Whilst I love to 'sew frosting' - especially floral dresses - sometimes all you want is to be comfortable in cosy oversized tee - or even better a t-shirt dress.
There's a few oversized tee patterns that we sewists love, not least of all because they are free and quick and simple to make. For example, if you're a regular listener of the Love to Sew podcast you'll have heard a lot of love for the Mandy Boat tee by Tessuti patterns - a free oversized jersey t-shirt pattern, which has been recently reissued with new sizing options.
I was tempted by the Mandy Boat but I had also heard good things about the Hemlock Tee through a fellow Welsh sewist and thought I'd give it a whirl. The Hemlock Tee, by Grainline Studio is not a new pattern - having been gifted by designer Jen over five years ago. You can still get the Hemlock PDF pattern by signing up to the Grainline Studio newsletter.
After making a stripy version, I loved it. I'm a size 12-14 and the one size, drop sleeve pattern was just right for me and I was keen to make a dress version. Along came this gorgeous lilac posy Cotton + Steel jersey from Sew Me Sunshine and they were a match made in sewing heaven!
I'm a big fan of the range of Cotton + Steel jersey stocked by Harriet - such a lovely quality light to medium weight cotton jersey (95% cotton, 5% elastane) with a good amount of stretch (40% crosswise grain/40% lengthwise grain).
The jersey I used was from the Moonrise range by Alexia Abegg, her last range for Cotton + Steel.
To make the Hemlock tee into a dress was unsurprisingly extremely simple. I just extended the length by 10 inches, continuing the slight slope of the line. The print of Jersey was so pretty, a simple pattern was all that was needed, however I couldn't help but add a final detail. I have a stash of Harriet's awesome Albstoffe cuffs and used a navy and silver ruffle on the sleeves. Whilst I was going for cosy, I actually think this could pass for a 'frosting' make! What's your go-to cosy jersey dress pattern ? Let me know in the comments!
Happy sewing!
Ella ✂️ (Find me on Instagram @Sewistella and on my Wordpress blog)
I was provided this fabric free of charge in exchange I wrote this blog post. I chose the fabric, and chose what pattern to use.
Find all cotton jerseys here.
Love this so much! Mandy boat tee is defo my favourite slouchy jersey top!
Lovely make and read Ella my go to now has to by Kyoto sweater 😘 x
Lovely blog Ella! My favourite has to be Tilly’s Freya 💕💕
Love love love this! My fav jersey dress is the Coco.