Angela, Author at Patterns for Pirates

Pumpkin Spice Dolman Cold Shoulder Hack

April 4, 2017

Cold shoulder tops are all the rage right now and it’s a quick and easy hack to add to your Pumpkin Spice Dolman. The Pumpkin Spice Dolman is one of my very favorites and they are in constant rotation in my wardrobe, so as soon as I saw someone in the Patterns for Pirates Facebook Group ask about a hack, I knew I had to make one ASAP. Let’s get started!

First you are going to cut out all your pieces, I choose to do the 3/4 sleeve with the long band for mine. Once your pieces are cut, we are going to line up our shoulders seams but instead of sewing the hole seam we are going to make a couple of marks. I marked 1.5 inches down from the neck and placed a pin there and then 2.5 inches up from where the arm attaches. I am sewing a XXS and that is what worked for me but feel free to adjust those measurements to make it perfect for you. Now we are going to sew from the edge to where we put our pin on the sewing machine. It’s really important that you don’t use your serger for this step!

Now that our seams are sewn, we are going to press them open and continue pressing where we didn’t sew open as well. Measure to make sure that you are pressing exactly your 1/2 inch seam allowance. Once you have it pressed open we are going to top stitch both sides of the seam allowance. I’m using my coverstitch here, but you can use a twin needle or a single needle, whichever you prefer. You just created your cold shoulder, easy right?! You will now continue constructing your top just as the pattern says.

And don’t forget the Pumpkin Spice Dolman has a matching girls pattern the Spice Cake so you can also make the girls in your life a matching cold shoulder top- I know that my daughter is all about the cold shoulder and I plan on making her a couple too!

Don’t forget to show off your creations in the Facebook Group, we adore seeing all your creations – Angela

P4P Raglan Week: Animal Faces

September 21, 2016

I don’t know about anyone else, but my daughter is completely obsessed with animals. Lucky for me, she also loves the Jolly Roger Raglan- so it was a natural choice to put an animal face on a raglan for her. Raglans are an essential piece of her fall wardrobe and such a great style on girls or boys and now with the Add-on pack you have so many more options but it’s still fun to add some character to the front. The shape of the raglan sleeve are perfect for fun details like animal ears so we have created 2 different ear options and 5 animal faces for you- a kitty, panda, fox or deer, and pirate puppy! You can find the face file and ear pieces here.

Here is a quick tutorial on what to do!

First we are going to cut 4 of whatever ear option you are choosing (2 pieces for each ear). You can mix and match as you choose, we had quite the discussion on what ear belongs to which animal and we are still undecided on if a raccoon has rounded or pointed ears so we are going to leave it to you to decide! I used a fairly heavy weight cotton lycra on my ears but if you are using a thinner knit you may want also want to use interfacing on your ears (if so, cut your interfacing and iron it on now). Next we are going to take our ears and place right sides together, then sew with a 1/4 inch seam allowance around our ear leaving the bottom straight edge open. I like to trim my seam allowance down with my pinking shears but you can also make tiny clips around your curve. Turn your ears right side out and press them well. You can top stitch your ears if you would like, I chose not to top stitch mine.

Next we are going to take our front piece and line up our ears. I placed the edge of the kitty ear 1.5 inches down from the top of the shoulder on a size 5. With the rounded ear I would move it farther down just a tad, I placed my panda ear at 1.75. You may want to move your ear up a bit on the smaller sizes or down a bit on the larger sizes, do whatever you like but be mindful of the 0.5 inch seam allowance on the neckband as you don’t want to place your ear too close to the top and sew it into your neckband. Once you have your ear placed on your front add your sleeve pin or clip in place and repeat on the other side. Sew your sleeves into your front piece and continue construction as normal. TIP: before your attach your neck band iron all your seams, you want your seams where your ears are placed to point towards the shirt and not the sleeve, it makes a huge difference on keeping your ears standing up! Once you’ve finished your shirt, if your ears are wanting to fall forward just tack them in place on the top of each ear. I just pinned them in place and did a couple stitches on my machine. Or you could stitch them all the way around onto your sleeve, completely up to you.

Now you just need to iron on your vinyl! This again, is a personal choice. I like my face fairly high on the shirt but others like it lower. Don’t have a way to cut vinyl, that’s OK! You can cut the pieces out of fabric and applique them on, add buttons for eyes, rick rack for whiskers… just have fun with it!

Go sew a bunch of animal faced raglans and let your inner animal out! Happy sewing and as always post your creations in the Patterns for Pirates Group- we are excited to see what your create! Don’t forget to tag your posts #p4praglanweek

P.S. Another quick tip, the kitty face raglan below is more of a tunic length, but you will see that is not an included option in the pattern. A quick way to achieve a tunic length for girls is by adding the band to the hemmed length! Quick, easy and gives you one more cute option.

If you’ve created your very own adorable animal version of the Jolly Roger during P4P Raglan week, we would love for you to share it with us! Head over to the Facebook Group or share on Instagram. And be sure to use the tag #P4PRaglanWeek so we can find you!

Curious about what else has been happening during our raglan-loving week of fun?

Just take a look at our schedule!

Monday, September 19: Jolly Roger Raglan Pattern Update + Jolly Roger Add-On Pack Pattern Release

Tuesday, September 20: JRR Woven Fabric Hack

Wednesday, September 21: JRR Animal Faces Add-On

Thursday, September 22: Contrast Band Hack for Kangaroo Pockets

Friday, September 23: Women’s Keyhole / Scoopback Raglan Hack

Saturday, September 24: Off-The-Shoulder Raglan Hack

Sunday, September 25: Adding Stripes to Your Raglan Sleeves

Darts 101

August 10, 2016

You may have already heard, but Patterns for Pirates has some ladies woven patterns in the works! Woven patterns tend to use a few techniques that are not often used in sewing knits. One common technique on woven patterns are darts and I’m here to give you a few tips on how to make the perfect dart. Darts are used to create contour and shape in your woven fabrics and accentuate your curves. You will find them quite often used in ladies patterns at the bust, and often on the back of pants or skirts. Don’t be intimidated by darts as they are actually very easy to sew!

I am using the Everyday Elegance Pattern for my example today and we will be focusing on the front piece. The first thing that I like to do before I even start cutting out my pieces is poke a little hole right thru my pattern piece at the tip of the dart. I usually just use a pen and make a hole big enough that I’ll be able to put the tip of my marking tool into it after I cut my pieces.

Once you have your front piece cut out you don’t want to remove your pattern piece from your fabric. I’m going to show two ways that I like to mark the dart depending on the type of fabric that I’m using. First, if I’m using something that is a bit more stable like a quilting cotton, chambray, or shirting fabric I will just take my marking pen (I use washable crayola felt pens or a disappearing tailors pen) I poke my pen thru the little hole that I made in the pattern piece. I then take a pair of scissors and make a 2 little snips in right where your darts end, on the side seam of your piece. You will then flip your fabric over, still folded, and repeat the same process on the other side.

If my fabric is slippery or really lightweight and tends to slip I will mark where I made the little hole with a needle and thread. Yes, I said needle and thread but I promise that it is much easier then trying to flip your fabric over and lining it all up again with your pattern piece. You are just going to make a little cross stitch with your needle and thread, keep it nice and loose and leave a long tails. Then as above make your two little snips on the side seams.

You’re now ready to remove your pattern piece. If you used the needle and thread method to mark the point of your dart gently pull your fabric apart and snip the threads that connect the 2 sides. Next we are going to connect the tip of the dart to where we snipped at the side seams. I use a ruler and draw from my point to the side seam on both sides. I then like to draw a line from the point straight down the middle. Now you are going to fold on that center line and press it with your iron making sure that your snips line up together. I then secure my dart with a few pins. Time to sew!

I like to decrease my stitch length just a bit, usually I sew at a 2.4 stitch length but for darts I go down to a 2 stitch length, this is just to make sure that when you press it after you’re done none of your stitches show. We are going to start at the side seam and sew right on the line that we drew earlier. When you get to the tip of the dart, DON’T BACK-STITCH! You want to sew right off the end of the dart, leave long thread tails. You can back-stitch at the side seams but never back-stitch at the tip of the dart. You want to tie off the end of the dart and then trim your threads. I usually knot my threads 3 times. This helps keep the very tip of your dart nice and clean/crisp.

Now we are done sewing the dart we want to press it. I like to use something that curves to press my dart. I have this little pressing tool that is used to press sleeves but it works great for darts to, you could also use a tailors ham. Don’t have anything? You can roll up a bigger piece of fabric you have in your stash. You want to press the dart down towards the bottom of the top from the wrong side. Then I flip it over and press it from the front and you’re all done!

Not that bad right?! Take the time to be accurate and press well. If you try to rush or skip out on the pressing you’ll be sorry!

Now go and practice your darts and get ready for the new woven patterns coming really soon!

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