Sewing for me: The Dolman Darling Sweater

I made a new shirt!--really, I guess, a sweater since the fabric I used is a super-soft woven knit. It is my own design--and really easy at that! It is a Dolman sleeve sweater, which means it has a front and a back, no separate sleeve pieces! 

Here is a little of how I made it (I didn't document the whole process since I was a little unsure of how it would turn out...)

First, I placed a shirt that fit well on the fold of my fabric and traced it with chalk

(I made sure the stretch of the knit was going horizontally across the front of the shirt, not vertically. So, as you are viewing the bottom photo, the stretch is going from north to south....I think I am confusing myself....carry on...) 

  (please excuse my horrific chalk drawing. The boys decided to smash my tailors chalk into tiny bits so I used...um...sidewalk chalk instead. It was challenging.) 

Basically, the idea of the Dolman sleeve is that it is attached to the main body piece. I gave a generous curve under the arm and shortened the body of the shirt because I added a 4 inch hem piece at the bottom.

 The wide hem piece was smaller than the body of the shirt so I stretched it a bit while I sewed to make sure it had a nice, snug fit.

The back view

(Sorry for the blur. It is a bit hard taking pictures of yourself while you are not facing the camera)

I also did a cuff around the bottom of the sleeve with the same stretching technique I used for the wide hem.

 Rocking my pearls with my Dolman Darling Sweater

This sweet little shirt came together in less than two hours! That's my kind of project! 

Plus it is perfect for work, church, or casual wear. :D