The underbust darts provide a decent amount of shaping
Pattern Background
The Julia bralette has a separate bottom band, underbust darts for shaping, and racerback straps with optional strap adjusters.
The panty has no side seams. Instead the side seams are slanted and shifted forward, giving a crossover look. The back is full coverage and both high and lower rise options are in the envelope.
The pattern also gives the option of a loose fitting camisole top with an integrated bra. I have not tried this version at this point.
Fabric and Notions
The print fabric is a cotton/lycra jersey from Fashion Fabrics Club, cut from the scraps of a Jalie Tina t-shirt. The black cotton/lycra jersey was a recent purchase from Fabric Mart.
The ring used to connect the back straps was a 1/2” metal bra strap ring I found in my stash, purchased years ago from Sew Sassy. The 3/8” bra strap slides were also purchased years ago from Sew Sassy.
The 3/4” fold over elastic is from Wawak. The bottom band elastic was purchased from a seller on Amazon.
Fit and Alterations
I made a size Y for the bralette, easing it into a size W band.
I made a size CC for the panty and added 2.5” of height to the center back, tapering to nothing at the center front.
Construction
The top is a bit more involved than the Jalie Barbara, but it is still a pretty quick make. One thing I found a little odd is that the bottom band elastic is sewn at the bottom of the folded edge of the band, so with the 3/4” width it ends up being about halfway instead of being the full height of the band. That being said, it does stay in place pretty well during wear. I found the bottom band elastic was the perfect fit based on my underbust and didn’t need to be snugged up at all, and in fact could have even been a bit looser. Just be careful when sewing the underbust darts because if you don’t taper them enough you’ll get a rather unattractive bump. Definitely recommend using your regular sewing machine with a straight stitch instead of a serger for this part.
The panty leg elastic requires some pinning before sewing because they don’t give a marking chart for where to start stretching it. You just go by feel when pinning it. Make sure you don’t make the zigzag too wide when sewing the fold over elastic to the top of the fabric because otherwise you will get stitching overlap when you sew the back to the front.
Conclusion
I’m much happier with the Jalie Julia than the Jalie Barbara. The underbust dart and separate wider band give more definition and support, and the front gives more coverage than the front of the Barbara. The only thing I would change for next time would be to make it a regular instead of racerback style. This is just personal preference as I find I don’t like the pressure they put on my trapezius muscles.
The panty is honestly the best fitting one I’ve ever sewn. It doesn’t move at all during wear! With the side seam shifted forward it also gives a smoother side seam appearance.
The Julia is overall a much better fit for those with a curvier shape. It isn’t going to give the shaping of a regular bra, but on me it gives better definition and stays in place better than the Barbara and the panty gives full secure coverage without digging in or pinching.
First versionSecond version with wider band elastic View C
Pattern Background
The Jalie Barbara underwear set is drafted for knits with at least 50% stretch in both directions. The bralette is super basic, with the neck and upper edge finished with fold over elastic that also forms the straps. The panty has four different leg options as well as options for both high waist and lower rise.
Fabric and Notions
I used a cotton/lycra jersey from Fashion Fabrics Club for both version, which were the scraps from some Jalie Tina t-shirts. I used solid cotton/lycra jersey fabrics I had in my stash for the crotch lining and bra lining.
The 3/4” fold over elastic is from Wawak. 3/4” is my favorite width for fold over elastic because it is still fairly narrow while being a bit easier to work with than the more common 5/8” width. I find the Wawak elastic has good recovery and stretch. If you don’t like the shiny side just flip it over and use the matte side like I did.
For stabilizing the straps I used 1/4” clear elastic from Mandala Crafts on Amazon. Be aware that this particular clear elastic is thicker, stronger, and less stretchy and other clear elastics I’ve purchased before.
Fit and Alterations
Bralette
I went with a size Y based on my bust measurement. I cut the elastic per the measurement of my underbust which is waist size W and then stretch it to fit when attaching it to the bra fabric. I suggest doing this if you don’t fall perfectly within the Jalie size chart.
The straps on my first version needed to be 1” longer. I think it is because my clear elastic is less stretchy.
For my second version I used 3/4” wide elastic and added 3/4” to the bottom of the band to account for the wider elastic.
Panty
I made the high waist with the View C leg cut. I started with a CC, which was based on my hip measurement. I initially added 1” to the upper edge of the back, tapering to nothing at the front. It really wasn’t enough. In an effort to balance it I ended up going back and trimmed the waistline down 1” at the center front and 1/2” at the side seam, tapering to nothing at the center back. I should have just added my normal 2.5” of height at the center back to start.
I didn’t realize when I bought this pattern that the legs aren’t finished with elastic. They’re just turned up and hemmed in place. I trimmed away 3/8” from the legs and applied fold over elastic that was cut about an inch shorter than the measured edge of the leg opening. I ended up unpicking it and removed another 3” from the leg elastic length because they kept riding up so badly.
Construction
This is one of the newer Jalie patterns so the instructions were clear with good illustrations. The straps have integrated clear elastic sew into the straps which helps give more support and stability. I do recommend making the elastic just a bit longer and extending it about an inch into the underarm section instead of ending it directly above the fabric, as this will give a little bit more strength to this area.
Conclusion
The Good
It is economical on fabric. I had 1/2 yard left over after making a Tina t-shirt with these fabrics and I was easily able to cut both the bra and panties from it.
I also like how they drafted the crotch lining to be smaller than the crotch piece, for reduced bulk when turning the hem. That’s something I don’t think I’ve seen another pattern designer do before, and I will definitely do this for my next Ottobre hipster panties, or any other panty pattern that has an enclosed elastic rather than fold over elastic finish as I’m not keen on how bulky a double layer makes the crotch once the elastic is turned under.
I think this is a great pattern for those new to sewing underwear and working with fold over elastic. The seaming is minimal and the instructions are clear and lay everything out. It goes together really, really quickly.
The Bad
My complaints are mostly about the fit. Despite the various size models shown wearing it, the bralette is really not the best if you’re above a B cup. The 3/8” bottom band elastic just feels too narrow and I found it odd they didn’t make the bottom band elastic wider for the larger sizes. It ends up riding up during wear. That being said, while the 3/4” wide elastic on my second version helped it still creeps up in the front during the day and almost feels like I’d need to do a 1/4” to 3/8” full bust adjustment to get a better fit.
A lot of the shelf bras out there have some sort of gathering or dart under the bust to help give more definition and this has absolutely nothing. The result is comfortable to wear but gives a more compressed look and tends to creep up a little during wear. I assumed that Jalie did some sort of extra drafting for the larger sizes (even if it is just something like allowing for a wider elastic) and I’m surprised they didn’t for this pattern. But at the same time if they had some sort of underbust shaping it would require adding a separate band of some sort to sew the shaping unit instead of being able to just turn under with elastic. I’m thinking of experimenting with adding some gathering at the side seam with clear elastic. I’ve seen pattern designers do this for t-shirts for fuller busts.
The panty leg cut just doesn’t work well on me. I chose View C which appeared to be the more brief-like cut and it still felt too cheeky. Snugging up the elastic helped but they still ride up unless I’m wearing them under yoga pants. Overall I feel like this drafting is better for someone with a flatter butt. Not even smaller, but just flatter in shape.
Overall I think this pattern is best for rectangular shapes that aren’t very curvy. I don’t necessarily mean slimmer, I mean proportionally a B cup or smaller with a flatter butt and a more rectangular body shape. I also think the fully lined bralette would also make a nice no-fuss swimwear top for girls and preteens as well as smaller busted adult women that don’t like thicker straps.
French seam inside the hood. Hood edge is a double folded hem (my choice)Bundled away Inside of front pocketFront pocket
Pattern Background
The Ash anorak, available in kids sizes 2-8, is an unlined anorak with a snap front placket and zippered self storage pocket.
Size and Fit
My son is closer to a 2 in width (if not a bit smaller) but 3 in height. I made a 3. I feel like it’s a good fit, especially once I add layers when the weather starts to cool next month.
I made no alterations. Now that he’s out of diapers he doesn’t need the extra hip room.
Fabric and Notions
I used a 100% nylon gingham print raincoating from the outlet section of Gorgeous Fabrics. It was only $9.60 for a two yard piece. You need something lightweight and thin or else the self storage pocket won’t work.
I interfaced the welts for the front placket and front pocket using Heat N Bond fusible tricot interfacing from Wawak. I don’t particularly love this interfacing (the non-fusible side feels so plasticky to me) but it is good for lightweight, stable fabrics that just need a bit of reinforcement.
Snaps are from KAM.
The zipper is a #4.5 handbag zipper from Amazon. It is one of those that come on a roll that you cut to length and then add the zipper pull to.
Construction
Ever work on a project that just seemed to fight you every inch of the way? That was this project for me. I stayed up way too late both nights I worked on it because I refused to be defeated. Ironic, because I specifically chose this pattern over the Jalie Maxime jacket thinking the Style Arc Ash would be a quicker, easier sew. I had spent several hours last weekend fixing my 10 year old Rowena steam generator iron so my available sewing time was less than I had initially planned.
This fabric was awful to work with. Very difficult to mark (and finally the chalk I used ended up being hard to remove), very difficult to fuse anything to, horrible to press, and completely unforgiving when sewing. It reminded me of how I hate working with waterproof/water resistant fabrics. There’s some puckering around where the hood attaches to the body and after carefully unpicking and re-sewing some sections I decided to just let other imperfect sections go. After all, it is an anorak for a three year old, not a wedding dress.
As noted on the Style Arc website, this is an archive pattern so instructions are minimal. This wasn’t a huge issue for me, but I do recommend either printing out the instructions on a color printer or viewing the instructions directly on an electronic device. I printed this out on a black and white laser printer. Which is normally fine, except the illustrations for the zippered pocket in the front were nearly impossible to decipher correctly because the colors in the diagram for the zipper and the welt were so similar when printed out in grayscale.
After too much time spent both trying to transfer the markings, fuse the pocket welt, and get the zipper pull onto the zipper, I realized that I had messed up along the way. When faced with the prospect of unpicking and trying to redo this work I decided it was better to just chuck the front piece and recut the front and pocket welt and try again. (I had plenty of fabric to left over to recut.) Even so, the fabric was just irritating to work with and my welt is still far from perfect because I couldn’t get the nice fine marking lines I needed. (The key to good welt pockets is precision in both marking and sewing.) I spent an embarrassing amount of time trying to get it right and in the end it still isn’t great.
I messed up again when doing the front neck placket. I didn’t sew the hood to the rest of the jacket when I was supposed to, instead realizing my mistake only after I had the front placket done and edges finished with serging and topstitched in place. I realized that the hood would look sloppy when attached to the body if I serged the seam like I did for the inner seams, so I made a self fabric binding, sewed it to the seam, and then topstitched it down. Similar to how you would do the neck binding of a hoodie. Even though it technically isn’t correct and adds some stiffness, I think it looks good and functions well enough.
Of course right after I added the last snap at the top I noticed I had not lined it up correctly when marking, so it’s a bit uneven when snapped. I was so over this project by the time I finished I just sighed and shrugged it off because it’s just a play jacket for a three year old.
I still have some confusion about the cuffs. Even if you turn back a double hem to make a casing for the cuff elastic, it is still far too wide for the 1/4” elastic noted in the supply list. It seems like it should be for 3/8” or even 1/2” elastic, depending on how you chose to sew the casing. (I would probably try 3/8” first because I edgestitched the upper edge of the casing to make things stay in place better when sewing the bottom of the casing.) Not sure if this is a mistake or if this is some sort of design choice but I’m thinking of redoing just this tiny section with wider elastic because I just know that elastic is going to roll and twist, plus the gathering doesn’t sit quite right.
I didn’t have a reversible zipper pull on hand, let alone one that would match my green zipper. So I used one of the normal handbag ones that came with the zipper coil. It makes zipping and unzipping the anorak into its pouch slower and more difficult, but not impossible. I added a self fabric zipper pull to help make it a bit easier. Instead of sewing right sides together then turning it out I folded it like binding and then edgestitched where the folded over edges meet. I should have done this for the pouch loop too, it’s much faster than turning that tiny piece out.
Conclusion
Even though my workmanship on this particular garment isn’t the best and I struggled more than I should have, I do think this is a valuable piece to have in my son’s wardrobe. It is loose fitting enough to wear over a sweatshirt in the fall and the fact that it folds into its own little pouch makes it easy to have on hand in my giant bag for sudden rainstorms. I really how the front pocket is fully functional for storage (he likes to pick up rocks and store them in his pockets when he plays outside) as well as for storing the actual anorak itself. Plus I think he’s really cute in it!
While I struggled more than I should have, I don’t feel there is something innately wrong with this pattern. It was more my inability to mark this fabric with the precision I needed, and the fabric just being rather inflexible and unforgiving.
Below are some tools and techniques I’ve used over the years for getting more professional results or just making things easier on myself when sewing with knits.
I hate using clear elastic. I am not sure if it is my machine or just me, but seems like it always wants to wander off in one direction, with the fabric wanting to go in the other. There’s also the fact that I’ve had issues with the longevity (I have had it fall apart when stretched after a few years in my stash.) The superfine straight tape is 3/8” wide and great for stabilizing shoulder seams. It is very very lightweight and thin, with a bit of give to it. Since it is fused to the fabric before sewing it gives you so much more control. There’s also a superfine bias version, but I find the straight is just more useful.
The Ultra Soft double sided tape is also 3/8” wide and awesome for holding seam allowances in place. You first fuse it with the paper against the iron and fusible against the fabric, then carefully peel off the paper, stick the fabric to it with your fingers, and then fuse it again with your iron. The paper makes a great guide when folding over 3/8” hems, like for the Jalie swim shorts. I’ve also used it for folding over and holding the edges of wrap dress skirts in place before stitching. It works well on both natural and synthetic fabrics and is so lightweight won’t affect the stretch much.
Elmer’s Washable School Glue
When I need to hold something in place without using pins, like a pocket flap or patch pocket, I sometimes use tiny bit of Elmer’s Washable School Glue on the seam allowance. It is cheap, easy to find, and will wash out when you launder your garment. Just make sure to be careful to use a tiny amount because otherwise it will soak through the fabric and make a mess. Sometimes using a paint brush can help control the application.
I’ve also used glue sticks. I find they don’t give quite the precision of the tip of a bottle of glue, but they dry a lot faster.
Press Hem Allowances Before Sewing Seams
Pattern instructions will tell you to press hem allowances in place after sewing the seam. I often press them in place before. I don’t actually stitch the hem yet, I just press up the hem allowance and then proceed with sewing the seam. After sew the seam I will sometimes give a little touch up again to the folded edge with the iron before hemming. I like doing this because it’s often easier and faster to work with a flat piece of fabric instead of turning up, measuring, and pressing it in the round after it’s sewn. Spraying Best Press while turning up and pressing the hem often helps the fold stay crisp.
Hem From the Inside
You do not need a machine with a free arm if you’re hemming small openings, like those on leggings and children’s shirts. I just turn the garment inside out and then work from the inside.
For very tiny openings like the sleeves on baby clothes, turn up the allowance and hem it before stitching the seam. Then take it to your regular sewing machine and tack the seam allowance in place with a straight stitch for about half an inch. They do this all the time with RTW – just check out a bound neckline edge around the shoulder seam sometime.
Taming Knit Edges that Like to Roll
When working with cotton/lycra jerseys and other knits that like to roll, I often use Best Press. Just lightly mist and then apply dry heat with your iron. In addition to helping the edges stay flat it also has the advantage of making sure any pressed edges stay crisp, and also gives a little body for extra stability during cover stitching.
Use a Regular Sewing Machine for Tricky Parts Before Serging
I do this a lot for things that require a lot of precision, like attaching the band to a V neckline at the center front, or making sure the edges stay lined up when sewing a seam that has been hemmed first. I don’t do the entire seam, just the first inch or so of those very specific sections. You can see below how I stitched an inch or so with darker thread outside of the V on my latest Jalie Tina before using the serger. If I had just done it with the serger it would have almost certainly shifted and I wouldn’t have gotten a nicely centered and crisp V shape. I just use a regular length stitch and not a long basting stitch because sometimes (like below) I don’t quite hit the seam allowance accurately during serging.
Awls
Awls are great to have in the sewing room. I use mine all the time for feeding a strip of binding into a binding attachment, pulling the threads to the front before cutting when ending a coverstitch in the round, or manipulating fabric under a serger presser foot. I also find them useful for things like lining up the center front seam of a V neckline band with the center front of the shirt because they’re sturdier and easier to hold than a pin, but will still poke through the fabric enough so you can see what you’re doing.
Compensating Feet
I find I get a much better finish when I sew down neckline bands with a 1/8” compensating foot on my Juki than I do with a guide foot on my regular machine. Compensating feet have a spring and one section of the foot higher than the other, so I find it stays in place better than a guide foot.
The only downside is that I’m not sure compensating feet are available for domestic machines.
Clear Feet and the Adjustable Seam Guide
I’ve been significantly happier with the results from my Janome Coverpro 2000CPX since switching from the standard metal to clear foot with guide and using the adjustable seam guide. If I remember correctly the clear foot with the guide was about the same price as the regular clear foot without the guide. The guide is removable so there’s really no advantage to the regular clear foot. Just leave off the guide during ordinary hemming and put it back on when you want the guide for something like topstitching a sweatshirt neck band in place.
I made these pants with the intention of them being lightweight outdoor work pants. I help out a lot with yard work at my parents’ house now and weed whacking is a perilous task with shorts. So I wanted something full length that would be lightweight, breathable, and comfortable to wear in the heat. The Delta provide plenty of range of motion despite the non stretch fabric so I’m pretty happy with them.
Shown with one of the several Jalie Tina t-shirts I’ve made recently. Faux front fly with elasticized waistSide cargo pocket with flapMy knee patchBack patch pocketPants hem. Lots of double row topstitching throughout these pants.
Pattern Background
The Style Arc Delta is a relaxed fit cargo pants pattern. There’s back patch pockets, faux front fly, and slash side pockets along with side cargo pockets with flaps. The elasticized waist is cut to be just slightly larger than the body hip measurement, which allows you to get them on while eliminating bulk at the waist as much as possible.
As you can see from the back leg piece, the leg is slightly tapered at the hem rather than being a true wide leg from knee to hem. I actually prefer this as it makes for a more controlled silhouette, and you don’t have to worry about your hem dragging the ground or getting soaked when it rains.
Size and Alterations
I made a size 20, with the following alterations:
Lengthened the legs 1”
Added 2.5” height to the back crotch curve, tapering to 1” at the side seam and then to nothing at the center front
My finished measurement for the waist elastic ended up being 34.25”, which is between size 16 and 18.
Since I made these to be summer outdoor work pants and the fabric is fairly thing for pants fabric, I added another layer of fabric to the knee area for more durability.
Fabric and Materials
I used the same 100% cotton Robert Kaufman fineline twill fabric from Fabric Mart that I used for my Jalie Denyse shorts.
Note: even though Style Arc only gives the yardage estimate for 58” fabric, I was able to use 44” wide fabric. My size 20 with a few length alterations and doubled up knee fabric took 3.25 yards.
For the waistband elastic I used some 1.5” non-roll Stretch-Rite elastic I had in my stash. It comes in a small retail package so I must have gotten it from Joann’s at some point.
The thread is Gutermann Mara 100 from Wawak.
The interfacing for the pocket flaps is Pellon Shape-Flex from Wawak.
Construction
I constructed these entirely on my Jukie TL-2010Q. The standard foot on it is fantastic for a project like this with the double row of topstitching because you can use the very inner edge of the foot as a guide for the first row of stitching so it is 1/16” away from the edge, and then switch to using the scant 1/4” outside as a guide against the first row of stitching. Eyeballing it works great, no need to switch out for guide feet.
When I did the waistband I wasn’t sure what my finished elastic measurement would need to be since this non-roll elastic is stiffer than my usual knit elastic. To better manage this I used the same method as my Jalie shorts where you sew the center back seam for the waistband but leave a 1” opening inside, then use that to thread the elastic through and trial it before trimming and sewing it. Then I hand stitched the opening closed.
Comparison to the Jalie Denyse
These two patterns seem similar, with similar finished measurements, but the drafting is actually quite different. I would say that in general the Delta is a trouser style draft and the Denyse is more of a slacks style draft. An explanation of trouser vs slack vs jeans crotch curves can be found in this old Pattern Review post. Just for reference, the Jalie Denyse is size CC and the Style Arc Delta is a size 20. These are the corresponding sizes for a 48.5” hip.
Overall the Style Arc Delta has a much higher rise than the Denyse: about 1.5” in the back and 2.5” in the front. The back crotch curve of the Delta is also straighter, with a more scooped out back crotch curve. The Denyse is definitely more angled, with a shallower crotch curve. In the photo below I’ve overlaid the Denyse on top of the Delta. They are actually really similar measurements from hip to center back seam, but the Denyse has it shifted more towards the side so the back crotch curve ends more angled.
Here’s a comparison with the Delta on the left and the Denyse on the right.
Now for the front crotch curve comparison.
The Denyse rise is 2.5” lower in the front than the Delta.
Unfortunately the Delta crotch curve paper got a little crumpled but you can see how the Delta is much shallower and taller compared to the shorter, more scooped out curve of the Demyse.
Here they are overlaid, with the Denyse on top of the Delta. (Note that the Jalie Denyse has inseam pockets and the Delta has front slash pockets, so that’s why the top of the Delta is a lot smaller than the Denyse.) As with the back piece the distribution of the pants is so the fabric is shifted to the side seam, so you get the same amount of width across the hip despite it appearing smaller in the photo below.
Now heres the front view of the Denyse and Delta respectively. Keep in mind they’re the exact same fabric.
Jalie DenyseStyle Arc Delta
So despite appearing to have similar style and ease, the drafts for these patterns are actually quite different. The Jalie Denyse feels and looks a bit slimmer than the Delta. To me neither one is better or worse. It depends on your body type and what look you are going for. For me, the Delta flows over my hips better. You can see how there’s no diagonal lines from the elastic to the my hips. But it also has a bit more excess fabric around the center front, which does correspond more to a trouser style crotch curve/fit. With the Denyse I definitely have more under butt wrinkles than the Delta, but again this corresponds to the Denyse having more of a slacks draft. (This is why you need to think carefully about the intended draft of a pants pattern before trying to remove every single wrinkle under your butt.)
In general I would say that Jalie is drafted more for straight hips and Style Arc is more for curvier hips. You can even see this in their size chart where the Jalie waist measurement is two centimeters (about 3/4”) larger and the hip one centimeter (3/8”) smaller than the same size would be for Style Arc. That doesn’t necessarily mean you should avoid one or the other, just be aware of it and alter accordingly.
