Sew Explicit Patterns Daisy Top to Dress

Hello friends,

I hope you are enjoying February and Black History Month. I am honored to serve as an ambassador for the 2021 #Bhmpatterndesigners Challenge on Instagram hosted by Nateida of SewNaturalDane and Keira of IslandSewcialist. This is my second year as an ambassador for this fun challenge that celebrates black pattern designers in all creative fields including, sewing, knitting, crocheting, bag making, and quilting. Today, I am sharing my first make for the challenge and it is the lovely Daisy Top by Sew Explicit Patterns. Sew Explicit is a stylish pattern company based out of Nigeria and owned by the lovely Omatoyo. She has several lovely patterns to choose from and her patterns are available on Etsy and the Makerist websites.

Pattern Details

This is a shirt pattern designed for light to mid-weight woven fabrics such as shirtings, linens, and Ankara wax prints. It is available in sizes 6-20 for bust sizes of 32 to 46″ with plans to expand to bust sizes up to 56″. It has the following unique details:

• Lantern sleeve cuffs
• One-piece collar
• Front and back waist darts
• Curved Hem

Pattern Changes

In spite of the winter weather we’ve experienced throughout the country, Spring is coming! I wanted to make a dress that would transition from chilly temps to warmer days, so I decided to hack this pattern into a dress. I lengthened the elbow-length sleeves by approximately four inches at the lengthen/shorten line included in the pattern. I also lengthened the bottom hem by eight inches before the hem curve. When I created the muslin, the dart points were a bit high on me, so I shortened them on both the front and the back of the pattern. I sewed a size 10 for the bust area and graded -out to a size 12 at the waist and hips.

The lantern sleeves are the star of this cute pattern and I knew I wanted to make them stand out. I added a layer of medium-weight fusible interfacing from Palmer Pletsch to give them some extra body. I love how they give the cuffs a bold couture look. Sew Explicit patterns is offering a 30% discount throughout February using the code below:

Fabric

The fabric I used is a lovely orange and pink geometric print from the new BHMPatterndesigers Collection created by the lovely Nateida of SewNaturalDane on YouTube and Instagram. This is a gorgeous shirting weight fabric that is perfect for creating shirts and shirt dresses. It is lightweight, yet completely opaque and is comfortable to wear. This is a limited edition fabric and is available throughout the month of February 2021. There are two other amazing prints and all are available in both cotton woven and knit versions. You can pick up these fabrics using my affiliate (paid) links below:

Orange and Pink Geometric Print (Shown)

Additional BHMPatterndesigners fabric

For more of my review of this pattern, check out my full YouTube Review here:

BHMPatternDesigners Challenge

To participate in the challenge you must create and post an item created by a black pattern designer on Instagram during February using the hashtag #bhmpatterndesigners as well as tag the hosts of the challenge, Nateida of SewNaturalDane and Keira of Islandsewcialist to be eligible for prizes. For more information about the challenge including coupon codes, sponsors, and designers, visit SewNaturalDane.com for more information. You can also check out my Black Pattern Designers posts on this website as well as the Instagram pages of the other ambassadors for this challenge, DivineDita, and CrumpetsTeaandSewing.

Let me know if you’ll be participating in this year’s challenge. I’d love to see what you make!

Until next time,

Happy Sewing,

Crystal