Well, I plowed through last night and finally finished J’s car shorts, which had been cut since sometime in April:
Clean Slate Car Shorts
These actually went together relatively quickly, but I didn’t head down to my sewing room until 9:30 pm, so it was yet another late night — I think I finished up about 11:15. Still, not too bad, particularly when you take into account the fact that I reinforced most of the seams and flat-felled the back crotch, inseam and outseams!
Every morning for over a week, J has asked me the same question, “Mommy, did you make me a new shirt?” And every morning my answer was, “No sweetie, not today.”
Well last night, I finally broke down and made the kid a shirt. When I showed him in the morning, he asked to put it on immediately, even before he got out of bed. And this coming from a kid who usually puts off getting dressed as long as he can — typically until about 10 minutes before he’s going to walk out the door for the day (which means I sometimes come home from work to find him still in his pajamas!).
J’s new blue tank top — he loved it!
J had requested a blue tank top, and selected gray for the trim when given a choice between gray and white. I used the Blank Tank pattern from the original Blank Slate Basics collection from Blank Slate Patterns (boy, that’s a lot of “blanks” in a single sentence!).
The crazy thing is, even though I was a tester for this pattern when it was released last summer, this is actually only the second Blank Tank I’ve made! You might think from that that I don’t like the pattern, which couldn’t be farther from the truth — I actually love it! It’s a quick sew (traced pattern pieces in a new size, cut fabric, and sewed the whole thing up with some added details not in the pattern in not quite 2 hours), and is super-comfy for an active little boy in the summer. And what kid doesn’t love a comfy, breathable knit tank top on a hot summer day?
The back view
The only thing I’m not particularly keen on in this pattern is the finish on the neck and arm openings. The pattern instructs you to simply turn the edges under 1/2″ and sew with a zigzag or double needle. While getting a top on and off, J always seems to pull at the neck and arm openings so much that the seams break when they’re finished in this way, which means I’d constantly be fixing it, or it wouldn’t get worn (again reinforcing my desire for a coverstitch machine so I have the ability to sew a stretchier seam!).
However, that was a really easy fix. Instead, I just used a gray contrast binding on the neck and arm openings that matched the gray pocket. Using a binding definitely takes longer since you’re adding a few more steps, but I also think it gives a more finished/polished look. I did use a zig zag stitch to attach the binding because I don’t trust my double needle to give enough stretch on knit items for J — he just pulls on them too much. I can’t tell you how many double-needle hems this kid has broken!
The details … and a big smile from a happy boy!
Not much more to say — J loves his new shirt! It’s always nice when the kids really love or appreciate the things I make for them. It doesn’t always happen at this age. I will make something that I think they’re going to love, and then they want nothing to do with it. Take N’s purple mouse Geranium dress — everything about that dress says “a two-old-girl will LOVE me!” Cute, swingy pattern, purple fabric, adorable animals all over it. And she’s only worn it once. She likes to look at it, but gives me an emphatic “no, no, no!” every time I try to put it on her.
Since there’s still a lot of summer left, I should probably make J a few more tanks. I have a great orange bamboo jersey knit sitting in my stash — I’m thinking an orange tank with a big tiger decal …
And since I’ve never done my full pattern review break-out on this pattern, here you go:
Blank Tank
Pattern: Blank Tank by Blank Slate Patterns ($7.95 USD).
Size: 4T, with no size modifications.
Fit: Perfect fit for my skinny 4-year-old. He likes his tops a little loose, and this one gives him room to move and grow. J is 40th percentile for weight, and 60th percentile for height, and is very compact, to give you a reference.
Fabric: Blue organic medium-weight jersey from Near Sea Naturals. The contrast is a lightweight gray heather jersey from Girl Charlee.
Modifications: I added a contrast binding to the neck and arm openings, as indicated above. When cutting the fabric, I left the arm openings as-is, but cut the neck opening about 1/4 inch deeper than drafted to account for the fact that I wouldn’t be turning the raw edges under. That also raised the neckline just a bit since the pattern has a 1/2″ seam allowance at the neck. The result is more like a muscle tee, which I like.
Physical pattern: This is a PDF, but it’s not too cumbersome to piece together. Just 3 pattern pieces.
Pros:
Cons:
Overall grade: B+. I love this for a basic summer tank. The only reason I mark it down is because of the simpleness of the pattern compared to the price.
One of my favorite things that I’ve gotten to do since I started sewing almost 2 years ago is test new patterns for independent pattern designers. It’s probably the Type-A litigator in me, but I love to take a pattern in its not-quite-final stage, look at it with a critical eye and give constructive feedback. I also love knowing that when the pattern is released to acclaim from our little community, I had some small part in making that pattern a success.
Melissa from Melly Sews and Blank Slate Patterns just released her newest summer pattern collection, Summer Vibe, and I was lucky enough to test all three patterns — the Retro Romper, Baja Hoody and Big Island Board Shorts!
This is not a full review of the collection since I haven’t had time to take decent photos of my garments in action, but those will follow. Photos are on my to-do list for the weekend, assuming the spring thunderstorms let up long enough for a shoot!
In the meantime, here is a sneak peak of my test garments (minus the board shorts — I couldn’t get proper board short fabric before feedback was due and I’m not a big fan of the fabric I had to use. Now I have board short fabric for 2 more pairs, though!). I am a big fan of all three patterns and will definitely recommend them!
I am finally sharing yet another of the fantastic Blank Slate patterns from Melly Sews that I was lucky enough to test! I can’t even remember when I made this dress — sometime this summer I know.
N in her Pristine Swing Dress. Very moveable!
This is the Pristine Swing Dress from the Blank Slate for Girls collection released this summer. Anyone familiar with Melissa’s patterns will see immediately that the pattern is based on one of her first patterns — the Rose T-shirt (which I also tested and is an excellent pattern).
One of my favorite things about the Rose T-shirt, as well as this dress, is the woven placket at the neck. It not only is a great way to show off a small amount of special fabric, but if you use a knit fabric for the dress, it makes the sewing process SOOO much easier because the woven fabric stabilizes the knit.
Pristine Swing Dress back view. The button opening makes for easy on and off.
I actually did not use a knit with this dress. I had about 3/4 yard of this fabulous navy blue Nani Iro double gauze fabric that I found in the remnant bin at Bon Bon Atelier, one of my local boutique fabric stores. The Nani Iro double gauze is really soft and has a fantastic drape, so I was pretty confident it would work with the design of this dress. I had been saving it for a dress for N because I knew the color would look wonderful with her hair and eyes. That 3/4 yard was just enough to cut this dress with short sleeves and no pockets — with almost nothing left over!
Since I used a print for the main fabric of the dress, I used a plain off-white linen for the contrast fabric, which worked very nicely. The button is from my vintage button stash that I inherited from Albert’s grandma and stepmom. Love me some vintage buttons!
A word of warning: In my opinion, the design of this dress makes it inappropriate for most quilting cottons (except for the placket, which is designed for a sturdier woven). I don’t think quilting cotton has enough drape and movement for this dress and will end up looking stiff. So if you’ve been hoarding a precious yard of some designer quilting cotton, DON’T use it for this dress! Instead, get a nice drapey knit for the main fabric, use a bit of your precious quilting cotton for the placket (you’ll use much less than the recommended 1/4 yard), and save the rest for another special project. You’ll be happier in the end!
The construction of the dress was really good. There were a few issues at the pattern testing phase, but I’m sure that those are fixed in the final pattern that is now for sale. Constructing the placket takes a little extra time, but not that much, and the rest of the dress comes together really fast.
The design is great for an active little girl, too. It goes on and off easily and gives plenty of room in the shoulders and arms for movement. The swingy body of the dress makes it perfect for running and playing. N is 18 months old in these pictures, and this is the size 18m dress. As you can see, it fits her perfectly!
Pristine Swing Dress. Very well fitting.
Pattern: Pristine Swing Dress by Blank Slate Patterns
Fabric: Nani Iro double gauze.
Size: 18m
Physical pattern: The pattern is size 18m to 8 years, so there’s a nice range. It’s a PDF pattern, which you probably know by now that I don’t particularly like but deal with because it’s how most independent patterns are done. The Blank Slate PDF patterns are pretty good though. The piecing is generally easy and everything matches up well.
Pros:
Cons:
Overall grade: I give the Pristine Swing Dress an A. The construction is straightforward, and the woven placket is so great for so many reasons. This is a great pattern to make an interesting knit dress!
the creative counselor 