Love Notions Arlington Sweater

Hi Friends! It sure feels good to be back in some pattern tests and sewing up some wonderful clothing. I knew the minute I saw Tami post her idea for the Arlington Sweater, I needed it in my life. So let me show you why.

This pattern features three neckline options. With the choice between mock, turtle, and cowl you can pick your favorite or give in and make all three. You could also just calculate your own regular neckband and be good to go! I do love options. There are three length options as well ranging from high hip to just above knee length dress. While this pattern doesn’t include a tunic cut line, I plan to make one by just adding a few inches to the length of the top cut line. Honestly, it is a super quick fix if you are like me and prefer tunic length things. Here is the entire options chart.

• 3 lengths: banded shirt, hip length shirt and above knee dress
• 3 necklines: turtleneck, mock-neck and cowl
• 5 sleeve options: short & long puff sleeves, long sleeve, bishop and elbow length sleeve
• Full bust option
• Sizing through 5x
• Sway back stitch line included

I made two different dresses during test, but both are made from brushed poly. This pattern is designed to work with a variety of knit fabrics, so dig deep into those totes and find something lovely. You can use knits with 40% stretch so that can be a French Terry, Jersey blend, or sweater knits. Keep in mind a drapier fabric will create a lovely cowl or turtle neck, but a mock collar won’t stand up really well.

For my color blocked dress, I used a random 1 yard cut to make the cowl and the puff sleeves. This used almost the entire 1 yard cut so keep that in mind for when you have small cuts. I personally shop at Stitchin’ Pretties where you always get a bonus 1 yard coordinate if you order two consecutive yards. I believe that is where my polka dots came from. My black with the small floral print was from an auction destash box. My navy with the large red floral print is from The Fab Clique Fabric Shoppe and here is the link. I picked it up during one of their $4 Friday sales because I love a navy background!

The Arlington Sweater is now on sale for $9.00 as a newly released pattern. Now is your chance to save a few bucks and add this gorgeous pattern to your collection. I thank you for clicking my affiliate link.

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HOC Week 5 – Red Apple Sewing and DIBY Club

I can’t believe we are at Week 5 of #Breakallthedamnrules already. January is zooming past and we are closing in on February. Another morning of snow falling here in Ohio. It looks nice, but we already have way too much. School was closed everyday last week and the weather channel says record breaking lows this week so at least we have that to look forward too!

This week our give away sponsors have both offered up a free pattern of your choice so let’s talk about them for just a minute!

Red Apple Sewing is a new design company just starting to get their feet wet. I have made 4 of her patterns already and have loved each one. She even drafted one on the fly for me because I wasn’t able to find what I needed. RAS patterns are drafted specifically to your needed size. No more making bicep and bust adjustments. No more grading. No more guessing on length. Jessica does all the work for you. You choose printer set up, stretch percentage, fabric type and sleeve lengths and also give her a list of your measurements and she will draft it for you. It really is a sweet deal! Give her patterns a look and let me know what you think!

DIBY.Club is a wide range, meet all your needs kinda place! They offer both men’s and women’s patterns in trendy stylish designs. She has a nice selection of free patterns and the largest size range of the companies I sew for going up to sewing size 36. I have sewn many DIBY patterns as a tester and on my own. I enjoy the well written patterns and the videos when I need help. In addition to offering a free pattern for the giveaway, DIBY was kind enough to offer a special discount to all my readers. 25% off one pattern of your choice if you use the code HOC19 at checkout! It is like creating your own sale!

Please support both of the businesses and show them some love!!

Don’t forget to visit the Raffle link at the bottom of this post to sign up to WIN 2 amazing patterns!!

We already know I recently did a #breakallthedamnrules post with this plaid RAS vest! You can read it here. I still love it!! The pattern is still in the works as Jessica got a new grandbabe this week. 🙂

Here are two examples of my adding an ‘almost solid’ contrasting color to a busy floral print while wearing DIBY patterns. You can read my post about The Mae Poncho here and The Adrianne here.

But my wildest print matching was the Anna skirt is a wild floral matched with subtle pink and white stripes. I planned to link you to it but apparently my post has gone MIA. My photos are in my gallery, but no post to be found. So today, I will blog about Anna. 🙂 ETA: Lucky for me with some additional digging, I found the blog post I had written, discovered it was done during a blogging time out I took and just missed posting it. So here we go…

Picture this….In a time, long ago….before there was 20 inches of snow in my front yard….the sun was shining….the birds were chirping…and I was rocking this A-line skirt with sandals! That is when I wrote this post Mid October…

……So you may have noticed I took a little mini break from the blogging and sewing world, sometimes it is necessary. I needed a few days away to do some non-stressful sewing. I finished some blocks for a quilt block swap and am about 95% done with a T-shirt quilt. I have a few tests in the works, but I have several things I haven’t shared with you yet.

Today, I am sharing the Anna Skirt from the DIBY.club. I have seen literally dozens of people asking for a denim button down skirt in sewing groups and I think this one will fit the bill. 

 

I didn’t use denim, but my fabric is a woven. It is heavier than quilting cotton, but not quite home dec weight. If you have seen some of the other testers, this also looks amazing in a stretch corduroy. I bought some recently, but have my heart set of making pants with it.  

 

I sewed up the size 28 and made zero adjustments. I love when that happens. I do, however, have a confession to make. I sewed this entire skirt with the wrong seam allowance. There is a ton of top stitching in this pattern. In the end my skirt was something like 5 inches longer than my waist band. Trust me, you can’t ‘ease in’ 5 inches on a woven skirt. Out came the seam ripper and I set to work, kicking myself the entire time. Double checking the seam allowances and getting back to stitching. This time went more quickly as I knew what to do. 

 

 

• Print-at-home PDF pattern files in both women’s misses and plus sizes (sizes 00-36) 

• US Letter, A4 and A0 Copy Shop formats 

• No trim pages 

• Size layers so you can print only the sizes you need 

• Complete sewing instruction ebook with our Perfect Fit custom fit adjustment tutorials 

After purchase, your PDF pattern and instructions will be available immediately in your DIBY Club account. 

This is why I can’t wear skirts in public. 🙂

 

PATTERN OPTIONS 

• Lengths: Mini // Knee // Midi // Maxi 

• Rise: High Rise // Midrise 

• Options: Patch Pockets // Belt Loops 

SUITABLE FOR 

• Experienced beginner sewists and beyond 

• Bottomweight wovens with no stretch or stretch fabrics with strong recovery 

Here is the link to pick up your copy of Anna.

Don’t forget to use the exclusive HOC19 code to save 25% on any pattern you choose.

Here is this weeks Raffle Link.

A Rafflecopter Giveaway