic at 6.5″ length.  The top and bottom 1/2″ will be cut off when finished, they are just there to let you hold the elastic at either end when sewing it on. I pinned it 1″ below the finished centre front neckline edge, measured down 7.5″ and pinned the bottom.  You will be stretching 5.5″ of elastic to 7.5″ length.  When the elastic bounces back to its original length it causes the ruching.

Holding the top and bottom of the elastic by the 1″ ends, stretch the elastic whilst sewing it onto the wrong side of your bodice.  You can use a straight or a stretch stitch here, it doesn’t really matter.  You may find that you need to adjust the length of the elastic depending on which type of elastic you are using and which size of the pattern you are making.

Here is what the finished ruching will look like from the right side when it is done.

FACING

Sometimes you don’t want a lining, either because you don’t want the added layers and warmth or because, like me, you just hate using extra fabric when you don’t have to!  A facing is the best way of finishing a neckline like this if you don’t want to line the whole top, and it’s really easy.

First you will take your pattern pieces and trace off the neckline pieces at a 1.5″ depth, like this.

Then cut out these pieces out of your lining fabric on the fold.

Sew the shoulder seams on the outer fabric, and also on the facing pieces.

Place the facing pieces right sides together on top of the outer pieces. Pin around the pieces and sew them together with a 1/2″ seam allowance as per the original pattern instructions.  I find it helps to use a water soluble marker to mark out the 1/2″ seam allowance around the corners.  This helps with a really accurate sew.

Clip into the corners and turn the facing through to the inside.  Press, pin and topstitch around the facing to finish.

Then you can sew up the rest of your top or dress as per the original instructions and you’re all done!

 

Happy sewing,

Dana xx

Exposed Elastic Skirt

I have been on a skirt kick for a while now, and thought the skirt on the Harriet Holiday dress would be the perfect addition to my collection. I like the look of thick exposed elastic, so this was a fairly simple hack. Start out by cutting out the skirt portion of the pattern and then sew up the side seams, right-sides-together and then hem the skirt. To figure out the length of my elastic, I put the skirt on and wrapped the elastic around my waist. I made sure to exercise the elastic a bit by stretching it out and letting it bounce back a couple times before wrapping it around my waist. Adjust the length of your elastic based on how snug you like it around your waist, I don’t like it super tight, but just tight enough where the skirt doesn’t move around. 

 

Cut your elastic, and then burn the ends so that it doesn’t unravel.

Using a zigzag stitch, sew the ends of the elastic together. I like to use a  2.0 stitch length and 4.0 stitch width.

Mark the quarter points on the elastic and the skirt waist opening. With right sides together, match the quarter points of the elastic with the ones on the skirt waist opening. Sew with a stretch stitch or a serger (turn off the blade so it doesn’t cut into the elastic).

Optionally, you can flip the band over and top stitch or skip this part all together!

Now, Ta-dah! All done! I can’t wait to see what you create!

Happy Sewing!

Djem

We cannot wait to see what you create for yourself using the Harriet Holiday Dress pattern! It is available on sale (no code needed) through 11:59pm CST, January 28, 2023.

Here is a direct link to the pattern: HARRIET HOLIDAY DRESS

As always, we’ve got more photos for you to use as inspiration! Head over to the Facebook group to browse our albums full of gorgeous photos, compliments of our tester team!

Harriet Holiday Dress Facebook Album

New Pattern Release :: Harriet Holiday Dress

Happy 2024, Pirates! We are excited to share that our first pattern of the new year is officially here!

We aren’t going to keep you in suspense for a single moment — let’s get to talking all about the Harriet Holiday Dress!

The Harriet Holiday Dress pattern is drafted to our Adult – Hourglass size chart, extending from XXS – Plus 5X.

  • *Want to learn more about how to measure yourself for these pattern?  We’ve got you covered with an in-depth blog HERE.  And for even more helpful fun, we have a free* printable that you can use to help record your measurements as you take them.
  • 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.
  • We’ve also got an excellent planning tool for you with our Coloring Pages. It’s a resource that is updated with every new pattern addition, this pattern included!
  • And to help keep track of the Patterns for Pirates patterns you have in your stash, we’ve got a handy Pattern Checklist to help keep you organized!

The Harriet Holiday Dress features a fitted bodice with a quarter circle skirt attached at the natural waistline. The bodice is fully lined, with a sweetheart or scoop neckline option. The pattern includes multiple skirt lengths (from mini to maxi) and allows you to choose from traditional, fitted sleeves or a more festive, bishop sleeve. Depending on your fabric choice, you can use the Harriet Holiday Dress for everyday wear, a special occasion, or something in between. We also snuck in an optional front slit for the above knee, tea and maxi length skirts, in the event you wanted to show a little extra thigh in your new dress!

Pattern options include:

  • Two neckline options: Scoop + Sweetheart.
  • A variety of sleeve choices: Fitted Short, Fitted 3/4, Fitted Long, 3/4 Bishop Sleeve + Long Bishop Sleeve.
  • Multiple hem lengths: Mini, Above Knee, Tea + Maxi.
  • Fully lined bodice.
  • Optional front slit (for above knee, tea + maxi lengths).

The Harriet Holiday Dress pattern is drafted for light-to-medium weight knit fabrics with at least 40-50% horizontal stretch. Some vertical stretch for the bodice is recommended for more comfort in wearing.

Specific Fabric Suggestions: Cotton Spandex, Double Brushed Polyester, Ribbed Knits, Medium Sweater Knits, Stretch Velvet, Athletic Knits, etc.

We wouldn’t leave you hanging without talking about some of the options! Let’s check them out!

NECKLINES: SCOOP / SWEETHEART

SLEEVES (FITTED SHORT / 3/4 / LONG + BISHOP 3/4 + LONG)

HEM LENGTHS (MINI / ABOVE KNEE / TEA / MAXI)

OPTIONAL FRONT SLIT

We cannot wait to see what you create for yourself using the Harriet Holiday Dress pattern! It is available on sale (no code needed) through 11:59pm CST, January 28, 2023.

Here is a direct link to the pattern: HARRIET HOLIDAY DRESS

As always, we’ve got more photos for you to use as inspiration! Head over to the Facebook group to browse our albums full of gorgeous photos, compliments of our tester team!

Harriet Holiday Dress Facebook Album

But wait, there’s more! We have an Easy Hacks blog post for the Harriet Holiday Dress pattern — helping you take that pattern a little further!

2023 A Year in Review

It’s always so much fun for us to look back on the year as it comes to a close and reflect on all that we did during that time!  Here’s a quick glance back at 2023 with Patterns for Pirates!

We released TWENTY ONE (21) brand new patterns to the catalog. 

The majority of them were designed and drafted by Judy Hale (our beloved Pirate Captain) and five of them were from (our lead admin + designer) Katy McKinley!

Don’t forget that we offer youth + adult patterns in bundles, as well!

We shared FIVE (5) super fun freebies with our sewing community!

They are our way of saying “thank you” for being such amazing members of our sewing family!

We delivered TWELVE (12) amazing fabrics to our subscribers!

Fabric for Pirates has been such an incredible journey for us and we’ve loved the excitement, creativity, and joy you all share with us as you receive your fabric each month!

Please join the fun and subscribe to Fabric for Pirates for the 2024 season!

You chose your MOST LOVED patterns of the year!

We always enjoy checking the stats and seeing what the most popular downloads were for the past year. This year was just as fun to check out, with these six patterns showing up the most in our customers’ carts.

We made a BIG announcement!

We spent an intense amount of time going through every. single. pattern. in our catalog and they’ve all been updated to include all of the current file types that we offer!

Every pattern now has Letter, A4, A0 and Projector file types with active layers!!! ::cue happy dancing::

Even the earliest patterns in our collections have received these updates. All you’ll need to do is log into your account and head to “Downloads” and any pattern you’ve previously purchased from us will automatically have these files updated and available for you to download.

**When we say “every”, there are a few patterns that don’t include A0 file types. They are typically the pattern pieces that are so small that we considered it a waste of money, paper and resources to print them on such a large piece of paper.

————

Let’s do a quick refresher of the different files + formats we offer, in case you needed it:

  • Letter – Formatted for printing on letter size paper (8.5″ by 11″). Located in the US? This is your paper size!
  • A4 – Formatted for printing on A4 size paper (8.25″ by 11.75″). Located outside of the US? This is most likely the paper size you use!
  • A0 – Formatted for wide-format printers using 36″ wide paper. We have a blog post showing how to print this size paper, if you’d like to give it a read.
  • Projector – A newer style of paperless/printless way of cutting the fabric pieces requires a special set up. Read this post to learn about the basics of using a projector for sewing.

Please keep in mind that, while even our Freebies received these updates, our free patterns will continue to have a 3o-day expiration policy on the file downloads. This policy was enacted in January 2021 and is explained in this post: IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT :: CHANGES TO FREEBIES! (tl/dr version…our free patterns expire after 30 days. If you haven’t saved them to a local device and it’s past the 30 days, you’ll simply have to go through the checkout process with the ::still free:: pattern to get access to the downloads again.)

We watched our social media GROW!

Thank you to all the new followers, members, etc and for everyone who was here already and stayed with us! We appreciate each and every single one of the follows, members, subscribers, etc! Not only are you learning from our patterns + posts, but you’re returning the favor by helping us learn and be inspired daily!

It has been a heck of a year and we look forward to sewing through 2024 with you!

Sophia Pencil Skirt :: Easy Hacks

Get ready to elevate your sewing game with our “easy hacks” post for the Sophia Pencil Skirt pattern. We’re sharing three ingenious ways to take this pattern a little further!

You’ll this pattern to complete these super fun sewing hacks: SOPHIA PENCIL SKIRT

Side Zipper Hack

Here is a super simple way to move the zipper from the back of the Sophia Pencil skirt to the side! Cut your fabric according to the instructions. Note that the zipper in the purple illustration below is the original pattern placement.

Next, transfer the zipper markings to the Front skirt and Left back skirt, using the original pattern pieces. I installed the zipper on the same side as my slit.

Re-arrange your pattern pieces, to match the below illustration with the pieces needing zippers on the outside. I color coded which seams need to be sewn together with dashed lines in the illustration below. Match the colored seams, right sides together, and sew. You’ll want to do this construction with the right side of your main fabric facing up and repeat with your lining but with the right side facing down.

 

Continue the construction of the skirt as listed in the tutorial! Easy, peasy!

Happy Sewing!

Djem

Button Front Hack

We are all loving our new Sophia Pencil Skirts, but if you love the look but want to make it without the zipper, then we have a simple hack to add a button front instead.  Not only does it look great but it means you haven’t got to install the zipper – win win!

For this hack we are using the skirt without the separate waistband. We will start by adding 2” extra width to the centre of the front main piece, and then cutting 2 x mirrored front skirts, rather than cutting on the fold.  This extra 2” will give us a ½” extra on each skirt piece for a 1” overlap, and a button placket.

Front skirt piece with 2 inch extra width added to fold line

 

For the lining we will add an additional ½” to the centre front of the lining piece.

With your main fabric, construct your darts and side seams as per the tutorial and then also sew the centre back seam too.  Repeat for your lining.

Right sides together, sew the main to the lining along the top, matching up your seams and darts.  Your lining will be shorter than your main at either end.

 

Flip the lining round to the inside.  Press the seam allowance towards the lining.  It is a good idea to understitch the skirt lining to the seam allowance to help stop it creeping out to the outside.  Give this top seam a good press with steam to help it lay flat.

 

We will be finishing the hems separately, so turn the lining hem to the wrong side by a ¼”, and then again by another ¼” . Press, then stitch hem with an edgestitch.

Moving back to the centre front seam, turn the front edge to the wrong side by ½” and press.  Then turn to the wrong side again by 1” and press.  This forms the button placket.  Your lining should fit nicely inside the placket, concealing the raw edge.  Stitch with an edgestitch – take your time to get a good straight stitch here as it will be visible at the front of your garment.  Repeat with the other front edge.

 

Turn the bottom hem up by ½” and hem.  Alternatively, you could hem by turning ¼” twice, again.

Sew on your button holes and buttons.  I like to place them fairly close together to prevent gaping.

You’re done! A nice and simple sew and a total wardrobe classic.

Happy sewing!

 

Dana xx

Belt Hack

I’ll admit, I got totally Pinspired with this one after seeing a really cute belted pencil skirt online, and had to further hack my button front skirt.  I knew it would be an easy hack on the new Sophia, so I got to it!

I wanted a fairly wide belt and decided on a finished width of 2.5”.  With an added ½” seam allowance that gave me a measurement of 3.5” for the belt width.  Then for the length I took a piece of ribbon and tied it round my waist with a decent sized bow.  This was 84” long ( I wear the plus 1X with a waist measurement of 42”, for reference).  This was too long for my fabric so I split it in two and added seam allowance.  My final measurements for the ties were 3.5” x 43”; cut 4.

You will have 4 tie pieces. Sew two of these tie pieces together along the short sides using a ½” seam allowance, repeat for the other two tie pieces.  Press the seam allowances open.  Place these two tie pieces right sides together and sew using a ½” seam allowance, making sure you leave a 2-3” gap in the centre of the tie for turning through.  I wanted a diagonal angle at the ends of my ties so I tapered in towards the ends of the ties to create this.

Trim corners and turn through.  Press well and top stitch around entire length of belt.

For the belt loops, I cut a strip of fabric measuring 1.5” wide by 20” long (ish).  Then I folded the fabric together right sides together along the long edge, and sewed it together with a ¼” seam allowance.  Turn the tube through ( a tube turner of safety pin is helpful for this), then press.  Edge stitch down both sides of the ties, then cut it into 5 pieces measuring 4” in length.  These will be your 5 belt loops.

 

One belt loop will be placed at the centre back, two loops will be placed next to both of the centre front darts, and then the last two loops will be evenly spaced on either side between the previous two points.

Place the loops at the top of the skirt, about ½” from the top edge.  Sew across the belt loops twice, once at the bottom and once just below the top.

Then fold the belt loop down towards the body of the skirt, tuck the raw edge under by ½” and top stitch down across the bottom.

Repeat for the other 4 belt loops.  Thread through your belt, tie and enjoy your new skirt!

Happy Sewing!

Dana xx

We are thrilled to see what you sew for yourself using the Bacall Bodysuit + Sophia Pencil Skirt patterns! They are available on sale (no code needed) through 11:59pm CST, December 12, 2023.

Here are some links to the patterns: BACALL BODYSUIT | SOPHIA PENCIL SKIRT

As always, we’ve got more photos for you to use as inspiration! Head over to the Facebook group to browse our albums full of gorgeous photos, compliments of our tester team!

Bacall Bodysuit Facebook Album | Sophia Pencil Skirt Facebook Album

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