I had a lot of fun leading this month’s #sewmystyle2019 challenge along with the February team of Whitney, Paulette and Simone. Today is reveal day and it’s so cool to see all the new tees being posted! It’s mid-afternoon here in the Pacific Northwest, so time to publish my own pics after a fun (mostly) few weeks of trying things out.

You know, it’s easy to think: well, a tee is a tee is a tee. I mean, how much can you do with a knit tee pattern? Seriously. And then you participate in something like this and you realise there are as many variations as there are people and ideas – and how silly it was to even think otherwise. Even the four of us within the Feb team came up with completely different garments. If you haven’t already, I highly recommend checking out Paulette’s glamorous and sophisticated take on the Givre, Simone’s summery Givre tank tops (want) and Whitney’s fresh and clean Givre mini-collection.

I decided to focus on the Athina Kakou Sheona pattern, and part of the reason was because I know and love the Deer and Doe Plantain tee and wanted to try a new designer. Another reason was that the Givre is definitely more of a bodycon type garment and I really fancied trying out a tee with a little more ease.

I won’t go into detail about the Sheona, because I covered all of it and more in my Sheona intro post, so head on over there to see the myriad hacks and versions available to you. My first Sheona, which was basically a wearable muslin was this standard tee with 3/4-length sleeves and it was really a pleasant surprise as the fit was pretty decent straight from the pattern. I sewed up a size 18 in this organic cotton jersey and my main issue with it is just the length as the Sheona pattern is rather short on me. For subsequent versions of the tee I would add another 2-3 inches.

Nevertheless I only made this a couple of weeks ago and I’ve worn it tons. It’s easy, skims my curves nicely and of course a black and white dotted top is practically a neutral and goes with everything. So far so good.

Next, I decided to make a couple of longer dress versions with the large ruffle, one of them with a bishop sleeve hack in dark green double brushed poly, which was a new fabric to me. Lordy it’s soft! Really, really soft. I can see why people love it so. Unfortunately I had one of those terrible sewing days when I was sewing the dark green version up and went right through it with my serger. And I mean riggghhttt through it.

It would have been lovely, but it was beyond saving, so I would absolutely recommend taking a look at some of the bishop sleeve hack-versions that have been posted on social media under #sewmystyle2019. There are some stunners! The hack was also very well explained on Athina’s website and is a nice way to get a little pattern adaption practice in.

I was kind of annoyed by my carelessness, so left the pattern alone for a week or two after that, but then went back and finished up what was intended to be another dress version, using this Art Gallery Pandalicious knit. It is also beautifully soft and the elastane gives the fabric great recovery without being horribly clingy. The Sheona is a good pattern for cotton-lycra blends, in my opinion.

As you can see for yourself, this is not a dress and that’s because it just looked too cutesy (and honestly, a tad young) on me. I think it would be perfect if your style leans towards the sweeter side of garment-making, but mine doesn’t too much.

So I chopped the large ruffle way down to a smaller, more mature ruffle (who am I kidding, haha), and I must say when I saw these photos I was rather pleasantly surprised. I was wondering if the ruffle would hit at a terrible place as it’s lower than my natural waist, but it’s actually quite… cute. There, I said it. And I think I will probably wear it quite a bit!

Moving onto an actual dress, one version I had been thinking about right from seeing the pattern for the first time was the long shift dress Version 1 in a merino wool. I had 2 yards of this soft, gorgeous and very cosy merino, but wondered if I would get much wear out of a woollen dress, as I tend to the warm-bodied half of the population. Then the snow hit Seattle (the most since 1926!) and I decided just to go ahead and make it, haha.

I made it straight from the pattern again and as you can see, there’s a nice amount of ease. It’s got a good amount of length too: I took a 1-inch hem and I’m 5’6″ for informational purposes. It’s extremely comfortable and pleasingly non-clingy. I think it would look pretty cool with a belt too, so I might try that next.

Finally, I wasn’t planning to make the Deer and Doe Givre at all, but then all the lovely versions other people made started rolling in and, as usual, I felt myself gradually sliding towards the inevitable. I was lying in bed mulling over my sewing plans, as you do, and I suddenly thought about this short piece of silver plisse I had in my stash.

One of the most notable features of the Givre is the colour-blocking aspect of the top and that’s what made me think of this little piece. I decided to pair it with a very soft and semi-sheer black wool jersey I had, which I picked up in a Knitpop sale.

I figured it could look nice, but also that the fluidity of both fabrics would result in a preferable fit for me, as opposed to using something tighter, with more recovery. A number of people sized up when making the Givre, but because of the fabric properties I cut a 48, which corresponded to my measurements exactly. And I love the result! It was a bit of an experiment, but the result is even better than I had hoped. I’m definitely going to be wearing this top a lot. I’m not sure you can really see the glitter in the daylight too well, but it moves and shimmers so nicely. It’s a great staple wardrobe piece.

So there we are! Whaddya know – four new wardrobe items! You should have seen my husband’s face when I said we had photos of four garments to take. Lol. He loves being the official photographer. No really, he does. Poor guy.

I hope you enjoyed taking part this month and I’m looking forward to what the March team has cooked up for Cardigan Month. Have you decided which cardigan you’re going to make yet? They both look like great patterns; I’m finding it hard to choose. Make sure to check out what’s going on at the Facebook group or at the new IG hub: @sew.my.style