Sun & Surf Pattern Tour ~ Beachy Boat Neck and Santa Monica Cinch

This weekend I had the opportunity to sew up two of the pieces from Pattern Anthology’s first collection of sewing patterns called the ‘Sun & Surf Collection‘. Pattern Anthology is a collaborative effort of four different pattern designers coming together to create one cohesive pattern collection. Pretty fun, right? I think so.

So my original plan was to create one outfit with these two patterns; however, the knit fabric I ordered never arrived, so one outfit became two. Not a problem. I sewed the Beachy Boat Neck by Melissa from ‘Melly Sews‘ and the Santa Monica Cinch by Kate from ‘See Kate Sew‘. And let me tell you, I really challenged myself by stepping away from my normal quilting cotton fabric and sewing with something a little more outside of my comfort zone.

Beachy Boat Neck

Savannah has been difficult about her clothing lately. She is going through this…….’that doesn’t feel right’, ‘it’s too tight’, ‘it’s too itchy’ phase……let’s just say, it’s been a challenge. So I knew the Beachy Boat Neck by Melissa from ‘Melly Sews‘ would be a great pattern for her because I could use a super-soft spandex knit that would be incredibly comfortable and hopefully avoid some of her recent clothing complaints.

I had purchased three spandex knit prints from Joann’s and I let her choose which one she wanted for her shirt. She went with the most subtle print of the three, but I think it looks really pretty on her.

The pattern was SO easy to follow and the results were perfect! I was a little nervous about using such a stretchy knit, but it worked out great. I think you could also use a knit interlock and that would be nice and soft with a little less stretch. The pattern comes with step-by-step photographed instructions, so you won’t have any problems following along.

The Beachy Boat Neck is a wonderful pattern if you are new to working with knits or want to give them a try. I would say it’s a beginner level. The only part I had to pay careful attention too was hemming the bottom edge. It is on a curve, so you really have to work the curve with your iron to make sure the hem turns out nicely. Also, I did use my serger for the majority of the shirt and just used the sewing machine for the hemming and topstitiching (though a serger is not required).

When we came inside after taking these pictures, this little lady asked if she could wear this shirt to school tomorrow. Yay! Success…….something she actually wants to wear!

Santa Monica Cinch

When I saw the Santa Monica Cinch by Kate from See Kate Sew, I just knew I had to make this for my little girlies. It’s a sweet little coat that is perfect for spring. You can play around with the different fabrics used to construct the coat too for a different look. I decided to finally cut into some Heather Ross cotton canvas fabric (Far Far Away II) that I have had for years now. It seemed like it would be a really nice weight for this little coat. It’s actually 80% cotton and 20% linen with a light-weight canvas feel.

Probably the cutest part on the coat is the bow on the backside (although I do really like the collar and the bottom part of the coat). The pattern calls for a ribbon to be threaded through the casing, but none of the ribbons I had seemed like they would go with this thicker fabric. I decided to make a ribbon from cotton fabric that I already had and I think it ended up working with the look of the coat. I also shortened it by quite a bit since I didn’t want the tails hanging down too far.

I had never sewn a ‘See Kate Sew‘ pattern and it was a treat! The pattern had very clear photographed instructions which were very helpful. The writing style was easy to understand and I never had one of those ‘huh, what are they talking about?’ moments, which if you’ve ever sewn from a pattern, you know can certainly happen. I would say this is an confident beginner – intermediate level pattern with a lot of great sewing techniques involved including sewing pleats, a collar and buttonholes as well as setting in sleeves.

So here’s where I make a confession. I cut the pattern wrong. It was not any fault of the instructions, it was just me. I wasn’t paying attention and ended up cutting the front lining pieces the same as the front exterior pieces and by the time I noticed, it was too late. But if you watch Project Runway, you know what Tim Gunn says……’make it work’ and so I did. And to tell you the truth, some of my most creative moments have come from my mistakes. It really makes me think outside the box and well, get creative.

The front of the coat is not supposed to have a contrast placket on the front, but I quite like it. I also added an additional two buttons to the front (the pattern calls for one) and made them smaller so they fit within the contrast placket that I created.

There is a piece of bias tape on the inside of the coat that encases one of the seams, I decided to hand sew this to the interior of the coat so I didn’t have to run a line of stitching on top of the pleats on the bottom part of the coat. Oh, and the fabric on the inside is Rapunzel……but that’s Savannah’s little secret when she takes the coat on and off.

And one last little addition I made to the coat was some understitching at the collar to help it lay nice and flat.

I just think this coat pattern is darling. It’s girly and feminine, yet still practical for everyday wear. The coat took me a day to sew……probably six hours total. There are a lot of pieces to cut and setting in the sleeves takes some time, but I think the end result is well worth it!

So do you like these patterns? The Santa Monica Cinch is being sold as part of the Sun Collection (four patterns) and the Beachy Boat Neck is part of the Surf Collection (four patterns) or you can buy the full Sun and Surf Collection through Pattern Anthology and get all eight patterns that are included. But here’s the catch, the collection is only available until March 24th, 2013. After that, the patterns will be sold on their own through each separate designer at their full retail price. So make sure you get them before the collection is no more.

If you want to check out what some of the other bloggers on the Pattern Anthology Sun & Surf Blog Tour are sewing, you can check out the links below!

8 Comments

Saadet Yamak says

March 18, 2013 at 6:09 AM

Çok tatlı olmuş. :)) Türkiye’den selamlar!
Melissa (Melly Sews) says

March 18, 2013 at 7:56 AM

Super adorable Lindsay! It’s fun seeing my “boy” pattern done in a girly way, and I’m glad your daughter wants to wear her shirt. The jacket turned out awesome too. Thanks so much for joining us on this tour.
Sabra says

March 18, 2013 at 9:10 AM

Love both! Perfect fabrics, and I think the contrasting lapel is so fun.
kate says

March 18, 2013 at 11:31 AM

I love the contrast placket! My favorite part is your cute bow in the back, I love that more than ribbon. Thanks again for helping us out, your style is so fun and unique! The shirt is super cute, too!
Jen@thecraftingfiend says

March 18, 2013 at 11:45 AM

Adorable! What pattern are those wonderful pink pants?
Andrea Pannell says

March 18, 2013 at 12:19 PM

LOVE!!! Thank you So much LIndsay!
Delia says

March 18, 2013 at 12:19 PM

COmpletely darling Lindsay!! You sew with perfection and your daughters are adorable models.
Jennifer says

March 18, 2013 at 11:47 PM

Lindsay, you are my sewing god! Thank you so much for posting that you, too, make mistakes. It makes me feel so much better :).