Okay all you ladies with a baby belly I have a really fun post for you today. There are no more babies joining the Paynes so I had to enlist the help of a new sewing friend, Holly, who has the cutest baby belly. I met Holly only a few short weeks ago when she was helping me test the Montlake pattern and I knew instantly we would be great friends. She graciously agreed to help me show all of you how you can easily modify the Montlake tee to be maternity friendly.
Many times it is hard to look at a pattern and envision how you could modify it to get a different look. This is especially true for those sewists who consider themselves beginners, heck even I struggle with modifying patterns sometimes.
Today I am going to show you how I made the Montlake tee into a tunic with just a couple easy steps, to save you from having to try and figure it out.
This is the first of many modifications I have planned over the next few weeks to help you see that Montlake is so much more than just a simple tee.
My favourite part of releasing a new pattern is sharing with everyone what my testers sewed up, and the ladies that I worked with this round were amazing. You know you have struck gold with testers when they are equal parts constructive and encouraging. Testing is such a collaborative effort for me so I truly value all of them and the impact they have had on the final Montlake pattern. Enjoy the Montlake Tester Roundup!
Heidi of Handmade Frenzy used a fabric that has been in her stash waiting for the perfect project. I love the white with the subtle texture. Read all about here version here.
Choosing fabric for a pattern is my favourite part of sewing. I love walking the aisles of a fabric store feeling and stretching the fabrics to see how they will behave with the pattern. When designing my new pattern, Montlake I realized very quickly that depending on the fabric chosen the final tee would have a different look. The more stretch in a fabric leads to a deeper scoop neck and relaxed fit. For those fabrics that have only slight stretch it is a more fitted tee. All the looks are great, it’s just a matter of what kind of mood you are in when sewing up your Montlake.
After what feels like a marathon of pattern testing with the greatest bunch of ladies around I am happy to be here today sharing my newest sewing pattern with all of you, Montlake.
This tee is everything you would want out of a new closet staple. With clean lines and a great shape you can view it as a blank canvas to play around with different knits. One of my testers couldn’t have put it better when she described this pattern to me, simple fashion. Sometimes we just need some simple fashion in our lives and the Montlake tee is that.
Sewing jeans has always been on my list of clothing items I wanted to tackle, but there was always something that held me back. The reality is that it was more fear than anything, they were just so darn intimidating. The button fly alone was enough for me to only ever make elastic waist pants, ha! When Lauren of Baste + Gather put out a tester call for her jeans pattern, Birkin Flares, I couldn’t fill out the tester form fast enough. Can I just quickly skip to the end really quick and say, my first pair fit like a glove!
Pretty much from September until May I am dressed in layers whether it is a heavy sweater and vest or a tank top and cardigan I always have multiple layers on. Add a cozy scarf and my new favourite hat and you pretty much have my ‘uniform’ for the fall and winter.
While most of my closet is now handmade I still have quite a few pieces that have been around for YEARS. Most can be found in the form of a cardigan, which could be argued is the best option for a layer, they can pretty much go over anything. Because I tend to get warm in all my layers I usually wear a tank top under my cardigans, no one likes to have bunchy shirts in the sleeves of your cardigan either.
I am not sure why it took me so long to realize how amazing chambray is. Its the most perfect neutral fabric that works great with almost all woven patterns. The high waisted Brumby skirt I made recently is what put me over the edge. It is quite possible I will now make all the things in chambray.
Over the summer I was dreaming of a chambray shirt dress but never seemed to get around to making one. So when I had the chance to sew the Alder Shirt Dress by Grainline Studios for Indiesew I jumped at the chance. Because I am a hoarder of fabric I had the most perfect herringbone chambray in my stash that was just calling to be made into a shirt dress.
I am a creature of habit when it comes to sewing. If I find a pattern that I love I will keep making it over and over in all the fabrics. When I lengthened the Laurelhurst for my Fall Collection post, I discovered just how much I love that pattern, like so much I want to wear one every day. The natural thing to do is sew up a bunch so that I can in fact wear one every day.
Let me paint you a picture. You get up in the morning and realize it is your one drop off day at preschool, there is 2 1/2 hours of freedom to be had in only a few short hours. Perfect opportunity to do a quick photoshoot after dropoff. So you get the kids fed and dressed then you put on your outfit do up your hair and makeup and head towards the door with all of your photography stuff and kids backpacks and jackets. It isn’t until you walk out the door you realize not only is it a little cold but gosh darnit it is raining.
