French Terry – The Finished Garment

Sunshine in the Snow

My latest project was a mistake. I ordered french terry to make a sweatshirt, thinking it was the same fabric I had seen in the store, but I was wrong. Ordering fabric online is hard.

Cowl Neck Dress and Sweater by Heidi & Finn, available in sizes 12m-12Y.

Instead of soft and fluffy bamboo, it was structured cotton but with stretch – almost like ponte. It was never going to make a good sweatshirt.

The fabric is great, of course. It just wasn’t the one in my head. lol.

But it was exactly the right colour. And I had been looking for dusty rose ponte de roma for ages at Kid No. 4’s request, with no luck – it’s a bit late in the season and the spring fabrics are all coming out now.

So I found a new project – the Heidi and Finn Cowl Neck Jumper Dress and Sweater. I have sewn this dress many times before, but in smaller sizes – three times in ponte for a structured look, and three times in ITY (interlock twist yarn) for really soft stretchy tops.

The size is just right – there is a little room to grow.

The cotton french terry worked out really well for the dress. It gives enough shape that the neckline looks good, but the cotton will be a bit cooler in spring and summer. I went with short sleeves because of the fabric.

I finished the hem with a double needle.

This time I made the dress in a size 12. The sizing is really close to a retail size 12. It fits really well, with just a little room to grow.

I don’t have a serger – I used the jersey stitch on my regular machine, and a double needle for the hem.

And yes, that means it’s my last kid in the largest size that this pattern offers. I’m a bit sad that it will need to be retired soon.

I made the short sleeved version since I think the fabric is more suited for spring more than winter.

Summary

Pattern Review: Cowl Neck Dress and Sweater by Heidi & Finn, available in sizes 12m-12Y.
Fabric: French terry (95% cotton, 5% spandex).

Size: 12.
Cost: Pattern: 0$. Fabric: About $30.
Sewing Level: Confident beginner.
Modifications: None
Results: Great, as always. This is a reliable pattern and quick to sew.

Disclaimer: The pattern was generously provided by Heidi & Finn several years ago, in return for testing the pattern. As always, my opinions are my own.

Turquoise Skater Dresses

In the after-holiday sales I picked up some really bright turquoise French terry. It was only 5$ per metre so I let each kid choose there own piece of clothing. Two chose mini-hudson pants, and two chose the Little Girls’ Skater Dress by Kitschy Coo.

Little Girls' Skater Dress sewing pattern from Kitschy Coo, sewn by The Finished Garment. — This is the size 5/6.

I had been looking at the Skater Dress pattern for a while, but didn’t really have the right fabric. Ideally this would be made in jersey, but I thought the French terry be a little cozier. The dress ends up being great for our current cold weather, but still fun to wear and very comfortable. This French terry has a lot of stretch, which makes the dress very wearable, especially for kids. It’s like your favourite sweatshirt, but it’s a dress.

Unfortunately, it’s been too cold for outdoor photo sessions and the light hasn’t been great lately generally, so you’ll have to settle for less than ideal photos this time around.

I let the kids choose the colour of the contrast cuffs from my scrap bin. The cuffs are so bright, but they do really make the dress. With solid colours for the main part of the dress, they might be a bit plain, without that crazy pop of colour.

The pattern is sized to fit over two years. They fit a bit large. My kids are both at the lower ends of their ranges, but definitely too big to go down a size. I double checked the measurements, and tried the size 5/6 on my normally size 7 kid to check. Next time I might take the dress in a little through the bodice for my skinny girls, especially if I use a heavier fabric again. In jersey, it would probably be fine.

This pattern is a really quick sew. I finished both dresses in an afternoon. The instructions were great and everything came together without any problems. I also have the women’s version of the skater dress, so I’m pretty excited to get to that soon.

Project Summary

Pattern Review: Little Girls’ Skater Dress by Kitschy Coo, available in sizes 18m-8Y (in 4 different sizes).
Fabric: French terry, with jersey cuffs.
Sizes: 5/6 and 7/8.
Cost: Pattern: About 14$. Fabric: $5 per dress.
Project Sewing Level: Beginner.
Modifications: none.
Results: Great. The kids love wearing these.

Neon Blue Mini Hudson

This year, my only boxing day shopping took place at the fabric shop. I didn’t find much, but there was some gorgeous french terry in a neon turquoise for only 5$ a metre.

I wasn’t sure what to make so I let the kids decide and Kid No 2 and Kid No 4 chose pants. I didn’t have much in the way of knit pant patterns, especially not for fabric this thick, so I bought the Mini Hudson Pant pattern from True Bias.

Mini Hudson Pant sewing pattern from True Bias as sewn by The Finished Garment. — These were a really quick project.

There is a Mini Hudson blog hop going on at the moment if you want to see more versions. I’m not part of it, but since everyone is posting their mini hudsons, and I just made these last week, I figured I’d hurry up and post mine too. You’ll have to excuse me for showing up to the party uninvited.

This pattern makes a drawstring pant that works well with heavier fabric and is cut narrower near the ankle and wider at the hips. I used jersey scraps from two previous projects (coming soon to the blog) in black for my son and hot pink for my daughter. The pink and blue combo is a little bright, but if you can’t wear neon turquoise and hot pink when you are two, when can you?

The pants ended up a little big, but that’s a bonus in my book. The hipster styling isn’t quite as obvious for now, but it won’t be long before the kids grow up an inch or so.

These are really quick to sew and pretty foolproof. The only modification I made was to leave off the drawstring. Kid No 2 doesn’t like fiddly closures, even when they are just decorative and Kid No 4, at two-years-old, doesn’t need the hazard factor. And the only thing I would change in the future would be to make the waistband a bit wider, but just because I like that look.

Once again, these went right into regular circulation and so I didn’t get quite as many photos of the larger pants as I would have liked. My smaller kid was quite happy to mug it up for the camera though.

Summary

Pattern Review: Mini Hudson Pant from True Bias, available in sizes 2T-10.
Fabric:

Neon turquoise french terry.
Cotton spandex jersey in black and fuchsia by Stenzo.

Size: 3 and 7.
Cost: Pattern: $8. Fabric: About $5 per pair of pants.
Sewing Level: Beginner.
Modifications: I left out the drawstring.
Results: Cute and comfy.