I’m so excited to share the first Archer Button Up Shirt variation – sleeveless! I’ve been planning these variations for so long it feels great to get them done and wear them. We went over to the Beacon Hill Park in Victoria, BC to take some photos next to the giant rhododendron bushes growing there. This wasn’t even the largest one, it was crazy!

I love how this variation of the Archer shirt turned out. It’s going to look great with the denim Maritime shorts I have planned. The fabric is a dream, super soft cotton ikat from B&J Fabrics. I can tell already that I’m going to be wearing this shirt a ton this summer.

You might be thinking, “Jen, can’t you just leave off the sleeves?” You can but I have some slight pattern adjustments to share that will make your top fit better – since the pattern is drafted to include sleeves you may get some gaping at the armholes that we can avoid with minimal changes to the pattern.

▲ The alterations are pretty basic. First you’re going to want to shorten the shoulder seam so that the top doesn’t extend past your shoulder. I shortened mine by 3/4″ but a good way to decide is if you’ve made an Archer with sleeves already, put it on and place a pin where you’d like the shirt to end. Then remove that much from the pattern. Blend this line down to nothing at the underarm as shown above.

▲ One more adjustment you may want to consider is removing a small wedge from the center back along the yoke seam line. Since the pattern is originally drafted to include sleeves the armholes aren’t contoured – this adds a bit of shape to follow the natural curve of your upper back keeping any armhole gaping to a minimum. I removed about 3/8″ from mine but this is something you can adjust as you go along.

▲ After you have made these alterations, sew everything together according to the instructions in the Archer pattern. When you get to the sleeves you’re going to finish those with bias binding. This is the method I use, I know it says necklines but it’s the same for armholes. Promise promise.

If you have any questions just let me know in the comments below, as usual. Hope this inspires some sleeveless Archers…I know mine is already a favorite. If you make one, don’t forget to post it to the Flickr group so I can check it out, I’m nosy!

When I moved the only furniture I owned was two dressers, two small bookshelves, a desk and a kitchen table which left a lot of things to be purchased. Luckily through the kindness of friends I inherited a hand me down couch and chair that just needed a little bit of help. Lucky for me I had lots of fabric on hand with which to help them with.

This couch was left for my by my friends who lived here before me. The only place to put a couch in this apartment if you want to have any sort of work space, which I did, is between these two doors. The measurement of this space is less than most modern love seats and small couches but this odd little couch fits the bill. It unfolds into a rather uncomfortable (according to my brother-in-law) bed which is pretty handy as well.

I covered the couch with some Robert Kaufman denim which took about 4 hours. That includes measurements, cutting the fabric, sewing, seam ripping the part I sewed together backwards, eating lunch, and resewing it. A pretty quick project if you ask me! The pillows are from my old apartment, just pillow forms covered with zippered rectangles, nothing too fancy there. The coral pillows used to be covered in a navy, grey and yellow triangle pattern but it seemed too dark with the denim couch. My sister gave me the Banquet print for Christmas. I’d wanted it for a while but when your apartment doesn’t have finished drywall (my old apartment didn’t…ugh!) you don’t bother spending much on things to hang up.

I was gifted this old red IKEA chair by another friend who had it languishing away in his storage room. The original red fabric was pretty faded and sad but otherwise it was in good shape so over to my house it went. I took apart the cover for the seat cushion and used that as a pattern to create another cover. The chair looked like it was covered in red cotton but my iron discovered otherwise when the fabric started melting to it!

I covered the chair in some of the many yards of chambray I have laying around, and it may be my most egregious use of chambray to date. The left arm of the chair has gotten a bit loose since Roamy discovered she really likes the feel of her claws in chambray. That cat is pretty spoiled. I covered the little pillow that came with the chair in the same denim I used for the couch and then made another little pillow out of this awesome print fabric. I’m pretty happy with how the couch and chair turned out if I may say so myself and Roamy and I have been spending quite a bit of time in here doing crosswords in the evening.

You guys, I love my new bedroom so much! I painted the walls a light silvery grey that is so cozy and relaxing and it’s the perfect size for anything I would want in here. I haven’t made too many things for the bedroom yet, just this chevron pillow, but I’m making super slow progress on my Hills ‘n Hollers Lizzy House Constellations quilt. The goal is to finish it by fall which I think is doable. I also made the heating pad cover a few years ago when the first Denyse Schmidt book came out. Still love that thing!  Over the bed I put my print from my friends Julia and Brian, so cute and perfect for the room!

I have the funniest little night table I found at a Goodwill in college over 10 years ago. Someone just built it out of scrap wood and I have to re-hammer it together every time I move, but for some unexplainable reason it is exactly the perfect size turned one way or the other for every single bedroom I’ve had since I found it. We were meant to be! I’m currently plowing my way through Infinite Jest, pretty good so far, I just need to start going to bed earlier so I have more reading time.

Here’s my little row of dressers complete with photos of both sets of my grandparents, double narwhals, and an actual photograph of Abraham Lincoln. My uncle found this cracked glass negative somewhere in one of the buildings he’s restored in Springfield and had 3 prints made from it. Pretty cool if you ask me, though an interest in Lincoln does run in my family…

I found my dresser at the Sandwich Antique Market about 10 years ago, it’s solid metal and came from the old Geneva, IL hotel. It’s one of my favorite things I own, I couldn’t believe my luck when I stumbled upon it! It’s kind of a beast to move but that thing is as solid as they come.

This is the funniest part about my bedroom, I didn’t realize it when I was getting everything together but I went a little stripe crazy in here. Double striped Pendleton blankets, striped rug, and two sets of striped Unison sheets. Don’t forget about that chevron pillow either, sheesh Jen! Ha!

Welcome to my new kitchen! If you follow me on Instagram (@grainlinestudio) you already know that I’ve been doing a lot of home sewing since I’ve moved into my apartment and finally I’ve finished it all up and it’s time to share. One thing I owned prior to moving was this kitchen table, which you all know as my old studio table. It feels SO nice to have it back to serving the purpose for which I bought it. It’s not a huge table and I’m not really a placemat person but I wanted something to protect it from drinks and the occasional hot thing I may want to place on it so I made this little table mat.

It’s lined with insulated batting to protect from heat and has a nice denim backing as well as binding. You guys know how I love denim…well get ready because its running rampant in my place, ha! I got really into this Alexander Henry flower print at work and thought it would be perfect for kitchen things, and it was. You’ll see…

My apartment has a lot of what we’re going to call quirks, but which are actually oddities caused by people doing construction who probably had no business doing construction. One of these is this really odd non-functional slatted door placed on one wall to vent the heating closet to bring it up to code. Most people would just put a vent in the bottom of the door to the room but I guess this seemed easier, though we’re not sure how. It made for a huge amount of wasted space so my dad built these shelves for me. I think they turned out awesome and give me plenty of room for my tea, plants, and other things I’ve collected.

My dad also built these little shelves to go across the upper part of my window for more plants. You may recall that my last apartment had literally no direct sunlight and very little indirect sunlight either. I always tried to grow plants there but they’ve never been able to survive so when I got this super bright, sunny apartment I wanted to definitely have as many plants as I could! This is the perfect solution because not only do they get their sun, it looks cute and Roamy can’t get up there for a plant snack. That cat is almost always up to no good…unless she’s sleeping.

Again with that fabric I made a slew of coasters. While I may not be into placemats, I am really into coasters. I do not like water rings on my stuff! These were pretty basic – cut squares, sandwich with batting, sew together – but they do the trick and I think they look pretty cute.

Last but not least we have this oven mitt and potholders made from more of the same line of fabric. I have really small hands, like child size, so I like to make my own oven mitts. This one is one layer of quilt fabric with insulated batting and canvas on the inside. The potholders are basically the same as the coasters but giant and of course, they’re backed with denim! One trick pony here my friends. That’s it for the kitchen, plenty more home projects to come though…watch out, I’ve been busy!

Today I’ve got a little something different on the blog, a book review! A little while back I was sent the book Sew Red by Jimmy Bean’s Wool to take a look at. I’d never done a book review before but when I saw the list of contributors, I couldn’t say no, plus the book has a really great cause behind it, women’s heart health.

I really wanted to try out one of the projects to go with the review and while I really would have loved to make one of the many gorgeous quilt patterns in this book (seriously, there are AMAZING quilt patterns in here) I just couldn’t make that happen. Instead I chose this really clever Spiral Scarf by Nancy Zieman.

This project is a perfect trifecta for me. I’m a major sucker for anything Nancy (love that woman!), I’m a scarf addict, and I love a new and interesting technique – this scarf has all three. The way you sew the straight scarf to itself to create a bias scarf is true genius. Seriously.

In addition to crazy cute patterns for quilts, bags, home dec items and garments (yes garments!) this book is full of some really great information gems. Each project has really well written, detailed instructions and the Helpful Information section at the back of the book includes the best method for turning quilt corners.

Since it’s a book aimed at being heart healthy they also share some recipes at the back as well as resources, tips, and stories from each designer who contributed to the book about their relationship with heart health which is actually pretty interesting to read.

All in all, I think this is a great book and I’m so happy I got to thumb through it and make this awesome scarf. There are some really unique and interesting projects and the book is for a good cause as well, a portion of procedes are donated to the The Heart Truth. Pretty great. Also, unrelated to the content of this book, I’m pretty impressed with the spiral inside binding, why do more people not do that, it’s such a great idea!

I’m giving away a copy of the book, so if you’d like your own copy, leave me a comment below, let me know what your heart healthy tips are. Personally I’m a runner, I feel like there are a lot of us out there in the sewing blog world – go team! I probably need to cut back on my insane cheese intake though… I’ll announce the winner one week from now on Saturday May 18th, be sure to fill in your email in the appropriate field so I can reach you!

*The giveaway has ended and Debbie is the winner!

Do any of you guys listen to Planet Money? I’ve been a fan since they started covering the financial collapse here in the US a few years ago with their This American Life episode “The Giant Pool of Money.” So why am I blogging about Planet Money? They’ve been talking about making a t-shirt for quite a while and it’s now finally happening. This isn’t just a buy a t-shirt and screen print an NPR logo on it, they’re doing it Planet Money style, from cotton to final shirt. They’ll be following the shirt from start to finish, interviewing the people involved in each step and then reporting back to us exactly how and where it was made. This was really exciting to me and I thought perhaps some of you might enjoy this as well. The final shirt will have a QR code on the back that links to a page with every story, interview, detail, everything they uncover in the process of making this shirt which is pretty cool. They started a Kickstarter page to take pre-orders with any additional funding going to pay for their travel in following the t-shirt around the world.  I’m so pumped to follow this journey!

Well it took a little longer than expected, as usual, but I’m moved in, unpacked and almost done making things for the apartment. Best part about moving – you get to make so many new things, am I right? So far I’ve made a few kitchen related items, recovered an inherited Ikea chair and made some new pillow covers for the couch and chair. Still on the list is making a cover for the couch I inherited (hand me down furniture all the way people) and some coasters as well as getting plants for my back deck! I hope you guys don’t mind the onslaught of apartment related project posts that are sure to come. I’ve also got a book review for you Wednesday and I’m working on an Archer variation post that should be ready soon. I figured a little what’s up now post would be good to ease back into things, I’m always surprised how hard the first post back after a break is. Glad that’s out of the way! Apologies for the Instagram photos again (@grainlinestudio), I’ll break the habit for the next post.

Well we’re here and living in a sea of boxes. I hope to be unpacked and back to posting by Friday, but don’t hold me to it. If you like you can find me tearing up Instagram here with photos of my new hood and Roamy in boxes. Riveting I know! See you soon boos!

This little grey cat and I are currently in the middle of painting our new apartment, packing up our stuff and moving. It’s been a pretty crazy past week and a half working on the new place while trying to keep the sew along moving and I’m pretty beat. I’m going to be taking a few days off while I set up shop and get my new place ready for some live/work fun. I’ve got some Archer variations planned but unfortunately my sewing stuff is half packed and I’m living in two places. I’ll be back as soon as possible with tons new stuff and I’ll be working from a brand new actual pattern table, not just a too small kitchen table. Ahhh, so excited! I’m pretty sure this will make me so much more productive! Can’t wait!

Alright, final day here guys, WHOO HOO!!! Lets put some buttons in! Buttons get a bad wrap in the sewing world a lot of the time, maybe it’s the two step button & buttonhole process, but it’s really easy. Start by marking the position of the buttonholes on the right button band of the shirt. The pattern includes a guide for the buttonholes but you can generally follow this rule for the measurements. The first buttonhole is 2.5″ down from the collar stand and each additional button band is 3.5″ down from the buttonhole mark above it.

The collarstand buttonhole falls in line with the center of the front buttonband and also halfway between the top and bottom of the collarstand.

After you’ve marked all your buttonholes, align your buttonhole foot with your mark and stitch them up. The size of your buttonhole will depend on the size of the buttons you are using so you may want to test on a scrap of fabric first.

For the cuff the buttonholes are inserted horizontal to the cuff.

Next cut your buttonholes out. I use this little tool who’s name I can’t seem to come up with at the moment (or in the moments since I first typed this). I purchased it at my local small sewing store in an unmarked plastic bag. I prefer this to a seam ripper because it’s harder to slice through the threads.

Once you’ve opened your buttonholes the next step is to mark the button placement. I do this based on the buttonholes because this ensures that they line up properly. I like to pin the two button bands together and stick a pin through the buttonhole where I would like the button to go.

Sew your buttonholes on either by hand or machine. I love LOVE this buttonhole foot for my Bernina. It’s literally my favorite foot. I’m not really a user of fancy feet, I use the quarter inch foot for everything but buttonholes but this foot I could not live without.

Anyway, that’s it! You are now done with your Archer Button Up! Congrats!