Wednesday, January 13, 2016

Safari Raglan Tee With a Pleated Hem.

Welcome to day 2 of the Safari Raglan Tee and Dress Week. If you missed the first post you can find it HERE.

Today we are venturing a little bit out of the original pattern by adding a lower pleated hem piece which turns the tee into a dress. The pattern also comes with a dress option but I have not sewn that yet so I'm not going to talk about that. Yikes, does that mean we need a day 4?!



I made her a size 8 (which she is turning today, eeek) and this is the full length of the tee version of the pattern. So that means the pattern have added length for hemming your tee at the bottom, but I'm just using 1 cm / 3/8" to sew the pleat part on. (I'm saying this to explain why it looks so long on her for a tee.) That worked out perfectly for this style.



The new lower piece is simply a rectangle that I randomly pleated with pins before sewing it on to the tee's lower hem. I just made sure that the side seams and center front and back notches matched and after that there was no rules. Some are small and some are bigger, some turn one way and some the other. Easy peasy.

Here are the measurements for my rectangle, size 8:

Height: 22 cm (8") (1 cm SA at the top and 2 cm SA at the bottom for hemming included).
Length: 82 cm (32") (SA for side seams included).
Cut two (front and back) and mark your CF and CB with a notch (tiny snip in fabric).

Of course these measurements has to be adjusted if you are doing other sizes but this will give you an idea of where to start.

I would suggest you sew the tee and try it on your child when only hemming is left to be done, then measure from bottom of tee (minus 1 cm SA) to where you want the dress to end and then cut your rectangle for pleat piece, adding SA for hemming too.


Here is a close up of some random pleats.

And can you handle another round of me cheering for my cover stitch machine?! This dress was washed and NOT ironed before this shoot. I love how the stitches (any stitches of course not just cover stitches but since they are stretchable it's more practical for knit) still keeps the seams flat. Oh, and no flipping/rolling hems either - which also can be caused by fabric, lets be fair here. Just thought I would mention it.


 The same with the neckline seam. Okay, a quick press would have looked better but this is absolutely acceptable to me, ha. Anything to not iron after wash and wear, ha. But always iron while you sew...let me be very clear about that bahaha.


This fabulous cotton interlock knit is (also) from Miss Matatabi. Gosh I love it SO much and it was such a pleasure to work with....and W says to wear.


That's it for today.
Tomorrow is the grand finale with swan dresses (I'm sure you by now know what I'm talking about, right!) and an example of my extremely poor skills of buying enough fabric for a project - hence why so many of my projects ends up being color blocked, hehe. Yeah, I bet you thought I just liked color blocking that much, right! LOL.

Get your own safari Raglan Tee and Dress pattern HERE.

11 comments:

  1. Oh those random pleats, how I love them!!! This dress is so perfect. I love the silhouette - sort of 1920s. And that fabric is so sweet. I was eyeing it in her shop, too ;)

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  2. I love it so much! That fabric is beautiful and I really love the proportions you ended up with. Happy birthday W.!!! <3

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  3. hehe I hacked the Rowan tee pretty much like this. That is the beauty of a good basic pattern. This dress looks so comfortable and the fabric is great too ( I almost bought another colour way- now I am regretting not getting it ;) ) Also Happy Birthday to the lovely model! 8 is a great age. <3 <3 <3

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  4. This is getting better and better. This dress is perfect for a birthday girl <3 <3 <3. Now excuse me, because I have to buy a new pattern :-)

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  5. Loving your personal Safari Raglan Tee week!

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  6. This is so great, Mie!!! And yes! Always press as you go! Always! I'm actually a weirdo and I enjoy ironing! This dress is 👌.

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  7. Love it!!! And yeah, I rarely iron unless I'm sewing - After that it's tumble dry and wear! Love the little skirt on this pattern, you are giving me such good ideas for this pattern!

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  8. Looks so comfy. Love the fabric too. Happy birthday wilma:)

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  9. This is just gorgeous, that fabric is amazing. Happy Birthday Wilma! I totally agree on only ironing when you sew :)

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  10. I'm with you!! Press like crazy while sewing, but do whatever necessary to avoid it after wash a wear. Love this look!

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