henley Archives - Patterns for Pirates

P4P Henley Sew-Along | Attaching Neckband + Hood

January 19, 2018

Welcome to the day 5 of the P4P Henley sew along. Today’s steps include adding the neckband or the hood.

Crew Neckband

If you have done the solid front shirt (no placket) you will now be adding the neckband as in the pattern tutorial. For additional tip, check out our P4P University Neckbands 101 blog and videos here.

Henley Neckband

If your sew along choice was a Henley style shirt then you would now be adding the henley neckband. This neckband is not sewn in a loop like the crew neckband was. Take a moment to watch the video below. The most important thing to keep in mind when adding this neckband is to go very slow and baste!

Hood (with or without the placket)
The Henley patterns include a hood for the placket option. For this sew along we wanted to show you how easy it is to add a hood to the solid front option. The only pattern modifications you will need to make is to extend the front of the hood by 1/2″.

Sew the hood as per the pattern tutorial. Overlap the front neckline 1/2″ and baste in place.

Mark the quarter points of the hood and the neckline. Turn your shirt inside out and place the hood right sides together, matching the quarter points.

Sew or serge the hood to the neckline following a 1/2″ seam allowance. See how easy it was to add a hood to the plain front shirt?

**The links won’t be active until the scheduled date.

January 14: Announcement.
January 15: Choosing Your Fabrics, Printing + Measuring.
January 16: Cutting Fabric.
January 17: Placket.
January 18: Sleeves.
January 19: Attaching Neckband + Hood.
January 20-21: Catch-Up Days.
January 22: Recap + Winners Announced!

P4P Henley Sew-Along | Get Ready!

January 14, 2018

Are you ready for another sew-along with the Pirate Crew? We are so excited to tell you that we are bringing an entire week of P4P Henley love! We thought it was time to shine some light on these “oldie but goodie” patterns of ours, and especially love it because the patterns cover your entire family.

Welcome to Henley Sew-Along Week, friends!

The party doesn’t start officially until tomorrow, but that doesn’t mean you can’t prepare yourself a little bit beforehand. In celebration of the Henley Sew-Along Week, all three patterns can be discounted an additional $3, using the code “henleysal” until January 20, 2018 (11:59pm Central Time).

Yo Ho Henley | Women’s Henley | Men’s Henley | Henley Bundle

Be sure to join us in the Event Page for the Sew-Along on Facebook: HERE.
The SAL itself will be on this very blog, but we will be extending the party over to the group and event on Facebook for even more interactive fun!

If you’d like to get a leg up on the yardage of fabric you’ll be needing, here are the size charts and fabric requirements, for easy access:

And before we go…here is the schedule, so you know what to expect from us. We will even be throwing in some new tricks and pattern hacks, so you can get even more out of these adorable patterns. Can’t wait!!

**The links won’t be active until the scheduled date.

P4P University – plackets

September 13, 2017

Ohhh….plackets! Why are you so scary? Today on the blog I’m hoping to change that perceptions of them and help you face this fear.

What are plackets?

Plackets are basically just a slit or an opening in the fabric that allows for garments to be easily put on or taken off. Sometimes plackets are purely decorative. You can find them on sleeves, on pants, back of skirts and neckline. You can have a placket on the back of the neckline or on the front. The most common neckline front plackets are for Henley or Polo style shirts. On this blog I will be using the new Brunch Blouse placket but you can certainly utilize the same principles for a Yo Ho Henley or a Women or Men Henley shirt too.

Interfacing? Yay or nay?

My first tip/recommendation is to always use light weight interfacing for the placket piece. Simply fuse a piece of interfacing to the wrong side of the pattern piece. You can get away with not using any if you’re making a woven pattern but even so, the result will be so much better if you do add it. Interfacing will help stabilize your piece which in turn will make it a lot easier to sew. ALWAYS use interfacing for knit plackets!

Mark and press!

As you can see in the video above, I use a tailor chalk to mark the pressing and sewing lines on the back of the placket piece. You can use a soluble fabric pen or a fabric marker too.

If you have a tailor clapper now would be a good time to use it. It will defiantly come in handy and help keep those pressing marks firm. Spray starch will help too!

Sew slowly!

Make sure you pin a lot and catch any notches that need to be enclosed! This may be the most tedious part of adding a front neckline placket so it is well worth paying extra attention and sewing slowly.

Enjoy the fruits of your labor! 🙂

Now that you took the time to create the perfect placket, show it off! Be proud of your achievement and don’t let sewing techniques intimidate you! Speaking of showing off…don’t forget to brag about your Henleys and Brunch Blouses in the P4P group.

How to Sew a Faux Layered Look using Just One Pattern

September 9, 2016

The other day I was browsing Pinterest for some fall inspiration outfits but since I am now a resident of the sunshine state many of the fall looks I liked were not weather friendly. So what better way than to add “faux” layering to my shirts to pretend fall is in the air? 🙂

Today I’ll show you how I used the Women’s Henley shirt to make myself a “layered” shirt. I chose the simple crew neckline and the rolled sleeves option but this style would look amazing with the Henley style neckline or the hooded style.

Start by cutting the pattern based on your measurements. Ohh, by the way…did you see that the Henley got an updated? It now has layers so you can just print your desired size. Cut the hemmed shirt option and grab a piece of paper so you can draft the faux layers part. It’s easy-peasy, don’t be scared! Simply trace the curved hem option of the front pattern piece, measure 1.25 inches on the side seam and draw a straight line from that point to the center seam. Repeat the procedure with the back piece of the pattern. Now you will have two extra pattern pieces (front and back) that you need to cut on fold at the center.

Sew your shirt according to the pattern instruction, iron the 1 inch memory hem and set it aside before stitching it. We will now prepare the “faux” layer. With the right sides together sew the side seams with 1/2 inch seam allowance.

Once you have a loop-like piece you can go ahead and stitch the curved hem with your coverstitch or sewing machine. Press it! You are almost done. All you have left to do now is attach the layered part to your main shirt. Lay the main shirt on a flat surface and insert the faux layer piece matching the side seams. You can match the raw edges inside the shirt and pin all around the hem.

If you prefer your faux layer to be just “peeking” from under your shirt you can certainly place the layer a little higher inside the main shirt and pin in place. Stitch the bottom hem of the shirt and the faux layer together at about 1 inch above the fold.

You just made yourself a beautiful shirt that takes you from summer to fall. This style shirt pairs beautifully with the SOS pants and the Pirate Pencil skirt. As always, don’t forget to show off your layered creations in the group. Happy sewing, pirates!

Alex

Crew Neckband

Henley Neckband

Hood (with or without the placket)

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