The Rowan Tee pattern was released exactly two years ago now and it’s still one of my favourite things to make for my children. In fact, I have a series of fun tutorials (with free additional pattern pieces) planned to help you get even more out of the pattern (more details on this soon!). The Safari Raglan pattern followed last summer and includes T-shirt and A-line dress options. When I designed the Safari Raglan I made sure that the neckline sizes were exactly the same as for the Rowan Tee. This means that the hood from the Rowan Tee will also fit perfectly on the Safari Raglan. Recently I discovered in my Titchy Threads Facebook group that many people aren’t aware of this option so it gave me the push to finally make up this combination.
It didn’t hurt that I had this adorable custom print panel and complimentary print from Lisa of JK Jersey Fabrics. I showed the panel to Willow before I’d sewn anything and she got so excited, pointing at all the different animals. The size of the panel meant I could almost fit in the 6-12 month front dress piece of the Safari Raglan. I then planned to use the small scale animal print for the sleeve and the back of the dress. I prefer raglan sleeves when I want to use two contrasting fabrics. They are bigger than the sleeves on a regular tee, so have more of an impact.
I had to piece some extra fabric onto the sides but this subtle rainbow jersey (one of my absolute favourite fabrics) worked perfectly with the tones in the other two fabrics. I loved the effect of the stripes and decided to use the rainbow fabric as the outer for the hood to add more contrast. The lining was made using the panel’s complimentary print, so it has lots of adorable animals on it. Willow has reached the stage where she actually gets excited about clothes, and tries to dress herself. We recently started baby signing classes and she surprised me by signing duck and pig when I pointed them out on the panel.
When working with panels, it helps to know how to adapt a pattern for colour blocking. It is pretty straight forward – you just need to remember to add seam allowances to any extra seams you create. Alternatively, you can piece two or more fabrics together and then cut the complete pattern piece out of the joined fabrics. So how do you adjust the Safari Raglan to add a hood? Simply use the hood pattern pieces from the Rowan Tee and follow the instructions for the hood in the Rowan Tee pattern for sewing and attaching it.
I have another of these panels that I plan to use for my new nephew, along with the rainbow fabric. His mum is a huge fan of rainbow colours. If you have any good suggestions of things to make for babies that make the most of panels then I’d love to hear them in the comments below.
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