Avoid these common sewing mistakes with this free eBook. Grab your guide here.

Colour Blocking

Pattern Review of the Ivy Colourblock Tee
Pattern: Ivy Colorblocked Tee
Designer: Sinclair Patterns
Fabrics: Cotton Lycra Solids and Panels from Rubyjam Fabrics
Skill level: Beginner
Measurements: Bust: 45″; Waist 39.5″; Hips 47″
Size made: 18
Adjustments: None
Pros: I love the yoke and color blocking on this one, it makes for such a flattering fit.
Cons: None

The Wrap Up

This month in The Sewing Corner, I had the pleasure of sewing up the Ivy Colorblocked Tee from Sinclair Patterns, and I have to say, I’m pretty pleased with how it turned out!
First of all, I have to comment on the pattern itself. Sinclair Patterns is known for their well-drafted and thorough patterns, and the Ivy Tee is no exception. The instructions are clear and easy to follow, plus the pattern includes a wide range of sizes which I always appreciate.
As for the design of the Ivy Tee, I love the colorblocking! It’s such a fun and modern twist on a classic tee, and it allows you to play around with different fabric combinations. I went with a darker teal solid on top and utilised one of Rubyjam’s jamPODs (Panels On Demand) for the lower section, and I’m really happy with how it turned out.
You can have a lot of fun using different colour combos as well as integrating pattern prints to either the yoke or bottom colour block. If you like to matchy match, there is the kids version, the Ivyberry, that you can play around with too.
As I mentioned above, this is the tutorial I filmed for The Sewing Corner this month, so if you need help sewing this pattern up come and join in the community of The Sewing Corner. Rubyjam is the sponsor this month so you not only get the tutorial, you get an exclusive discount only available to Sewing Corner members of 15% off their Panels on Demand. They have over 1000 to choose from now, make sure you check them out!
If you’re not sure about the on going monthly subscription of The Sewing Corner, you can also purchase this course on it’s own, check out the link HERE to find out more.

Shop the Pattern

Shop Rubyjam Solids

Shop Rubyjam Panels

What next?

Find the confidence you've been lacking

Learn to enjoy sewing and have confidence in the garments you make.

Find out more
Pattern Review of the Adult Discoverer Tee
Pattern: Adult Discoverer Tee
Designer: Ellie & Mac
Fabrics: Cotton Lycra from Rubyjam Fabrics
Skill level: Beginner
Measurements: Bust: 45″; Waist 40″; Hips 46″
Size made: XXL
Adjustments: None
Pros: Love the colour blocking on this and how it allows you to mix and match coordinating fabrics.
Cons: None

The Wrap Up

I had a lot of fun sewing this one up.
My Brother in Law’s partner has a bit of a thing for avocado’s so as soon as I saw this fabric I knew that I wanted to make it into something for her.
The discoverer tee seemed perfect as I was able to colour block with a solid to break up the ‘strong’ hero print. It’s also quite a flattering fit for larger busted women (as my sis in law is) as the colour blocking hits above the bust.
If you like a simple, easy sew with colour blocked options, this is a great pattern. I have also written a tutorial on how to add knit piping across the colour blocked section which I’ll link here. I did it for a the kids version but it’s the same principle for the adult version.

Shop the Pattern Here

Shop Rubyjam here

Learn to sew it LIVE

What next?

Lacking motivation and need help?

Join a supportive community that motivates and inspires you to get the best from your sewing time. You’ll also learn loads as well!

Find out more
How to add a knit binding feature to the Kids Discoverer Tee
I love the kids discoverer tee. Its such a great, simple pattern with great colour blocking. It’s one of my go to patterns when making the kids basics.

Recently, I’ve been adding a little contrast knit binding at the front colour blocking, just to give the pattern a little something-something and I really think it jazzes it up a little. The best thing is, its really EASY to do! In this blog, I’ll walk you through all the steps you need to take to add your own contrast binding. If you haven’t already, grab the pattern here:

Kids Discoverer Tee

Two versions of the Kids Discoverer Tee with the knit binding addition

Let’s get started!

The first thing you need to do is cut out all your pattern pieces as per instructed in the pattern. You should have the front top piece, back top piece, 2 bodice pieces (front and back), sleeves, neckband and the optional cuff and waistband pieces if thats what you are doing, as shown below. (I chose not to do those pieces and will hem my sleeves and tee so they are not pictured)

The pieces you should start with

Once you have cut those pieces, you are going to take one of the bodice pieces and measure how wide it is across the top. I’m making the 2T and its about 12 inches from side to side.

Measure the top of your bodice piece as indicated here

You are now going to cut a piece of knit fabric that is going to be your binding. You want this to be about an inch longer than what you measured the top of your bodice piece to be anything from a 1-2 inches in width. For this tee I cut mine 2 inches wide, but I think I actually prefer the original knit binding I did on the black and grey tee which I’m pretty sure was only 1 inch wide. You just need to take into account that you are going to loose about 1/4 of an inch or more when sewing it on.

I used a clear quilting ruler to cut mine which made it really easy to mark out the 2 inches width and the length I wanted of 13 inches long.

Marking out my knit binding piece

Once you’ve cut your knit binding piece, fold it in half, wrong sides together and give it a press if you like. Then you are going to pin/clip it along the top of the bodice piece, raw edges together. It should look like the image below.

Baste the binding piece to the bodice piece with a long straight stitch on your sewing machine.

Clip/pin your binding piece to your bodice piece

Now lay your top front piece on top of the bodice and knit binding piece, aligning the raw edges so the knit binding piece is sandwiched between the bodice and the top front bodice piece. The edges of the binding will stick out at the sides but thats ok, we’ll trim them after. Pin/clip in place and serge them together.

Top front bodice pin/clipped to your bodice piece

Flip the front bodice piece up and press the seam toward the top. Top stitch the seam in place using your preferred top stitching method. I have used a cover-stitch but a stretch stitch or twin needle on a normal machine will look nice as well.

The seam has been pressed up and topstitched

Trim the sides to neaten up your front bodice piece.

Trimmed front bodice piece

Tadah! You can now continue with the instructions as indicated in the pattern.

Completed garment

As I mentioned above, have a try with different widths until you get the width of knit binding you are happy with. I think adding the binding gives this tee such a snazzy look and helps give it a little extra something!

Thanks for reading, I really hope it helped you add your own knit binding to your kids discoverer tee. Tag me on instagram with your makes, I’d love to see them! @sewandtellau

Gallery:
Pattern Review of the Women’s Domino Dolman
Pattern: Womens Domino Dolman Tee
Designer: Peek a Boo Pattern Shop
Fabrics: Accent fabric – Fabric By Missy Rose, Solid – Sew Unique Fabrics
Measurements: Bust: 45″; Waist: 39″; Hips: 48″
Size made: 2X
Adjustments: Took the sides in a little as it was very roomy
Pros: Such a quick sew! and I love the different colour block options. Nursing Friendly as well
Cons: It was very roomy in the 2X, I would normally make the XL, so will size down for my next one.

Links:

Womans Domino Dolman Pattern

Farbic by Missy Rose

Sew Unique Fabrics

The Wrap Up:

When Amy from Peek a Boo Pattern Shop put the tester call out for this one, I applied straight away. I love a Dolman tee, and the options for this one in terms of colour blocking were super appealing to me.

According to my measurements I fell in the 2X size category, which I made, but to be honest I felt this pattern had quite a lot of ease so it felt very roomy to me. I ended up taking the sides in about an inch on either side which worked well.

It is an incredibly quick pattern to put together, especially with the dolman style sleeve. I can definitely see a few more in my future, it is a great way to mix and match solids and accent fabrics. Also a good way to use up smaller cuts of fabric on the top colour block.

A great essential tee to have in your pattern collection.
Pattern Review of the Harper Hoodie
Pattern: Harper Hoodie
Fabrics: Purple: Cotton Fleece from Sew Unique Fabrics Accent: ‘Artistic Ink’ from Sew Unique Farbics
Pink: Jogging Sweater Knit from Wattle Hill Fabrics
Measurements: Bust: 42.5″; Waist: 39.5″; Hips: 47.5″
Size made: Straight 22. I like my hoodies big and oversized
Adjustments: None
Pros: LOVE the colour blocking on this. It is super comfy to wear and I love the look of the welt pockets.
Cons: I had to unpick the welt part of the pockets 3 times before I got it looking good enough that I was happy with it. I also felt the pocket bags on the inside look a little clunky.

Links:

Harper Hoodie Pattern

Sonia Estep Facebook Group

Sew Unique Fabrics

Wattle Hill Fabrics

The Wrap Up:

This brand new hoodie pattern from Sonia Estep is a big winner in my eyes. From the minute I saw it, I knew I would love it and am so glad I got a chance to sew it up. It may be Summer over here in the Southern Hemisphere, but its never too early to start my winter wardrobe. Especially living in Melbourne. We can be in the middle of a heat wave and then next thing you’re freezing and fighting off hail storms! Never a dull moment in Melbourne haha.
I had a few choices for fabrics on this one. As I often do when I’m planning a new project, I got them all out and laid them together to see what combo jumped out at me. I straight away was drawn to the purple and pink combo, and the artistic ink was definitely a front runner.

As the artistic ink is a Cotton Lycra, quite thin, and the purple and pinks are cotton fleece, thick and fluffy, I decided to cut all my artistic ink pieces in black Cotton Fleece as well to ‘back’ each piece. I then treated them as one piece when sewing it together. It is a little bit of a extra tricky step, but well worth it for me.

Once I had decided on the fabrics, the next was choosing a size. In the past I have sewn to ‘my measurements’ and while the garments fit, and looks good, its taken me 3 or 4 hoodies to realise that I actually REALLY like oversized hoodies. Like, I buy RTW mens sized ones cause I want them big and snuggly. So this time I made a size 2-3 up from what my measurements said and its PERFECT.

The process of putting the garment together was quite straight forward, just a few extra steps in the piecing it together. I had to be very careful I made sure all the pieces went together as they should so that the colour blocks would match up. I did put my bottom pieces on upside down to begin with so that was a fun half hour unpicking that. doh!
My fabrics laid out to choose colour combo
The next part I had some issues with was the welt pockets. I had not done a welt pocket quite how it was constructed in this pattern and had some problems getting my outer piece even and nestled nicely from the front. One of the sides I unpicked 3 times, and the other side once. I am glad I did, as it was worth it to have it looking good, but it did cause for some swear words haha. I also thought the inside pocket bags were a little odd in terms of how they sit, and if I make another would look to how I could modify to perhaps make a circle through pocket, but for now I might hand stitch them to the inside so they don’t dip below the waistband when weighted down by objects in them.

Inside of pocket bags and my black ‘lined’ artistic ink pieces

I had some questions over wether I crossed my hood too much when I first did it, but it works. The designer also commented that the hood is intentionally a more ‘dramatic’ hood crossover than most. The cowl look around the neck when its not up is particularly appealing to me, I think it looks great!

The Harper Hoodies is definitely a staple in my wardrobe now and am looking forward to being able to crack her out A LOT over winter. The pattern is on sale for 50% till Thursday, click on the link below (afflink) to grab your copy.

Gallery: