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Rainbow Dress SEW ALONG – day 4

August 26, 2021

Welcome to the fourth day! Today we start working on the bodice, pretty quick sewing day. 

Let’s start by placing the bodice front and back, right sides together, aligning the shoulder edge. If your fabric is on the stretchier/heavier side, you can add clear elastic into the seam. Just remember to keep the seam allowance 1/2”, even if the clear elastic is narrower than that. Sew the shoulder seam with the serger or a stretch stitch on your sewing machine.

Whether you chose the high or the low scoop neckline(adult pattern only), take a look over our P4P University Neckbands 101 before you attach then neckband. 

Top stitching then neckband is optional. However, if you to decide to top stitch the collar style, I strongly recommend using a triple stretch stitch or a lightning bolt stitch for this step. 

In the video below I show you how to sew the shoulder seam and add the neckband using a serger. When you finish these steps be sure to post a picture of your progress in the comments of the Day 4 photo  (album is in the M4M & P4P Sew along group). See you back here tomorrow!

Rainbow Dress SAL – day 1 | Cut fabric

Rainbow Dress SAL – day 2 | Create rainbow skirt and add optional pockets

Rainbow Dress SAL – day 3 | Create collar

Rainbow Dress SAL – day 4 | Sew shoulder seams and add neckband

Rainbow Dress SAL – day 5 | Add sleeves and sew side seams

Rainbow Dress SAL – day 6 | Add skirt and hem

Rainbow Dress SAL – day  7 | Winners Announcement 

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Rainbow Dress SEW ALONG – day 3

August 25, 2021

Welcome to day 3 of our Rainbow dress sew along! 

Today we create the collar and baste it to the front bodice. You will notice that the collar lining pieces are slightly smaller than the main lining. That is intentional, it will help the collar lay nice and flat once sewn. The Rainbow dress collar can be woven or knit. I strongly encourage you to interface at least the lining piece with a woven interfacing, such as Pellon SF101. 

I have decided to add a little extra detail to my Rainbow dress collar so you will see how I incorporate piping in this project. I prefer store bought piping because it saves me the effort and time, but you can certainly make your own. To create your piping from scratch, simply cut strips of woven fabric that are 1.25″ wide on the bias. Press the strip lengthwise wrong sides together. Lay your cord in the crease and stitch with a long straight stitch as close to the cord as possible. OR….go to Joann or Walmart and grab some pre made piping 😉

Pin the piping to the outer curve of the main collar pieces, aligning the raw edges. Start about 1/2″ lower than the top and finish about 1/2″ from the end, veering your piping. This detail will ensure that there is no extra bulk in the shoulder seam or neckline. Baste it in place. I show you this step in the day 3 video.

Tip: use a zipper foot when working with piping! 

Now that the piping is added, place your lining piece over the main, right sides together. Ease the collar pieces as show in Judy’s video below and stitch.  

Turn the two collar pieces right side out and give them a good steam press! Optionally, you can top stitch the outer edge. If you added piping, use the zipper foot when top stitching.

The final step for today is to baste your collar to the front bodice. Align  the raw edges of the collar with the neckline and shoulder seam. Remember that for the adult Rainbow dress this option is only available for the high neckline. 

You can see how I created the collar in the day 3 video below. Once you complete these steps, add your check in photo in the comments of day 3 pic. You can find the check in album on FB, in our sew along group. 

Rainbow Dress SAL – day 1 | Cut fabric

Rainbow Dress SAL – day 2 | Create rainbow skirt and add optional pockets

Rainbow Dress SAL – day 3 | Create collar

Rainbow Dress SAL – day 4 | Sew shoulder seams and add neckband

Rainbow Dress SAL – day 5 | Add sleeves and sew side seams

Rainbow Dress SAL – day 6 | Add skirt and hem

Rainbow Dress SAL – day  7 | Winners Announcement 

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Rainbow Dress SEW ALONG – day 2

August 24, 2021

Welcome to the second day of our Rainbow dress Sew Along! Today we create the skirt by sewing the colorblock pieces and adding the the optional pockets. But let’s be honest here, who would skip the pockets? 😉

I love to lay the pieces in order (1 to 5) on the table, right side up to make sure I don’t mix them up. Place piece 5 over piece 4 and sew along the edge. I like to use my serger for this step (just remember the seam allowance is 1/2″!) however, you can sew the colorbloking part with a straight stitch. That part of the skirt will not be stretched when worn. 

Top stitching the seams is optional, however, encouraged. I don’t like the feel of the seam allowance  against my skin so I always top stitch it down. You can do this with your coverstitch, twin needles or just a simple straight stitch. 

It’s pockets time! Using the marking on the pattern, place your pocket pieces on the skirt, right sides together. Sew this step with your sewing machine! I show you in today’s video how to alternate between the sewing machine and serger when you add pockets to the skirt. 

You can see how I create my skirt in the video below. Once you complete today’s steps, post a picture of your progress in the comments of day 2 photo. You can find the Rainbow dress SAL album in the M4M/P4P sew along group on Facebook. 

Rainbow Dress SAL – day 1 | Cut fabric

Rainbow Dress SAL – day 2 | Create rainbow skirt and add optional pockets

Rainbow Dress SAL – day 3 | Create collar

Rainbow Dress SAL – day 4 | Sew shoulder seams and add neckband

Rainbow Dress SAL – day 5 | Add sleeves and sew side seams

Rainbow Dress SAL – day 6 | Add skirt and hem

Rainbow Dress SAL – day  7 | Winners Announcement 

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Rainbow Dress SEW ALONG – day 1

August 23, 2021

Welcome to the 🌈 Rainbow🌈 Dress SEW ALONG! 

Day 1 is reserved for printing the pattern and cutting the fabric. But first, if you have not purchased the Rainbow dress you can grab it here. If you’re sewing for a little one, a youth pattern is available too. You will get the most bank for your buck with the Bundle option, just think of all the matching dresses and tops! Before you select which style you are sewing along, browse over the Round Up Blog where we show you all options available.

Now that you have the patterns it’s time to select which file format you would like to use. Both the Youth and the Adult come in A4 and Letter format to print at home, A0 format to print with a plotter or at a copy shop AND a projector file. If you use the projector file you will not have to print anything!! That’s definitely my favorite way! You can see in today’s video how I use the file to cut the fabric. 

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. Our most recent patterns include videos as well so be sure to check them out!

Youth Metric
Youth Imperial

Youth Metric
Adult Imperial

Let’s talk a little about the right fabric for this pattern. As you can see in the video below I am using Bamboo Spandex from Hissy Fit Fabrics for my dress. This is by far my favorite knit type for this pattern. I also like a soft Cotton Spandex, sweater knit, Rayon Spandex, Modal, ITY, Cupro and Double Brushed Poly for it. All these bases can be layered so beautifully for cooler weather.

Hissy Fit Fabrics is also the sponsor for this sew along so our two lucky winners will receive gift cards to their shop.

If you are unsure about which knit type will work best for your desired look, take a look over our P4P University Knit Types blog. Judy 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.

I decided to add a cute piping detail to my collar. I love store bought piping but you can certainly make your own or just use faux piping. 

Day 1 video is posted below. Check it out and once you are done cutting your fabric post a picture of it in the comments of the Day 1 photo of the Rainbow Dress SAL album  in the M4M & P4P Sew Along group.

 

Rainbow Dress SAL – day 1 | Cut fabric

Rainbow Dress SAL – day 2 | Create rainbow skirt and add optional pockets

Rainbow Dress SAL – day 3 | Create collar

Rainbow Dress SAL – day 4 | Sew shoulder seams and add neckband

Rainbow Dress SAL – day 5 | Add sleeves and sew side seams

Rainbow Dress SAL – day 6 | Add skirt and hem

Rainbow Dress SAL – day  7 | Winners Announcement 

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P4P University Color Blocking Tips and Tricks

February 1, 2021

Hello, fellow sewing friends! I’m super excited to talk to you today about color blocking.  As long as I’ve been in the sewing world color blocking has always been really popular.   A lot of patterns even include it!   But what if your favorite p4p pattern doesn’t have any color blocking options?   Well, today I’m going to teach how to easily do it yourself!    If you aren’t familiar with color blocking, it’s basically just adding interesting unique blocks of different fabrics to your pattern without altering the fit.  It’s a great way to spice up a regular t-shirt, use up some scraps, and make for some fun visual art.  You can color block anything from sleeves, front bodice, back bodice, legs, hoods, if it has a pattern piece- you can color block it. Now, let’s get started!

First, you’ll want to pick your pattern and print out your chosen size.   (If you are using a projector you can do it but I highly recommend printing whatever piece you want to color block.  For my example, I color-blocked just the front bodice so I printed that and then used my projector to cut the rest of my pieces. )  Now if you plan on doing any “angled” color blocks and your pattern piece is on a fold- I recommend tracing the mirror image and attaching it to your piece so you have the “full piece”.   I used The Basic tee for my son and chose to only block the front of the shirt.

Now the fun part-  Choosing your color block!  Honestly, you can really do anything so just start drawing!  I use a straight edge to make sure my lines are nice and tidy (easier to sew that way).  The only thing I would avoid is really complicated shapes or anything like a floating “v-point” that doesn’t reach an end (you can see my example below in the red no box). If you are new to this technique I’d start simple to get the hang of it and then you can expand from there. This is what I drew out and what will be the final “look” of my shirt.

Once you’ve drawn your color-blocked lines you’ll want to cut them all out and these are your new pieces. Decide which fabric you want for what piece and it’s time to start cutting.

Now here’s the most important part-   You’ll need to add seam allowance to those pieces. You can choose whatever amount but I usually go with 1/4 inch.  Now you can either do this by laying your new pieces on a piece of paper and adding it to that piece so it becomes part of your pattern piece.

 

Or what I do is simply use my quilting ruler while cutting to add it to my piece. So for the cut part of my piece that needs seam allowance, I just line my quilting ruler 1/4 over my cut paper line and then use my rotary blade to cut that line instead of my paper line.

Make sure you add seam allowance to every place that you cut out a color block line on your pattern piece.

Now it’s time to sew!   If you decided to do any intersecting lines like this one I did.  You’ll want to sew those pieces together first.   So line up your piece edges right sides together and sew with the seam allowance you chose.  You’ll then want to topstitch your seam allowance down.

(Tip- if you are using a coverstitch I like to do a reverse coverstitch on the seam allowances with a fun color to add some extra “pop” to my color blocking).

Now repeat this with your other pieces until they all come back together.  It should finish at the same size as your initial pattern piece before you added color blocking.

Finally, you can sew your garment together as recommended by the pattern. The only difference is you have a cool color-blocked piece instead of a plain piece!

 

Yay!  All done!!  Can’t wait to see what you all create!

Happy Sewing,

Michelle

 

 

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Sporty Piko – easy hacks

March 29, 2019

Ahoy, matey! As with most of our new releases, the P4P blog team has some easy hacks ready for you to help achieve even more looks. First stop by the shop and grab the Sporty Piko and Youth Sporty Piko, then let’s get started.

….

Solid Back

You might have noticed that both the Sporty Piko and the Youth SP feature a color blocked back to allow for multiple prints or color fabric to be showcased. Well, what if you want a solid back without the horizontal seam? Super easy hack!

Start by printing your preferred style. Now grab the two back pieces. At this point you can do one of two things- remove the 1/2″ seam allowance from each piece and tape together (shown in first picture). Shown in the second picture, you could also fold each piece up 1/2″ and butt the two pieces together, matching the FOLD line and the side seam and …boom! There you have your new back pattern piece.

 

Cut your pattern pieces and sew the shirt as per the tutorial. Simply skip the steps that show you how to sew the two back pieces.

Tadah! All done! One more option to add to the Sporty Piko styles.

My little man absolutely loves his new shirt but if you want to treat yourself to an adult Sporty Piko with a solid back, simply follow the same steps and enjoy!



 

P4P Sporty Piko- solid back hack
P4P Sporty Piko- solid back hack

…..

Elastic crop top

Maybe you want a cute crop but aren’t interested in fussing with the drawstring option?  I’ve got you covered!

Follow all of the instructions for the crop option, including the 1″ hem.

Top stitch around the entire folded edge, leaving around a 3″ opening to thread the elastic through.  (I like to position my opening on the back portion of my items, but it’s really a personal preference.

Using 3/4″ knit elastic, cut a length that is your waist measurement, minus 2″.

Feed the elastic through the opening.

Overlap the raw edges of the elastic, being careful not to twist it, by 1″.  Sew the overlapped pieces together, using a stretch stitch.

Close up the opening of the bottom hem, and enjoy your new crop!


…..

Banded crop top

Elastic… draw string… and now we’re bringing to you a third option to finish off your crop top versions- a banded option. This is a quick and easy way to finish off your top, especially for those of us who are opposed to the dreaded finishing hem! 🙂

To create this look, you will need to cut out all of your pieces needed for the cropped version, as well as a band (discussed later). Once you’ve cut out your pieces, you will want to trim 1″ off of both the front and back pieces (everything else will remain the same).

Assemble your shirt as per the pattern directions. Once you’ve completed your shirt, it is now time to attach the band. You will want to measure the total bottom hem of your shirt. To calculate the final width of your band, you will take your total measurement x 90%. Then add 1″ for the seam allowance. For the women’s version, I recommend a length of 4″ and for the youth, a length of 3-4″, depending on where you would like the finished length to be.

Using the instructions for the banded version in the tutorial, attach your bad. That’s it! Go off and enjoy that new shirt you’ve just finished up using one of our three finishing options.

~Erinn and Nicole


Now that you got your patterns and looked over our easy hacks, time to sew! Remember to share your creations in the P4P Facebook group so we can all admire them.

Filed Under: Frequently Asked Questions, Pattern Hacks, Pattern Release, Uncategorized 4 Comments

Brunch Blouse – easy hacks

September 14, 2017

In true P4P fashion, we have a few easy, fun hacks for the Brunch Blouse. Grab the pattern here and get creating!

. . . . .

Color Block Dress

First off I will show you how to achieve a color block look with the dress option of the Brunch Blouse. You can use the same principles for the top option, you will just need to adjust some measurements. Start by printing the pattern in the size you need. Now grab a ruler and some scissors or a rotary cutter (for paper only 😉 ) because we’ll do some cutting.

Take the front pattern piece and mark 1.5″ down from where the dart mark is. Now draw a horizontal line (perpendicular to the center fold). Measure the distance between this line and the bottom of the dress.

Divide the length in half and draw a horizontal line at the half way mark. You have now split the front in 3 separate pieces.

Measure the side seam from the bottom to the bottom colorblock line. Take your back piece and measure up on the side seam the same amount and mark it. Now draw a horizontal line on the back piece. We will be measuring the front middle part side seam now. Mark the point on the back piece from the bottom colorblock line to whatever the measurement was for the middle front side piece. Draw a horizontal line front that marking point. You have now color blocked your back pattern pieces too, making sure that they will line up beautifully with the front color block pieces. Great job!

We will now cut the fabric. DO NOT FORGET THE SEAM ALLOWANCE! Since we are only dealing with straight color blocking lines, I will show you the easiest way to add SA. Simply use a quilter’s ruler and cut away 1/2 from the newly designed pattern pieces. Remember you need to add seam allowance only to the colorblock parts, NOT the center fold or side and middle back seam. Those seam allowances are already included in the pattern.

Once you have all your pieces cut (3 for the front, 6 for the back) you will start sewing them together. First sew the front top to the front middle (RST) with 1/2″ seam allowance, serger your raw edges and optionally top stitch. You will now sew the front bottom to the front middle, right sides together. You now have your front piece ready. Repeat the process for the back pieces. Remember that the back of the Brunch Blouse is not cut on fold so you will end up with two mirrored back cuts.

Finish sewing your BB dress as per the tutorial instruction. How easy and fun was that? You can get creative with your color blocking…just imagine a beautiful ombre blouse, or a blouse with lace overlay for the top colorblock. The possibilities are endless.

. . . . .

Belt Loops and Sash Hack

This hack is super easy but a fun option for a different look than the normal Brunch Blouse!  You can do this hack with any option except the one that already includes the waist tie.


1. First, sew up your blouse/dress as usual.  Make sure to mark the notches on the side seams, add a pin as well after you’ve sewn the side seams so that you can still see where the notch is.

2. To make the sash, refer to this cut chart based on your size.  Cut two.

 

 

 

 

 

3. Right sides together, sew the short ends together.  Press open and finish edges.

 

4. Right sides together, sew the long edges now, but leave 2″ unsewn in the middle.  This is how you’ll turn it right side out when you’re done.

 

5. Iron the short edge over to form a triangle.  Now sew here to make the pointed edge, and trim the seam allowance down to 1/2″.

 

6. Turn right side out, press, and topstitch as close to the edge as you feel comfortable.  When you get to the 2″ you left open, align the seam allowance inside and and stitch shut while topstitching.

 

7. For the belt loops, first decide if you want two or three.  I opted for two because I didn’t want one on the back (I just don’t like the feeling).

8. Cut rectangles 3″ x 1.5″ – four for two belt loops or six for three belt loops.

 

9. Stitch along the long edges, right sides together.  Then trim seam allowance to 1/4″.

 

10. Turn right side out, press short raw edges to the back 1/2″. then topstitch down the long edges as close to the edge as you feel comfortable.

 

11. Find the notch on the blouse side seams you marked earlier.  Sew the loops on to the side seams, over the notch, by topstitching the short side 1/4″ from the edge.  If you’d like a loop on the back too, find the middle of the back neckline and use a ruler to find the center back of the blouse from there and attach.

 

12.  Press everything one last time.  Slip in your sash into the loops and wear your new blouse!


~Elisabeth

. . . . .

Front Zipper Hack

 

 

This is a little more intense and involves one of those scary things… you know, a zipper!  Now, if you’ve never installed a zipper this may be a little daunting, but I promise, take it slow, you can do this!

I am using a 7″ (I think?) exposed metal zipper but you can choose your preferred length if you want it shorter or longer.  If you’re choosing this option, do this prior to any other step in completing your top.  So now, let’s get started.

Find center front of neckline and iron on interfacing to wrong side of fabric.
Place top of zipper 1/4″ below raw edge of neckline. If your tails are longer, you can trim them later.
Mark the zipper stop placement on your interfacing.

Draw a 1/2″ rectangle down the center of the front bodice. (this will be your stitch guide)
Cut down the center of the rectangle. Stopping just above the bottom, snip at a 45 degree angle to the corners.
With right sides together, pin zipper in place.

The raw edge of your fabric should line up toward the center of the zipper tape.
Be sure that your zipper stop is aligned with the bottom edge of your rectangle.
Stitch.

View from the front
Flip notch upward and stitch.
View from back of zipper.

Repeat with opposite side. With right sides together, pin zipper to front bodice.
Stitch.
View from back of completed zipper.

View from front. You can stop here and top-stitch if you do not mind the zipper showing inside your item. Proceed to next step if you want to enclose it.
Cut a facing and transfer the markings as previously done in the first few steps.
Finish raw edges. Cut down the center of the facing and snip towards the corner at a 45 degree angle.

Lay the facing right side up on top of the wrong side of your zipper and front bodice.
Flip the facing toward the center so that the right side is now lined up with the wrong side of the zipper. Stitch.
View of left side of facing stitched.

Repeat on opposite side. Stitch.
Pull notch down and stitch in place. (same as you previously did on your main front body).
View from back.

Top-stitch around zipper.
Finish neckline using single fold bias tape as shown in the tutorial.

There you have it!  I hope that wasn’t as difficult as it appears.  If you’re not sure you’re ready to tackle the zipper on your top, try it on a few scrap pieces first.  Practice makes perfect right?


 

We hope you enjoyed the hacks as much as we did.   Don’t forget to share your makes in the Facebook Group, we’d love to see them!  Happy Sewing!

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Raglan Colorblock Tutorial (Guest Post)

December 15, 2015

Today’s post is a fun one!
We are giving you all a special guest post from a Patterns for Pirates fan, who sewed up this adorable colorblocked version of the Women’s Raglan.  Ashley posted this on the P4P facebook group and we couldn’t help but want her to share it on here.

raglan-colorblock-tutorial-cover

Ashley’s tutorial is specifically for the women’s raglan, to achieve the look that she has masterfully come up with.  BUT, you can take information from this and colorblock anything with these techniques!  (For instance, P4P’s Katy shows you how to do a curved colorblock with the women’s henley on her blog HERE.)

Without further ado, take it away Ashley!

Front Colorblock

a. Start with the Front of the Raglan Pattern. Mine is cut for the Small size. I then take a sheet of wax pattern and unroll it until it’s just about the size of the pattern piece. Trace the existing pattern onto the wax paper and decide what length and neckline you would like. In this example, you’ll see the curved hem and a modified V Neck (see step 2 for instructions on doing the V-­‐Neck prior to going onto step b).

b. From the end of the arm hole measure 2.5 inches Draw a line straight across the pattern piece (shown as the green line in Figure 1). . Then measure ¼ of an inch down from that line and draw another line. ( Shown as the blue line on Figure 1. Here you are adding on ¼ seam allowance for when you add your stripe pieces).

c. Cut on the pattern on the 2 ¾ line (blue). Continue with cutting the rest of the pattern. Make sure you make all of the original marks like fold lines and notches so that you can line up the pattern correctly. I also label what each piece is so that I don’t get confused later on. d. FT = Front Top, FB= Front bottom.

V-­‐Neck adjustment

a. I personally don’t like a deep V-­‐neck. So what I did on the Front is where the flat part (small pink line) is on the top of the pattern, where the front scoop (green line) and the armhole meet, I extended it to the left, approximately 1/4inch. I then eye balled it where I wanted the V to end on the middle front of the shirt and drew a diagonal line from that point to beginning of the new flat part (long pink line).

Microsoft Word - P4P Raglan Colorblock Shirt with Striped Arms.d

Sleeve alterations

a. Start by taking the sleeve piece and unroll two pieces of wax paper. You’ll have to tape them together in order for it to be wide enough.

b. Trace the outline of the existing sleeve.

c. Measure 2.5 inches down from the left shoulder seam that will eventually meet the front seam ( green line). In my example it’s the short sleeve line for the red dots line on the original pattern.

d. Measure ¼ inch from the green line and draw a straight line across the pattern (blue line). Again here we are just adding a seam allowance. In my example it’s the short sleeve line for the red dot dash on the original pattern.

e. RT= Right Top

Microsoft Word - P4P Raglan Colorblock Shirt with Striped Arms.d

f. I then used the existing solid red short sleeve line for where I wanted my stripe to end. I drew a line across there (green) and also ¼ of an inch down from there (blue). The middle piece with the seam allowances added is equal to 2.5 inches wide, which when sewn, will give you an ending piece of 2 inches.

Microsoft Word - P4P Raglan Colorblock Shirt with Striped Arms.d

g. Now that we have the top and bottom sections of the arm we need to do the middle part with the stripe. What I did to make things easier was draw lines across in the middle of the middle sections and shaded it in so that I could see how wide the stripe was going to end up being on the finished product. (See photo)

Microsoft Word - P4P Raglan Colorblock Shirt with Striped Arms.d

h. After I was happy with it I cut the pattern on the GREEN line of the RT and the BLUE line of the RB. Now here’s the tricky part. If you were to just cut out that piece you would end up with a middle piece that’s too small and therefore our sleeve length will be short. I took the RM in the wax paper and taped it onto two pieces of computer paper. I then measured ¼ inch on the top and ¼ inch from the bottom. I extended the lines out in order to make the total width of the RM 2.5 inches.

Microsoft Word - P4P Raglan Colorblock Shirt with Striped Arms.d

i. For the stripe in the middle of RM I measured the shaded in part of it and then traced the measurements onto a piece of computer paper so that I had a hard copy and not just the wax paper.

Microsoft Word - P4P Raglan Colorblock Shirt with Striped Arms.d

Cutting

a. Whew! The hard part is over. Now would be a good time to eat a donut or whatever your favorite snack is because you just made it through the hardest part of the hack (in my opinion.)

b. Now that you have all of your pieces you need to decide what color you want the top and bottom parts of the front. In my example the top is plaid and the bottom is black. I then took all the parts for plaid, FT, RT, RB, & stripe and made those into a pile. Then FB, RM, and Back in another pile for black.

c. When you lay out your pattern pieces make sure that if it needs to be on a fold, like the FT, FB, or back that you put it on a fold. For all of the sleeve pieces I just doubled up my fabric so that I end up with a Right and a Left once cut instead of mirroring (too much work).

Microsoft Word - P4P Raglan Colorblock Shirt with Striped Arms.d

d. I added about 1.5 inches to the bottom of RB also so that I could hem the sleeves. You do not need to add as much as I do it’s your preference. You can do anywhere from .5 inch to 1.5 here because we aren’t attaching cuffs.

Microsoft Word - P4P Raglan Colorblock Shirt with Striped Arms.d

e. The only thing you need to remember with cutting FB is that you need to measure up ¼ inch in order to account for the seam allowance when you sew them together. All of my seam allowances are ¼ inch until you sew the side seams and sleeve seams. Those you would do your normal ½ inch.

f. You also want to cut out your RM pieces. Those do not require a fold.

Microsoft Word - P4P Raglan Colorblock Shirt with Striped Arms.d

g. Once you have everything cut out, keep the pattern pieces for the sleeves pinned so that it’s easier to put all the left and right pieces together.

Sewing machine/Serger time!!!

a. Time to put this shirt together. The first thing I always do is my hems, so that they are out of the way. You can do them however you want but I find it easiest to iron first, then use hem tape, and finish with a straight top stitch. I avoid zigzag stitches at all costs just because that’s the easiest way for me to tell between a store bought and homemade shirt. Personal preference only.

b. Now that the shirt hems and sleeve hems are finished let’s start with the easier pieces. Take TF and BF with right sides together and sew at the seam. Always remember rights to rights.

c. I serge everything when it comes to apparel so when that is finished I press the seam and top stitch so that it lays nicely when you wear it. This is optional.

d. Now it’s time to do the sleeves. I took a strip of Heat N’ Bond Lite (or Wonder Under) and with the wrong side of the stripe on the sticky side, iron on the Heat N’ Bond. Let cool and then peel off paper backing. Then line up in the middle of MR and press to adhere to MR. Top stitch or zigzag around edges in order to secure (optional).

e. Line up TR bottom edge with MR top edges, rights to rights, and sew. Open seam, press, and top stitch

f. Line up MR bottom and BR top edges, rights to rights, and sew. Open seam, press, and top stitch. Repeat with Left sleeve pieces.

You are in the home stretch.
Now all that’s left is to follow the same steps you would take with any other raglan. Attach the sleeves to the front and back panels and then sew sleeve seams and side seams.

The VNeck I treated similar to any other neckband except I didn’t start with a loop nor did I measure it out beforehand. I just cut a strip about 1.5 inches wide, folded in half, and press, then starting at the V in the front attach like you would binding on a quilt or other necklines.

I hope everyone enjoys this new colorblock design and if anyone has any questions I’d be happy to help out or explain something!

Microsoft Word - P4P Raglan Colorblock Shirt with Striped Arms.dMicrosoft Word - P4P Raglan Colorblock Shirt with Striped Arms.d

***Next time I think I’ll just make the MR and Stripe one piece similar to the elbow patch instead of spending so much time sewing each piece of the sleeve together and topstitching. That way you could cut full sleeve pieces and then attach the MR/ML with Heat N’Bond and zigzag stitch down.

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