Leading Into Summer With Ellie and Mac
Summer has been fast approaching and I am realizing that I need to put away the long sleeves and sew up some short sleeve tops. So, when I saw the getting ready for summer tour I jumped on the chance to be a part of it.
Nothing better than a deadline to jumpstart your summer sewing am I right?! After applying I popped on over to Ellie and Mac and started surfing Their pattern list. Oh, so many wonderful options, what was I going to choose! Then I saw it, The Be The Leader listed in all its glory. This is a top that I can utilize all summer long! I knew this would be my first choice, my runner up was the Be Fancy Tank Top. For being apart of the tour you get one free pattern and I knew I would be happy with either of these choices.
Finally, the email containing my pattern had arrived and it was like Christmas opening it to see what I had gotten. Well if you hadn’t already guessed by the tittle of this post I received to Be the Leader! I opened the pattern up and started reading through the instructions. I was super impressed by all the detailed instructions on taking measurements and the fun tips offered to aid in construction. It was suggested to make a muslin so I decided to sew a crop top without the flounce. This option allowed me to use the least amount of fabric and still give me an idea of whether I needed to adjust size. I choose to use some orange longhorn fabric that I got last year in a mystery box from the shop ( watch for the mystery boxes event happening Saturday!) to make the crop top. The pattern printed and glued together nicely. When making the crop you only have three pattern pieces (four cut) a front bodice, back bodice and two sleeves. As you can imagine it sewed up really fast. I pulled it off the cover stitch and tried it on, the fit was just right. Now, it was time to sew one with the flounce. I decided to do my next one with the larger flounce and shirt length. This one turned out just as, if not more, amazing than the first. The only change I made was in elastic size. I didn’t have 3/8 inch so I upped the elastic guide to 1 inch and used ¾ inch elastic.
The Be the Leader has 3 sleeve length options making it usable all year long. There are two different flounce sizes offered. I am thinking my next one I will use the small flounce with a cropped hem. Oh yes and three hem lines crop, shirt, and tunic! I feel like the relaxed fit in the body really makes this pattern work well to beat the heat. Because of this fit I had no hesitation in using Double Brushed Poly (DBP) on my crop version. If it was a snugger fit, I may have opted for cotton Lycra, the reason being, when hugging the body DBP can get warm. The white top I made using a light weight rayon Lycra which is a nice fabric choice for hot environments because it breaths. The extra bonus of this pattern is the fact that the pages are no trim the pattern also has layers so you can print the size(s) you need.
Now that I had the tops sewn I needed to style them and get pictures. The Vacation Romper just released and when I saw the amazing and talented Shelbie Geres (owner of Cedar’s Closet), rocking it I knew I needed to buy it. I decided to make a white DBP one to pair with the crop version I had made.
Man is this a fun and stylish and comfortable combo.
Pencil skirts are a go to for me in the summer so for the white top I whipped up one using the shops striped Liverpool.
I felt fabulous in this outfit making pictures easy to take.
These tops also pair nicely with jeans.
I can’t wait to sew up more Be the Leaders and also get inspired by the other talented seamstresses sewing in this tour! Check them out and don’t forget to enter the raffle for some Ellie and Mac credit.
- May 7th: Seams Sew Lo
- May 8th: Tenille's Thread
- May 9th: Seams Sew Lo
- May 10th: The Sewing Goatherd
- May 11th: Aurora Designs Fabrics
- May 14th: Our Play Place
- May 15th: Momma Can Make It
- May 16th: Aurora Designs Fabric
- May 17th: QuiltsbyJoann
- May 18th: Liviality
- May 19th: Momma You Can Make It
- May 21st: Margarita on the Ross
- May 22nd: Sewing Blue
- May 23rd: Kathy's Kwilts and More
- May 24th: Momma Newey's Makes
- May 25th: Jot Designs USA
- May 28th: The Scatty Sewer
- May 29th: Granma Texas Sews
- May 30th: Fee Bricolo
- May 31st: My Sewing Roots
Libby Vasquez
I love the different results. Great pattern choice
Lindsey Essary
This is amazing! I am LOVING how it turned out for you!!
Robin Elkthunder
lovely top! i need to get this pattern!!
Kathy
Love your top. You did a great job.