Free Sewing Tutorial: Draft a Cowl Neck

UPDATE: I added a tutorial for drafting a facing for a cowl neck top here.

UPDATE: You can find a tutorial for the deeper cowl neck here.

I have a simple t-shirt/shell pattern that works well for me but I have enough basic tops - I want something fancier!  I love the high cowl neck look that is going around these days: 

DKNY from macys.com

LRK from saksfifthavenue.com

I wanted to make this look without having to shell out money for a new pattern and I couldn't find a free tutorial online that was really what I wanted.  So I hid out in my sewing lab and figured it out!  I use a lot of online tutorials in my sewing so I'm always happy when I have something to share with all of you.  Here's what I created:

Materials
*1 - 1.5 yards of drapey fabric with stretch (jersey, knit, stretch charmeuse, maybe even stretch poplin)
*Tracing paper (I use Bienfang Canary Sketching and Tracing Paper, the 50 yard/24" roll)
*Clear ruler
*Top/bodice pattern that you like (if you don't have one, there are plenty of tutorials online that will show you how to create a pattern from a t-shirt or top that you have in your closet, like this one).

Step 1:  Cut & spread neckline
Trace your front bodice/t-shirt pattern onto a new sheet a paper; you need to cut the pattern so you don't want to ruin your master.  Draw a curved line under the neckline, 1.5 inches down from the original.  Cut along this line until you are about 1/8 inch from the shoulder line.

Draw two lines that meet at a right angle on a new sheet of paper.  Place your cut pattern piece along the top line on this piece of paper.  Spread the neckline so that both points touch the top line.  Angle the remaining bodice so that the bottom center front corner touches the side line.  Tape into place.  This sounds harder than it is so don't fret!  It should look like this:

Smooth out the angle created at the shoulder line:

Step 2: Turn half pattern into full pattern
You need to cut on a bias for this design, so you will need a full instead of a half pattern.  Take a big piece of tracing paper and draw a T with lines meeting a right angles.  Trace your half cowl neck pattern onto one side of the T and then flip and trace it onto the other.  It should look like this when you are done:

It looks a bit odd, doesn't it?  Trust me, it works!  Imagine that super wide neckline draping in the middle because this is what will happen.  (Ignore the wide band in the middle of my pattern piece - my tracing paper wasn't large enough so I had to tape two pieces together with masking tape.) 

Draw a new grainline that is at a 45 degree angle to the center line.

Step 3: Place and cut your fabric
Spread out your fabric.  Place the front pattern piece on the bias and the back pattern piece on the straight grain.  It will look like this:

Cut and sew the top as you would normally.  I have left the edges serged and turned them under by 1/4" and topstitched them into place - your choice.  I added a band to the bottom for this top but you could do a simple hem or leave the hem unfinished.  However you finish it you now get to glow with pride everytime you wear it because you drafted the pattern and put it together on your own!

I also drafted a cowl neck from a pattern that had a bodice dart which made for a deeper cowl.  I'll post instructions for how to do this if there's interest - leave a comment if you want it!

Credit:  I generally followed instructions I found in Adele Margolis' book Make Your Own Dress Patterns.  I strongly recommend this book if you are interested in learning about drafting patterns.

What's Up: Bits 'n Bobs

Please remember that you can vote for my PoldaPop Flower Button Coat in the VintageModern Design Challenge through Thursday, March 22!  Click here to vote.


This week was a bit of a downer after last's week high level of productivity.  I had some small things to finish up but nothing all that exciting or showy.  And my energy level took a dive after all the late nights of the week before.  I love losing myself in intensity, but I generally have to pay for it at some point!

But I do have a few things to show.  I helped out the Maiden Street School of Irish Dance by finishing off six skirts for their St Patrick's Day show. 

Can't you just imagine a whole army of little girls marching in a St Patrick's Day parade with these?  They were going to pair them with black turtlenecks but I'm guessing they had to go for something lighter with our unseasonably warm weather.  I earned myself some free classes for Cora and the owner is now going to refer new students to me so that they can get a matching skirt made for performances, so my good deed has certainly been rewarded. In the middle of the project I had to run to Hancock's to get more of the binding they had chosen for the waistband.  This trip highlighted why I get so irritated with Hancock's.  They were all out of the item I needed (black blanket binding), and when I asked one of the clerks (one that I like - I certainly know who to go to and who to avoid) if they had more squirreled away somewhere.  She looked for me, and when she came up empty-handed explained, "We're always running out of the black."  SO WHY DON'T YOU UP YOUR ORDER??????????  I know their trick of not having much of something the moment there's a 50% off sale (see if you can find any neutral colored invisible zippers when zippers are on sale), but this was full price.  Humpf.

I got to re-visit Eileen's skirt from last summer as I needed to take it in a bit.  This is one of my favorite skirts:

I made this skirt with a combination of Valori Wells fabrics from her Wrenly collection.  And it came out the way it did as a happy accident.  Eileen wanted the vertical stripe fabric for the background ruffle. This was my first peplum style ruffle, and I didn't think about the fact that the stripe would become diagonal and then horizontal because of how the peplum is cut.  Luckily Eileen liked it this way!  One of the things that I love about sewing is how often a problem becomes a opportunity to be more creative. 


And now for my first experiment with knits.  I decided that I didn't have the right fabric for the dolman banded top and I was worried that the wrap top would ride up too much (Thursday's post) so I decided to make up my own style.  I used one of my existing jersey tops as a guide, shortened the length, lengthened the sleeves, added a looonnng tie, and ta-da:

I wore it to Devon's reading and got a lot of compliments (even before people knew that I had made it!) so I think it was a success.  I used a cotton interlock that I bought on clearance at fabric.com ages ago, so I wasn't worried if it didn't work out (I've got some jersey I paid $12/yard for but I'm saving that until I feel more confidenct).  I used interfacing on the shoulders and faced the neckline to give it a nice edge.  I used a rolled hem for the sleeves and hemline and while I kind of like the scallop-y edges, I need to figure out how NOT to do that, too.  I think I'll tweak it a bit more then put up a tutorial for it, for those of you who want to D-I-Y.

This week will be a little light project-wise.  I'm attending the Original Quilting and Sewing Expo in Schaumburg from Thursday through Saturday (thank goodness the girls have willing and doting grandparents) so I plan to finish up a few more leftovers then get my learnin' cap on.  I so hope I can bring home a batch of new skills and ideas!

Fabric Focus: Knits & Jerseys

I wrote my post about my upcoming experiment with jersey, and then received an email from one of my favorite online apparel fabric stores about a sale they are having this weekend:  15% off knit fabrics at GorgeousFabrics.com.  I think this is a good omen!

So good, in fact, that I think I'm going to gamble on this experiment going well and get some fabric for myself.  Even if experiment #1 doesn't work, I know I'll get there in the end and I should probably be ready with lots of cool fabric.  Right??

Here are three of my favorites:

Up a Lazy River Jersey - Greens/Orange/Yellow/Ivory

The Bold and The Beautiful Floral Jersey - Blues/Green/Purple/Black 

Paging Jackson Pollack Jersey - Black/White (she also has this in grey/white)

I've started a knit/jersey fabric board on Pinterest and I'll be adding fabric from GorgeousFabrics.com and other places as I continue ogling.  If you want to check out the sale on knit/jersey at GorgeousFabrics, just click here.  You only need 1-1.5 yards of fabric to make a great top, so you know I'll be stocking up!

Have a great weekend!

New Direction: Knits & Jerseys

I am feeling emboldened by my recent success with the Flower Button Coat.  You might even say that I am feeling brassy or fearless.  Whatever you call it, I'm ready for a new adventure.

Now that the coat is complete, I've been thinking about what I might do as my next personal project (the weekend is coming up, afterall!).  I want to do something a little less time-consuming this weekend, as I'm still recovering from the late nights of last weekend.  So the obvious choice is . . . knit/jersey fabric!

It is supposed to be easy to sew, but it involves learning more about the serger I received about nine months ago and have still only used to finish seams (a woeful under-utilization of this wonderful machine, I know, I know).  So I cracked open the book that my mother-in-law gave me for Christmas 2011, Sew U Home Stretch by Wendy Mullin, and started reading.  I think I'm ready to dive in!

Now I have to decide on my first project.  Devon and I are going out (yes!!) this Sunday night as he is doing a reading at the Columbia College Story Week kick-off (he is reading a story about the time he was banned from ever returning to Canada - it's a good one) so I'd love to have something ready to wear for our outing.  I should probably start with a simple t-shirt, but I don't really want to wear that.  Instead, I've narrowed down my choices to one of these:

Ocean Blue Wrap Top

Dolman Style Top with Banded Bottom

So, Readers, which one would you go for??  Both patterns are generously offered free by their designers (just click on the title and it will take you there).

My goal is to work up to creating this jersey dress from Boden sometime later this summer:

Wish me luck on my new adventure!!