Sewing Basics: Jalie Dolman Tees and Vanessa Pants

So this year I’m on board with Goodbye Valentino’s RTW clothing fast! I vowed to not buy any ready to wear clothing all year. Being sick in bed for the past two weeks, I realized I had only one pair of wearable pajama pants. A pair of frumpy sweats I made last November. I needed to get busy sewing! So what I decided what I really needed was another pair of frumpy sweat pants and in a floral fabric, no less! And a matching top. Which I could wear as a pajama top or alone as a tee shirt. But first I made the top in my really nice fabric, a wool jersey, because yes, I was to excited to make myself something with it, and of course there were changes to be made, which I ended up making with the pajama top version. Grrr…

If I have to lie in bed with the flu for two weeks again, I may as well be colorful! This lightweight French terry floral fabric was sent to me from a new to me company called  Stylish Fabric. Stylish Fabric is a wholesale jobber with an online presence based in Los Angeles. Fabric content? I have no idea, and it’s not listed on their site. It feels kind of synthetic, but it is very soft and comfy.

I used the Jalie Vanessa pants pattern I’ve made before, but this time I tried in in a knit and it worked fine for knits, even though it’s recommended for wovens. I did have some odd bunching at my waistline. I want to thank my friend kin who sent me this tutorial about getting a smooth waistline. The tutorial is from IKAT bag, who is a sewing genius.Every time I sew a knit ribbed waistband and add elastic, I seem to get this bunching up at the waist. It is so annoying, and I honestly have no idea why this happens. Thoughts? These are also a bit too short…

For the top, I used my Jalie Dolman Tee pattern. In my first version, I made it in a brown wool jersey from The Confident Stitch, shown below. This fabric was leftover from Oliver’s wool top I made him for Christmas. I was going to make him a pair of long underwear pants to go with the top, but realized I didn’t have a enough. So of course I made myself something! I love this fabric. It’s light but warm, and not itchy at all. I noticed I had a bit of extra fabric around the armpit I wasn’t crazy about. So on my next version in the floral fabric, I slashed through the sleeve pattern, and brought the whole sleeve in an inch, eliminating some of that excess fabric. You can’t really see the difference, because of the print, but I notice less bunching up there. I also felt the high low look of the top was a bit dated, so I changed the hem to be more of a shirttail hem. Actually, now that I look at these photos, the high low effect on the brown top isn’t as severe as I thought it looked. My mom likes it, and I’m going to make her one, too. That’s such a plus with Jalie. Sizes for everyone in the family.

I love my jammies!

Happy sewing!

Related posts:

Jalie Vanessa pants in Tencel Jalie Eleanor pull on jeans Jalie Dolman Tee Turned Into A Dress Peplum Top and Floral Pants: Sewing My Basic Wardrobe