Blog - Patterns for Pirates

The Peg Event :: FOE Pocket Hack for the Peg Legs – Colorblock Pack

September 5, 2020

Welcome back to another day of The Peg Event! We hope you are loving our newest release of the Peg Legs – Colorblock Pack and update to the beloved Peg Legs, and Peg Legs – Add-On Pack!

Before we get to the main event, I’d like to remind you that we’ve got a sitewide sale happening from now until Saturday, September 12. In addition to that, we’ve got an awesome giveaway happening, with 14 amazing prizes (and 14 amazing prize winners)! You can read all about The Peg Event HERE.

Our Fabulous Group Admin + Tester Extraordinaire, Dana Cole, is being extra amazing today and bringing us an easy hack for the new Peg Legs – Colorblock Pack. Take it away, Dana!

FOE Pocket Hack for the Peg Legs – Colorblock Pack

If, like me, you made about a million Fierce Bras you probably have lots of leftover bits of Fold Over Elastic (FOE) hanging around in your elastics box. Using FOE to bind the top of the pockets in the new v-contour waistband, or the side pockets of the side colour-block Pegs released during the previous update helps give them even greater stability. I have been for several runs in my new Peg Legs with my phone in the pocket and it has stayed secure the entire time. It’s so easy, here’s how to do it.

First cut out your pattern pieces as normal and then grab your FOE. I used ½” here but you could use a ¼” if you have that too.

In the new v-contour waistband there are two pockets which sit on top of one another over the centre back panel piece. I am using the smaller pocket, which sits on the outermost layer for our example today. The fabric is a swim knit, which I love to use for running Pegs.

Make sure you exercise your elastic really well. Then lay it down next to the top of your pocket and cut it to the same length.

Then sandwich the raw edge of the top of your fabric inside the FOE, so the FOE folds down over the top and covers the front and back equally.

Pin/clip in place. I like to use a glue marker here at either end to stop the elastic from shifting when you start to sew and remove the pins/clips. I use these all the time when sewing slippery or delicate fabrics.

I like to use a triple zig zag stitch when topstitching elastic on swimwear, sports or lingerie. It’s not only a great stretchy stitch but because it is so wide it also helps keep that elastic down and stops it from flipping up, which is what happens if you don’t sew close enough to the edge.

Make sure your needle when it swings to the left comes right to the edge of the elastic. This helps stop it flipping up too.

All done! Now just assemble your other pocket, if you are using it, the same way and then construct the rest of your Peg Legs as per the tutorial.

Enjoy your new Pegs!!

I like this one for my phone…and this one for my keys!

Thanks and happy sewing, Dana xx

Here are some links to all of our FREE leggings patterns, so you can get to sewing!

PEG LEGS | PEG LEGS – ADD-ON PACK | PEG LEGS – COLORBLOCK PACK

But wait! There’s more! We’ve got a giveaway prize to tell you about! Sponsoring today’s portion of The Peg Event is a fabulous fabric company!

SLY FOX FABRICS – www.slyfoxfabrics.com
INSTAGRAM | FACEBOOK GROUP

Sly Fox Fabrics is the best source for affordable, luxurious apparel fabrics. We offer a range of apparel fabrics, including buttery soft Double Brushed Poly which is perfect for soft, cozy Peg Legs!

One lucky winner will walk away with a $50 Gift Card to their shop! And on top of that, you can enjoy a 20% Discount thru 9/12/20 by using the code: PegLegMania

The two fabrics featured in the image above can be found here: Heavy Double Brushed Poly Solid – Black | Double Brushed Poly – Field of Dreams

**Daily and Grand Prize winners will all be announced together on Sunday, September 13.

The Peg Event :: Peg Legs Release + Update – What’s New?

September 4, 2020

What a day, what a DAY! We are pumped about our newest release of the Peg Legs – Colorblock Pack and update to the beloved Peg Legs, and Peg Legs – Add-On Pack!

Before we get moving too far into this, I’d like to remind you that we’ve got a sitewide sale happening from now until Saturday, September 12. In addition to that, we’ve got an awesome giveaway happening, with 14 amazing prizes (and 14 amazing prize winners)! You can read all about The Peg Event HERE.

Let’s talk the new Peg Legs – Colorblock Pack, shall we?

The Peg Legs – Colorblock Pack is a special spin on our basic leggings pattern.

This new Colorblock Pack give you a super fun diagonal piece on the thigh for a lot of fun opportunities with different fabric combinations. The diagonal colorblock is also super flattering on the front and back. The waistband is a high waisted/high rise contoured waistband but this time we gave it a little heart/v shaped to the back side to show off those squats you’ve been working on!

The waistband also has a fun diagonal pocket or two to hold your things…because pockets are important! We truly hope everyone enjoys this fun new pack to the Peg Leg collection!

Options include: Shorts (5″ inseam), Bike (just above knee), Capri (calf), 7/8 (above ankle), and ankle lengths. You can choose from plain waistband, 1 pocket or 2 pockets.

Enjoy several videos throughout the tutorial like what fabric suggestions and a complete sew up from start to finish.

They are drafted in adult sizes and are for the full, newer size chart, extending from XXS – Plus 5X! If you haven’t sewn with us in a while, please make sure to check the size charts, as there were slight adjustments made to accommodate the new size range for adults.

Peg Legs – Colorblock Pack

**Want to learn more about how to measure yourself for this pattern? We’ve got you covered with an in-depth blog HERE. And in case you’re new to Patterns for Pirates and PDF patterns in general, we have a great blog full of new-user tips HERE to help you get started! As with all of our current releases and updates, the pdfs now include our layers feature and can be found in Letter, A4 and A0 sizes. And for even more helpful fun, we have a *free* printable that you can use to help record your measurements as you take them.

Let’s take a look at some of our tester images!

If you’re looking for a little more inspo from our fabulous testers, head over to this FACEBOOK ALBUM to look at all the goodness they are providing you!

On top of the new release covered above, we also gave an update to our original Peg Legs pattern, as well as the Peg Legs – Add-On Pattern!

What changed? Here are the details:

We adjusted our size chart and range to match with our updated range. Now Peg Legs can be made for anyone sizes XXS – Plus 5X!
- If you haven’t measured yourself in a while, take some time to do so. It’s healthy when sewing for yourself anyway, because weight and size can fluctuate so much and you want to make the perfect size for yourself. But also, our chart adjusted ever so slightly and you might fit into a different size range now.
We added a projector file for our friends who like to use their paperless technology.
There are a few more labels added to the pattern pieces, to help with common questions we’ve seen come up over the years.

Here are some links to all of our FREE leggings patterns, so you can get to sewing!

PEG LEGS | PEG LEGS – ADD-ON PACK | PEG LEGS – COLORBLOCK PACK

But wait! There’s more! We’ve got some giveaway prizes to tell you about! Sponsoring today’s portion of The Peg Event are two fabulous fabric companies!

WANDERLUST DESIGNS – www.wanderlustcustomfabric.com
INSTAGRAM | FACEBOOK GROUP | PINTEREST

Wanderlust Designs Inc has been selling custom fabrics since 2015. They carry many bases including Cotton Lycra, Brushed Poly, Athletic and Swim, all of which are fantastic for Peg Legs.

One lucky winner will walk away with a $50 Gift Card to their shop! And on top of that, you can enjoy a 10% Discount thru 9/12/20 by using the code: PEGLEG10

THE STYLED MAGNOLIA – www.thestyledmagnolia.com
INSTAGRAM | FACEBOOK GROUP

TSM is a one stop shop where you can find all things custom printed fabric. They offer custom printed fabric on 14 different base options with no minimum order requirements. TSM specializes in high quality custom printed Athletic bases found in many ready to wear athletic garments and offers three different methods of ordering: Retail, Preorder, & Pick-A-Print.

One lucky winner will walk away with a $100 Shop Credit to spend on their fabrics! And today only, you can take advantage of a 15% Discount by using the code: TSMLOVESPEGS

**Daily and Grand Prize winners will all be announced together on Sunday, September 13.

The Peg Event :: Sale, Release + Giveaway!

September 3, 2020

SURPRISE Pirate fans! We are filling your next ten days with as much fun as we could think up!

Make sure you visit the blog each day because from September 3 – September 12 we’ve got:

GIVEAWAYS,
a SITEWIDE SALE,
a re-RELEASE of the beloved Peg Legs Leggings Pattern,
a NEW RELEASE of a Peg Legs – Colorblock Pack,
EASY HACKS for the Peg Legs,
INFORMATIONAL VIDEOS for your Peg Leg sewing assistance,
and STYLE INSPIRATION from some amazing sewists in our community!

Because this week is all about our love of the Peg Legs pattern, let’s talk shop first. The Peg Legs Legging pattern has had a few tweaks, including an update that extends the sizing of it. We now cover the size range of XXS – Plus 5X, which means that now even more pirate booties can fall in love with Pegs. In addition to the size range adjustments, we’ve also added a brand new version of the Peg Legs, in the form of the Colorblock Pack! Get ready, because you’re going to swoon.

Go grab the new Peg Legs – Colorblock Pack Now!

Just like the Peg Legs and Peg Legs – Add Ons, this is a FREE pattern…no code necessary. What are you waiting for??

If you’re ready to hear more about the Peg Legs Update, or want to know all the details that come along with the Colorblock Pack…don’t worry. We will be covering all of the details here on the blog tomorrow!

If you’ve never sewn Peg Legs before, or just need a little refresher course, I would highly recommend heading over to our Peg Legs 101 post. It’s full of resources that will help you get to sewing your most perfect leggings ever.

You can also find some help on our website for things like: How To Measure Yourself | New User Tips | How To Use the Layers Feature in our PDF Patterns | A0 (Copy Shop Sized) Printing Help | A Free Printable Measurement Chart

Alright, let’s talk GIVEAWAY! We’ve got a total of FOURTEEN prizes that can be yours. And you can enter as many times as you want during the next ten days, in order to try for one of the prizes. So exciting!

Thanks to our amazing fabric shop sponsors, we have daily prizes to give away!

Along with all of those amazing fabric prizes, we have a GRAND PRIZE for one lucky pirate!! If you want to sew more Peg Legs and P4P clothing items, it’d help if you had some shiny new machines, wouldn’t it? Someone is going to be receiving both of these machines, shipped straight to your home! Brother 1034D Serger | Brother 2340CV Coverstitch And, to sweeten the deal, you get to pick out 20 (TWENTY!!!) Patterns for Pirates patterns that you’d like dropped into your account for free. How about them apples?

Are you ready to play? Here’s how!

A few more details:

The item sewn up and shared must be a P4P pattern that creates a piece of clothing. Think: shirt, pants, jacket, swimwear, etc. (This just means no accessories like hats, scarfs, etc.) You can use a free pattern as long as it is clothing, like the Tulip Tee or Peg Legs.
- You need to sew it up as is, with only fit changes (no hacks or modifications). Adding embellishments is great, just no major changes, pattern mashes, etc. We want to be able to tell what pattern you used without having to ask!
Share your pictures on one or all of the social media networks for more chances to win with hashtag #P4PThePegEvent — it must be EXACT to come up in our search for the winner!
Let us know what P4P pattern you sewed up and what you’re most looking forward to winning.
You can share as many sews as you can for more chances to win, but ALL items/images shared must be sewn AFTER the giveaway starts 09/03/20! Any older sews will be disqualified from winning either prizes. Last entries accepted will be 09/12/2020 at 11:59PM US Central Time.
Winner will be random lottery winner! This way, everyone has a chance from a beginner who might be sewing their first P4P to a seasoned apparel sewist!
Daily prize winners and Grand Prize winners will all be announced at patternsforpirates.com on 09/13/20.

Since you might need to grab a new pattern (or two….or three….or ten!) we have a SITEWIDE SALE running the entire length of this event! Enjoy 30% off of your total purchase from today until September 12!

This will be the last site wide sale this year so grab them up while you can!!
Sale ends at the same time as giveaway entries: 09/12/20 11:59PM at Midnight US Central Time.
There is a coupon code: PEGEVENT but it will automatically pop up at checkout and you just need to click to apply the discount!

X Factor Sew Along – day 7

September 1, 2020

Congratulations to all participants in this month’s sew along. You are all winners in my book! We absolutely loved seeing all the X Factor crop and dresses made last week. Without further ado…

Our first winner is Jeanne T Weidner! Jeanne won a $20 gift card from Patterns for Pirates and a $25 one to Mily Mae Fabrics. The X Factor was Jeanne’s first sew along and she did fantastic!

Congratulations go out to Kaitlin Schwartz too! Kaitlin will receive a $20 gift card for Made for Mermaids and a $25 store credit to Milly Mae Fabrics. Her little girl just shines in her mini X Factor dress.

A huge THANK YOU to our sponsor, Mily Mae Fabrics who set our winners up with store credit and provided the gorgeous bamboo Lycra I used during the videos. You too can grab some here.

September is Mermaids month in the M4M & P4P Sew Along group. Colleen will be announcing which pattern we will be sewing together this month.

X Factor Sew Along – day 6

August 29, 2020

Last sewing day is here…and it’s probably the most rewarding one. Today we will get to see the project come to life. For the crop option you will be attaching the band to the bodice matching the side seams. Keep in mind that it is much easier to sew a couple of inches on each side of the center seam with your sewing machine (using a stretch stitch!) than it is to sew all around the waist with only the serger. If you are sewing the dress option, you would need to make sure that the waistband is sandwiched between the skirt and the bodice, right sides together.

Last steps of this sew along are hemming the sleeves and skirt. If you did the crop tank, you are already done. The sleeves are hemmed 1/2″. Did you make your memory hem a few days ago? Well now it comes in handy. The skirt is hemmed 1″ while the sleeves are hemmed 1/2″. In the video below you can see how I finish the dress option including the 1″ hem.

Thank you so much for joining us this week. We loved watching your creations come to life! Don’t forget to post your final photo in the comments of day 6 check in picture of the sew along album. We will pick two winners and announce them here on the blog Monday evening or Tuesday.

X Factor Sew Along – day 5

August 28, 2020

Welcome to day 5 of our X Factor sew along! Today we create the skirt by adding the optional pockets and sewing the side seams. If you are making the crop top style, today is a rest or catch up day. No need for any check in pictures.

You might have noticed in the first video of this sew along that I added the pockets to my pattern piece (removing the seam allowance) so I will not have to stitch them. One less step 😉 In the video below I show you how I use my serger to sew the side seams instead of a combination of sewing machine and serger. Both methods work great so chose the one you are more comfortable.

Reminder: the patten includes two links to complete sew ups of the X Factor so you can also follow Judy’s method of sewing the side seams when the skirt has pockets. And why would you even consider skipping the pockets? 😊

If you are doing the dress option, check in for day 5 in the comment of today’s photo of the sew along album. See you back here tomorrow for the final steps!

X Factor Sew Along – day 4

August 27, 2020

Day 4 is here! Today we add the neckband and the back band. If you are new to sewing with knits or simply would like a refresher, take a look over our P4P University Neckbands 101 blog post. This blog shows you how to create the crew neck. The most important thing to keep in ming when creating and adding the crew neckband is to press, press, press!

In the Day 4 video below I walk you through creating and adding the V neckband. This is a slightly different way of creating the neckband than I showed in the P4P University V neckband blog. This time we will overlap the ends creating the V point that way. I highly encourage you to add the V part of the neckline with the sewing machine, instead of a serger. It will make for a more precise stitch and a neater look.

Last step is to stitch the back band to the front one. Keep in mind that the front band is attached to the bodice. Overlap the parts that will become the waistband one time (doesn’t matter if you overlap left on top of right or vice versa). With the right sides together sew the side seams of the band following the 1/2″ seam allowance.

Don’t forget to add your check in photo to the comments of Day 4 in the X Factor sew along album. See you back here tomorrow!

X Factor Sew Along – day 3

August 26, 2020

Ahoy, pirates! Today’s steps include adding the sleeves or armbands (for the tank option) and sewing the side seams. I have decided to make a long sleeve dress to wear on chillier Florida days.

For the short, 3/4 and long sleeves start by pressing a memory a 1/2 hem. If you are doing the cuffed long sleeves style, you will not be needing the memory hem.
If you opted for the tank style, start by pressing the bands lengthwise, wrong sides together. Open them up and sew the short ends to create a loop.

Tip: when pinning the sleeved to the arm opening start with the shoulder seam, then pin the two outer corners. This will make easing the sleeves into the opening very easy. There shouldn’t be any stretch, but you will ease the concave curve into the convex one.

When adding the arm bands to the tank option, you want to avoid stretching the band too much on the front and back. The most stretch should be at the armpit and shoulder. This will help ensure that the bands lay nicely when worn.

Day 3 video is below. As always, don’t forget to add your progress photo to the comments of today’s check in photo in the sew along album.

X Factor Sew Along – day 2

August 25, 2020

Welcome to day 2 of our X Factor Sew along. Today is a pretty easy and quick day. We sew the front seam of the bodice and the shoulder seams. Place the two mirror front bodice pieces right sides together, matching the center seam. Using your sewing machine, stitch a couple of inches at the bottom with a 1/2 seam allowance. You can sew the rest of the front seam with the serger if you prefer.

Once this step is completed you will sew the shoulder seams right sides together, following a 1/2″ seam allowance.

Tip: Add clear elastic to the shoulder seams to strengthen them and make sure the shoulders don’t stretch throughout the day.

We have included two FULL pattern sew ups in the tutorial (see page 7). Judy has covered all options in the two videos so you can always refer to them throughout the week.

Upon completion of today’s steps snap a picture of your progress and add it to the day 2 check in photo comments in the X factor SAL album located in the P4P & M4M sew along group.

X Factor Sew Along – day 1

August 24, 2020

Welcome to the X Factor Crop and Dress sew along!

In the next 6 days we will be sewing together the newest P4P pattern. Join us for a chance to win some fabric and pattern money and have fun alongside our community! If you have not purchased your copy yet, you can buy the adult X Factor here, the youth one here, or you can get the bundle and save. If you are still undecided which style to make, our Round Up blog will give you a glance at all options included, from sleeve lengths to necklines. You can also use the Easy Hacks blog for added options.

Let’s start by taking the measurements needed for the best fit. P4P has an amazing blog that gives you tips for accurately taking your measurements. You can read all about it here. If your measurements put you in a different size for chest/waist/hips be sure to check out our P4P University blog and grade to achieve the perfect fit. The X Factor patterns include videos as well. On page 3 you will notice an active button that will take you to the video about adding or removing length. Please refer to it if you are taller or shorter than 5’5″.

Unsure about which knit type will work best for your desired look? Take a look over our P4P University Knit Types blog. We also included a cheat sheet that you can print. If you are like me and sometime are just keen on using a specific print for a specific pattern, read our Different fabric, different fit blog post before you cut your fabric.

The P4P team has started adding Projector Files to our new patterns. If you are looking to skip printing, buying rims of paper and ink, this new innovative way of cutting your patterns may be the option for you. I am using a mix of printed and projected pattern pieces for my dress.

The X Factor is drafted for high and 4 way stretch knit fabric. My personal recommendations are rayon spandex, bamboo lycra, ITY, Cupro and double brushed poly. You can also use athletic knit and certain sweater knits. During this sew along I will be making the V neck dress style using a stunning Mily Mae Fabrics burgundy bamboo spandex. MMF is also this sew along’s sponsor so two lucky winners will receive gift certificates to their shopping website.

You can see the first video below, including how I use my projector file for the bodice. Once you cut the fabric, post a picture of your pretty pile in the comments of DAY 1 photo of the Runabout album in the M4M & P4P Sew Along Group.