Jalie #2918 Tee Shirt for Grandson

This tee shirt for men in 22 sizes, #2918, has been reviewed several times and with great praise.  I also found this to be a great and well-drafted pattern.  My daughter had been requesting a v-neck tee and with the cold weather coming I decided to do the double sleeve version.

My grandson is 5 but a little small for his age so I cut out the size 4 and added an extra inch to hem and sleeve length.  I have been doing this with Kwik Sew patterns for a while and it seemed to be a good plan.

The source of this tee is a large men's tee shirt from Goodwill!  Refashioning has hit our family with great success lately and this worked out well for this project too.  It is very difficult to find good cotton knits in a large range of colors that are not too expensive these days.  This tee cost about $3 and if I had waited could have gotten it for $1.50 on a half-price day.  It's possible to find good names like Land's End at the Goodwill so that's what I look for.

This particular knit did not have much stretch so when I put on the neckband I found that it did NOT stretch enough to get over the head.  Fortunately I had navy ribbing on hand which worked out fine.  The under sleeves were leftover from another project and the original fabric came from EOS.  This is a great way to use up small pieces since these sleeves for a 5 year old are not very large.

Here's a picture of my grandson posing in the new tee. Best picture I could get of a wiggly 5 year old.

What I Wore...To A Meeting

 The city in Maine where I live has about 35,000 residents.  Not too big, not too small.  I  am currently on the school board and have been a city councilor in the past.  Being in the public eye, I like to look polished but not overly formal.  I have been surprised to discover that a lot of women do dress up, especially when they have to make a presentation before the board.  Often it's unmatched suits.  Casual, yet smart.:)).

So this is the outfit I chose for the meeting: Jalie sweater/jacket, Jalie tee, and Pamela's skirt. The sweater/jacket is made from French terry and very comfortable without being too casual.

Pamela's straight skirt pattern has become my go-to for instant gratification and the fitting tips are very useful for fitting other patterns as well.  I have adjusted it for petite sizing, but it does  need either a knit or stretch woven to be made up as is.  This skirt is made of stretch bengaline, something I got out of the bargain section at Joann's.  Occasionally, they do surprise me, but not often.

The "sewing dilemma" issues here:  sloping shoulders--I do have shoulder pads made up that go into almost everything I wear.  These have velcro on one side and hook up to corresponding velcro in the garment.  As I get older, I find these are more and more of a necessity and make me feel more confident.  Also, the skirt needs to be tapered more.  I have already done this once, but my rear end seems to be disappearing more each day!

These fitting issues do not overly discourage me; I just find them part of the challenge of fitting garments well for each person.

And finally, please notice my beautiful shoes!  What luxury--a birthday gift from my daughter who knows I love red shoes and these even have polka dots!  I find as I get older that I need real pops of color in my outfits.

What I Wore...To Church

This is a dandy little dress from Jalie # 3024, an ITY from Kashi in New York City.  For a change, I had relatively few fitting adjustments to contend with, only taking my usual back darts, and thus rendering it unfit to wear either forward or backward as the pattern is drafted.  I don't mind though, because I'm quite happy with the final result.  Here in Maine it's kind of pushing the envelope to wear it after Labor Day, because fall is definitely here.  So today I wore it with a sweater which worked out well.  At my age, I don't wear sleeveless garments too often.

Here are the specifics on my adjustments:  although my measurements indicate a size U, I cut a size V to be safe.  I find Jalie to be drafted like RTW, that is, quite close to the body.  I feel uncomfortable with garments that are too close-fitting, so generally tend to size up with Jalie.  Also, I should have done a petite adjustment on the skirt and definitely will next time, although this one is ok.

Once the adjustments are made, this dress can easily be whipped up in a couple of hours.

The famous Jalie jeans--in neon green!

I'm going to start out with a bang here, or in my case, more of a whimper, and show off my ongoing struggle to perfect the popular Jalie jeans, pattern # 2908.  This was my second attempt, after several muslins.  Isn't this fabric the craziest color?  It's a stretch cotton twill that I bought on a whim several years ago from Fabric Mart.  What was I thinking?  They are not capri length, but the hem is turned up a couple of times to make them look sort of "casual" as opposed to crazy.  My daughters look at me strangely every time I wear them. I say, "You know, they're supposed to be FUN!"  Sure, Mom.

Anyway, being very short (5'1" and shrinking all the time) I have had quite a struggle to eliminate wrinkles on the back thighs.  It is much more obvious on a light color, which is why I'm not going to show a photo of the back here.  It's an ongoing challenge, but the Jalies have been the best to date for me.  No wonder everyone raves about them.  They're very comfortable.

Many thanks to velo sewer for her tips on sewing these jeans for short people.

Brand NewSewing Blog

Hi there!

I love to read other people's sewing blogs, in fact I probably spend way too much of my day doing just that. I have been thinking of starting my own for quite a while.  I know, I know--late to the party as usual.  But I'm hoping to show a few of my projects and related information, like where I buy fabric and how much I've accumulated (too much).  I'm not too computer-literate so don't expect too many bells and whistles.