Aeolian Tee
Firstly, thanks so much to all those who left such lovely messages about Clare’s graduation. School is now finished for the year, and for Clare primary school is finished forever! Of course we still have many years of connection to the school ahead of us – Stella is going into Grade 2 next year, and I am still school council president! Primary school is far from finished for us as a family. There were many tears at assembly this afternoon (a bit of group hysteria from many of them – and I am not very sympathetic to that sort of reaction) but most are looking forward to what is coming next. Everyone is well and truly in need of a rest!
The first thing I made at Sewjourn last weekend was a Pattern Fantastique Aeolian Tee. I always like to start off my Sewjourn visits with a relatively easy sew – a bit of a palate cleanser, if you like, to really get me into the sewing groove!
I was so pleased with the drafting of the Celestial dress that I was very keen to give the Aeolian Tee a go. The pattern description from the website is as follows:
DESIGN
The Aeolian is the perfect boxy cotton tee, as tall as it is wide. It has a box-shaped sleeve, strategically inserted to the armhole for maximum 3D body.
Sized down, it makes a perfect sheath. Neat, but not tight. Excellent in a glamour knit for a super clean, mini, cocktail dress. Sized up it responds with mega drapes and kaftan-esque volume.
SKILL LEVEL
Easy to Intermediate. Comes with illustrated, step by step instructions.
SIZES
6-18 multi-sized pattern
View size charts
FABRIC
Knits
FORMAT
32 page pattern
11 page instruction booklet
All downloads are A4 PDF documents
The fabric I used was a remnant from Darn Cheap Fabrics. It is a coated knit, and I think that it is still available. I only had enough to make a tee. The pattern comes in a variety of lengths however, from tee to mini to dress and maxi. It was surprisingly easy to sew. I constructed the tee on the overlocker, and topstitched with a twin needle on the sewing machine. I think that my twin needle threads are slightly different colours – I just used what I had available. I particularly like the deep hems included in this pattern. They add nice weight to the edges and help to ensure that the fabric hangs nicely.
I made size Medium, for an easy fit. This pattern is simple in that there are only four pieces – front, back, sleeve and neckband – but because of this the drafting becomes super important. In my opinion the simplest patterns are the ones that actually require the best drafting; otherwise they are very ordinary. This tee is beautifully drafted. It popped up on Instagram recently made to the dress length in woven linen with a bias bound neckline. I am ABSOLUTELY going to make one!
I have styled this with my Style Arc Lola pants and a necklace and earring set bought at a local craft market. My sandals were purchased during our trip to Thailand. I’d really like a pair of these pants in linen or viscose or silk in the same shade as the yellow in the necklace. Something to keep in mind the next time I’m in a fabric shop! I highly recommend this pattern – simple styling, easy to sew, but beautifully drafted and a current shape.
Very nice tee! Lara do you mind if I use a pic of your celestial frock on my blog as one of my fave makes of the year from other bloggers? Of course I’ll link if to you! I thought it’d be nice to have a top 5 of makes from some of my fave bloggers. No issues if you don’t want me to though!
Of course you can Sarah! I would be honored.
Love that top, perfect with those pants. I am glad I am not the only one who who is less than sympathetic to hysteria!
Oh me too, wait ’til high school, that is when the mass hugs and hysteria really start. My 16 year old daughter is a bit like me, she stands back and looks on with puzzlement!
Very nice tee. Strange they call it boxy as it doesn’t look at all boxy on you. The fabric is lovely too.
Love the top & the styling. Awesome photos too!
Love the style of this pattern and fantastic it comes in both top and dress length. Perhaps we’ll find some yellow fabric at dcf!
This is a great style and fabric Lara.
Fabulous looks great on you Lara! Thanks for posting. We always love to see our babies out in the wild. The linen version, was a very pleasant suprise I didn’t expect it to be such a winner. Hopefully the instruction will be up in the next couple of weeks.
Lovely fabric and a great shape. It goes really nicely with the pants.