Today’s Briar variation tutorial comes from Miriam of MadMim. I just adore Miriam! She was one of the wonderful pattern testers who tried out the Briar, and she is just one of the sweetest loveliest ladies I know – and ridiculously talented to boot. I literally gasped when I saw her side-pocket variation on the Briar – it’s just so cool! Miriam was kind enough to share a tutorial on how to make it, and I just know you’re going to love it!!
Once you’re done reading, please check out her blog MadMim! Okay, take it away Miriam!
I recently completed enough knit sewing projects (for my sewing-with-knit series) to drown myself in (or go swimming like Scrooge McDuck in his gold!) One of my favourite and most-worn projects from the series has been the Briar top. I’m a sucker for texture and hand-printing, so on both versions, I added Megan’s shoulder detail variation, as well as a large side pocket. I used self-fabric and worked a little hand-printing awesomeness for texture and a little tone-on-tone contrast. The pocket adds a very bold and graphic element to the tee that I can’t resist.
Here’s how to do it!
*For easy sewing, I added my pocket after sewing just one side seam.
Begin by cutting a 10X12″ square from your self-fabric (feel free to go nuts here with a fun contrasting fabric, but be sure it has a similar hand as your self-fabric.) Centre your square underneath the right or left side seam making sure the sides of the square are parallel with the side seam. Trim away excess sticking out from the bottom so that the bottom edge of your pocket is identical to your hemline.
If you’re keen on a little hand-printing, now is the time. I carved a simple scallop stamp from an eraser and printed using textile paints and a soft mini roller. Allow to dry and then heat set with an iron.
Position your pocket about an inch from the bottom edge over the side seam. Pin securely, angling the pocket sides in just a little to allow for a little more roll and drape of the pocket top edge. Stitch using a double-needle or wide zig zag. Continue construction and finishing normally. *Optionally, you could also align the pocket bottom edge to the hemline and finish them both during hemming. Note that I left my top pocket edge unfinished because I wanted the knit to roll a bit.
Isn’t it a fun addition? It echoes the pieced and blocked trend I’ve been seeing lately, without breaking up the lines of the shirt too much.
Hit me up with any questions, and thanks for letting me sew-a-long with you a bit today!
[Thanks so much for sharing your tutorial with us Miriam!!!]
LOOKING FOR MORE BRIAR POSTS?
- How to sew the curved patch pocket
- How to sew the square patch pocket
- How to sew a neckline band
- How to sew a neckline binding (the Megan Nielsen way)
- How to sew a neckline binding (the traditional/standard way)
- The easiest knit neckline around
- Inserting the sleeves & sewing up the side seams
- Hemming
- Variation: How to draft elbow length sleeves
- Variation: A Valentine Briar sweater
- Variation: Centre front seam
- Variation: Side pocket Briar (by MadMim)
- Variation: The easy way to go sleeveless
- Variation: Leather elbow patches
- Variation: The dress
- Variation: Leather shoulder patches
Don’t forget to tag your creations with #MNbriar and @megannielsenpatterns when sharing on social media, and check out what everyone else is up to!
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