I’ve chosen 6 sewing patterns for early spring and summer for you to sew. This will take you through chilly April to beautiful June!
First up, the Know Me 2046 from Beau J’adore. I’ve said it before, the KnowMe line is indie fresh designs from a big pattern company and I’m here for it. This dress/tunic is paired with wide leg pants. The tunic version has a long zipper on one side that you can zip down to become a dress, or just make a longer mid-calf dress. The sleeves feature ruching at the wrists. I am making it in the bright blue cotton/lycra fabric I have. Dress-over-pants is super trendy this season.
I already have cream wide leg knit pants, so I’m going to sew a pair of Ann Normandy Designs wide leg pants in linen to go with this. I love the godets on the inner and outer legs on these Ann Normandy pants. I’ve made them before and I’ll be going a size up (but no worries, I sew for the size I am now!) I’ll be doing a sew along on these which will appear on the Ann Normandy website. They feature a side zip, flat fell construction and a lot of lovely details that intermediate sewists will love. If you’re a beginner, sew the ones that come with ME2046.
The third pattern I’m sewing for spring/summer is the Ruby top by Made By Rae in the “clouds and hills” print rayon shown in my video above. I am going to add in a bit of the linen fabrics from my other patterns in this for the top yoke, and the flowy rayon below that. I got this at my LFS last year and want to sew it up for this spring. For early spring, this will be great under a cozy sweater or oversized vest, but as the weather (or the day!) warms up, I can take that off and have on a great sleeveless top. You can make this the pattern hip length or shorten it for a cropped at the waist version.
I’ve added in a SUPER fun accessory pattern too. I bought these bike bags pattern this winter and can’t wait to make them. You can, of course, make them in cotton prints, but also consider a canvas, waxed canvas, or like me, a combo of home dec (outdoor) fabric and an upcycled vinyl banner so they are waterproof/water resistant. I am going to upcycle an old vinyl banner for the top flaps in white with my old company logo on it, and use outdoor home dec fabric for the sides.
The pannier bags will fit over my bicycle rack on my “city” bike (an old Trek mountain bike with slick tires and a back rack, with kickstand) and I love the flap bag for the handlebars for one of my other bicycles (without a rack). I managed to buy two of them somehow, so I’m giving another to a sewing friend who lives near me.
Another item is a remake of a current tunic/top /mini-dress that I bought about 20 years ago at a beach store in Delray Beach, FL. It has a shirred top at the bust, opening to a flowing slightly asymmetrical hem that can be worn as a dress, a swim coverup or a tunic top. I even wore this while pregnant over maternity pants and shorts! My youngest is 14 now. The top row of shirring has lost it’s stretch and my sewing machine hates elastic thread. BUT a friend of mine told me that if you zigzag OVER elastic thread using your cording foot, you can then tighten up the elastic thread and replace the shirring, that’s what I plan to do. BUT you can also buy preshirred fabric and make the same thing (including buying wide matching shirred straps too.) Threadymade has a ton of fun prints and patterns for summer. You might also consider making this using this sewing pattern: or even this free tutorial! So even if you don’t like a strapless version, wide 2″ straps look great with this top/tunic/dress. Position them so they cover your bra straps and stitch them on.
I have two vest patterns, a standard vest style with a myriad of pocket and design options from Daisy Chain patterns and an oversized vest with a cut on kimono cap sleeve, called the Ara with two huge pockets, two smaller nested ones and a whole lot of binding on the edge of the fleece vest. I really love vests for spring weather when it’s cold then warm during the day. Vests are an easy to sew and fit pattern that fits in nicely between other projects. They go over dresses or tops easily.
I tucked in a pattern that’s already cut out, the Hot Patterns Pretzel Sweatshirt (HP1182) as I’d already cut it out. You should do that too – count the things already in progress!
Imagine: bicycling down a sunny path in a shirred top and wide leg pants with your favorite sandals, your hair in the breeze, face in the sun, your sunglasses on. THAT is the essence of (late) spring/early summer and that’s the kind of sewing (and wearing) we’re all here for! But also, imagine you’re riding in a tunic/dress over pants with your favorite sneakers, a vest under a trench coat, a scarf wrapped cozily around your neck on a chilly day, the early spring sun on your face, warm and inviting.
How will I wear these four spring sewing patterns for 2024?
The Beau J’adore Know Me dress/tunic will be GREAT over the Ann-Normandy wide leg pants, the Ruby will look fabulous over the wide leg pants and under a cozy sweater or jacket. These outfits beg for you to wear your trench coat – and I will suggest if you do not have one, try thrift stores, or sew a Cambria Duster or Easy Coat in a tight weave twill or gabardine. The dress/tunic (dress over pants) look is super trendy right now, but the dress side zip can be zipped down to wear as a dress as well. This bright blue cotton lycra I selected will be perfect for this dress – a bright fun hue, for rainy spring days – and comfortable to wear.
I style the Made by Rae Ruby over wide leg pants or slim leg longer shorts (like the Bermuda short from Ann Normandy patterns.) I will also style the bandeau shirred tunic over pants or slim leg shorts. You can also wear a tunic over a slim column skirt like a denim skirt with front slit. Again, if you want straps, make them 2″ wide (or purchase them to match your pre-shirred fabric).
The Ruby top is perfect over the wide leg pants. If you prefer a printed pattern, my LFS ships. I also mentioned another pair of pants – slim leg Magda from Fabrics-store.com (sellers of very nice linen fabrics!) The pattern is free, the fabric they’ll hope you’ll buy (and you should, my clients who design for linen rave about this site.) You’ll need a sweater, so I recommend a cropped cozy one (the Marlo is popular, from True Bias) but you can also wear a knit moto jacket as a cardigan and it will feel cozy. The cropped Megan Nielsen Hovea jacket would also be perfect. I also recommend the Ara vest from Daisy Chain patterns – this oversized vest/jacket combo has extended front into a half sleeve, huge nested pockets and is cozy in fleece.
The bike accessories go with everything! Who doesn’t want to go for a lovely spring bike ride? I get out as much as I can and I don’t set myself any limits, this isn’t a spandex ride, it’s a lilac bush blooming ride, an early spring ride-through-the-crocus-gardens ride, a “let’s try the new pathway” ride, or a “let’s go to the UPS store” ride. If you’re riding a bike without a chain guard, make yourself a pair of bicycle ankle wrappers – NO sew option too! Take a strip of velcro 3/4 of your ankle circumference (plus 1″). Separate the two pieces, then turn one side over, attach the velcro as it usually is attached, overlapping one end by 1″ and stitch these together for a more permanent ankle wrap. If you are in a hurry, just overlap them and go. Then, wrap the other end around your ankle, over your pants and secure the velcro. Usually you have to wrap the wide leg pant fabric to the outer edge of your leg. That’s it! You could, if you wanted, make a rectangle of fabric and stitch the velcro to it for a fancier version (maybe even one to match your pants!) When I get to my destination, I push the ankle wraps down and leave them there usually (so a fabric one would be nicer here 😉 You can also take them off and wrap them around your handlebars.
I don’t make a big production about riding a bike and I do it as often as I can – if I have to drop library books off, or a package at the UPS store, or pick up a freecycling item from the next neighborhood over, or drop off a trumpet or lunch (yes!) to my kids at school, I can just slip the item in the pannier and go (yes, the trumpet sticks out the top.) Having a set of ankle straps wrapped around my handlebars makes every outfit I have on, ready to go.