Thursday, January 5, 2023

Nancy, Nancy Nancy!

woman wearing dress in snow
One of the first 5outof4 (affiliate link) patterns I made was the Nancy Raglan as a dress.  It had the cowl neck I was looking for and it was my first foray into sewing a sweater knit fabric.  It was also my first 5outof4 (affiliate link) pattern that wasn't an athletic wear piece and I was amazed at how many options come with it!  Cowl, plain neckband, hoodie- and then you can mash other 5outof4 (affiliate link) necklines with it and the options are even better!  A variety of sleeve lengths and a variety of lenthgs for top all the way to dress.

I find raglans to be extremely easy to put together because you don't have to fuss with the sleeve cap or anything else at the shoulder.  The neckband or cowl neck (I haven't made this hoodie but I've done hoods on other 5outof4 patterns (affiliate link) and they are easy) are also really easy to do.  

A lot of people like to do one fabric for sleeves and one for the main body but that's not really my style, so you'll see all of my examples showing one fabric.

woman and child sitting in chair
Just before Christmas this year (like the day before school got out) I realized I could use another red shirt to get into the spirit, so I timed myself making this one.  From getting the fabric out to cutting the fabric to sewing and hemming, this top took less than an hour to make.  I had enough fabric to make a dress but I was worried that this print in a dress might be horrible.  And I wanted to wear it year 'round, and I felt like a dress would scream Christmas, whereas a shirt would be more reasonable.

All of the knits I've used have been very supple and stretchy, except for this dress where I used a waffle knit.  The bodice of the dress is not the Nancy but the cowl is.  The cowl didn't quite do what I was hoping for on this be cause the waffle fabric is a little thick.  I should have used more of a funnel neck to get the look I wanted.  But, because this is a 5outof4 pattern (affiliate link), the Nancy cowl fit right onto the Easy Tee neckline, showing that these patterns really do work well together!

dress sewn incorrectly
The only issue I've ever had with this pattern is: because my arms are long and my torso is short, I often confuse the arms vs the body.  When I made this blue dress, the arms and the body were exactly the same length so I assumed I was putting the body together.  I had already made a couple by that point, but I can't tell you how horrified I was that the "body" was so small.  I couldn't imagine how I had put on so much weight in such a short time and it just looked ridiculous.  Nothing like my others.  

And then I realized I had sewn the sleeves together as the body.  I almost did this with the red shirt this year too but it's a shirt and not a dress so I was able to quickly catch myself.  See the correctly sew blue dress below.

If you're new to sewing knits and you want a stylish dress or top that is easy and has some options, Nancy is the way to go (affiliate link) .  Look at how many versions of this I've made!  I could also do a short sleeve but I just haven't gotten around to it.  There's also a nursing and maternity option, all in this one pattern!

Be sure to check out the Nancy Raglan and many, many  more on the 5outof4 website (affiliate link)!  
woman modeling red and white topwoman sitting

woman standingwoman modeling blue cowl neck top

woman modeling black and white top