I’m on a casual clothes roll at the moment. I’m really enjoying sewing and wearing relatively simple, comfortable garments.

This is yet another Tessuti Mandy boat tee (one of my favourite patterns – I have three cut out to sew this weekend at Sewjourn) with a second pair of Style Arc Misty jeans (a new favourite pattern – I have two pairs cut out to sew this weekend at Sewjourn) with a shrug from the Japanese sewing book May Me Style Sewing.  As this is the fourth time I’ve sewn the shrug, I figure that it must be a favourite pattern too!

I’ll start with the shrug. This changes in look and fit each time I make it. It is highly fabric dependent. The first one I made was in a woven wool, with bias binding used to finish the edges. The second was in a soft knit, with the edges turned and twin needled stitched.  The third was also in a knit, but one that was a bit firmer.  It had the edges turned and twin needled too.  This one is in vintage wool knit left over from the Simplicity 1366 jumper I made recently but is as yet unblogged.  I had to piece it a little to get the dimensions right.  I probably didn’t need to – it has turned out a little larger than the others.  Once again the edges are simply turned and stitched.

This is a terrific garment when you want an extra layer that is easy and snuggly but doesn’t flap around at the front. It also shows off the fabric that you are wearing underneath! Many of you will remember this fabric from Anna’s blog. In fact, you might even remember that she also made a Mandy Boat Tee from it.

This is a single sized pattern, and I really like the way it fits me. I lengthened the sleeves from 3/4 to full length, and shortened the pattern an inch or so through the body. The fabric originally came from Clear It, and it’s superb quality. I’m not sure of the composition but I’m suspecting cotton/viscose/lycra. It’s quite substantial.

As always, I stabilised the hems and neckline with double sided fusible tape before twin needle stitching them in place. My brand of choice for these tapes is Vliesofix – it can be difficult to source at times. My most recent lot came from Stitch 56. They come in a variety of widths.

So, to the jeans. The fabric I used for this pair is a stretch denim from Rathdowne Fabrics in a fantastic olive colour. There wasn’t as much stretch in this denim as in the fabric I used for my first pair, so the fit is a little different. I really have to wiggle in to these ones, although they are comfortable to wear once they are on. I made sure to allow more waist and tummy room in the next pair that I cut out, as the fabric I’ve used for that pair don’t have a massive amount of stretch either.

There are a couple of things that I did differently this time. Firstly, I eliminated the front mock pockets. Other than in the above photo, no-one is ever going to see the waistband. Secondly, I added a waistband and enclosed the elastic. I used the waistband from my Elle pants as a guide, but really for me the waistband just needs to be the same measurement as the top of the pant waist. I cut a long strip of fabric, seamed it, then folded it over wide elastic before attaching it to the pants top. Very, very straightforward.

I used a triple stitch to highlight the topstitching on the pockets and back yoke, and around the front fake fly. Yes, they are a bit too tight around my torso, but I like the overall silhouette and the fit through the legs. Those wrinkles along the back of the leg mean that I can move and sit! The legs were shortened above and below the knee to accommodate my 158cm.

All of these garments are straightforward to make and don’t require a great deal of fitting adjustments. I feel comfortable and current wearing them, and you’ll be seeing other versions of them before too long!