Today’s Sew & Tell is from Scary from Shaffer Sisters! She’s sewn up two fabulous versions of the lovely Casual Lady. The Casual Lady is an easy to wear (and sew!) dress and top pattern and is available now over at the shop!
Hi, this is Scary (aka SarahLynn) from Shaffer Sisters.
My personal style has been suffering from a bad case of Mommy Wardrobe. You know the symptoms right? Holes, Stains and General boredom. The Casual Lady Top was the perfect solution to my problem. I have sewn two of these in the last 24 hours, after I made my first I ran to the fabric store so I could make a few more.
My mommy body has left me with wide hips, flabby tummy in comparison to my disproportionately smaller chest measurement. The way that the pattern pieces are designed it makes it easy to customize the fit.
I cut a XXL at the hips, eased up to a XL at the waist and by the time I got up to the chest I was at a L. This discrepancy in size makes commercial garments either be too large in the top which leads to frumpy or immodest necklines. Or the opposite the ever so embarrassing muffin top, which no one wants to see!
When I wore my new shirt for the first time, I felt so pretty and comfortable. It was so nice to have something that was made just for me. The neckline on the pattern, was modest for picking up kiddos and not one time did I have to pull it down in the back. And it accentuated, in the right way, all those hard earned curves.
It is a little chilly here in Utah right now so I extended the sleeve by 1 1/2″ for more of a winter tee look. I was a little worried about sewing the neckline because my fabric was very slippery and would have been easy to stretch out. But with the 7 easy steps in construction I had a great fitting top in no time.
The second one is a striped knit that I inherited from my mom’s stash. I cut trim pieces on the bias for the neck and arms. I am such a sucker for this look on commercial garments I just couldn’t help myself. This knit wasn’t abundantly stretchy so the bands was just ever so slightly smaller to give a fun finish look.
I would recommend this to the beginner who is just starting sewing knits. Included in the pattern are 8 tips for better results with knits. This pattern also gives a great base for the more advanced sewer who is looking for a great jumping off point.
Renew your Mommy Wardrobe with this awesome pattern!