Julian scrapbusting

I’m kinda a fangirl for Jalie Patterns (if you hadn’t noticed, go read every post I’ve ever written about their jeans, or their maxi-dress pattern, or that one with the shorts and crop-top/sports bra.) But given the size of my pattern stash, I REALLY shouldn’t be buying every cute little pattern that wafts itself past my face. So I was trying REALLY hard not to bite when their new batch of patterns came out this spring.

And then there was Julia. Cute bralet, neat underwear, and that breezy swingy tank just pushed me over the edge. Plus, the pieces were all small enough that I was happy to buy the pdf and save myself time and expensive Canadian shipping. I do like being able to pick my sizes and print only a couple, although the big empty spaces left by the disappearance of the larger sizes make me want to fire up my computer and see if I can rearrange the pieces in Illustrator (I’m guessing the file’s protected but you never know) so the printout is more efficient, but anyway. Over the last few weeks I’ve tested out the bralet a couple of times, and i finally made a matching set with the camisole and underwear

I love the forward-thrown side seam on the underwear, too. I’m sure no one remembers this post about a vintage indie pattern that seemed to promise this feature, but did not deliver. (Obviously I could hack this myself into some other pattern. Obviously I am lazy.)

The only problem with a pattern like this is often my versions don’t come back to me after the kids do the wash. I guess it’s a compliment when your teenagers steal your clothes? Well, bralets, anyway. As long as they don’t steal the underwear.

I’ve been slow to warm up to bralets. I remember a sporty little CK one I got at my husband’s behest in my early twenties—the elastic tended to cut into the underside of my boobs and create, in my head at least, the illusion of sagginess that wasn’t actually there. I made a couple of Watson bralets when the pattern first came out, but the long-line version doesn’t work with my ribcage and the band felt too structured for something that didn’t really do much. But lately I’ve been wanting something a teeny bit more supportive than a snug camisole but without any hard parts, for wearing around the house on days off when I don’t even want to look at an underwire. Julia seemed like it might fit the bill.

I’m a bit ambivalent about the darts (I keep having to lengthen them, but in one version I just skipped them and eased the extra in and that seemed to work well), and I need to break down and order some metal hardware for the straps (or buy locally but Fabricland doesn’t carry metal rings and sliders), but I think on the whole it’s pretty much what I was looking for.

I replaced the band pieces with a wide, soft waistband elastic for this version. It’s probably a bit overkill but I like it.

And I really enjoyed making this version with the built in bralet inside the tank, though on closer inspection of the instructions I guess that wasn’t the idea. It works well enough although the top has a bit more ease.

Julia (left) and Watson bikini (right)

Patterns like this are especially great for using up little scraps of knit that have been lurking in the bin for ages (I got this lovely heavy eggplant rayon knit from a Value Village back when we lived in Calgary. At some point I made a rather cute shirt with most of it but I can’t find any pictures. Anyway. )

I do love the fun racer back. The upper point of the tank is wider than that of the cami, which makes for an interesting bit of fullness when you overlay them. And very soon now I’ll have some days off where I can enjoy it! (Also the pants are Jalie 3022, which means this is a total #sewcanada outfit—Canadian purchased fabric and Canadian-made patterns all the way!)