And More Back to School Clothes

"A short sleeved hoodie???" I asked.
"Yes," she said, "A short sleeved hoodie."
"Ok," I said, "if you're sure. . ."
"I am," she said. "I've had one before and I liked it."

That conversation is how I wound up making this short sleeved hoodie for my sister. And you know what? Despite my initial reservations, I actually like it! My sister knew what she was doing with this idea!

Back when I told my sister to pick out a couple patterns from the Winter Wear Designs website for this Back 2 School blog tour, I directed her attention to the Banded Tee pattern. It's a pattern I've admired several times, but never got around to making for myself. So, I thought I might make it for my sister. As soon as she saw the hood option, she loved the idea - but her vision for this top was a little different than mine.

I've long admired this pattern because all edges - the bottom, the sleeves, and the neckline are finished with bands, so no hemming is required at all! I don't particularly enjoy hemming knits - so I'm automatically interested in any knit garment pattern which doesn't require hemming. The hood option was never really something I'd paid attention to. For my sister however, the hood was the reason to make this pattern.

Thus, she requested I make her the Banded Tee, with the hood, and the tulip sleeves from the Classic Shell pattern I'd made her for Easter. This short tulip-sleeved hoodie idea led to the discussion recorded above.

As you can see, I made the hoodie, just as she'd requested. When it was done I was actually surprised by how much I liked it.

It is CUTE!! This girl has style!

That said, I couldn't let her have all the fun when it came to designing her new school clothes. I wanted to exercise a bit of my own creativity. Thus, I decided to make her a dress.

Last month, Winter Wear Designs released the new Creative Cap dolmen pattern. Despite the fact I already have a tried and true dolmen top pattern, this pattern interested me. The more I saw of it, the more I liked it.

I loved the v-back option with the criss-crossed straps.

And I really liked both the front and back color blocked yoke options.

I decided it would be a fun pattern to make for my sister for this blog tour. But just making her another top sounded a little boring - especially since the hoodie top had turned out so fantastic. Thus, I decided to lengthen this pattern into a dress.

I added a little extra swing to the pattern below the waist (because I like fuller skirts), and about 10" of length, and the dress pattern was good to go!

The pattern pieces already had the waistline marked on them, so I transferred those markings to the fabric when I cut the pieces out. Then, to add a bit of shape to the dress, as sewed elastic around the waistline on the inside of the dress per this tutorial.

I probably could have made the elastic a little tighter, as it's rather loose on my sister - but at least it's comfy!

Over all, I love the shape of the finished dress! It turned out just as I'd hoped - a comfy, easy wearing, knit dress just right for class or home!

The stretch lace I used for the yoke keeps the front of the dress from being "too plain".

And the fancy v-back definitely keeps it out of boring territory!

Simple, but still fun and interesting - that's what this dress is!

And with that - a skirt outfit, a short sleeve hoodie, and a comfy knit dress - my sister's official Back 2 School collection is done. But, of course, she and I both have lots more ideas when it comes to things I ought to make for her!

Don't miss out on any of these inspirational posts:

Monday:

Suzanne of Winter Wear Designs

Tuesday:

Alyssa of The Sewing Goatherd

Laurie of Make it Sew with the Bear and the Pea Atelier

Diane of Sewing with D

Wednesday:

Suzanne of Winter Wear Designs 

Jessica of Jot Designs

Thursday:

Alyssa of The Sewing Goatherd

Rachel of Violets and Jewels

Jackie of Jaxx of All Trades

Friday:

Suzanne of Winter Wear Deisgns

Laura of Custom Made by Laura

Liv of Liviality