Compose Robe

 

Pattern - Love Notions Compose Robe
Skill Level - Confident Beginner
Fabric - Bamboo Fleece from Discovery Fabrics
Skills - pocket corners

I've been wanting a good robe pattern for a while and Love Notions has come out with a great robe pattern!  It can be knee or calf length and you have the choice of a hood or a banded edge.   Of course, the pattern for women comes with the full bust option.  Not only that - you can make the Compose Robe in knit or woven fabric!  How versatile is that?  And wait - there's a children's pattern, too!

I chose to make my calf-length robe using luscious peacock green bamboo fleece from Discovery Fabrics. The fleece is light, yet warm and oh, so cosy!  The face is smooth with a fuzzy inside.  I'll be making hooded robes for my grandchildren in this fabric, too!

There are lots of the perfect little features we've come to expect from Love Notions patterns. 

There's a loop for hanging up your robe built into the neckline.

The band around the robe ends in a nice clean finish.

Loops at the waist hold the lovely, long belt above the pockets which are perfectly placed.  We need pockets, right?

Perfect Pocket Corners

And speaking of pockets, I like to see nice crisp corners on my pockets, so I've developed a process to get what I need.

After you've created the hem at the top of the pocket, press the edges in 3/8".

Now open the bottom corners and fold them in to create a diamond shape, the edges of which stay inside the pocket edges.

Steam press it flat.

And once you've stitched your pocket in place (remember to use lots of pins!) you won't see any edges peeking out at all!  Pocket perfection!

Adding Ties

Want to make sure your robe stays closed?  You can add ties and do it discretely so that they don't show.

First, put on the robe to establish where you want to add the ties - you'll want 2 sets - one near the outer edge and another at the inside edge.  I marked mine with safety pins, then put the robe on to make sure any outside stitching marks were hidden by the belt.

Then I replaced the safety pins with chalk marks for where the ties would be attached.

Next - what to use for ties.  I had an old roll of seam binding inherited from my mother-in-law's stash.  How old?  Well, you can see it's marked with 15 cents!  I cut what remained on the roll in 4, giving me ties about 8" long.  A bit longer would have been better, but I used what I had.  I cut a forked tongue in one end to prevent fraying and folded over the other end which would be stitched to the robe.  You can use a fine ribbon - or anything that's not going to be too bulky. 

I pinned the ties in place and then stitched them down.  If your robe's material is fine, you might want to reinforce under the ties.

 Now I can wear my robe with confidence knowing that it's not going to accidentally come open!

Love Notions' newest pattern, the Compose Robe is the pattern I've been waiting for.  It's comfortable, can be made in knit or woven fabric and has the clever features I've come to expect from well-made Love Notions patterns.  Available in women's and children's sizes, it's a pattern that belongs in all pattern libraries.  You can get the patterns from my affiliate links below.

Love Notions Compose Robe for Women - sizes XS - 5XL

Love Notions Compose Robe for Children - sizes 2T - 16

Forte and Chitosante for summer comfort

Pattern - Love Notions Forte Top & Dress
Skill Level - Confident Beginner
Fabric - Discovery Fabrics' Chitosante Interlock
Skills - personal adjustments, markings, finishing seams when not hemming

Now that the warmth of summer is approaching, I needed a top that would provide coverage from the sun as well as keeping me cool - it's a tall order!  But with the right pattern and the right fabric I knew I could do it. (To see a picture in more detail, simply click on it.)

First of all, the fabric.  I had 2 metres of an amazing fabric from Discovery Fabrics called Chitosante Interlock.  You may not have heard of this before, but the properties are mind-blowing!  It's a polyester fabric made with chitosan, which is biomass from crab or shrimp shells combined with textile fibres.  It's antibacterial, odor-resisting, moisture-wicking, breathable, fast-drying, pill resistant and as if that wasn't enough, has UPF 50.  I'm not sure you could ask for anything more in a fabric!  It's also light as air and doesn't curl (psst - no hemming needed!)

And as for the pattern, I'd already made a few Love Notions' Forte Tops - view B - which is fitted on the bust, but loose and airy below.  And it's a sure sign that you love a pattern when you already have several hanging in the closet and are prepared to make more!  It's one of my favourite patterns.

I also knew that there would need to be a few adjustments made to the pattern to fit my unique body.  I am 5'8" tall and usually have to add to allow for my height. 

I have to put some of that addition above the bustline so that my full bustline matches the pattern's.  This is especially important for the Forte View B so that the seamline is below the fullness of the bust.  The last thing I want at my age is to look pregnant!  So I add 1.5" above the bustline.

I also need another inch for my height, so I add that to the skirt part.

Having added 2.5" to the front, I now needed to add the same amount to the back and I distributed it in 2 spots, just as I did for the front.

This taken care of, I now had to decide on the sleeve.  I love the bell sleeve - it's so classy looking - but for everyday wear, I needed something a little shorter.  I decided to make the bell 8.5" long, but I would need more flare.

I slashed into the shortened bell 3 times, spread the pieces 1" apart at the ends and taped them in place.  I would add this to the sleeve cut on the bell line so that the end of the sleeve would fall below my elbow.

Pattern adjustments made, I was ready to cut and sew!  But I always have to throw in a few tips, don't I!

Marking

Transferring pattern marks is so important!  I use multi-coloured quilting pins and designate a certain colour for each marking to make sure I'm putting the pattern together correctly.

For sleeves, I use yellow for the shoulder seam, white for the front marking and the green pin goes right between the 2 marks for the back.  I use those same coloured pins for the armscye of the bodice.  I used orange pins for the skirt and bodice marks and made a mental note which side of the skirt was the side seam - so easy to get mixed up if you don't take care!

When Not Hemming

My Chitosante Interlock doesn't have a curl and because it's so light, I decided not to hem the sleeves or bottom.  I needed, however, to make sure that the ends of the seam were secure.

Both seams were serged, so I threaded the serger tail back through the seam and finished it off with a dab of Fray Stop.

I love my new Forte made with Chitosante Interlock - it's like wearing thistledown!  I know that I'll be comfortable and protected through whatever summer decides to throw at me.  If you'd like to check out this amazing fabric and the wonderful pattern I made it in, there are affiliate links below.

Discovery Fabrics - Specializing in technical and performance fabrics for outdoor and activewear.

Love Notions Forte Top and Dress - XS - 5XL

From Boyfriend Cardigan to Housecoat!

Pattern - Love Notions Boyfriend Cardigan
Skill Level - Confident Beginner
Fabric - French Terry from l'oiseau fabrics
Skills - zipper installation

I desperately needed a new dressing gown/housecoat!  I thought really hard about using the Octave Coat - and let's face it - that would be amazing!  But I didn't want a wrap gown with the tie belt or buttons.  I wanted something that zipped up the front.  Finally I decided that the Boyfriend Cardigan could work.

My plan was to lengthen it and sandwich the zipper in the shawl collar pieces.  I would also size up to make sure that it was roomy.

I had a length of lovely French Terry from l'oiseau fabrics that I'd been hoarding.  The 2.5 metres should be enough for the body and 3/4 sleeves I was wanting.  The collar would have to come from a solid and I had black French Terry which would also do for the pockets.

I extended the front, back and shawl collar pieces 14" by just adding onto the bottom and removed the vent extensions.  I added 3/8" for a seam allowance to the outer edge of the shawl collar as I wasn't going to be cutting it on the fold.

I followed the tutorial instructions until I got to attaching the shawl collar.  It was time to get ready for the zipper installation.

I stitched the shawl collar pieces together at the back to create two separate collar pieces.  I pinned one collar section to the body - right sides together.

Now it was time to start thinking about the zipper and how high up to place it.  Since the gown was nearly complete, I was able to put it on and hold up the zipper and mark it on the collar pieces.  As 30" was the longest separating zipper I could find, I knew it wouldn't go all the way down, but I needed it fairly high up the front.

Next I placed the gown on my cutting table front facing up with the halves separated and the bottoms even with one another.  The shawl collar was brought to the centre so it was facing right side out.

Then I applied double-sided tape on the edges to keep the zipper tape in place.

I laid the zipper halves on top of the double-sided tape with the teeth facing away from the edge.  Then I laid the other shawl collar piece on top, matching at the back centre and bottom ends, then pinning in between.  Time to take it to my sewing machine.  And a big tip!

I know that with the under piece of the collar stabilized by the double-sided tape and zipper, that the top layer could stretch and shift, so I employed a little trickery!  I had a piece of card stock which I placed right beside the needle and stitched right at the edge of the card stock.  This prevents the top layer from stretching and moving.  As I reached the end of the card stock I kept the needle down, lifted the foot and moved the card stock along - until I reached the end of the zipper.  It works like a charm!

Now for the finishing steps.  With right sides together, I stitched across the ends of the shawl collar pieces 1" from the bottom and trimmed the corners.  I turned the corners inside out, then pinned up the bottom hem 1" and pressed.

Then, to secure the collar to the gown, I pinned the collar in place so that the raw edge covered the seam, which I had pressed towards the collar.  I pinned along the seam on the right side while my fingers felt to make sure that the raw edge was far enough over the gown body side to be caught by my machine.

Then finally I stitched all around the gown collar and then across the hem.  I used my coverstitch machine, but a sewing machine works equally as well.

And I'm delighted with how it's turned out!  I now have the zip up housecoat I've been thinking about for months!  If you don't already have the Boyfriend Cardigan, you can get it through my affiliate link below.

Love Notions Boyfriend Cardigan

Happy sewing!

The Sloane - My New Winter Friend

Pattern - Love Notions' Sloane Sweater for Ladies
Skill Level - confident beginner
Fabric - Fabricland rayon/spandex and brushed shirting
Skills - Applique

The Sloane Sweater is such a quick and easy pattern plus it's so comfortable, you want to make a bunch.  And with so many options, there's lots of scope to make sweaters that are unique.  But how about mixing things up - I mean - can you add a woven component?  I thought I'd give it a try!

I make most of my husband's shirts and for winter wear he especially loves brushed shirting so I usually have a lot of leftovers on hand.  I also had olive green rayon/spandex that was an exact match for one of the plaids which was a remnant from a shirt I'd made my son.  Perfect!  Click on any of the pictures to see them in more detail.

To make sure that there was "give" in the woven component, I decided to do my cuts on the bias.  First of all, I cut a square from the plaid and gave it a quick iron so it would lie as flat and square as possible.  As I was planning on adding elbow patches as well, I made the square big enough for both.

I folded the fabric diagonally, matching as best I could the stripes of the plaid, and laid out my pieces.

Using the rotary cutter, I had my woven component ready. Stitching in the yoke wasn't going to be a problem.  My big question was how to handle the patches.  Do I just stitch around and leave raw edges?  Do I use a straight stitch?  A zig zag?  I decided I was going to serge the edges and stitch on with a long, shallow zig zag.

But first, I should practice! I cut a second set of elbow patches and serged around the edge of one.  I wanted the end of the serging to be as invisible as possible, so when I met up with the beginning of my serging, I lifted the presser foot and turned the patch out of the stitching line, then dropped the foot and serged off.  The resulting tail would be pressed under the patch.  Great - I liked the look!

Now to practice stitching onto the rayon/spandex!  I pinned the patch to the knit fabric and chose a long, shallow zig zag on my sewing machine.

Since I had serged in black (picking up black in the plaid), I threaded my machine with black and the resulting stitching was lost in the serging line.  A quick press to take out the waviness and I was happy with the result.

I have inherited my father's long arms so I knew the patch would be too high on my elbow.  I wound up moving the patch down 3/4" - and probably could have done with a bit more!  I used lots of pins to attach the patches to the sleeve and the resulting elbow patches have turned out perfectly!

Attaching the yoke went as quickly as I'd thought it would - just one note here - you're moving from knit to woven (albeit on the bias) and back to knit again.  When serging on straight knit I had my serger's differential on 1.5.  When serging on knit and bias woven, I changed it to 1.3.  If the woven had not been on the bias I would have used N.

Once these two processes were out of the way, the rest of the sew was very quick.  And now I have another Sloane to add to the pack - bring on the cool weather!

If you don't already have the Sloane, you can get it through my affiliate link below.  And don't forget there's a Sloane for girls!  You just can't have too many Sloanes!

Love Notions' Sloane Sweater for Ladies
Love Notions' Sloane Sweater for Girls

Be sure to visit all the Sloane Blog Tour bloggers for some amazing versions of this super pattern!

Monday: Sew Shelly Sew, The Wholesome Mama, Ruby Rue Creations

Tuesday: Third Shift Creations, Sew Like a Sloth, Four Seasons and a Roadtrip

Wednesday: Seamly Behaviour, My Heart Will Sew On, Ma Moose

Thursday: SewSophieLynn, Very Blissful Blog, Kainara stitches, Sprouting JubeJube

Friday: Sew and Tell Project, Sewing curves, Princesse et trésors, All Things Katy!

On Your Mark!

Pattern - Love Notions Forte
Skill Rating - Confident Beginner
Fabric - l'oiseau fabrics
Skills - pattern marking and gathering

The Forte is Love Notions's newest pattern and as is usual with Love Notions patterns - you really get your money's worth!  There are options galore!

In addition to 4 body options, there are sleeve choices of straight, gathered, flounced and flared.  There are even options for dresses!  See what I mean about your money's worth?

Every new pattern I try has me revisiting skills I learned long ago - sometimes all the way back to high school!  This pattern reminded me of lessons I learned about gathering, as our very first project was an apron with a gathered skirt.  The Forte that I tested was View D and it has a gathered front.  I chose to sew the mid-length sleeve with bell. View A also has the gathered skirt and one of the sleeve options is gathered as well.  It may look like a difficult pattern, but it's really quite easy as long as you pay attention to the pattern's marking.

Transferring the Pattern Piece Marks

As soon as I've finished cutting out my pattern pieces, I make sure I transfer the marks - all of them.  These are important for putting together the garment.  I have evolved a system that works for me and I change my tactics depending on what fabric I'm sewing.

My final test garment was made with a light cotton/spandex knit from l'oiseau - a Majapuu fabric called Hortensia which I think came from Finland.  It was 200 gsm in weight and has 110% stretch - a weight and stretch that works very well with view D.  The wrong side of my fabric made marking easy.  Click on any picture to see it in more detail.

Starting with a sleeve top, I placed a pin at the centre top and made small dashes with a gel pen for the  back and front marks.  You can get washable fabric markers, but I didn't bother, because the marks will be taken out by my serger's knife.

Now it's time to do the other sleeve top.  Flip your pattern piece over and make sure the marks are visible on the back side of your pattern piece.  Mark as you did the first sleeve piece.

On the bodice front there is a circle marking where you will stop your stitching line - and secure it as this will be the bottom of View D's V neck.  (My sewing machine has a tie-off function for this step, but you can backstitch and get the same result.) I start by putting a pin through the centre of the circle.

Now I back off the pin and pattern piece, flipping back the corner so that I can see where the pin goes through the fabric, and mark it with my pen - again, this won't show on the front, but you can use a washable fabric marker.

My first test of the Forte was with dark purple ITY knit from Fabricland and of course pen markings wouldn't show on that.  I used tailor's chalk to make the markings on the fabric.

Gathering

Gathering is a step that sometimes people new to sewing are nervous about.  There really isn't much to it, so let's go through it step by step.

First, set your sewing machine's stitch length to at least 4 - a basting stitch.  Run a line of stitching 5/8" from the edge and another 1/4" from the edge.

Pin the skirt to the bodice piece, right sides together.  Pin at the ends and match the notches in the middle.  Now working on one half and holding both threads together pull one side until the gathered portion is the same length as the bodice piece behind it.  Pin it in place with several pins.

When you've got them matching in length, wrap the thread in a figure 8 around the pin - like you're not supposed to do with vacuum cleaner cords!  You'll notice that I don't have many gathers at the edge on this side.  This is going to be the side seam and I've left this little bit gather-free so that the side seam will be as smooth as possible.

Now pull the gathering threads on the other side.

You're ready to stitch the seam.  I like to baste it on my sewing machine before I take it to my serger.  I use the stitch length of 4, just like I did with gathering and I run the stitching 3/8" from the edge - right between my gathering lines, removing the pins as my sewing machine's needle gets to them.  If you don't have a serger, change your stitch length to 2.5 and you're almost done.

Before serging I trim all the threads except the 5/8" line top thread, which I carefully bring below the stitching so it won't get caught up in my serging line - this makes it easy to remove after the serging is done.

Now I'm ready to take it to the serger and I have a nice basting line to follow with the left needle guide on the top of my serger's foot.  Take care while serging that your bodice piece is flat and not getting tucked up in the serging - I lift the fabric up every now and then to make sure that all is well.  It's easier to take a little extra time at this point rather than have to take out stitches later!

Serging done, I can now remove the gathering line that will show below the seam.   I trim the left hand thread and carefully pull out from the right.

Then I remove the loose thread from the right side of the fabric and I'm ready to press the seam up.

In addition to my final test Forte, I also did a couple of shirts in ITY (interlock twist yarn), which is sold as Barcelona at my local Fabricland.  It's a polyester fabric with beautiful drape and worked extremely well in View D.

Once you have the marking done, and your gathering is completed, the rest of the Forte is pretty simple.  And when you have finished you have created a beautiful, wearable garment that is made just for you - a one-of-a-kind garment you can be proud of!

You can get the pattern below using my affiliate link

Love Notions Forte