Better than Bought - Lace Cold Shoulder

Hi everyone! I am so excited for this month's Better than Bought bundle, I hope you all are as excited about it as I am! I've never been much of a fan of the current cold shoulder trend, just not my thing. But lace is kind of like bacon, it makes me like just about everything! So when I saw this shirt on Pinterest of course it changed my mind about cold shoulder shirts instantly and I knew I had to recreate it. This is a relatively easy hack as the only change to the original pattern is lowering the neckline and then adding the appliqués. 

Better Than Bought Bundle Details

There are two options for the bundles this month.

The first is a modal spandex (olive, navy and mint) with dramatic appliqué.

The second choice is rayon spandex french terry (heather grey or mocha) with a more conservative appliqué.

They are both pictured, the grey is the more conservative option. The link for purchasing the bundles is available here. The bundles will be on sale for the first 24 hours at $20, after that they will be $22.

What you will need:

The pattern I used was the Slim Fit Raglan by Patterns for Pirates. If you have another raglan pattern that fits similarly to the SFR you can use that as well the idea would be the same.

Materials required is roughly 2 yards of fabric with good drape (modal spandex or rayon spandex french terry are recommended). 2 v-shaped appliqués. Purchase the BTB Bundle here.

 Preparing the pattern:

There is only one alteration needed, lowering the neckline. Begin by laying out your front and back bodice pattern pieces as well as your sleeve pattern piece. 

Starting with the front bodice piece, measure 2 inches down on the fold line and make a mark. Then measure 1.5 inches down on the other side of the neck opening and make another mark. Connect these marks with a slightly curved line. 

Now take the sleeve pattern piece and measure 1.5 inches down on the side that will connect to the front bodice and make a mark. Then measure 1 inch down on the side that will connect to the back bodice and make a mark. Again connect these two points with a slightly curved line.

For the back bodice simply measure 1 inch on both the fold line and the opposite side and connect these marks with a straight line.

Now that the pattern pieces have been altered you may cut out your fabric. Note: the neckband dimension will not be correct since we have altered the neckline. Cut out a long piece of fabric to use for the neckband that is 1.75" x at least 38 to give yourself plenty of wiggle room. Once the sleeves and bodice have been attached we will measure to determine the exact length.

Preparing the appliqués:

If you ordered the dramatic appliqués there is a quick step to do to them prior to sewing them in. There are some extra pieces that need to be cut off. You can see below where I chose to cut them. I also applied a little bit of fray check to the cut edges to make sure that the appliqués do not fray. (I have since washed them several times with no issues)

Assembly:

I used a 1/4" seam allowance for this shirt as I wanted a slightly looser fit. You can use either the standard 1/2" seam allowance or the 1/4" depending on your personal preference.

Begin by sewing or serging together the sleeves and front and back bodices following the instructions in the pattern, do not sew up the sides yet.

Now we will attach the appliqués. Pin the appliqués to the right sides of the sleeves lining up the edges of the fabric and appliqués. The next step is determining where the bottom of the appliqué should hit. To determine this you will need to try on the shirt and pin the sleeves so that you can figure out where your elbow hits. You can also use a large basting stitch to do this instead of pinning.

Once you have determined where the bottom of the appliqué should be lay the shirt flat and pin the rest of the appliqué in place making sure there are no wrinkles underneath it.

Sew the appliqués in place using a medium to long stitch on the outermost edge of the appliqués. On my french terry version I did two lines of stitching, one on the circles and one on the large line just to the inside of the circles. I was a little concerned if I did just one line on the circles it wouldn't lay right. 

Baste the side seam in place (or pin if you are feeling lucky) and try it on again making sure that the bottom of the appliqué hits you where you want it to. 

The next step is to determine how long of a neckband you need. Measure the neck opening and then multiply it by .85 to determine the length of the neckband. Then cut a band that is 1.75" tall and the correct length. MAKE SURE YOU DO THIS PRIOR TO CUTTING OUT THE FABRIC UNDERNEATH THE LACE!

Sew or serge the side seams.

Next carefully cut out the fabric that is underneath the appliqué, make sure that you measured for the neckband prior to cutting out the extra fabric.

Now we will be attaching the neck binding. Start by sewing or serging the short edges of the binding piece together. Then quarter the binding piece and find the center of the front bodice and back bodice pieces. Pin or clip the binding to the shirt with the right side of the binding facing the wrong side of the shirt. Stretch the binding slightly and pin/clip it all the way to the cut edges. There should be some parts of the neckband that do not get clipped to the bodices. Check to make sure the openings on either side are the same size prior to sewing on.

Sew or serge the binding pieces onto the shirt using a 1/4" seam allowance, stopping at each side opening. Press the seam up towards the binding then make small 1/4" cuts at each side of the appliqué, where you stopped serging before.

(Note: the grey close up images are shot using scrap fabric as I decided I needed more pictures to demonstrate the process)

Fold down the raw edge of the binding twice and clip in place. On the open sections also fold up the bottom edge so that it is all enclosed. Now topstitch.

Hem the sleeves and bottom and you are all done!

Don't forget to share in the Surge Facebook Group with the hashtag #surgebtb for a chance to win next month's Better Than Bought Bundle for free! You can also share on Instagram with that hashtag as well. Please follow/tag me on Instagram @sew_youthinkyoucansew