Here are knit jersey tees that Rae made for 3 generations from a colorful rayon/cotton jersey print found at a local fabric store near her daughter’s house in France. Each tee is different and has a few different details, but even on a trip to the mall, someone walking behind us noticed that it was a fun set of tops. Here is Rae to give you the rundown on all three and how fun it is to make coordinating tops for several generations.
My daughter Anna has encouraged me to embrace multi-generational coordinate sewing with an open mind. When she was little, she and her sister often had at least one set of coordinating dresses for both play and church. I loved making them each season, though often the fabric was a similar print in different colors, or the same print in different styles. My girls were so different and I designed them to suit their emerging personalities.
We bought plenty of fabric as I am still learning to estimate meters rather than yards, but that means when the little one grows out of this top, I can make her another one to keep the fashion lineage going. Because there were many fun colors in the fabric’s print, my stash yielded several coordinating solids to finish the designs. I consulted Anna and she liked all but the very dark purple.
My Daughter’s Tee
I made my daughter’s first because I had a pattern I wanted to try out. In May I took some of the free classes available through the Making Zen virtual event. If you completed the class, you could receive notes from the instructors in the form of a downloadable file. The Tessellating Tee class I took yielded a free digital pattern that offered a zero waste sewing experience. It looked like a design Anna would like and I knew the zero waste aspect would appeal to her.
I printed the digital pattern, chose a size for her and got to work. Never one to make something straight from the pattern, I decided to open up the neck ever so slightly to make it more summery. There is a seam down the back as the fabric was not wide enough to take advantage of the zero waste completely. The only contrast fabric incorporated was the pale peach light weight knit that I used to finish the neck edge. Because of the zero waste design, the back neck has a little facing which provided a nice finish. I had thought to put a band around the hem with the same pale peach knit, but Anna was not interested so it has a simple topstitched hem.
My Granddaughter’s Tee
Next I made the baby’s top. She is almost 2. I have had good luck with Peek-a-Boo patterns for her and so searched there for a top or dress with fluttery sleeves, similar to Anna’s zero waste top. The Raglan Sleeve dress with the flutter sleeves and gathered skirt was just the ticket and, paired with the bloomer pattern I had already used last summer, it was a winner. I must have been in a hurry because I did not take any photos of the process of making the baby ensemble.
Anna had requested a pretty collar so I drafted one to fit the size 2T pattern, adding a little flutter and scallops around the collar’s lower edge. There was a small amount of light purple knit available, enough to cut the collar and to make ruffles around the bloomer leg openings. The pale peach that trims Anna’s shirt became the lining of the collar as it was the lightest weight option. The sewing was pretty easy, with the collar being the most difficult part, but it is so cute on her.
Nana’s Tee
Finally I made a top for myself, using the Tabula Rasa Knit Tee & Tunic pattern with the crossover front from Clever Crossing Variations . This knit top pattern has excellent places to use contrasting fabric; there was a rather large scrap of a terracotta knit that I really liked and felt it would tame the print a bit. It also looked great with the light peach, so a true winner with 3 fabrics in a scrappy design.
After some Pinterest searching and thoughtful introspection, I decided on an asymmetrical hemline banded with the peach fabric. It reflects the angle of the crossover neckline and adds easy placement to drop in the terracotta as a front yoke and the two sides. The straight side was adjusted with a bit of a flare on the short side of the top and the swing side pattern was tamed a good bit to create a pointed long side with a slight swing. The resulting top is pretty fun; the trickiest part for me was getting the side and yoke pieces cut with the right side of the fabric going in the right direction.
This is a design I will repeat. The asymmetrical hemline is a nice style for me. I have another asymmetrical hem top made with SewBatik cotton jersey that this community helped design several years ago.
Together or Separately, Great Tees!
Each of us is comfortable wearing our separate designs and the shared fabric so sometimes we coordinate and other times, just enjoy our own outfit. Have you made intergenerational tops before? I made some last Christmas but did not have quite enough fabric, which you can read about here. Then follow your heart, or your children’s encouragement, and get started designing. I will hopefully be posting progress on another set of tops in a lovely autumnal orange knit, so stay tuned.
Happy Sewing, RAE
P.S. Interested in making your own zero waste top? I reached out to Liz Haywood, designer of the Tessellating Tee that I made for Anna. Here is what she wrote:
“The Making Zen top pattern is under embargo until November, as the Making Zen contract requires that six months pass before releasing workshop material through our own channels. When the pattern is available, it will be advertised in my monthly newsletter https://lizhaywood.substack.com/ and weekly blog https://lizhaywood.com.au/ By then I should have some variations to add to the basic pattern.
Meanwhile, this blog post https://lizhaywood.com.au/tutorial-tessellating-pattern-pieces/ might be useful to you. It shows how garment pieces can be tessellated, and the example in the post is the ancestor of the Making Zen top, a dress from the Zero Waste Sewing book. “
I will keep an eye on her newsletters and alert our readers when it becomes available.
