linen arrow dress

Here's the dress version of the linen arrow top. The dress is exactly the same as the top, except longer in length with a narrow hem. The fit of this dress is great. It's loose and comfortable but has a really nice fit in the shoulders and sleeves. The pattern went together beautifully. I know I'll be wearing this dress for many years to come.

linen arrow shirt

I've been doing a lot of sewing this summer so I have a lot to sharing and updating to do on this space. I made this top a few months ago from a vintage pattern. I just love the graphic inset arrow motif of the neckline. I chose to got with black and white linen for this top, but this pattern would look great made up in an array of  colors and materials. I used a medium weight linen in white for the body, which has a lovely drape, and a lightweight black linen for the inset. I made a few changes to the pattern to modernize it a bit. I removed the back center seam and cut the back piece on the fold, I removed the back shoulder darts and I changed the back facing to bias binding. It's one of my favorite pieces I've made this summer. I even made a dress version too. I'll share that soon.

How to Attach a Yoke

There are a few methods for attaching a yoke when sewing a garment. The method I use encloses the seams within the yoke and achieves a ready-to-wear look.

First, with right sides facing, sandwich the back piece between the two yoke pieces (yoke and yoke facing). Pin, sew and press.

Next, with right sides facing, pin the two front pieces to the yoke, leaving the yoke facing unattached.

At this point, most commercial pattern will tell you to press under the raw edge of the facing and stitch down along the edge. But, if you look at most ready-to-wear clothing, yokes are not attached this way and are instead self enclosed. To achieve this look, turn the yoke facing so that the right side of the facing and the right side of the shirt face each other. Line up the raw edges, pin and sew. This creates another sandwich. It also twists the shirt which can be awkward, but leaves plenty of room to sew.

Grade the seams, turn yoke right side out and press.

Voilá, there you have it! A lovely yoke with enclosed seams. Jen of Grainline uses a similar method to enclose the seams, without having to twist the garment to do so. She has great video on her blog illustrating her method. Find it here.

my bed with handmade pillowcases

handmade rattle

Made for my friend's baby.

Inspired by this.

floral baby quilt

Another quilt made for my new niece. For this one, I quilted a simple 2" diamond pattern onto two pieces of cotton fabric with cotton batting between the layers. All of the materials I had in my stash. I'd been hoarding the floral fabric for about 10 years, maybe longer. I've always loved it, and finally found the perfect use for it. The backing fabric is an orange-y/peach shot cotton and the whole thing is bound with peach bias tape. It was hard to get a good photograph of this quilt, but I love, love, love it. 

chevron baby quilt

  

I made some decorations for my sister's baby shower, including fabric bunting in pink, peach and mint green. She kept some of the bunting to decorate the nursery, but I was left with quite a few fabric triangles I wasn't sure what to do with, until I saw this quilting tutorial on the Purl Bee. The bunting had some floral fabric in it, but I decided to re-purpose just the dots, stripes and solids for this baby quilt. My sister is contemplating using it as a wall hanging in the nursery, which would look lovely, but I'm hoping it gets used and loved and maybe even a bit tattered.

polka dot danielle

            bottom images from steven alan 

My cousin got married a few weeks ago and I desperately needed a dress for her wedding. I had my eye on the Danielle dress from Steven Alan, but when I finally decided to buy it, it was sold out in my size. So, I went ahead and made my own. I drafted the pattern and used a lovely polka dot linen from Gorgeous Fabrics that I had on hand and a cotton voile for the bodice lining. I had purchased the fabric earlier in the summer with the intention of making a pair of shorts, but in the end this turned out to be a much better use of the fabric. Luckily, I  had just enough of it to make the dress. I stayed pretty faithful to the original design, only omitting the pockets. 

liberty + linen

Pillowcases made with Liberty of London cotton lawn, white and natural linen, and linen ties. I love pillows with ties. I could make a closet full of these.