Pattern: Lane Raglan by Hey June, from Indiesew.com
Fabric: Cotton sweatshirt knit from Mood Fabrics
Size: Small

It may seem odd to sew a sweatshirt in the summertime, but when the nice folks at Indiesew asked me to try out some patterns from their site, I couldn’t pass up trying out the Lane Raglan sweatshirt.  Summertime in New England is fickle, and a short sleeve sweatshirt like this is something I can picture layering on in the evenings this summer on vacation in Maine – I’m actually wearing it over a tank top in these photos.

This is such a great pattern, and is really the raglan sleeved top I’ve been searching for!  I’ve seen many versions of this shirt all over sewing blogs (my favorites are the ones Cut Cut Sew makes) since it’s such a good base for different design elements and changes.  Make it out of a drapy knit with contrasting sleeves for a flowy baseball-style shirt, or a beefy fleece for a cool weather sweater.  I like how there’s a good amount of ease in the size small, but I could go down a size to make more of a fitted top.

I know this is going to be a TNT pattern, and it’s great for an instant-gratification project – I think I made this in an hour, including the time it took to cut out the fabric.  To “summer-ize” the sweatshirt, I cropped the sleeves and rolled up the bottom twice to create a 2 1/2″ cuff above the elbow.  Then, I stitched the cuff in the ditch along the sleeve seam line so it stays put when wearing.  I like the contrast of the wrong side of the knit showing outside, the texture is cool looking.

The sweatshirt knit is from the third floor at Mood Fabrics in NYC – Oona is right, the third floor of Mood is a truly magical place.  This fleece is really different from fabrics I gravitate towards (I never sew with cream), and has a cool marled texture throughout.  It’s so comfy to wear, and I can’t wait to wear it more often once fall weather arrives.

Disclaimer – this pattern was provided to me for free from Indiesew.com