Mini Lounge Collection! Keeping Cozy this long winter - Part 1

Last weekend I had all to myself and decided to sew up a great cozy and comfy mini-collection. The winter in Chicago and the ongoing pandemic just has me crazy fun, comfortable and stylish lounge wear. Something soft and lovely against my skin as we just keep enduring this never ending time of being extra careful just gives me some extra good feels.

I made 4 garments:

Closet Core Plateau jogger, View A with the elasticized hem.

Closet Core Mile End Sweatshirt, View C the hoodie.

Jen Stern’s Easy fit and sew tank top (my TNT tank top pattern)

Self Drafted boat neck top- design inspired from a Sarah Veblen zoom class on developing a boat neck neckline.

I’ll talk about the Closet Core Patterns in this first installment . I must say that I am a bit of a fan of Closet Core patterns. I find them to be very interesting, with well thought out details, great seam lines and always some part has a different way of construction. It’s kind of like sewing with a pattern that goes “what if” we did it this or that way instead of the way 99% of the other patterns say to do it.  Heather Lou owner of Closet Core Patterns is a really great person, also quite interesting! Just like her patterns.

I made no fit changes to the joggers. I cut the size indicated by my measurements and the fit was spot on in the French terry I used. I plan to make another pair in a ponte and see how those fit with just adding a little length at the hem line.

For the hoodie, I cut a size smaller than my measurements indicated. This decision came from comparing the size measurement chart and the finished garment chart. This design has a generous amount of ease. It is a super fun and updated fit with a boxy design and slightly cropped length.

The designs of these garments are fun and i did not make any changes in design, no need too! The hoodie features a side seam that wraps from the underarm around to the front and the sleeves are 2 piece with the front inner sleeve having dual elbow darts and  a dropped shoulder. The front cross over piece has an interesting construction method that I was initially thinking was weird and unconventional. Once made I really appreciated it. The only place you have multiple layers of fabric from the crossover is above the pocket! Definitely not the type of construction that you would see in RTW.

The joggers have an interesting pocket construction that makes for a nice smooth side seam. The pockets wrap around and the back wraps around to form the pocket facing area. Making for very little bulk, a strange looking pattern piece and interesting construction that you need to pay attention to, but very little bulk! Which I appreciate since that is where I carry my extra bulk :)

When planning for my garments, I almost always do some planning and keep a record in a sewing journal. This is a working journal, which means that i write out any planning info, my intentions, a print out of any Procreate sketches and just general thoughts. Then as I progress along the project I add in notes of things I may want to change next time, any notes that I think are important or pertinent, as well as what my next steps are. I almost never finish a garment from planning to start to finish in one go. So I like space where I can keep progress notes. My brain just doesn’t retain all the details and information like I would like it too! 

Fabric for both is a Oeko Tex bamboo/cotton French terry called Limeade Graffiti from online retailer EmmaOneSock. It is sooooooooooooooo soft!! I don’t want to take it off, I think it may only last one season from all the wear it is going to get. The French Terry is also light enough to last well into spring and the print is so fun and so me.

On the joggers I only used 2 small squares of interfacing about 2inches by 2 inches to interface the area of the grommets on the waistband. I used a medium weight fusible tricot(which is the heaviest i use for garment sewing). I fused the squares on top of each other rotating them 90 degrees so that i really controlled the stretch in the width and length. In my test I only did one square and I was able to pull out the grommet. 

In the hoodie, I used a variety of SewkeysE knit stay tapes. I used them on the kangaroo pocket edges, the shoulder seams and the front crossover neckline opening. I took a hands on class with Emma Seabrooke maybe 20 years ago, when she just had a few of these tapes. It was a knit serger class on controlling hems and seam lines and since then I have used these in my knits and swear by them! There are also some other brands or you can cut your own. I won’t sew knits without them. 

Not a lot of notions needed. I used grommets that I had in my cupboard that I am sure were just a package of cheap ones from JoAnn’s from years ago. The lime green drawstring came from an Etsy seller. What would we do without Etsy???

I also used 2 of my favorite labels from the Kyle and The Machine advent calendar. GoGo Juice!! 

Construction wise these came together pretty easily as long as you followed the directions for the tricky parts. By tricky I just mean unusual construction methods that have reduced bulk and gave us sewers something to keep us on our toes. 

Some seams were done on the sewing machine and some on the serger using a 4 thread overlock. The sewing machine used a reduced pressure on the presser foot to keep the fabric from being pushed about and the serger had a differential feed of 1.5. Area where I used the sewing machine are always the shoulder seams. This lets me press the seams open and reduce bulk at the sleeve and the neckline. Also anywhere that is enclosed, like the cuffs and waistband. All other seams are serge constructed. 

Hem finish on the hoodie is a band and the joggers have a stitched elasticized hem. With the elastic serger to the raw edge then turned up and stitched.

I am definitely making more of both of these! I have so many knits of so many different types and I find it endlessly interesting trying different knits and seeing how they will behave in the same garment design.

Next blog post will have the details from the tank and short sleeve boat neck top.

In the meantime I have a couple more ideas on the work table and ready to go. Hint… more joggers and another view of the MileEnd sweatshirt. Still craving the comfy winter clothing especially after the trip to the paradise of Costa Rica!

Happy Sewing!!

Enjoy this pic of The Princess and I wearing our matching aprons and cutting onions for chili  with swim googles on so we don’t cry! LOL!! The things I do for my granddaughter!