Vivienne and Dylan are our sew-a-long patterns for this month!  Don’t have your copies yet? Grab them over here! This month’s sew-a-long is sponsored by Thread & Grain, and of course, M4M and P4P. We also have a few more surprises coming this week so stay tuned!!

 

Vivienne and Women’s Vivienne are both quick, knit patterns that are PERFECT for the spring weather that’s finally starting to show up (although they also make great layering pieces during the cooler months). Vivienne features three lengths (top, tunic, or above the knee dress), side panels (perfect for using up scrap fabric, custom knits, etc!), gathered center skirts, and optional pockets.

Dylan and Men’s Dylan coordinate with Vivienne. The Dylan tee is a quick, fun, and classic style knit t-shirt. You can use any knit with at least 30% stretch – it would be a great athletic top in performance knit, or the perfect everyday tee with a jersey knit. Like Vivienne, the side panels are a great way to use fun custom knits or coordinating fabrics. Dylan includes both short and long sleeves, so is perfect for year-long wear.

Before we get started, there is a ton of helpful beginner information between the M4M and P4P blogs, in case you are new to knits, or new to PDF patterns in general:

• New to PDF patterns? Check out our helpful tips here
• New to sewing with knits? Brittany has some great info here
• Not quite sure how to measure yourself accurately? Don’t worry; check out the post here!
• Having issues printing? Most issues can be resolved by using our FAQs/troubleshooting tips
• Looking here for more extensive grading help!
• Not in our official SAL group yet? Join here 🙂

Our first day is all about prep! First, be sure to measure yourself (or the person/people that you are sewing for) accurately. The tutorial includes information about grading and mashing, but you can also check out the blog linked above! I mash sizes for both of my kids, and have to grade a bit for myself as well most of the time! I always like to get fresh measurements before I sit down to sew anything, especially for the kids, because they change so often.

 

After you’ve measured, you’ll want to choose your fabric and gather your supplies. Some of my favorite fabrics for this are double brushed poly, rayon spandex, modal or bamboo blends, and I do like cotton lycra for my kids. I don’t use it on myself often because it doesn’t drape as nicely as I prefer, but you can use it for this pattern 🙂

NOTE – Even though a lot of the tester and listing photos show Dylan and Vivienne made with contrasting fabric, I LOVE to do the whole garment in the same print. The paneled look is not my favorite on myself (even though it is so flattering on other people, and I love it on my kids as well), but the pattern works equally well if you use all the same fabric for the whole garment. 

Decide if you want to create your Vivienne or Dylan (or both) per the tutorial, or if you want to use one of our hacks! You can remove the side panel, modify for maternity wear, add flutter sleeves, hack the Dylan to be sleeveless, or hack Vivienne to be nursing friendly. We get asked a lot about regular sleeves for the Vivienne, so I’ll show you how to do that below!

Next, go ahead and print your pattern! Be sure to print a test page and measure your 1″ square before you print the whole pattern.  Once you’ve got your pattern pieces printed and assembled, go ahead and cut out your fabric so you are all ready for day 2.

If you’d like to add sleeves to Vivienne, you’ll want to make sure to print out the bodice and sleeve pieces from another pattern! I opted to use Adeline, since I already had those pieces printed and ready.

NOTE – Be sure to double check the width of the your Vivienne bodice pieces + side panels against the bodice piece you’re using to modify the armscye, in case you make adjustments to the sleeve piece.

Don’t forget:

• Make sure you are taking an accurate and consistent seam allowance!
• Feel like you’re missing a rectangle piece? Check the cut chart in the tutorial! The charts will always be on one of the first few pages of the tutorial.
• For Vivienne – don’t forget to cut your skirt piece and your side panel piece to the same skirt length!
• We also have Dolly Vivienne in 14″, 15″, and 18″ doll sizes

Want to sew along with me? Check out today’s video!

 

If you have questions about measuring yourself, printing, putting your pattern together, or cutting your fabric, you are always welcome to post in our SAL group so we can help you! Be sure to check in each day during the SAL, and look for daily posts to enter our giveaways. We can’t wait to see what you create this week!

 

VIVIENNE / DYLAN

DAY 1: MEASURING, PRINTING, & CUTTING / MEASURING, PRINTING, & CUTTING

DAY 2: PREPPING BODICE / SIDE PANELS

DAY 3: GATHERING & ATTACHING SKIRT TO BODICE / SHOULDER SEAM

DAY 4: SIDE PANELS & SHOULDER SEAM / SLEEVES

DAY 5:  BINDING / NECKBAND

DAY 6: HEMMING + OPTIONAL POCKETS / HEMMING

DAY 7: WINNERS ANNOUNCED

ABOUT OUR SPONSORS:

Boho strives to bring one-of-a-kind textiles to the home sewer and entry level designer. From Boho’s owner, Emily: “I am always on the hunt for high quality fabrics that aren’t commonly seen on the market. One aspect to our shop that I am extremely proud of, is that our staff is now 100% made up of women. Myself, and the other two women who work for me at our San Diego location, have all attended fashion design school and are completely in love with textiles, sewing and fashion design!”

 

 

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