Teal cotton jersey tops

I had a length of cotton single jersey in the cupboard which is a very similar colour of teal to the corduroy jacket I made for my mini collection. So I thought it would be a good addition to my capsule. I measured it and discovered I had 3 metres. I briefly considered a dress but I hardly wear the ones I already have so I thought that wasn't a very sensible use of fabric in one of my signature colours.

New Look 6008

I put my cutting board on the dining table and cut out my TNT turtleneck top (New Look 6008 modified for fit). When switching to a new project, I like to check the needle in the machine and make a few tests to check it is OK. Well I must've tried about 8 different needles trying to find one which would sew the cotton jersey without skipping stitches. In the end it was a particular stretch needle that worked (other stretch and jersey needles didn't).

New Look 6735

Once that top was completed, I thought that finding a needle that would sew this fabric next time I pulled it from stash was likely to be irksome, so as the fabric was still on the dining table I cut out a different TNT top - this time a scoop neck with 3/4 sleeves (new Look 6735 modified for fit). I sewed that top up and was pleased with the outcome.

Closet Core Tee

with pocket detail

Astonishingly I still had some fabric left after this (which rather reminded me of a much loved childhood story about The Magic Porridge Pot). I'd got a pattern out which uses three fabrics, thinking I could make some sort of pieced top, but no, there was enough fabric for a third top! With some careful cutting I was able to get another different TNT top out of the fabric with cuffs and a pocket (Closet Core Tee, adapted).

I think I'm now covered when I want a plain teal top!

Teal Fleece Jacket

Here's my latest make, a teal fleece jacket. 

The fabric was a 2m precut from Pound Fabrics. This colourway (Petrol) is now out of stock, but they do have others still.

The pattern is adapted from Ottobre Woman 5/2014 model 17.

Since I made the first version I made a lot of small changes, reducing the bust and shoulder width, adding at the hips and upper back. I may have overdone the extra at the hips though. so I'll wear it a bit before I dive into the next version!

I've not quite got to TNT zipped jacket status yet, though a little elastic in the hems fixed this version enough for me to be happy.

I sourced a damaged gilet from a local charity shop which I unpicked for the zips which I used on this project.

Teal dress for C

 

Here's another dress for C, from a plain fabric out of my stash.

It is adapted from Simplicity 9122 with the rather wide neckline brought in by an inch on each side. I've added side pockets and moved the position of the front tucks down a little to suit C's full bust.

I have a metre + some scraps left over, and wonder if I could make some sort of garment for myself. I had been thinking of a top of some sort, but maybe shorts would make more sense....

Metra Blazer in a Printed Ponte

 

I've made another Metra blazer, this time in a printed ponte knit.

For this version I made the shawl collar version as I felt that shape was more in keeping with the swirls of the stylised floral print on the fabric.

I kept the full bicep alteration and did a high round back alteration of 1 inch.

When I wore it out for lunch with a friend I wore it with blue jeans (Itch to Stitch Mountain View) and a plain aqua turtleneck (poloneck). It worked well.

I think plain coloured versions would be more versatile, but I'm trying to sew from stash and this was a suitable weight.

Teal joggers and cardigan

I had a length of nice teal ponte knit fabric.

I was able to cut a pair of Monsal Lounge Pants, from the Wendy Ward Book, A Beginners Guide to Sewing with Knits and the Classic length of the Free Harper knit cardigan from Sinclair Patterns.

This is the version with the separate waistband and pockets, but without the cuffs.

This is the 'classic' length, with pockets. I wasn't able to cut the sleeve quite the full length so made the cuffs slightly deeper and wider to keep the length. Its worked well.

It might be a bit too matchy to wear them together but I can see them being great pieces in my SWAP and wardrobe in general

Here's what the SWAP is looking like so far

Itch to Stitch Mountain View Hiking Pants

 

These are my newest hiking trousers. I used the Itch to Stitch Mountain View Jeans with a few alterations.

Used lightweight stretch woven fabric bought on holiday in Madeira. 

Put the two back leg pieces together as one.

Left off lots of the extra topstitching. 

Added two extra side seam pockets which close with invisible zips.

Added 6 belt loops.

Teal front zipped trousers

 

These are teal trousers with a front fly zip, back waist elastic, side pockets and a wider lower leg.

The pattern is from Burda 03/2011 #141. I made a size 48.

I left out the front darts, altered the back crotch

This is the same pattern as Navy Burda Trousers and the same fabric as Teal buttoned shirt

Teal buttoned front shirt

 

Here's my latest teal project, a classic shirt. The pattern is from Prima Magazine November 2013.

The shirt is as per the pattern with two exceptions. Firstly I altered the back yoke piece to accommodate my high round back and secondly I replaced the continuous plackets on the sleeves with my first ever tower plackets.

The pattern has two views, a shirt or a tunic. I made the shirt.

The fabric is a mystery fabric from deep stash. Unfortunately it had a high polyester content (or is totally polyester) so frayed a lot and was difficult to get crisp pressing. I'm pleased with the pattern and would definitely make it again in future.

The buttons were also from stash, really nice to find enough of the same button for a whole shirt :-)

This is the "shirt with a tower placket" goal from my WIPGO board.

Teal Bias cut top Butterick 3131

 The same fabric, only this time cut on the bias for this cowl neck top. Another long OOP pattern Butterick 3131.

I made a size 18. I found setting the sleeves in and sewing the bias hem both quite tricky.

Teal Tunic OOP New Look 6677

 I have had New Look 6677 for many years but only just got round to making it up.

My measurements put me between an 20 and 22, So I started with a size 20.

I made a full bicep alteration on the sleeve and a high round back alteration on back.

When I made up the body and tried it on it was clearly too wide. I unpicked the side seams and darts, recut the pattern and front/back to a size 18, re stitched the new darts and side seams and tried it on again. Much better. I then inserted the sleeves and hemmed.

It is a nice neat fit which does look like the line drawing.

This is the first piece in my SWAP 2023 which is inspired by this fabric

Turquoise Shrug

I wanted a little shrug to wear on top of the sleeveless dress, some time ago I had printed out a free pattern, so once I'd found it I stuck it together and used it. (I will share the link to the free pattern further down but have some issues with it).

Here's my version, the teal ribbing is a slightly different shade to the main knit use, but was the closest I had.

Here's the line drawings for the garment, I made a size 14 (thinking US sizing) and cut the neckline ribbing the same width as the cuffs (on the pattern its twice the width which I thought would be too much).

The pattern I used is the Slinky Shrug, free download from Fabric.com.

You'll adore this super-simple Shrug designed for drapery knits and woven fabrics, and finished with a stretchy rib trim. You can also use a self-fabric finish around the shrug if you are using knits. Try rayon, cotton, bamboo or silk knits, or choose soft, drapery wovens like georgette or crepe.

Relaxed-fit, batwing-sleeved Shrug has a curved edge-to-edge front and 3/4 length sleeves. The neckline, hem and sleeves are finished with a deep ribbed trim. Shrug finishes at the hip.

Wear this fabulously easy Shrug to add a little festive glamour to a classic pants-and-T-shirt look, or slip it on over your favorite party dress for a little extra warmth and coverage.

It's an old pattern which has been on their site for a long time. I quite like the style BUT it is very poorly laid out in the PDF and uses 27 pages of paper (I'm hoping this is due to the limited technology for creating pdf patterns at the time). I would actually recommend that you save half a tree and do a rough draft of a batwing top and then some rectangles of ribbing for the cuffs and neckband.

If you still want to download it then its here - Slinky Shrug - Discount Designer Fabric - Fabric.com