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Suki Robe and Arenite Pants with Indiesew

Disclosure: The fabric for my pants and the Suki Robe pattern were provided to me by Indiesew in exchange for this post. All opinions are my own.

Hello! Today I’m back with my third post as part of the 2019 Indiesew Blogger team. Just now I realized that all of my Indiesew posts have somewhat of a “something old, something new” theme. In each one, I’ve shared a previously sewn pattern and a new to me pattern. It’s a fairly true reflection of my sewing practice as it’s never simply one or the other. There’s a feeling of calm and comfort that comes from knowing a pattern inside and out whose only rival for my attention is the excitement of beginning a new project. Today’s contenders are the Sew Liberated Arenite Pants and the Helen’s Closet Suki Robe. I’ve styled them together, separately, and brought in some reinforcements from previous posts to give them each fighting chance.

Arenite Pants

Styled with an Archer Button Up (from this post), clogs, and my current favorite hat, these slim hack Arenite Pants are ready to put their best foot forward (or would it be leg in this case??).

Fabric

The moment I saw this Tencel Jacquard in Olive Green (also available in Icy Blue) posted on Indiesew’s Instagram grid (this post), I knew it had to be mine. Tencel, texture, and green? Sold! I was not disappointed when it arrived at my doorstep a week later. It’s buttery soft with a fluid drape and dreamy texture. As per usual, I demanded my husband feel the luxury of this fabric and he described it as his perfect blanket. He was not wrong. The light weight of the fabric combines with the texture to make it feel simultaneously cool and cozy. I’m seriously considering ordering 1.5 yards, hemming or binding the fabric, and using it as a lightweight throw blanket in my living room. The only caveat? It does shrink slightly as expected with the fabric content. The fabric is 53″ wide. After washing I measured it at 48″ wide. It’s not recommended to dry Tencel in a dryer but, I always do.

Sizing, Alterations, and Construction

Combining all these aspects here because I’ve blogged about this pattern before and you can click here to read my previous Arenite Pants post. Just as last time I sewed these pants, I used the Arenite Pants “slim” hack that Meg of Sew Liberated (@sewliberated) has detailed in her Instagram story highlights. Again, I used a size 6 with all the same alterations detailed in my last post. My only extra changes here were moving the pockets up an extra 1″ and taking in the ankles an extra 1/8″ seam allowance (for a total of 3/4″ SA). This removed a total of 3/4″ from the width of the ankles for a slightly slimmer look.

Construction was quick and easy. Again, I opted to forego the felled seams and simply stitched, then serged and topstitched them. They still feel plenty secure. Without felled seams, the pants took most of an afternoon to construct.

Suki Robe

While a newcomer in today’s battle of the sewing projects, the Suki Robe is ready to give the competition a wake up call. In order to shine, this robe prefers to stand on its own. This means that for the five minutes we took these photos, I was wearing just my underclothing and a robe in a public park, so um, you’re welcome?

Fabric

This fabric “Lillium” was designed by colorful creative, handmade hustler, and Sew Fancy Pants co-conspirator, Katie Kortman for D&H Fabrics. Both Katie and Tammy of D&H have been great friends and supporters over the last year so when I had the chance to support both of them by purchasing this lovely fabric it was a no-brainer. The fabric is a rayon poplin with great drape and a silky hand.

Sizing and Alterations

I chose to sew the mid-calf length and selected a size medium based on my measurements. My only alterations to the pattern were made out of a desire to fit it onto a smaller than recommended amount of fabric (that was also directional) and not actual necessity. I had 2.5 yards of this print and didn’t want any of the flowers to be upside down so I had to get creative with pattern placement. In the end, I removed 1.5″ from the mid-calf length and 1″ from the waist tie length to make everything fit. Neither made too much difference in the final fit so I decided I could do without the extra length.

Construction

Sewing this Suki Robe took about double the time it took to sew the Arenite Pants. While somewhat time consuming, the construction wasn’t terribly difficult and something that can be achieved by either the intermediate/advanced or beginner sewist. Helen’s directions include beginner friendly options for the sleeve bands and collar or more advanced methods with enclosed seams in the those areas. Since I’ve been sewing regularly for about a decade, I’d consider myself somewhat of an advanced sewist and chose the enclosed collar and sleeve bands. The end result was a well-constructed robe of which I can be proud.

Final Scoring

Okay, okay, the truth is: my handmade clothes and the patterns used for them feel a little like children. I don’t love the older one any less just because a newer one came along. They’ve each got qualities that make them unique while not diminishing what makes the other special. I can’t decide between them so I’ll lay out a few categories and let you do the decision making. (Just for clarification, if I ever had more than one actual child, I would not encourage strangers on the internet to vote for their favorite. ) The categories are: Fabric Use, Versatility, and Construction Time.

Fabric Use

Both my Arenite Pants slim hack and Suki Robe used almost exactly 2.5 yards of fabric with almost no useable scraps left.

Versatility

The Arenite Pants will only ever be pants but, can be styled for outdoor wear year-round. They pair well with a tee shirt as lounge pants or with a dressier top as an outfit for wearing pretty much anywhere.

The Suki Robe is something I only envision wearing outside of the house in fair weather. During the summer it would make a great swim cover up and I love the idea of it as a light layer for cool evenings. However, it will likely get almost daily use as a house robe year-round. This is the first robe I’ve made and I just didn’t know how much I needed one for daily wear until now.

Construction Time

My Arenite pants came together in a flash (just over 3 hours). However, if I had felled the seams as the pattern directs, they likely would’ve taken twice as long.

The Suki Robe was a semi time consuming project for me. It took part of one evening as well as a good chunk of one day. If I had to guess, I’d say it took about 7-8 hours to sew.

There you have it. Do you have a winner in your mind? Are you team ‘Something Old’ (Arenite Pants) or team ‘Something New’ (Suki Robe)? Feel free to cast your vote in the comments section.

Thanks for reading!

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Helen’s Closet York Pinafore

Hello! The last few weeks have been a whirlwind and, although I’ve been sewing, I haven’t had much time to document it. I fully intended to sew up a York Pinafore during Sew Bibs in March until other sewing plans got in the way. One month late, the Helen’s Closet York Pinafore is finished.

Fabric

Mmm…This fabric. In early March, I took a little day trip to my favorite local-ish fabric store, Suppose. It’s one of those beautifully overwhelming places where the project possibilities feel endless. I often spend over an hour browsing and dreaming up ideas (much to my son’s dismay) until reminding myself that my sewing time nor my wallet size are unlimited. This time I was smitten with the subtlety and dimensionality of this print. Designed by Carolyn Friedlander for her Polk collection, this cotton/linen blend has enough weight for the York while still being light and breezy enough for summer wear.

I’ve been a fan of Carolyn Friedlander’s designs since her Doe line released years ago. Although I liked Doe, the line that endeared me to her work was Carkai. I made my favorite Scout Tee and two shirts for my son from Carkai fabric. A tear or two may have been shed when my son finally outgrew those shirts.

Carkai and Doe were both printed on quilting cotton which somewhat limited my pattern choices at the time. Then Carolyn and Robert Kaufman did something phenomenol in her next few lines releasing prints on cotton/linen blends, lawn, and knits. Since then, I’ve used her fabrics for a Farrah Top, Ronja Dungarees, and even included her first cotton/linen blend prints (the overalls and jumpsuit pictured below) in a children’s clothing collection I designed to show at Utah Fashion Week in 2017 . I guess you could say I’m a fan.

Sizing and Alterations

Ok, I know, you probably aren’t here for the trip down memory lane. You’re here to talk about the York so we’ll get back to it. Using the size chart, I determined that I would need to make a 6 at the bust, graded to a 12 at the hips. That is exactly what I did and it seemed to work perfectly. Helen’s closet recently updated the sizing on the York to include a wider range of sizes and I think this made size selection more accurate than the previous S-M-L-XL sizing. Since I didn’t make the previous version, I can’t be sure of that but, it’s an assumption I feel somewhat justified in making. My only other sizing alteration was adding four inches to the length at the hem.

Two other non-sizing alterations were made. One intentional and one not. Tiahna of Ammon Lane made her first York last summer and her self-drafted angled pockets persuaded me to give the York a try after initially overlooking it. So, I copied her almost exactly in making these angled pockets.

My unintentional alteration was the addition of a center back seam. Unless I’m testing a pattern, I almost never look at pattern layouts or cutting instructions, paying attention only to grain lines. This time, my haste and haughtiness caught up with me. I was laying out the pattern pieces on the fabric when I realized the only way the pattern pieces would fit on a folded 45″ wide piece of fabric was if I added a seam allowance to the center back, not cutting it on the fold. I cut out the fabric, silently wondering why the fabric requirement chart didn’t note the need for more fabric. That is, until I went back to the instructions and realized the pieces were meant to be cut in one layer on 45″ wide fabric. Lesson learned. Perhaps next time I’m feeling puzzled about pattern layout, I’ll actually check the instructions before cutting.

Construction

Sewing the York took the better part of one afternoon. In fact, making the bias tape may have taken almost the same amount of time as the rest of the construction. It really is almost as easy as attaching the pockets, and then sewing the front and back together. The most difficult step: Attaching the bias tape. That’s it. If you’ve never attached bias tape, I promise you it’s nothing to fear. The bias tape adds a polished look to the insides and provided a fun opportunity to play with a contrasting print. I used other prints by Carolyn Friedlander for a fun, scrappy bias finish.

Final Thoughts

I just might become a pinafore person. You know my undying love for overalls and this pinafore fever feels like an extension of that. My favorite part about this pattern is the simplicity of it all. Clear instructions and a straightforward sew make this a pattern I will gladly recommend to my beginner sewing friends. It was a quick sew that, paired with the right fabric, feels casual enough for daily wear and dressed up enough for church or family events. Yesterday the deep pockets came in handy for hiding snacks, safeguarding my phone, and carrying small toys. All necessary things at this stage in my life. Now, how long do I wait before sewing another one?