Heather Gray Basics: Oslo Cardigan, Jane Tee and Hemlock Tee

January in Seattle is gray and cold, so it was fitting that the garments I made this month were gray, too! A while ago, I purchased 5 yards of Robert Kaufman Laguna Cotton Jersey Knit in Heather Pepper. It's a lovely fabric that has a little bit of a pattern, but reads as a solid. The plan was to make an Oslo Cardigan and a Hemlock Tee. Before I found time to cut out the pattern pieces, the January 2017 issue of Seamwork dropped. I loved both patterns, and decided to make the Jane Tee immediately. After playing a little pattern piece Tetris, I realized I had almost enough yardage to make all three items out of the yardage I had on hand. I dug through my apparel scraps and found a big enough scrap of Heather Pepper for the Hemlock Tee sleeve. (I used it previously for a Wembley Cardigan.) Thus, I made three things from the yardage I had planned to use for two garments. It felt like finding a free shirt! Here are more details about each garment. 

Pattern: Oslo Cardigan from Seamwork 

Fabric: Robert Kaufman Laguna Cotton Jersey Knit in Heather Pepper 

Alterations: Reduced the cuff length by 50%

  

Thoughts: When I first made this pattern back in 2015, I considered it a failure. Part of the reason why was the color (When I ordered it online, I thought that Royal would be a deeper, truer blue than it was), part of it was that I choose the wrong size, and part of it was that the cuffs were way too long for my taste. This time I chose a fabric I had used successfully in the past, sized down by one size, and reduced the cuff length by 50%. I am much happier with this version. The sleeves are still a little long, but they are not too bulky when folded back. I'm tempted to make another in more challenging fabric, like a sweater knit, now that I have a serger. I've worn this cardigan once or twice a week since making it, so now I consider the pattern a success!

   

 

Pattern: Jane Tee from Seamwork 

Fabric: Robert Kaufman Laguna Cotton Jersey Knit in Heather Pepper 

Alterations: Graded the pattern up at the hip by adding 1.25 inches at the bottom edge on both the front and back pattern piece

Thoughts: I'm always on the lookout for good, repeatable basics. I know from experience that my measurements mean that I usually have to grade out the waist/hips 1-2 sizes with Seamwork patterns. Since this is a simple pattern, I just added 1.25 inches at the bottom edge of each torso piece and drew a straight line from there to the arm scythe. While I'm really happy with the fit around the waist/hips, the loose sleeves and high crew neck aren't my favorite. I'm still happy that I tried this pattern. It's a wearable basic that taught me that I like tighter sleeves and lower necklines, at least for my tees.

  

Pattern: Hemlock Tee from Grainline Studio  

Fabric: Robert Kaufman Laguna Cotton Jersey Knit in Heather Pepper 

Alterations: Added 1.5 inches to the sleeve 

Thoughts: The Hemlock Tee is one of my current favorite patterns. It's free, it fits and it's quick. Last November, I whipped up four Hemlock Tees and they have been in constant rotation ever since. For this version, I extended the sleeves by 1.5 inches. I really like the extra length for winter. This shirt is a definite wardrobe workhorse.

While making three plain gray items in a short period of time may seem boring, it's very satisfying to make basics that you know will be worn often. It's also super satisfying that I've already made two of the patterns from my #2017MakeNine collage! I've ordered fabric for a few more basics, but after that I may start reaching for prints over solids. We'll see.

Mystery Fabric Hemlock Tee

After I made my first Hemlock Tee, I wanted to sew another one right away. During a trip to Pacific Fabrics, I hit up their knits section and found this rayon/lycra blend that didn't have a brand name written on the bolt. However, the color spoke to me, and it was slinky but still opaque. I decided to give it a try.

The Hemlock tee is a lovely, quick pattern, but this shirt took me over a month to sew. The slinky fabric just wasn't fun to work with, even though I was looking forward to wearing it. Once the calendar flipped to September, my motivation returned. I wanted to finish this so that I could move on to my fall sewing!

I wish I could say that I was happy with the end result. For a day, that was true. Wearing this shirt made me feel both comfy and confident. At the end of that one day, though, I realized that the fabric had already started to pill! Lesson learned: do not buy unbranded mystery fabric! Luckily, the pilling hasn’t noticeably increased, even though I wear this shirt often. However, I’m not going to let one disappointing fabric choice hold me back. I'm already planning my next Hemlock tee. This time, I'll use better fabric!

Basic Gray Staples: Mesa Tunic, Aurora Tank and Hemlock Tee

Back in August, I caught the garment sewing bug again. I happened to have a bunch of gray Robert Kaufman Laguna Jersey knit fabric laying around, so I grabbed a few new-to-me patterns and went to town, with varying degrees of success.

Mesa Tunic

I really enjoy the patterns from Seamwork and look forward to the new offerings each month. The Mesa Dress was an instant favorite. However, I’m trying to sew clothes that I’ll actually wear, and I knew that I wouldn’t wear a dress without pockets very often. Instead of adding pockets, I decided to shorten it and make a shirt instead. After reading comments on Instagram about the pattern running small, I cut out a size larger than normal, complete with grading out to an even larger size at the waist and hips. The end result was too big in the shoulders and somehow still too tight around my middle. It was worth a shot, but this shirt will be relegated to the pile of layering shirts that I wear under sweaters during the winter and never see the light of day.

Aurora Tank

I’ve been looking for a knit tank pattern, and the Seamwork Aurora Tank seemed like a good choice. It has a couple cute details: gathers on the straps and a pleat in the back. Also, I really like how the yoke is assembled. Even though I graded out a size at the waist and hips, it’s just a little bit too snug for my taste. I can see the potential though, so I look forward to trying it again sometime, grading out an additional size. This version is good enough that I wore it in public when it was just too hot to wear sleeves this summer. It also works nicely as a layering piece.

Hemlock Tee

After making two patterns that ended up being too tight, I decided to try a pattern that was one-size-fits-all: the free Hemlock Tee from Grainline Patterns. It was everything I needed it to be: quick to sew, loose and comfortable. For my first try, I omitted the sleeves, but I’m looking forward to making a few long sleeved Hemlock Tees now that the weather has cooled down.

Even though not every pattern turned out to be a winner for me, I’m really happy with my garment sewing efforts in August. I tried three new patterns and found two that I liked. Pretty good results, if you ask me.