The g&g team pattern review

Lesley has made a gorgeous pair of Closet Core Jenny Overalls using our textured indigo 9oz rigid denim. There are several variations of this pattern and Lesley has gone for a lapped side zip with the bib and straps. They can also be made as trousers or shorts and you can change the zip to a button opening too.

Lesley has made the Jennys before and this time she size up to an 8 as they are very fitted at the waist. She took 1" out of the rise and found she had to do a flat seat adjustment too. She found that the video on lapped zips on the Closet Core website really helped her with that stage of construction and recommends baste fitting them before final construction, just like you would with jeans, so that you can check the fit.

They look fantastic with the denim thread top stitching and I'm sure she will get lots of wear out of them!

Jo has made the new and super popular Tilly and the Buttons Pearl Cardigan using our soft and cosy zebra stripe on cream fleece back sweat shirting fabric. Jo sized down to a size 10 and found she still took out about 1" either side seam on this cropped style wrap around style.

For the neckband she cut it a bit longer than needed and eased it in but stretching it as she sewed it on, which is the usual way she liked to insert neckbands of stretch garments as all fabrics have a different amount of stretch. She found the waist band construction a little bit tricky and recommends carefully reading the instructions here.

Jo also decided to shorten the ties so that it would tie at the back rather than the side to help balance out the lovely fullness of the balloon sleeves. Next time she think she would shorten the sleeves a little so suggests its worth checking the finished bodice length and sleeve length of the garment before cutting out the fabric in case you need to make any adaptions there. Of the 1.9m fabric recommended for the size range she was making she managed to get it out of 1.5m - yay!

Hannah F has made a gorgeous version of the Megan Nielsen Rowan Body suit using our super soft and comfortable Tencel Jersey fabric. This pattern is also super versatile with several neckline options, sleeve length and t-shirt or full body suit option. Hannah went for the v-neck body suit option and it looks great paired with jeans - no need to worry about becoming untucked - yay!

Hannah found the tencel to be quite slippery to work with but the instructions were really clear and sewing the elastic onto the bottom of the body suit was much easier than she thought it would be. She had to look up a video to help visualise with sewing the v-neck in but managed it really well in the end! As the Rowan was a past g&g Sewing Society kit you can still get access to the tip tips video that went with that kit, which shows how to sew all the different neckline options.

She found the sizing came up true to size, the fabric is nice and stretchy so it's super comfortable to wear.

Alison has made a great version of the Paper Theory Olya Blouse using our moss viscose linen fabric, which has the perfect weight and drape for this style. This classic oversized shirt has some really lovely design features with the sleeve extending into the front yoke section if the garment.

She found the instructions easy to follow but ended up not top stitching the front pockets down. There is a sewalong for this garment on the Paper Theory website should you need a bit more guidance as it's a bit tricky when sewing the corner section at the back where the sleeve attached to the back of the garment.

Alison sized up be 2 sizes as she wanted it to be really loose, but she suggests checking the finished garment measurements and sleeve length as well as next time she would shorten the sleeves a little. This was the first sleeve placket she has tried and she found it turned out really well. Alison also suggests overlocking the edges first before sewing as it made things a bit easier further down the line.