In years past we have often written about updating one’s wardrobe with Special Spring Sewing around Easter, Passover or whatever holiday or occasion you might celebrate in 2025.
It has been observed in this blog before that the world is getting more casual, and this year’s spring sewing for Rae included two words she never thought would be used together, Easter Sweatshirts! But as she will show you, they are pretty cute.
When I was in France with my daughter and baby granddaughter in February, we went shopping at her local fabric store for pillow forms for the river house. Anna spotted some cute fleecy knit. She loved one particular floral pattern and so it came home with us for mother/daughter sweatshirts.
As our busy visit was coming to a close, I decided to set aside my long list of things to do during our final weekend in France to stitch up the sweatshirts. I had Anna’s Carpe Diem pattern with me as I had been making samples for a Threads Article. It was easily shortened and cut from the not very stretchy knit. While babysitting the previous week, I had copied one of Lisa’s fleece tops onto pattern paper and was able to cut that out as well. Anna specifically wanted bands around the bottom of the sleeves and at the hemline, a classic sweatshirt styling.
The tops went together fabulously, partly because I had recently purchased a Bernina 850 serger, like the one I stitch on in the US, for my sewing studio in France. It is so fortunate that there is a friendly Bernina dealer not far away, in Toulouse. I particularly love the serger’s free arm when serging the seam finishes on sleeve cuffs. However, even that did not help on the baby’s tiny sleeve cuffs, so I simply attached thecuff to the sleeve before sewing the underarm seam. Not as lovely, but an efficient way to stitch them successfully.
Needless to say, the tops were a big hit and are being enjoyed by the grateful mom of a most adorable baby. (Sorry, no photos of the baby’s face online; you will just have to trust me.)
Do your spring holiday tastes lead you to more elegant wardrobe options? Take a look at our 2016 post Spring Celebration Jackets. Or check out our 2018 Welcome Spring post or the 2024 Spring Coats post. They are full of fun fashions for seasonal spring weather.
If your interests lean more to repurposing, revisit our 2024 Spring Wardrobe Refresh post or the February 2025 post on One Jean Jacket’s New Lives.
Our current spring banner has a fun array of transitional seasonal looks in this year’s color bright blue. We hope that our special spring sewing ideas inspire you to create something new to refresh your wardrobe, or the wardrobe of someone you love.
Happy Sewing, RAE
