threadWEAR 301

Since being introduced by Coco Chanel in her 1917 Nautical Collection, the Breton striped shirt – originally designed as a French naval uniform – has held a firm place in fashion's favor. The jaunty stripe is casual yet chic and gives its wearer a splash of insta-cool. You can find the Breton in shirts, dresses, scarfs and sweaters. This ubiquitous stripe has found itself made into every garment under the sun, though it is most popular in a classic t-shirt. 

As the days are getting warmer, I've been thinking about easy summer clothes that take no time to make, but are stylish enough to wear for work or play. Inspired by some dresses I saw online, I decided to make myself a Breton stripe t-shirt dress. Luckily, I had our classic eTee pattern at hand...

Alex took the new Memphis Dress pattern to the next level, making it her very own. Be inspired and get this look today.

​As a garment sewist, have you ever found yourself flipping through magazines, or walking through a retail store mentally constructing the garments you are seeing? I thought so. We do it, too. We see a shirt and think "I bet I could tweak the Florence Shirt pattern to make that top" or "That top is just like the Eureka Top pattern, if I made these changes". In fact, that is exactly what we did with this Sew Confident! Zona Jacket. We saw a designer jacket we loved and decided to make it using our own Zona Jacket pattern. 

​A good raincoat can go a long way to brightening a gloomy day. It has been raining cats and dogs here all month, but that doesn't bother me! I just gear up in my Soho raincoat and head out to weather the storm. We know we aren't the only ones getting drenched this month, and that is why the Soho is our featured pattern for April.

You may have noticed that our last few patterns have been named after some of our favorite cities – San Diego, Madrid and Barcelona. Well, today we want to introduce you to the Memphis Dress. And, like it's namesake city, the dress is cool, comfortable and just a bit quirky.