Crossback Tracey Bee for Seen & Sewn Together blog tour & giveaway

I made a cropped Tracey Bee top earlier this year and mentioned that I ought to make a sleeveless version for summer too. Well looky looky, I actually did it. Not only that, but I took a creative spin with the pattern for the Seen & Sewn Together blog tour this week. (Keep reading for giveaway and blog tour details)

I wanted to make two modifications to the Tracey Bee.

First off making it sleeveless and a little less cropped. This was no effort at all, I simply bound the existing arm hole opening with a bias tape turned to the inside and lengthened the cropped version by 2.5in at the hem line.

The second modification I wanted was to make a crossover with triangular points near the center back. I traced off the back pattern piece to make my adjustments and drew and redrew the angle several times. I was trying so hard to make it an equilateral triangle, but I just couldn’t make it work out. I don’t think anyone will notice.

Here’s what I ended up with. Mark the point 3in out from center back and 11in down from the High Shoulder Point. Then draw the angled lines connecting to the existing shoulder point and 1/2in in from the hem line at the side seam. (1/2in in from the side seam to account for the seam allowance)

You’ll also want to make facing pieces for your new crossover edges. Cut them about 2 1/4in wide (match the width of the front facing) and as long as you need for your new back edges. I attached my front and back facings to the top and then made sure I caught the back facing with the side seams. Finally, when I turned up my hem I made sure it covered the side seam allowance neatly. I did find my facing tended to flip outward along the bottom portion, so I used about a 10in strip of fusible interfacing to tack it down. (I cut my facing about 1.5in wide. This is fine if you don’t mind a mismatch of the facings at the shoulder.)

 

The last step was adding the back buttons. I made sure that centerback was lined up on both pieces and then eyeballed the button placement. My buttons are tacked through both layers to keep everything in place. The Tacey Bee can slip over my head so no need to make button holes.

About the Tracey Bee**: I made a size Large per my bust measurement and made the above modifications. I used a cotton floral print shirting with a solid purple cotton(?) both from stash.

What do you think of my Tracey Bee? I’m wondering if the back buttons need to be larger.

Thanks for reading today, please read on about the blog tour & giveaway.

 

Welcome to the Seen & Sewn Together blog tour.

Arielle from Seen & Sewn Patterns is creating patterns with a focus on encouraging people to join the #handmaderevolution by sewing their own handmade wardrobe.

A nice group of sewing bloggers have joined together to share with you how we’ve taken the Seen & Sewn Patterns and let our creativity loose with them. We want to inspire you whether you’re just starting or well on your way to building your handmade wardrobe.

The extra fun part for you is that we have a prize pack giveaway from Seen & Sewn Patterns that you can enter below. The prize pack for US residents includes 1 pattern of choice, a Slow Fashion Tee, and a Slow Fashion Pin. For our international readers the prize pack includes a copy of all Seen & Sewn PDF Patterns. Bonus! All entrants will receive a coupon code for a $1 pattern of choice -so make sure your email is up to date in your profile when entering.

The tour includes these talented sewists, so I hope you’ll follow along this week.

Monday June 17th

Sew 4 Five, Sewing A la Carte, Aurora Designs

Tuesday June 18th

Idle Sunshine, That’s Sew Lily, House of Estrella

Wednesday June 19th

Mahlicadesigns, Sewing with D, Fee Bricolo, Aurora Designs

Thursday June 20th

Let’s Go Hobby, Sewing from Scratch, Craftstyle Living, Mama You Can Make It

Friday June 21st

Claire Cruse, Make It Sew with the Bear and Pea Atelier, Sew Cute Couture by Kathy

Enter to win something good here!

 

 

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