Hi my name is Sarah and I have a scrolling addiction to Anthropologie’s website. Honestly, I find inspiration for my sewn garments all over the place, but Anthropologie probably provides more inpiration than any other retail store. Fortunately, I sew, so I can often take a garment I see on their website and make my own version. About a month ago, I came across this fun ruffled sleeve tee on their site. I loved it. Ruffles are huge right now and I’m definitely loving the trend. I immediately thought of the Briar Sweater and T-shirt pattern and knew that I could make it happen. I’ve done quiet a few hacks with the Mini Briar pattern, but hadn’t sewn up the Women’s version for myself yet.
TUTORIAL // How to Make a Sleeveless Mini Briar
Hi there! It’s Heather here. I’m going to be sharing some tutorials here on Design Diary every once in awhile. I’ve really loved sewing all of Megan Nielsen’s girls’ patterns. They are so fun and cute and basic which fits right into my style! My daughter is 2.5 years old and just barely fitting into the smallest size. She is very petite for her age, and I’ve been not-so-patiently waiting to sew her clothes from all of the girls’ patterns!
The first item of clothing I made is a sleeveless Mini Briar with simple sleeve bands. I used a stretchy rayon spandex for the body so the fit is very loose. This is a tutorial for sewing regular knit bands and not the special knit binding version that Megan Nielson is famous for.
How to sew leather appliques to any t-shirt
One of the extras i love adding to the Mini Briar sewing pattern, is leather appliques and slogans. A lot of people have mentioned to me that they find this really intimidating, but i’m here today to share with you my failsafe trick for sewing leather to almost any fabric, stretch or woven.
This technique obviously lends itself beautifully to my Mini Briar sewing pattern, but you can give this a try with any garment that you’d like to add leather patches to.
How to turn any tee pattern into a V neck
Tshirts are one of the most versatile pieces. They are great for dressing up and dressing down. Vneck tees are great for adding some visual interest to an otherwise basic solid colored tee. I love wearing vneck tees. It makes me feel dressed up even though I’m wearing a comfortable tee. Learning how to sew a vneck is a great skill, and once learned it can be used on almost any scoop neck tee pattern. I used the Cara Maternity tshirt sewing pattern for this tutorial and to make my maternity vneck tee, but this can be applied to any tee pattern like the Briar or Mini Briar sewing patterns.
Woven Mini Briar
Hello Design Diary readers! It’s Sarah with Lace & Pine Designs. Today I will be showing you how to take the Mini Briar pattern and sew it up using a woven fabric, instead of the knit the pattern calls for. This patterns silhoette is great for a woven. It has a decent amount of ease at the chest, so you don’t need to add any to the width. If your girl’s measurements run between sizes, I recommend sizing up, otherwise just sew up the recommended size. Another thing to consider is the type of woven. Because of the high/low hem, I recommend a woven with a good amount of drape. I chose to sew up my version in this rayon, but a chiffon, silk, or poly blend are all options. Just be aware how the fabric hangs. Something too stiff (like quilting cotton) will not compliment the pattern as well.