Love Notions Laundry Day Tee - Tops with Short Sleeves

 I found a pattern for a top or dress that I really like, so I have made 22 of them since I first go the pattern.

This is the Laundry Day Tee (LDT) by Love Notions Designs. There is a special deal on this pattern when you join their Facebook group.

Here is the first top I made with this pattern using a red plaid ITY (interlock twist yarn) knit from Nancy Zieman's website (no longer available).

I had enough fabric that my friend made one, too.

She learned how to sew knit garments on a serger by making hers at the same time I did.

Here is a top for which I have proof that I made it but no pictures of it finished. I also think I did not like the print on me and gave it to someone for some reason. Here is most of the proof I have:

I made the next top twice - once for me and one for my pedicure lady's birthday. This was a knit mesh from JoAnn Fabrics.

I later decided to make a top for my mom with a blue floral that I found on Amazon. It's slightly fuzzy so I thought it would be warm (it was winter at the time). She likes it and sent me a 94-year-old selfie!

I made another one for Mom with a soft, stripe/floral DBP (double-brushed poly). More about my garment later.

At the same time, I made her another one with a knit from hobby lobby.

That's it for the short-sleeved KDTs.

Love Notions Laundry Day Tee - Sleeveless Dresses

I found a pattern for a top or dress that I really like, so I have made 22 of them since I first go the pattern.

This is the Laundry Day Tee (LDT) by Love Notions Designs. There is a special deal on this pattern when you join their Facebook group.

Here is my first sleeveless one using a swim fabric that I don't know where I got it. My topstitching and hems were finished with a medium zigzag stitch.

The next sleeveless dress I made is of a thin mesh fabric which may have been from JoAnn Fabrics. I did not have a lot of fabric, but it is a non-directional print. This means that I could add a back seam and cut it out in opposite directions.

Once again, my topstitching and hems were finished with a medium zigzag stitch.

I wear it a lot, especially when it's hot or raining outside, which are not mutually exclusive to Florida.

The older I get, the more likely I am to have coordinating earrings.

One of my favorite sleeveless dresses is this one, which I made really wide and really long. I added a center back seam to make this work for the amount of fabric I had.

I trimmed the hem after cutting using the method in my previous post.

A friend gave me this next fabric (which is no longer available online). It has vacation vibes, so I had to make another long, sleeveless dress. Once again, I made it longer, wider, and with a center back seam.

I believe this knit mesh fabric was from JoAnn Fabrics. It is so light and airy, but I did not get much, so it became a shorter dress.

So that's it for the sleeveless dresses ... for now.

Love Notions Laundry Day Tee - Dresses with Short Sleeves

I found a pattern for a top or dress that I really like, so I have made 22 of them since I first go the pattern.

This is the Laundry Day Tee (LDT) by Love Notions Designs. There is a special deal on this pattern when you join their Facebook group.

Here is the first one using a very thin jersey fabric that is no longer available on Amazon. I used the serger for all of the seams and for attaching the band at the neckline. I used the dress width and made it the length that I thought I wanted. I did hem the sleeves but not the lower hem, and it has yet to unravel. My topstitching of choice was a medium zigzag stitch.

The next one that I sewed was with a mystery pink foil fabric that I found in a mystery fabric barn in north-central Florida. Still using the dress width, I even hemmed the - hem!

Again with the dress width, I went for a more winter-wearing stretch crushed velvet. Silly me - I never modeled it, but it certainly was in winter-wearing rotation.

More winter wearing came with a paisley ponte from JoAnn Fabrics, this one just a little shorter than most.

Wouldn't you know that right before the pandemic, I lost some weight. I made this cute little dress with an athletic knit. Now it hangs in the closet, waiting for me to re-lose that weight.

The next one was another very lightweight knit from an un-memorable source, but this one has a special trick which I used more and more often - I flared the dress as much as the fabric would let me and trimmed the hem after construction.

When I first cut it out, I just extended the side seams as wide and as long as possible for the fabric.

Then I laid out the dress facing me, with side seams evenly to each side, and trim the bottom so that it was straight across.

Then I turned it so that the side seams were together, and the center front and center back were on opposite sides.

Then I just started trimming evenly in several steps.

I posed in this one.

Of course, I did it again in an ITY (interlock twist yarn) knit from Fabric dot com (maybe?).

Oops, I did it again. Don't mind if I do, but here I show that I added to the center back to make a seam so that the pattern would fit onto the fabric. This works best when the print is not directional.

This turned out well, I think.

And again.

And for winter again, another crushed stretch velvet, but this one is extra silky. It's from FabricsUniverse on Etsy. - What?? I didn't pose in it?

Well, golly, those are all the LDTs (Laundry Day Tees) that I made with short sleeves.

Flat Side Seam Pockets for Woven Fabrics

 I have promised a few people that I would explain how to add pockets in the side seam that do not flop around inside the garment and actually are made with one pocket piece.

These instructions show woven fabrics and 5/8"-inch wide seam allowances. This tutorial is used for pull-on shorts, pants, or skirts that have a fold-over elastic waist.

NOTE: In this method, the side seams are attached before the crotch seams and the front and back seams.

I will share the knit version in a different post.

This is a pocket piece that's 11" long and 7" wide, with a 6" bowl shape for the bottom curve, and a little jog over towards the place it attaches to the seam.

Two pocket pieces are cut in opposite directions and the outer edges are serged then steam pressed.

The pocket pieces are aligned with the side seams of the back pieces and pinned in place.  Note that the pockets are placed one inch down from the top edge.

The pocket pieces are serged onto the back pieces, finishing the cut edges at the same time.

The pocket pieces are pressed flat, then pressed away from the back pieces.  Note that the side edge remains pointing towards the pocket.

Fusible interfacing is cut 1" x 8.5" long, with the stretch along the short edge.  The interfacing is applied to the front pieces at the side seams about 1-3/4" from the top edge and stabilizes the front edge of the fabric where the pocket openings will be.

The side front edges are serged, finishing the cut edges and anchoring the interfacing.

Each back piece, with a pocket attached, is placed right side up.  The front piece is placed over it, right side down, with side edges matching.

All pins are placed in one direction EXCEPT the area of the pocket opening.  This is where long, basting stitches will be used.  In this case, the pocket opening is 5" long, starts 2" from the top of the interfacing, and ends 1" above the bottom of the interfacing.

After the side seam has been stitched, press it flat, then press it open.

The front edge of the side seam has been top stitched from top to bottom.

The pocket and its seam allowance have been pulled away from the shorts.  The pocket edge has been top stitched to the seam allowance.

The pocket and all seam allowances have been pressed to the front, and the pocket has been pinned to the front.

The pocket has been stitched to the front.  One end of the stitching is at the bottom of the basting at the side seam.

The pocket stitching continues to the top edge of the shorts.  The top edge of the pocket is basted with large zigzag stitches.

After these steps, continue to assemble the garment. In this case, turn and stitch the hems, then I place the front and back assemblies right sides together and stitch the front and back crotch curves separately.

After that, I stitch the crotch seams together, then I continue with the waistband.

When the waistband is completed, I remove the basting from the pockets and it looks like this:

Feel free to let me know if you have any questions about this.