Posted on June 12, 2024October 30, 2024 by liesel.e

Wave Pleats Sewing Tutorial

This is a really neat upgrade you could use for a lot of patterns! I hope you’ll give this wave pleat technique a try!

Hello! I’m Cherie from you & mie and I’m so excited to be here on Project Run & Play! Before the Project Run & Play sew-along began, I had just started dabbling in making children’s clothing. But seeing all the amazing work of the competitors and being able to participate with the fantastic sew-alongers really pushed me to a whole new level. I’ve been challenged to try so many new things and learned so much in the last 6 months. Not only that, but I’ve joined an amazing community of talented and brilliant sewists and bloggers. So I have Project Run & Play and the ladies behind it, liZ and Elizabeth, to thank for so much of what I’ve done! Thanks for everything and for inviting me here today!

Summer weather is upon us and my daughter needs lots of warm weather tops for outdoor play this season. I’m going to share a tutorial for my latest top, the Summer Breezes Top.

Summer breeze wave pleat tutorial DIY tank top

I saw a tank top in a store about a year ago that used this type of “wavy pleats” (as I like to call them). I knew I wanted to copy the style, but wasn’t sure how I wanted to do it. Recently, this technique started popping up around blogland and I decided it was time to share my take on it as well. The waves created by the changing directions of the pleats reminded me of a summer’s breeze, hence the name of the top.

The top is made of white linen, which at the time seemed like the perfect simple breezy summer top. But now I’m kicking myself wondering what I was thinking! A white top for a messy, dirt-loving toddler made of linen, the most wrinkly fabric ever? Awesome job, Cherie. Nice. So I’ll let you choose whatever is appropriate for your kiddo.

This top is finished off with bias tape, so feel free to make your own or use store-bought in either a matching or contrasting color/pattern. Feel free to brighten it up with some colors!

Ok, let’s make one together! Here’s what you’ll need:

3/4-1 yard of lightweight fabric

A few yards of bias tape (store bought or homemade)

Sewing essentials

First you have to make your pattern. I have to admit, I don’t have an exact science for this, so I hope you can experiment with drafting your own. To keep it simple, I made one pattern to use for both the front and back of the top.

I started with a straight vertical line which is the center fold of the pattern piece. Then I used a top that fit my daughter and traced the neckline. Mark the bottom of the arm hole and draw a curved line up to meet the neckline. From the bottom of the armhole, draw a line (I flared mine out slightly for an A-line shape) that is the desired length of the top. From there, draw a slight curve back to the vertical center line. You will not need to add seam allowance to the neckline, armhole or bottom since we’ll be finishing these off with bias tape. You will want to add seam allowance along the side seam. And there’s your pattern!

Simple woven swing top pattern with bias tape binding

Now we’ll make the pleated placket (I’m not really sure what else to call it). Cut a rectangle out of your main fabric that is at least 8 inches wide and a couple inches longer than the length of your pattern.

Find the center of your rectangle by folding it in half lengthwise and marking it. I wanted my pleats to be 1 cm each, so I made 7 marks on either side of the center, each 1 cm apart. Do the same on the bottom of the rectangle.

Starting from the left, make your pleats. Folding your fabric with wrong sides together, the first and third marking should match up and the 2nd mark is where the fold is.

Pleats folded to sew on a white top tutorial

Press your fold and sew along the length of the fabric 1 cm from the folded edge.

Press your pleat and fold it down toward the right. Make your next pleat using the next three markings and continue until you have five pleats.

When they are all pressed down toward the right, they should look like this.

Fabric pleats on a white piece of fabric for a swing top

Sew a line across the top of the pleats about 1 inch down from the top. Change the direction of your pleats by folding them towards the left. Mark a line 2 inches down from your first line with chalk and sew.

Continue changing the direction and sewing down the pleats every 2 inches until you get to the bottom.

Cut out two pieces of fabric that are each larger than your pattern piece. We’re going to attach the pleated placket before cutting out the pattern piece (less math).

Trim the edges of your placket piece to about 1/2 an inch on either side. With right sides together, sew the placket to the edge of one piece of fabric, and then repeat with the other side.

Fabric with pleat placket attached for a white swing top

On the wrong side, trim the seam allowance to 1/4 inch and finish by serging or zig zag stitching. Press away from the placket, then on the right side, top stitch along the edge of the placket.

Close up of wave pleats Project Run and Play tutorial

Fold your fabric in half, making sure to fold right down the center of your pleated placket and trace your pattern piece. Cut it out. Cut out the back piece from a piece of fabric as well.

Cutting the top pattern out of the fabric with wave pleats tutorial

Pin the sides of the top, right sides together, sew, press and finish edge. Repeat on other side.

Side seams pinned together white swing top tutorial from Project Run and Play

Baste the pleats along the neckline of the top to keep them folded in the correct direction.

Wave pleats at the neckline of a white swing top

Open up your bias tape and pin it along the edge of the neckline, right sides together. Sew along the fold closest to the edge.

Sewing bias binding on to the neckline of a white swing top tutorial

Fold the bias tape over the edge of the neckline, press and pin. Make sure the edge of the bias tape is covering the stitching on the wrong side.

Bias binding on the neckline of a white woven top DIY tutorial

Top stitch just above the edge of the bias tape making sure to catch the edge on the wrong side. Trim off the extra bias tape and repeat for the back.

For the armholes and straps, we’ll do the same thing. Leave about 12 inches of bias tape for the strap then start pinning the open tape to the edge of the armhole. Measure another 12 inches of bias tape when you get to the other end of the armhole and cut. Sew the bias tape along the armhole, fold the bias tape back up and when you get to end of the straps, fold it in about a 1/4 inch before folding it up.

How to close the ends of bias tape straps tutorial from Project Run and Play

Sew the ends of the straps closed, then top stitch along the edge of the bias tape closing up the straps and finishing the armhole.

Bias binding spaghetti straps on a swing top

For the bottom of the shirt, normally I’d just hem it by folding it up twice, but with all the extra pleated fabric, I thought it’d get too thick, so I finished it with bias tape as well.

Bias binding on the hem of a wave pleat swing top

Done!

Wave pleat swing top on a clothesline tutorial

I hope you enjoy some nice summer weather and I’d love if you stopped by you & mie to say “hi” some time! Thanks for letting me join in on the fun! – Cherie

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Posted on June 7, 2024June 11, 2024 by liesel.e

Bleach Dyeing Tutorial

We love this technique! It’s the most accessible way to start playing with changing your substrate, because it just takes one product, that’s in most grocery stores: bleach! Check out this tutorial, and then go search for some inspiration to create your own!

Here’s Wendy from W. Pratt Crafts with the tutorial.

One of the things I love about participating in Project Run and Play is that it always forces me to stretch and challenge myself to try new things. When it was announced that my week’s theme would be Stash Bash I will admit that I was a little disappointed that I didn’t get an excuse to go on a fabulous fabric shopping spree to pick out just what I wanted. But, in limiting my resources it pushed me to try a technique I’d never done, but had wanted to try: Bleach Dying!

Bleach dying is basically the opposite of tie dying where your intention is to remove colors rather than add them. You can achieve similar design effects using tie dye techniques to manipulate the fabric before you add the bleach which can create some really interesting effects.

Bleach Dying Tutorial

Supplies

Fabric to Bleach
Bleach
Spray Bottle
Gloves
Water (optional)
Rubber bands (optional)
Large Tub (optional)

I found some plain black French Terry in my stash and knew they would make some great Joseph Joggers. But, I wanted to add a bit of design detail and decided to try and bleach the fabric. Before I began, I read a few tutorials which told me that natural fibers tend to bleach better than others and they suggested some variation of a bleach to water ratio. As my fabric had a higher polyester content I decided to use a pure bleach solution with no water. I also made sure to do a small test patch before jumping in and spraying down my whole fabric piece.

Once I saw that the bleach would indeed have an effect on my fabric, I loaded up my spray bottle, spread my fabric out on the lawn, and began spraying! If you don’t want to try spraying, you can use rubber bands to section out pieces of the fabric and create different textures and looks depending on their placement, then either spray or submerge the fabric in a large tub. Almost any tie dye technique can be repeated using bleach instead of dye!

It was interesting to watch the colors begin to change, but it was also somewhat challenging to know just where and how much bleach was on each section. I noticed that the grass helped create some cool textures in the spray patterns based on how the fabric was laying on it.

When bleach dying, it’s important to give the bleach enough time to do it’s thing, but you can also stop it from processing by rinsing it then giving it a go in the washer and dryer whenever you feel you like what you see. I think I waited 15-20 mins before I rinsed and washed my fabric.

One thing I did notice about the color, which other tutorials had prepared me for, was it had a rusty orange tone to it. Oftentimes when lifting black you won’t get a gray or white look. You will end up with orange or pinkish tones where the bleach is.

Knowing I wanted a less orange look to coordinate with my planned outfit, I decided to dye over the fabric with a grey pearl color from Rit Dye. This helped knock out some of those rusty hues and left me with a more taupe colored finish on the bleached areas. It ended up working perfectly with the other color tones of my fabrics.

One thing I may consider doing differently next time is to make the garment completely and then bleach it so I can control exactly where I put it on the finished piece. Though it was much easier to do an entire piece of fabric laid out all together, I just had to be careful with how I cut the fabric to get the desired look in the end.

I hope you enjoyed this short tutorial on bleach dying and would love to hear if you try it! To see more patterns and inspiration from the Project Lounge Library Capsule Collection click here.

Bleach tie dye tutorial for block joggers from Project Run and Play

Check out some more fun bleach dyed looks from around the Project Run and Play community! Then give it a try yourself!

Bleach tie dye tutorial from Project Run and Play

Bleach dye tutorial from Project Run and Play

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Posted on June 5, 2024October 30, 2024 by liesel.e

What is Color Blocking + Our 5 Top Tips

What’s a more classic sewing DIY, than color blocking? We love these tips, and you can make them as simple or complex as you’d like. Check out this post, and then go cut up a pattern of your own!

Color blocking: Mixing two to three (if not more) bold and often contradictory colors together in one ensemble to make for an exciting statement piece.

Color Block sewing tutorial DIY for PDF patterns

For those of us who sew, color blocking is a GREAT stash buster because it allows us to use up smaller cuts of fabric. You know, those pieces that are left over from cutting out a bigger project that are just big enough that you hate to throw them away!

Top 5 Tips for Color Blocking:

1. Plan ahead! Draw out your plan ahead of time. Did you know that every single pattern in the Project Run & Play shop has line drawings included? These line drawings are perfect for printing out and sitting down with a handful of crayons to plan your project!

2. Remember to add seam allowances! If you’ve decided to color block the front of a shirt, and the pattern piece says cut on the fold, you have to remember to add a seam allowance on the center front of both pieces. Anywhere you cut a pattern piece for extra color blocking, remember to add seam allowance.

3. Check and then check again before you cut! Because we’re so used to cutting things out with the fabric folded in half, this is an area to use caution. We recommend when color blocking to cut everything out with the right side of the fabric up and then you just have to remember to cut mirror images, which will mean turning over the pattern piece. Don’t worry if it sounds complicated, just mark your pattern pieces ahead of time!

4. Nest your seams. This is a trick we garment sewers learned from quilters! They’re the experts at getting corner and angles to line up, and they have a neat little trick they call nesting the seam. It works like this: instead of pressing your seams open, press them toward one side (the darker fabric if applicable.) Then, when you bring two joints together, the seam allowances will nest right up next to each other, and on the right side, it will create a PERFECT junction.

A color blocked dress with print and neon colors.

5. Press your color blocked seams well. No seriously! Everyone’s eyes will be drawn to the color blocking, and you want those seams to look amazing! We like to press our seams flat first with lots of steam, and then a second time with lots of steam.

There you have it! Color blocking defined and our top 5 tips. Are you ready for some more color blocking fun? Come back tomorrow! (Use the graphic above to save these tips on Pinterest. Do you follow us there?)