Layered Shirt and Linen Jumper

Finally finished the layered shirt

The Linen jumper below just gets better and better looking after each washing!

Stitching Up a Storm

With all this snow we have been getting here in VT it looks like a winter wonderland, but I have been "nesting" indoors,  staying cozy and warm and working on some stitched pieces.

Two Homemade Linen Jumpers

The patterns for both of these are full length jumper dresses that I shortened into tops. The lighter one is from a pattern by Kwick Sew and is one of Kerstin Martensson's designs. Both jumpers are made with medium weight linen from Fabric.com. The lighter jumper was Kaufman Essex Wide Linen Blend and the brown fabric is Brussels Washer Linen Blend. The pattern for the brown one is one I have had for 20 years so it may be discontinued but it is by McCall's Easy Stitch 'n Save #7479. It didn't have pockets so I just added them.

Really cute casings and ties on the back of the jumper. This jumper has really deep pockets which I love. Those skinny little ties were a bear to turn even with the old bobby pin trick!

Sewing a Curved Hem on Layered Shirt

I sewed my first curved hem on a layered shirt I am making and I am very pleased with the results so I thought I would share it. 

Because this is a layered shirt I needed to hem the layers before I sewed the side seams. 

I had already finished the edges of each piece with a zigzag stitch, so for the hem I went back in and did a straight stitch 1/4 inch in from the edge.

I folded the fabric on the stitched line and pressed it as I folded

Pressing the first fold on the stitched line 1/4 inch from the edge

This shot shows the first fold pressed all the way across the hem length

I then folded turned the first fold under another 1/4 inch and pressed again

I opened up the 2nd pressed fold here just to show how it was folded and pressed. 

Second 1/4" fold all pressed

I then topstitched next to the outer edge of the fold

Here is a look at the top and the bottom after being topstitched. Nice and neat.

I repeated the same process of stitching, folding, pressing and folding/pressing again on the other layer of the shirt. 

Showing front and backside after topstitching

Both layers after hemming