Striped Inspiration

Pattern: Nancy Raglan by 5oo4 Patterns

Fabric: Black Horizontal Stripe DBP and Mustard DBP from Amelia Lane designs

Facebook ads keep showing me these perfect springtime color blocked striped tops and it wore me down! I decided I needed this look!

I made dress length (only one thing to grab when I’m getting dressed in the morning!). I lengthened the back and raised the front a tiny bit to make a high low look. I color-blocked the sleeves, back and front. Added cuffs to a half sleeve to achieve the look I saw online.

How’d I do?

The best part is that the striped fabric is 67″ wide! That’s nuts! I had a yard and a few inches (bonus I guess, I ordered a yard) and I had some left after making this outfit! I used about a yard of the solid mustard.

Both are on new arrival sale at Amelia Lane Designs.

I chose Nancy Raglan because it was already on my cutting table – it’s a staple in my sewing – it’s easy, has tons of options and the fit is accurate. They’re also quick to whip up!

Here’s my other Nancy Raglan dresses I’ve blogged: French Terry Cowl, Blooming Dots

Here’s how I did the color blocking for this dress:

• I made some changes to the pattern I was using
• I raised the center bodice hemline about an inch and lowered the back center bodice hemline about an inch to give just a slight high-low look.
• I also shortened the 3/4 sleeve line an inch to make room for the 1″ cuff I opted to add. I cut the cuff 2″ tall so it would be an inch when folded in half. I cut it at 90% of the new hem’s width.
• I held the bodice up to my body and found where I would want the colorblocking
• I drew that line on the bodice pattern piece
• I lined up the front and back bodice pieces and drew the line on the back bodice
• Because I used a raglan and the sleeve goes all the way to the neckline, it was easy to lay the sleeve on top and copy the line onto that piece as well.
• I cut all three pattern pieces at the line
• I added 1/4″ when cutting each of the pieces so that they will have a seam allowance just big enough for my serger to connect the pieces without altering the length. (My serger has a 1/4″ wide seam alone without cutting any excess off.)
• From there I assembled the pattern as usual, just adding my sleeve cuffs rather than hemming the sleeves

Link disclosure:  This post may contain affiliate links. Clicking the link doesn’t change the product or price you’re shown, but I might get a small percentage towards materials for my next project.  If you found this post helpful and are planning to purchase the pattern anyway, I’d really love for you to use my link.

Pattern: Nancy Raglan by 5oo4