Make it mine – Waterfall tour

Welcome to Day 3 of the #makeitmine Waterfall tour hosted by Chalk and Notch so you’ve seen the amazing collections of bloggers for the:

Day Looks – Day 1

Heidi- Handmade Frenzy | Zoe – ZowieZo Handmade | Indu- Kaleidothought | Maria – Creative Needle and Threads | Verinne – boeven bende | Mie – Sewing Like Mad | Victoria – As it Seams

Night Looks – Day 2

Tami – Sew Sophie Lynn | Victoria – Very Blissful | Leslie – Threadbear Garments | Marie-Fleurine – Sew Mariefleur | Emi – Just Add Fabric

Now it’s all about Hacks! One of the great joys of sewing is hacking patterns to create even more options and that’s what I love to do. I love simple subtle hacks, a tweak here, a tweak there and presto, something different!

I was very fortunate to be part of the testing team for both the kids waterfall raglan and woman Waterfall Raglan and I absolutely love this pattern. It’s easy and super quick to whip up, a great pattern for anyone starting out sewing with knits. In fact,  I’ved whipped up 3 kids and 3 women’s one so far so this would be my seventh waterfall raglan.

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I’m still planning for more, I really want some long sleeve waterfall raglan tops and dresses and have the merino wool knits ready to go … just waiting for our summer heat wave to cool  down but while we’re being baked here (nice and crisp LOL), I decided to sew up a short sleeve woven top for my hack. I needed a new top that is stylish and cool to wear for both work and going out (might as well kill two birds with one stone)

I chose this lovely polyester blend fabric for my top because

1. I adore the print
2. it has a lovely weight and feel; and
3. it has a nice drape.

To make this top, I kept the same size bodice I would usually use for the knit version since it’s quite roomy so I didn’t need to worry about the stretch across the front and back. However, for the sleeves, I needed to adjust because the pattern is meant for a fitted knit sleeve.

Adjusting the sleeve was actually quite easy since the lovely Gabriela had bicep measurements provided in the tutorial along with finished garment measurements (including the biceps) whoo hoo … so I cheated and measured my manly arms (LoL) .. alright, muscular arms and compared it to the finished bicep measurements to determine which size width I needed to use. A tip – make sure you factor in how much room you would like to have around your arm for comfort.

Then to finish off the top, I used a white Euro smooth ribbing for the neckband and whoa la, a woven top done! Don’t you just love a nice easy hack?

For more great hack ideas, be sure to check out these fabulous bloggers:

Tiahna – Ammon Lane | Nicole – Merritts Makes | Diana – miss casteloinhos | Michelle – Little Heart Threads | Chelise Patterson | Emily – Enjoyful Makes | Jodi – Sew Fearless |Celina – Petit a Petit + Family

Also, don’t forget, there are two great giveaways happening during the tour

First up, you can join in on the fun and win a $50 gift card to Stylish Fabric + a sewing kit! All you have to do is post your Waterfall Raglan (women’s or girls) by Sunday February, 12th and link  it back up to this post HERE. (To link up, all you have to do is copy and paste the URL of your Instagram, Facebook or Blog to the post and make sure you use the hastag #makeitminelinkup in your post and tag @chalkandnotch & @stylishfabrics so they can see it)

The second giveaway is a chance to win five super cool patterns  (valued at over $55) that pair nicely with the Waterfall Raglan. All you need to do is click on this Rafflecopter giveaway

Sloan Leggings from Hey June | Brenna Coat from Cali Faye Collection | Birkin Flares from Baste + Gather | Carrie Cardigan from Delia Creates | ooh la leggings from Papercut Patterns