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Sunnyside Sweater :: Easy Hacks

February 27, 2024

The Sunnyside Sweater (in both Adult – Hourglass and Youth sizes!) just landed in our shop! 

With many of our pattern releases, we like to provide extra ways to style and sew them up. And that’s exactly what we are doing here! We’ve got three more ways for you to make the Sunnyside Sweater patterns. Keep reading for some quick and easy hacks!

The Sunnyside Sweater is a dolman-style sweater with a generous, oversized fit. It features two hem lengths, crop and high hip, both of which are finished with a waistband to draw the garment back to the body. Alternately, the crop length has an option to finish the waistline with a double drawstring, allowing the wearer to tie the drawstrings at both sides of the waist, providing a unique and adjustable look. Opt for a traditional neckband for a classic look or choose a hood for a more casual and cozy feel. One of the standout features is the ability to create a colorblocked bodice, giving you the opportunity to mix and match different fabric prints and colors, adding a playful and personalized touch to your sweater.

Before we get started, make sure you grab a copy of the Sunnyside Sweater patterns in our shop:

  • Sunnyside Sweater
  • Sunnyside Sweater – Youth
  • Sunnyside Sweater – Bundle

Grommet Sleeve Hack

Let’s start with a super easy sleeve hack! A great way to add some visual interest to the Sunnyside Sweater sleeves is to add grommets and tread ribbon through them. The great thing about this easy hack is that it does not require any modifications to the pattern pieces or even the tutorial, just a couple of extra steps.

You can create this hack before you sew any of the tutorial steps. You will need:

  • the two sleeves
  • fusible interfacing (I like tricot interfacing for this, but a slightly thicker one would work too)
  • 12 grommets ( I prefer 12 mm ones)
  • a marking pen
  • quilting ruler
  • your preferred hole punching and grommets tool
  • ribbon (I didn’t have any on hand but I think a 1/2″ satin ribbon would look the best)

Let’s do this! Start by marking the center of the sleeve. I like to fold it in half and press it with my iron so it creates a crease.


Open the sleeve and mark the grommets placement on the wrong side. I like to space them 3″ from the top and from each other. I also prefer 3 sets but if you want to add more grommets and/or space them closer to each other you  can certainly do that.

Cut (12) 1″x1″ pieces of fusible interfacing – you will need 6 for each sleeve. Place them on the marked location and fuse them in place. I used a Frixon pen for my markings so they disappeared when I fused the interfacing. No big deal! Using the ruler, I added them again.


Time to punch the holes for your grommets. My preferred method for this step is using a KAM press with a 12 mm hole punch die. I am also a bag maker so I had this tool already. Admittedly it is a splurge so no stressing if you do not have one. You can simple draw the grommet holes and cut by hand.


Add the grommets! You can use a grommets table press or a hand held one for this step.


Lastly, admire that sleeve and thread your favorite ribbon through the holes.


You can now sew your Sunnyside Sweater as instructed in the tutorial.

Boom! You did it! I did the high hip, scoop neckline option for this cotton spandex Sunnyside Sweater. I also likes the look of a 1:1 band with a side split so that’s what I used for my waistband. Luckily we have a hack for it too! 💥


 


Hemmed Hack

Honestly, this one couldn’t be easier! For a trendy oversized look, you can leave off the waistband and simply hem your Sunnyside instead.  Here’s how I made mine.

First you’ll want to decide on the finished length you want for your sweater.  You can either measure the length of a sweater you already have or run a tape measure down from your shoulder and over your bust, then use the tape to decide on the finished length you want.  I had already made a regular Sunnyside and wanted a long crop length for my finished hem, so I cut on the bottom cutline (for the banded high hip length).

Turn the hem up by ¾” and press.  I like to use a slightly deeper hem than the usual 1/2″ because I think it hangs a bit better.

I like to use a ¼” wash away quilting tape for hemming tricky fabrics like sweater knits. It sticks your hem in place so you don’t need to use clips or pins, and stops the fabrics from stretching or shifting as you sew.  Then it disintegrates the first time you wash it!

Then just hem using your favourite stretch stitch – I used my Coverstitch here – and you’re done!

Enjoy your new sweater.

 

Happy Sewing,

Dana xx


Split Hem Hack

I love the look of a split hem – and it couldn’t be easier to achieve with the new Sunnyside Sweater. Using the hem band pattern piece as a guide, cut 2 bands that are the width of your bodice front and back.

Complete the construction of your sweatshirt to the step where the bottom band is sewn.

Fold the short ends of your bands, right sides together, and sew using the same seam allowance.

Turn right side out and press.

Clip one band to the raw edge of your bodice, front and back, making sure to butt the edges at the side seam and baste in place.

Sew the bands in place, press the seam towards the bodice, and topstitch in place (if you desire!).

I added a little tack for reinforcement, but this is not necessary! Just my personal preference.

Can’t wait to see how many Sunnyside Sweaters you sew up.

xxoo,

Rachel


We are looking forward to seeing the Sunnyside Sweaters you make for yourself, your family + your clients!

Both patterns are available now and on sale (no code needed) through 11:59pm CST, March 3, 2024.

Grab your copy of the Sunnyside patterns here: Sunnyside Sweater | Sunnyside Sweater – Youth | Sunnyside Sweater – Bundle

As always, we’ve got more photos for you to use as inspiration! Head over to the Facebook group to browse our albums full of gorgeous photos, compliments of our tester team!

Sunnyside Sweater Adult Album | Sunnyside Sweater Youth Album

Filed Under: Pattern Hacks Leave a Comment

Sleeves and Their Wrinkles

March 28, 2017

I’ve scrolled past the question or remark about wrinkling around armpits a ton in sewing groups.  I’m here to talk about the #1 cause of armpit wrinkle on the sleeves.

It’s easier to understand why we have wrinkles around the armpit when we know how the sleeve was drafted.  Different sleeve types are drafted differently.

 

Dolman sleeves are also drafted so that there are no wrinkles when we have our arms lifted horiztonally.

Raglan sleeves are drafted so that there are little to no wrinkles when your arms are lifted.

Set in sleeves on knit tees are drafted so that there are no wrinkles when our arms are at a diagonal.

Okay, so what does that mean? When your arms are in other positions than the ones the sleeves are drafted for there will always be wrinkles/extra fabric/pulling.  Lets see a few real life picture examples!

Dolman: Shown here: The Sweet Tee Others we have in the shop are: The Pumpkin Spice Dolman and CoCoon Cardigan

Arms up (almost horizontal– I don’t stand with my arms straight out too much for pictures ;)): very little wrinkling or extra fabric and if my arm was up slightly more horizontal it would go away completely.

Arms Down: All the extra fabric is now “bunched”up under my arm when I put them down.

Arms Up:

Arms Down: in this more stable cotton spandex you can really see the difference!

 

 

Raglan: Shown here in the pink and grey: Slim Fit Raglan , Shown here in the black and leopard: Relaxed Raglan , and Shown here in youth: Jolly Roger Raglan

Arm Up: (almost horizontal).

Arms Down:

Arms Up: (again it was near impossible to find one all the way up/out but this is close!)

Arms Down:

Arms Raised: higher than horizontal. You can see the wrinkling move from under the arm to on top, it is being pulled since it is higher than the raglan sleeve is drafted at.

And another raglan set courtesy of my Little Guy 🙂

Arms Up: although it’s a close up, you can see his hands are on his hips-so not fully horizontal, but close!

Arms Down: (that look guys!  He’s a sassy one for sure…that doesn’t enjoy modeling for mama 😉 )

 

 

Set in Sleeves: Shown here: Sweetheart Dress , Shown here in youth: Henley , Shown here: fit picture from testing the upcoming youth tee 🙂 , and also in the shop we have Grandpa Cardigan , Wingman Shirt , Boundless Knit Dress , Buried Treasure Tunic , High Low Tide Top

Arms Diagonal:

One Arm Down and One Arm Extended Up: see the wrinkles are in different spots. My arm that is down creates wrinkle under the armpit area.  My arm that is extended all the way up creates them on top of the shoulder. (Also super crazy face I’m making because it was super windy 😉 ).

Arms Diagonal: the only wrinkling going on here is because I’m pulling my arm to the back (pointing my elbow backwards) unnaturally to try to show off the top.

Arms Down:

Here is a few youth examples of set in sleeves as well!

Arms Diagonal:

Arms Down:

Arms Diagonal:

Arms Down:

Arms Diagonal: (no wrinkling)

Arms Down: (wrinkling at under arm)

Arms Extended Up: (wrinkling above arm/shoulder)

If you’re realizing you have wrinkles at the bust, not sleeve we’ve also blogged about those here!

I hope this helps all you wonderful seamstresses out there creating knit garments and trying to make sure you’re getting the fit right 🙂

 

Filed Under: Fitting, P4P University, Uncategorized Leave a Comment

FST/LMU Mash Up

August 5, 2015

So you LOVE the loose a-line fit of the Free Spirit Tank, but would love it with sleeves?

Here is how you take the Layer Me Up Shirt to add sleeves 🙂

First… grab both patterns, some tracing paper and a pencil.

Trace your size of the Free Spirit Tank.

Place your Layer Me Up – SLEEVED BODICE piece matching on fold and at the top shoulder. Make sure you’re matching the front with the front 😉

Don’t worry about the neckline, although if you wanted it higher/tighter you could trace off the neckline from the Layer Me Up 🙂 Now just trace the armsyce from the Layer Me Up.

Repeat with the back pieces!

Now you can use any sleeve option from the Layer Me Up Shirt.

Here is mine I made for the fall!

Little guy wanted in 😉 Please excuse the no make up, mom hair, sports bra look!! It’s what I’m sporting most days though! 😉

I can’t wait to pair it with some leggings for the fall and winter! 🙂 It will be perfect right after baby girl comes!

Filed Under: Pattern Hacks 10 Comments

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