AHHHHHHHH! I cannot even begin to tell you how excited I am about sharing today. Because not only has Patterns for Pirates released a new set of sewing patterns — but the patterns are my designs being released under the brand!  wooooo!!

Named after “The Friendly City” of Wheeling, WV — I was able to put together a set of patterns that are cute, cozy, and have a special little feature incorporated into them.

I seriously spent a stupid amount of time trying to perfect them, but I’m really proud of the curved bands that are the real feature of the pattern.  There are crop, top and tunic lengths for the adult and youth sized patterns, and the bottom hems are finished with bands that fit those exact curves and then nest sweetly into the side seams. It’s pretty stellar once you understand how it all works.

I have a bunch to share, so let’s get to it! I made a point to take photos (for the first time ever) in public — just so I could capture some key points of our city. You can’t name a pattern after a city and then not take pictures of said city, am I right?

I visited the Suspension Bridge, the Heritage Trail, and Centre Market. In 30 degree weather with god awful windchill. So it wasn’t my favorite photoshoot but what can ya do?

First off is the top length / cuffed / scoop neck version in a sweater knit from Minerva.com

Next, I made the crop length with cuffed sleeves in a ribbed knit with ITY bands (both of which were fabrics from Fabric for Pirates shipments)

I also created this lovely tunic version, with a turtleneck neckline — in some mystery fabric that I found at Walmart’s pre-cut section. The weight of the fabric is actually quite lovely and it worked super well for this version!

This final top was sewn up during my early pre-pre-pre testing of the pattern. Luckily I didn’t have to make any real changes since then and I could use it for finals. Because it’s CA-UTE! A little loud. A lot of pattern mixing. But perfect for the Friendly City Sweater in this sweater knit / french terry combo.

I’m so excited to see what everyone creates and how it’s going to be received by our sewing community. It’s such a joyride to be on this patternmaking journey. I’m really truly honored that I’m here at all.

Here are some links to the patterns so you can go make yourself a sweater and support my designing efforts!

Friendly City Sweater | Friendly City Sweater - Youth | Friendly City Sweater - Bundle