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Happy fall yall! the weather has officially turned where I live and the leaves are starting to change too and ya know what that means…. its time to switch to the closet from tanks and shorts to sweaters and blanket scarves!
Twice a year when I swap my closet I always fall back in love with all of the things I had packed away and always look forward to getting back into the same couple of garments and pulling my favorite sweater patterns to the front of the stack.
This year as I was sorting through the bins of items that had been stored since the start of spring I came to the shocking realization of just how many Paige Piko tops I have made and love. It’s a uh… tad extreme.
But I just love them so much! They are so comfortable and flattering and especially in this year as I spend most of time at home, with no change on that front in sight, I feel no shame in adding a few more to my closet. But we need to start mixing it up a bit and adding some variation to the group.
So today I am using some beautiful and luscious modal from Sly Fox Fabrics to create a sporty looking Piko with contrast striping on the arm as a super quick and easy hack.
All you need for this hack is your printed and assembled pattern plus a second sleeve pattern piece, your fabric, scrap paper, a pen/pencil and a ruler.
To draw the stripes we will be using both of the sleeve pattern pieces , one of which will be cut up and the second will be traced for the curved angle.
Begin by deciding how large and spaced apart you want your stripes. For my I did a 1″ white stripe at the top of the sleeve, followed by a 1/2 inch black stripe, and then a second 1″ white stripe.
Then mark the 1/2″ seam allowance at the top of the sleeve pattern piece, following the natural curve of the piece.
Using a ruler and your second pattern piece, draw the stripes in your desired pattern on your sleeve piece starting immediately under the marked seam allowance. Mark all of the sections so you know how to reassemble them. **Be sure to extend the fold line markings as well!!**
Then cut along all of the drawn lines EXCEPT the first seam allowance line to create four pieces.
Now we need to add seam allowance back into the new pattern pieces so our sleeve ends up the right length. Seam allowance needs to be added to both sides of where we cut the stripes out. So, using my example, seam allowance needs to be added to the bottom of the top white stripe, the top and bottom of the black stripe, the top and bottom of the bottom white stripe, and the top of the lower sleeve piece.
I do this by taping the pattern pieces to a piece of plain printer paper and using my ruler to mark out the 1/2 inch seam allowance in all of the needed places.
Then cut out your new pieces with the added seam allowance and your’e good to go!
When cutting your fabric remember you will want to cut each piece on the fold and you will need two of each piece (one for each sleeve). Be sure to also label each piece as you cut it out to make sure there is no confusion when assembling!
Before you begin to assemble the rest of your top/dress, sew all of your sleeve bit back together to create the full sleeve and give it a good press. Then proceed as usual for constructing the rest of the garment! Happy Sewing!
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