Oh.  You were hoping to see lots of pictures of me posing for the camera and wearing clothing sewn from Patterns for Pirates?

YOUR WISH IS MY COMMAND.

I’ve actually already sewn and shared a version of of the Women’s Raglan shirt once before on here.  And I loved it a whole bunch as it was.

But now, Judy has gone and made her raglan pattern for women even more awesome.  And I didn’t think that was even remotely possible.  It is.  The add-on pack makes it possible to literally have every variation of a shirt you could possibly wish for.  Long sleeve, short sleeve, 3/4 sleeve, cowl neck, button-up/ruched/traditional funnel collar, traditional hood, funnel hood, thumbhole cuffs, kangaroo pockets, banded hem, traditional hem, tunic length…..my fingers are tired from typing all that.  And I might not have covered it all.

As I’ve said before, this pattern whips up crazy fast.  So when she requested that we all make two variations, it wasn’t like she was asking a lot.  You’ve probably seen the majority of these fabrics on my blog already…because the weather has been weird and I’ve been attempting to ::gasp:: spend less money on new fabrics.  So I’ve been trying to rummage through my stash and sew from what I already own.  That’s totally fine though, because I love the results of both shirts.

First up, I used a buffalo plaid & ikat combo to make the most awesomely loud shirt ever.  I love everything about it.  Everything.  I tested her traditional hooded version (unlined) in a banded tunic length with long sleeves.

Up or down, I do like the look of this shirt a lot.  I’m not big on hoods anymore.  I fell out of the hoodie wearing trend at the end of my college days.  That being said, I’m not mad at this hood.  It’s not bulky and overwhelming and it looks great up or down.

What doesn’t look great is how incredibly dorky I am while trying to take all of these self-portraits.  I think I can finally say that I’ve accomplished better photos than I had during my first few rounds of displaying my sewing…so it is on the upswing.  With the exception of photos like this one.  I can’t win them all.

My favorite part of Judy’s patterns is every single part of them.  Not specific enough?  Well…they are on point with current styles but still have the option to make things in a classic length/fit. And they come with endless options so you can make a thousand of them and never have two of the same.  This is maybe why I am such a fangirl of her.  Plus, P4P has an AWESOME group of testers in her arsenal and those facebook pages full of women who sew are also hysterical and awesome.  

My next version was again a banded, tunic length.  Yes, I stick to what I like.  BUT, I did make some changes this time around that were super fun!  I made a ruched funnel collar, a kanga pocket and thumbhole cuffs.  Love, love, love.

But again with the loud fabrics.  It’s such a trend with me! Ha!

I remember a friend of mine in high school having a winter jacket that had thumbhole cuffs.  And another always cut holes into the sleeves of her sweatshirts to make her own version of thumbholes.  I never understood why this was so desired until I had one single waffleknit tee with thumbholes.  Helloooooo amazing design creation!  With long sleeves, I tend to wear them pushed up because I don’t like things flopping around my wrists a lot.  (Hysterically enough, I catch Louis doing with this all of his long sleeves as well.)  

But with the longer cuffs and keeping things in place with thumbholes…the flopping was gone and you had style and function married together in one beautiful union.  I will admit that sewing the cuffs like this was a little bit of a mind trick the first go-round.  But once I figured out what it took, it was easy as pie.  I do also believe that Judy offers a link to a video where you can watch a tutorial on how to put them together.  Once you do, you’ll want to make all of your sleeves like this.  I promise.

I mentioned loving the sewing group that I am in for Patterns for Pirates.  I am not the only person who finds it awkward to get photographed in clothing we’ve sewn.  I know that I look like a supermodel who has been in front of the camera my entire life…but this is simply not true.  I often feel like Will Ferrell in Talladega Nights when he is being interviewed.

“I’m not sure what to do with my hands.”

So here was an alternative I came up with, given the “foxy” fabric I was using.  Nailed it.

Hey…don’t knock the fox pose until you try it!  I actually won some free patterns from some amazing designers in a PDF Pattern Love group because I stood out with this ridiculous shot.  It might have been a pity win.  But a win is a win.  And I have five new patterns to make clothing for myself and Louis with.

Patterns for Pirates is selling the add-on pack both by itself (HERE) and bundled with the raglan pattern (HERE).

You can also find Patterns for Pirates: Etsy | Facebook | Craftsy

And as the trend goes with my sewing, all fabrics were from Girl Charlee.

Buffalo plaid cotton jersey blend (HERE).

Ikat spandex knit blend (SIMILAR).

Black/white polka dots (SIMILAR).

Fox Family jersey blend (SIMILAR).

Other patterns I’ve sewn / tested / reviewed for Patterns for Pirates: