Spring Top Pattern Favorites!
I hope you enjoyed all of the fabric inspiration posts and giveaways last week (from Fabric Fairy / Modern Fabric Studio / Banberry Place / Whipstitch / Fantastic Fabrics ) and were inspired by all of the lovely fabrics! A few of you have mentioned in the comments that you'd love to have some ideas for patterns as well. There are a few patterns that have been popping up in the sewalong pool this year with regularity so I thought I'd mention those along with a few other favorites today.First, I want to remind you of the "how-to-choose-a-pattern" post that one of our judges, Meg of Fashioned by Meg (who just had a baby but is still judging for us again this year!!!) wrote for us last year. It's a fantastic post that features a handful of good beginner patterns along with a nice review for each. If you haven't read it yet, check it out. (the pictures aren't working currently, but all of the links are good)
And then, another post from last year that features variations of a nice simple pattern was from another of our judges, Kelli (above, formerly of Presser Foot, her new totally awesome blog is called True Bias) who showed us all kinds of ways to make Simplicity 2599. Here's those posts individually if you'd like to check them out:Version 1 / Version 2 / Version 3 / Version 4 / Version 5Then, there's some favorites in the pool already that I couldn't help but notice. The Wiksten patterns (Tova Top and Tank) have been a big hit this year! Wiksten creator/designer Jenny Gordy has released her patterns in PDF format and they've hit the sewing blogosphere by storm. Here's a few of the lovely ones that have already popped up in the Spring Top Sewalong Pool :
1. Wiksten Tank!, 2. Wiksten Tova top for the Spring Top Sew Along, 3. Wiksten Tank, 4. Wiksten Tova in AMH Little Folks voile, 5. gingham wiksten tank by kristin, 6. Wiksten Tank for the Spring Top Sew AlongAnother new pattern that looks fun is the Rose T-Shirt from Melly Sews. Here's a couple cute versions from our pool:
1. Rose Shirt entry for the Spring Top Sew Along, 2. breezy bird tee
Another perennial favorite is my (free) Spring Ruffle Top tutorial. Here's a couple of cute versions that have been entered already this year:
1. IMG_1795, 2. Marjie's First Top (ever!), 3. Spring Ruffle Top by MichelleAnd another great free pattern is the Sorbetto Tank by Colette (Colette also has more lovely blouse patterns in their shop), and I've been wanting to give it a try since it appeared last spring. Maybe this year's the year! Here's a couple lovely versions from this year's sewalong:
1. Lace Accent Sorbetto, 2. SPRING TOP SEWALONG 1, SORBETTOFinally, this year I'm really hoping to make something from the Alabama Studio Sewing and Design Book, just out this month (I'm doing a high five into the air for somehow making it onto STC's "review" list...sweeet!). I almost died of awesome when I saw the preview on the STC Craft website. Tell me that this would not make the coolest spring top for me! You know I'm a sucker for the high-waist.I cut out the basic tank/dress pattern from some navy and grey jersey last night, so we'll see what happens!OK, so now we've given you fabrics ideas, and we've given you patterns...there's no excuse! There's just over three weeks left in the sewalong, so it's time to get selfish-sewing!