I'm a Know Me pattern Designer
Get to Know Me…
I’m still pinching myself and my Fall pattern ME2006 is in stores!
When I got the call from Mimi I was having a very tough time still dealing with a miscarriage and had recently been relocated on my 9 to 5, 50 miles from my home. I’m not gonna lie, I cried a lot mainly because I was talking out my dreams with a sister a year or so before telling her I wanted to make my own patterns. After that conversation with my friend, I simply wrote down my goals and I didn’t think about it again until Mimi reached out.
Once the news got out about “The Big 4” now being “The Big 5” the love and support from the sewing community has been so amazing.
So how has being a Know Me designer been?
Well, keeping the big news a secret was really fun lol. Then there’s creating designs. I didn’t know when Mimi wanted designs or how any of the process would play out but I went to my sketches and I had about 10 designs ready. I sat on those designs for a few months (maybe more than a few lol) but when Mimi came back and said okay I need your fall designs I was more than ready.
I sent her like 3 designs and finally decided to go with my jacket/dress design. I absolutely love blazers, coats, and jackets so this look was it for me. In my mind I already knew how I wanted to style this pattern (both casual and dressed up).
Once the pattern drafting and instructions were complete, I received my pattern and then it was time to sew it up and photograph. After sewing, cutting out, and hacking so many patterns over the past 10 years it was surreal to now cut out and sew my own pattern. The only other time I have ever been so intentional and focused on sewing a garment was when I made my vow renewal dress. It was kinda easy and that’s when imposter syndrome kicked in. Having sew brothers and sisters to help navigate all the feels really helped during the process.
I have to talk about the pictures because y'all, my husband has never been labeled as my photographer but for my pattern pics…I needed him to step up. For those who don’t know, I take 99.5% of the pictures you see on my socials and here on my blog and I’m a photographer. I was not blessed with a partner who will tell me I have a wrinkle or this angle aint it honey. He will snap 100 of those bad shots with no words lol. A whole ass struggle y’all. We managed to finally get on the same page while shooting and he got some really good shots. So for that, I’m thankful.
Then there are the other amazing Know Me Designers who are sharing this experience with me. Everyone brings something different with their designs and I’m so honored to be apart of this group of creatives. I actually want to sew the mens patterns for hubs and that normally takes an act of God!
This journey is just getting started and Early Spring 23” is right around the corner. Thank you again to you all for supporting me on my creative journey. And thank you for supporting Know Me Patterns and all the designers.
Sew alongs are now live on the Know Me YouTube channel HERE
Shop Know Me Patterns Here or in craft stores like Joann!
Fabric: Spoonflower Velvet
Fabric: Suade
Fabric: Joann Denim
Peri-ish
A break can do you good
I have been back and forth to Georgia for family and to say goodbye for now to a friend and I just have not felt like sewing. I was also under the weather my first visit home so there’s that. Well, I needed a project that was going to challenge me enough to finish in a day or two and this Mimi G Simplicity pattern 9463 was IT!
I purchased this fabric from Melanated Fabrics and I initially wanted to make a spring suit jacket with but I wasn’t in the mood to sew a jacket. With Very Peri being Pantones color of the year this print is perfect for spring.
The pattern is very straight forward and I didn’t have any issues. I will say the sew-a-long by Norris Ford was very helpful. Check out the YouTube video here I even made the belt!! I did two rows of topstitching and I edgestitched the flounce and the sleeves bands. I opted out of the topstitching on the skirt flounce and on sleeves because I didn’t feel it would pop with this print. If I were using a solid color then I probably would add that option.
If you’ve been with me you know I am not shame of my breast size. I didn’t have to make any adjustments to the sizing but I did change the placement of the belt loops. Normally I will add about an inch to the bodice to hit my waist just right. I’ll be sure to do it on the next make. I did notice that if you’re blessed in the butt you might want to make adjustments to the skirt as well. I will be adding about an inch and a half to the length of the skirt (flounce version).
I had these purple buttons on hand and I thought they would be a nice pop to the Very Peri in the color of the fabric.
My recommendation for fabrics are wovens with slight stretch. This fabric is a Moda Crepe and honestly my favorite for Spring and Summer (I want it in every color). The pattern recommends denim, linen, rayon (I don’t recommend), sateen, shirtings, and twill. I would love to make more of this pattern in linen or denim…soon!
Do you have this pattern on your list of next makes? Or have you sewn this pattern? Share with me and let me know what you think about this make in the comments. As always thanks for stopping by!
Peace & blessings
Pink Cord
Pink Corduroy takes Flight
Okay, for real, for real. This isn’t ya girls first jumpsuit and it won’t be the last. It is however, my first flight-suit, so let’s get into it!
If you’ve been following my IG then you know I am no stranger to corduroy. Over the past two years I have created 5 makes with corduroy you can check out one I actually blogged about here.
GET INTO IT
I decided to use the Blanca Flight Suit by Closet Core Patterns. I have had this pattern for at least a year and it has been a year too long. I’ve made other jumpsuits but this flight suit is by far my favorite fit! While I choose a baggy fit for sizing this pattern, it would also be perfect for a more fitted jumpsuit.
FABRIC AND CARE
I found this pink corduroy at Hobby Lobby. It has a slight stretch to it and man can it hold some lint, lol. I’m sure there are proper corduroy pile brushes out there but I settled for a skin dry brushing brush I had on hand. If you’re not already aware, when sewing with and caring for corduroy, you shouldn’t press directly on the pile (you can smash it and that doesn’t look good and you can’t get it back). I press on the wrong side only and refrain from using a hot heat setting.
Pattern options
The Blanca has a few options you can choose from like zipper chest pockets, snaps on the sleeves, and tapered legs. I decided to add all three options. If you are on the fence and have never done these types of add-ons don’t fear, the pattern has instructions for them as well. There is a zipper facing on one side but I feel a front facing on both sides and zipper facing is a nice touch. You can opt out of front facing on both sides and simply add binding on the edge of the zipper for nice clean insides.
Customizing Your Flightsuit
Patches are a given when I think of flightsuits. When I thought about the amount of patches and flare I wanted on my corduroy jumpsuit I decided less is more. Trust me, I could’ve went overboard here. There’s no right or wrong way to the amount of patches you add to your flightsuit but for me, I wanted the flare to be subtle.
I purchased the rainbow embroidery design file from Etsy and I played with the sizing on my BERNINA. I wanted to stick with the patch look so I used scrap pieces of the corduroy to create both the rainbow and the goddess patches. For the goddess patch, I simply used one of the fonts on my 880 and sized to fit above the chest pockets. The patches have a slight fray which is the look I was going for.
If you are interested in seeing more behind the seams with my embroidery projects let me know in the comment section.
I used the hardware from an old belt and spray painted gold. You can check that out on my TikTok below!
Overall
Do I recommend this pattern? Absolutely! Difficulty? Advanced. Wearability? Until the end of time, lol!
I also knitted for the first time and made this hat but I will save that for another blog. Stay tuned and let me know what you think about my Pink Corduroy Flightsuit in the comments!
until next time,
Peace & Blessings
HEXY SET
What’s better than one? Two!
Hey y’all! I pulled out this Spoonflower Sports Lycra™️ to create not one but two of my favorites, swimwear and leggings. For the swimsuit I used the Closet Core Sophie swimsuit pattern and for the leggings I used a TNT Mccalls pattern (more deets on those here). I’m all for a matching set and I was inspired to make these two because I wanted to purchase a similar set from IVY PARK. Well them thangs sold out as quick as you can inhale. So I went to the drawing board and thought how can I achieve this look myself? And here you have…the HEXY SET!
Sophie Construction
This swimsuit was also an introduction to bra making (more on that journey really soon). Obviously you would need to create bra cups for this look. For me, finding the right cup size was a challenge. I still didn’t get the perfect fit that I was trying to achieve and I even made an initial practice cup that covered about 3 inches of my girls lol, but this will not be my only Sophie swimsuit this season.
I lined the swimsuit with a white Jersey fabric a bit lighter in weight than the Sport Lycra. You can use whatever swimsuit lining you like. My preference is always whatever will hold the tummy in comfortably. You will also need something to shape the cups. I used my tailors ham but I do wish I had something more circular. Maybe next time I’ll use baby watermelons, I mean they’re about the right size lol.
Sophie and WATERFALLS
It’s summer right? Well I’ve had this swimsuit made since winter and this Sophie was literally waiting for the right time and scene to make an appearance. My 1st water outing this season was this beautiful, nature filled hike to and even more beautiful waterfall!
Overall I love this swimsuit and I will definitely make another with a few adjustments to cup size and make the legs more of a bikini cut than full coverage bum. Tell me what you think about my HEXY Set below. As always thanks for stopping by.
Peace & Blessings!
Details Honey
Here we are in the thick of Spring!
I have dreamed of the perfect fabric for this Vogue 1548 Guy Laroche pattern for quite some time. The model on the pattern is wearing this dress in white which to me was very chic but not bold enough. It was then I realized I didn’t want to use a solid this go round. Just before I became a Spoonflower Ambassador I racked up on a few prints I had my eye on. A few of those prints were obviously my sis Katie Kortman. So I had this Spoonflower Silky Faille that I never used and my machine was ready!
Designing
This pattern has lots of details; topstitching, making bias binding, covered buttons, pleats, invisible zipper, gathered hems, fully lined, and a good bit of hand sewing and I really wanted to highlight as much of these details as I could. If you don’t already know, I’ll usually start with a contrast. So I happened to have some sky blue linen on hand and it was perfect to contrast with this Katie Kortman print. The hard part was deciding which areas would be sky blue contrast and which wouldn’t. The binding on the sleeves were definitely an area I wanted to bring attention to so light blue on the sleeves it is. The overlay is another must for contrasting and when the dress isn’t completely buttoned up you get this peekaboo of blue and it makes me so happy. I also wanted to add the blue linen to the hem of the sleeves and the dress but I changed my mind (I wanted to use every inch of this Silky Faille).
Construction
This dress is not beginner level friendly!
The binding was one of the more tedious steps but I managed to cut down a little time with using my bias binding tool.
Tip: Be sure to always change your needles for new projects. Topstitching the binding on the sleeves are thick layers and this Spoonflower Silky Faille likes my Schmetz Chrome needle the most.
At first glance I thought that the gathered hem was achieved using elastic. Instead your gathering the outside only. I made a slight change to the sleeves and actually added elastic because the fit around the wrist was too baggy for me. This is totally by preference.
As always thanks for stopping by. I do hope you enjoyed this colorful Guy Larouche Dress.
Peace & Blessings
Lush & Wild
Lush & Wild
I had the pleasure of receiving Katie Kortman’s Lush & Wild double gauze fabric in this beautiful print before it was released April 19th on Fabricdotcom. Click the link here to view the entire collection. Let’s just say I absolutely love these prints
The fabric choices include double gauze, sateen, canvas, and quilting cotton. The hand on the double gauze is a nice soft drape and perfect for Spring and Summer. After sharing a sneak peak of this look on my IG, this print sold out on the 1st day lol. But don’t worry they will print more and it will be available again soon.
Shirring
I had never tried shirring and with the 4 yards of fabric I had, I figured I could squeeze out shirring, big sleeves, and a gathered skirt. Luckily I was able to finish this dress with about 1/4 of a yard to spare.
Okay, so many people told me they’re afraid of shirring. I too was skurrd lol. But I finally put my fears aside after my friend Raven assured me that it wasn’t that bad. One of the most tedious things about shirring is hand winding your bobbins. I sew on my Bernina 880 plus and the elastic thread is too thick to feed through my automatic bobbin threader. If your machine can, then by all means do you. The great thing about my 880 is that the bobbins are jumbo size so I only used about 3 and a half bobbins for my elastic thread.
Please keep in mind the amount of shirring you choose and spacing will determine how much elastic thread you will need. I will say you will about 3-5 bobbins for shirring spaced 1cm apart and on an average of 20-30 rows of shirring should be enough. You want to be sure not to wind your bobbin too loose or too tight!
For this project you will need:
Sewing machine
elastic thread (check out my Amazon shop here)
all purpose thread
Binding or bias tape (for sleeves)
Lingerie Elastic 3/8” or 5/8” (for sleeves)
This dress is the By Hand London Shirred dress. It’s literally 4 rectangles. What you will need is your bust measurement x 1.5 and whatever length you want for your dress. For the bottom tier, multiply your dress measurement by 2 and the length about 20 inches (you can make this shorter or longer). For the sleeves cut two rectangles 24” long and 30” wide. You can find more in-depth details in the highlights of @Byhandlondon for this shirred dress.
I sewed 29 rows of shirring for my dress. My bust measurement is 42” so I needed more than the suggested 20 rows of shirring.
For the bottom tier I wanted an exposed gathered look so I did a rolled hem on the top and gathered by using my Bernina Ruffler foot.
I wanted a little razzle dazzle so I added this beaded trim I had on hand to the bottom hem of the dress.
I do hope you enjoyed this look and that you go check out the new Lush & Wild Collection by Katie Kortman! Thanks for stopping by and as always
Peace & Blessings!
Purple Rain-Bow
Welcoming Spring
This Spring I’m all about the many shades of purple! I’ve been sleeping on this purple stretch corduroy from Melanated Fabrics all winter and finally decided on the perfect match. Sorry they’re all out of this purple but there are a few other colors to choose from. I used McCalls 7997 to create this look and the darts on this one help to give the dress a little more shape for those curves. If darts aren’t your strong points, check out this method I use to cut the dart portions out of the pattern pieces for easy markings.
There’s quite a bit of handsewing for the hem, sleeves, and lining. So if handsewing isn’t your jam, I’d get ready for it with this pattern. I managed to sit and handsewing the entire dress while watching a movie. The buttonholes were also fun (not). Corduroy can be tricky and with this being a stretch corduroy, the fabric wasn’t as firm as I would like for a buttonhole. You can strengthen your buttonholes by adding cording or a stronger interfacing on your front facing.
Overall, this was an average sewing project. There aren’t welt pockets but if you want to get jazzy you could definitely add them.
Tip: I cut out the front facing pattern piece with angle incorrectly. I was definitely not paying close attention. So you want to be sure if you’re sewing this version, to cut the slanted facing piece correctly. The same goes for your lining. Luckily I had enough corduroy to cut out one more facing on the correct side.
I hope you enjoyed my Purple Rain-bow lewk! Until next time,
Peace & Blessings!
National Flannel Day
Are you a flannel addict?
I didn’t realize how much I actually love flannel. So much so, I think it’s only right to make December 25th National Flannel Day!
I mean how many of you, your friends, and family were rockin flannel on Christmas Eve and Christmas? Errrbody, lol.
I have had this quilted flannel fabric for over two years now and finally decided I needed to bring it to life. On one of my IG scrolls I saw Mimi G’s throwback of her flannel bomber jacket with casual sneaks and shades and I remembered why I bought the fabric in the first place.
Let’s Talk construCtion
So I have flannel fabric but didn’t have gray for the cuffs and the collar…or did I? Okay, here’s a tip if you want to recreate this look and don’t want to buy the gray fabric like me. Hubs was literally throwing out old gray sweatshirts that were actually not very old at all and I looked at them (being the fabric hoarder I am) and said ummm I can repurpose these. So…I did!
There were vinyl lettering on some parts of the sweatshirts but I manage to find enough space to cut (in the appropriate stretch direction) the two pattern pieces needed for the collar and cuffs. This quilted flannel is nice and fluffy and it is definitely keeping me warm even in below 30 degree weather.
If you caught my previous blog then you will notice I also used the same animal print fabric as my Jogger Season bomber for lining (no fabric left behind).
To match or not to match? that’S the question
Here’s where some sewers may say flannel matching, HELL NO! I’m usually HELL YES!! The sizing of the flannel in this fabric is not too small where I feel I can’t pattern match but if it were smaller, I might rethink that idea. But guess what? If you don’t want to pattern match flannel that’s okay and that’s yo business! I managed and purposely patterned matched this jacket with the exception of the shoulder and sleeves seams. I tried but my eyes eventually said that’s enough honey!
Below you can see for my zipper install I stitched down one side of the separating zipper and then marked the remaining unsewn zipper piece on the wrong side of the zipper where patterns match. This helps me to eliminate pulling out my seam ripper because my prints aren’t lining up once zipped together.
I live for an exposed zipper and I had a nice gray zipper handy so I stitched a little closer to the edge than the pattern called for.
If you made it this far I bet you’re also wondering if I used a pattern? Yes I did use a pattern but I didn’t follow it to a tee. This pattern by Nikki Brooks of Beaute’ J’adore M7636 is one of my faves. I opted out of the cording and made the sleeves one pattern piece instead of two. I do want to add that if you have a basic shirt sloper you can achieve this look without this pattern. You would need to make sure the fit is to your liking (baggy or fitted) and cut down the middle of the front piece to add a zipper. You would also need to factor in length to fold up to create the waistband of the jacket and pockets if you choose. I like welt pockets for bombers but I didn’t want to make time to insert them this go round.
The jacket has a few seams and in my opinion can be sewn within a few hours (not including cutting). I managed to cut and sew both jacket and lining, with zipper install in under 3 hours but I was rolling lol.
I think this pattern is easy to moderate depending on confidence with zippers, pleating (sleeves), and cording (if using). I would definitely recommend it and once you try it, you will probably use it again and again.
I hope you all enjoyed this creation. Tell me what you think below. I’d love to hear from you.
Until next YEAR!! Bye 2020
Peace & Blessings
Jogger Season
Jogger Season
I can’t help but want to wear sweats and jogging suits right now but I also need my pumps. That’s the beauty of a jogger set! You can be comfy and sexy all at once or you can dress it down with sneakers. However you choose, these babies are staples in my wardrobe.
When ideas come to life
This project started with a sketch but before the sketch I saw an amazing designer named Prep Curry rockin his custom floral jogger set and I knew I had to make one for myself. So I shopped my stash and found floral, green, blue, and white fabric. I have had all these fabrics for a few years now and finally found something to create with them. I sketched out the jacket late last year and just never got around to sewing it up. Most of my ideas for contrasting fabrics arise because I simply don’t have enough fabric to make an entire garment so I think of ways to spice it up. This was the case with the floral print. When I purchased it, I had no idea what I was going to make and when it came time to create I couldn’t find the fabric anywhere (I looked for about 1 day total lol). So I had about 2 yards of the floral fabric and based my sketch off of that. Initially, I didn’t think I had enough floral to add to the sleeves but I’m so happy I was able to squeeze it in. As for my solid color fabrics, I had plenty for this project so I wasn’t playing Tetris. My initial design I added a pink contrast but when I went shopping for this shade I didn’t find the perfect fabric at local stores so I just scratched pink off my design. I also didn’t want to spend much on this project.
I’m often asked how do I come up with contrasting looks, mixing colors, and prints? Well sometimes it’s really me just making what I already have work. Other times I actually plan out color palettes and design and source from there. I really just like to have fun with colors and prints and don’t like following rules.
Let’s Sew
I used Mimi G’s Simplicity pattern 8702 for both the pants and the bomber jacket. I switched up the design in the front for the jacket a bit by cutting and taping pattern pieces in the direction I wanted for each contrast. When doing this type of hack, be sure to add or subtract seem allowance where necessary. It takes a little more time but the outcome is worth it. I shared some of this process for the pants contrast on my Instagram IGTV video here! I serged the side seems on the pants but I used a straight stitch for the contrast to help everything lay flat. The pants for this pattern are meant to be fitted and also have a zipper at the ankle. I went up a size because I wanted a slight loose fit and instead of the zipper on the ankle I added rainbow ribbed knit (purchased on Amazon).
Like majority of Mimi G’s simplicity patterns, there was a video tutorial for the entire set on YouTube. I have made this jogger set once before so I was confident sewing it for the second time.
The pattern doesn’t have pockets and ya girl needs pockets! So I added welt pockets to the bomber jacket. You could even add pockets to the pants. I personally found it easier to just add pockets to the jacket. I would’ve had to get a little more creative with pockets on the pants since the middle side section (animal print) is not perfectly centered for pocket placement on a seem. Whatever your preference, I say do you!
Welt pocket Install
POCKETS PLEASE!
Overall I had so much fun creating this look! The lining gave me the pop I wanted on the inside and I will definitely keep warm wearing this through the winter.
Will I make it for a 3rd time? Absolutely! I feel this pattern can be beginner friendly as long as you don’t get too intimidated by the zippers and follow along with Mimi. I hope you all enjoyed this creation. Tell me what you think below. I’d love to hear from you.
Until next time
Peace & Blessings
OLIVE OIL
fall ATHLEISURE
Greetings friends! It’s officially fall here and what I love the most about the fall breeze and the beautiful leaves is getting grounded outdoors!
I just recently became the proud owner of a Peloton (oh hey new side abs) and I couldn’t help but crave new workout gear. So I went through my pattern stash and found Simplicity #8560 and Mccalls #7482.
Prep
I love this sports bra pattern because it gives the option to change the cup size which is very important for me. I don’t know about y’all but my DD’s don’t always fit comfortably into store bought sports bras. The pattern called for me to use cup size F but I used size 36 with an E cup to test the waters. My bra size is 36DD. For fabric choice, I used an olive green ponte knit I had on hand and a funky, I think neoprene fabric also from my stash. I only had 1.5 yds of the print and I’m stoked I was able to slightly pattern match with the pants (thank God the width of the fabric was 60”).
Okay so now for the fun part, threading my serger to a flatlock stitch! For the entire pants pattern I used Erica Bunker’s M7482 YouTube tutorial. It was a game changer y’all! In this tutorial Erica used a 2-thread flatlock stitch (see here) but my serger wasn’t having it so I went with 3-threads. If you have a serger and don’t have a cover-stitch machine you can definitely pull off the look with these sergering tips. If you’re anything like me you didn’t know the flatlock stitch existed until recently. I also didn’t know how rewarding it would be to pull the seams apart! I’m not kidding, it’s like magic lol.
Construction
I made the pants first and you wouldn’t believe they were actually a very quick make going along with Erica’s tutorial but keep in mind the higher the tension on your serger, the more likely you are to experience the thread popping. Hell, I know mind did and it was not fun doing the entire seam over or pulling out the seam ripper (insert red mad face emoji).
For my sports bra I did not use the flatlock stitch. For the very first seam on the bust I tested out a stretch stitch suggested for knits on my Bernina and I didn’t like the way the seam laid. I thought about serging the entire bra but decided not to. When you’re sewing knits you normally use the zig-zag stitch or serger and I did not on a few seams. One seam being the bust and side seam. I used 3.2 stitch length and it worked out fine for me. I like to think the straight stitch in the bust helped to support the girls better. Keep in mind the stretch is different for every knit fabric type. A straight stitch might not be the best option for you. I made a second sports bra with swimwear jersey and serged every stitch and the support is not as strong. Honestly this is something you have to test out for yourself. I used view A and view C because I loved the crisscross front and back. I went without the topstitching around the edges because that’s my business, lol. I cut the back straps out at size 36 but I would suggest going down a size or two for the back straps (they were not as fitted as I expected).
Technically, the sports bra is lined but I used the same olive green fabric for the lining and I know that also added support. This is also a preference and you can choose to use performance stretch lining or a mesh stretch fabric.
I found a few old bras I could no longer wear and cut the closures off of them. The pattern calls for the closures to be more hidden and only has one row of closures. I used 2 rows, also preference. I got lazy and did not hand sew back connectors to the closures. If your machine gets close enough and you don’t break needles, go for it but handsewing is best. For my second sports bra with this same pattern, I only use 1 row of closures and I did handsew….it looks a lot neater lol.
Overall
You can conquer athleisure/workout gear! Is my first sports bra perfect? Not quite. But guess what? Practice makes better, makes perfect! I know lots don’t usually want to try their sewing hands at knits and activewear but you’ve gotta start somewhere. The tips and tools are out there for help and you don’t have to have a coverstitch or even a serger to sew activewear but if you have either, just do it! My hope is to inspire you to give it a go or pull out that UFO you gave up on years ago and practice.
As always thanks for stopping by. Tell me your thoughts on sewing activewear in the comments. I’d love to hear about it!
Peace & Blessings!
