Hey Sewists, how are you doing?  I don’t know about you, but I am ready for spring. Here in Chicago we just finished digging ourselves out of nearly 2 feet of snow just in time for it to warm up and melt.  Now it is raining and we are flooding. Before the snow completely melted we had an ice dam form on our roof and cause water to leak into my sewing room soaking my floors. Luckily, no major damage was done, but I wasn’t able to sew for a week. Aghh…that is the story of midwest unpredictable weather.

Enough about our crazy weather, you came here to see my newest make and I am eager to share it with you.  In my last post, I said to expect more of the matte gold sequin fabric and here it is.  I was excited to use this sequin with this Organic Cotton/Bamboo French Terry.   I have had this idea in my head for months and am so glad I was able to get it out.  This is the most amazing French Terry ever!  It is so incredibly soft and I love the slate blue color.

To make sure what I was envisioning would work, I went straight to my TNT raglan pattern, Simplicity 1317.  I knew I wanted a loose fitting raglan with the sequin on the upper shoulders.  I traced off the upper portion stopping just a couple of inches before the underarm seam.  This makes it so the sequin will not be in my underarm causing it to rub against the French Terry and wear out.  I then traced off the lower portion making sure to add my 5/8″ seam allowance to both pieces along my newly created seam line.  This is a very simple pattern hack that anyone can do to make a TNT pattern look completely different.

Since the sequin is on a mesh backing, I underlined it with a nude spandex knit. This is what I used only in a different color. It is super soft and easy to sew.  Sequins are not the easiest thing to work with or wear, so I knew I wanted to come up with a solution to both without adding a lot of bulk. I serged the French Terry and pressed my seam open flat.  I then stitched 1″ wide organza ribbon to the wrong side (the spandex side) then flipped it over the sequins and stitched creating a binding.

I pressed it again using a press cloth over the sequins to ensure it was as flat as it could be. I am pretty pleased with how the organza ribbon worked out.  I would recommend this as an option for finishing a sequin edge instead of serging.

I am pretty pleased with how this turned out.  The French Terry is the perfect weight to keep me warm but not too heavy.  Underlining the sequin and binding the edges make it so that I cannot feel the sequins against my skin. The best part, I can totally wash this with all my other clothes in the washing machine.  The sequins have held up really well after a few of wash/dry cycles already.  All in all, it is pretty great!

I plan on making another version of this pattern hack raglan. Only this time I am going to use lace without an underlining for the shoulders.  What colors should I use for it?

I need more of this Organic Cotton/Bamboo French Terry in my life!  My husband liked the fabric so much when I was cutting it that he requested I get some more and make him a hoodie.  Any chance of getting some more colors, Ron?  Maybe some olive green or charcoal gray. *wink wink, nudge nudge* Haha

Sarah’s other projects can be found at her blog, Musings of a Seamstress, or on Instagram.