Black History Month Pattern Designers

This year for the #bhmpattendesigners challenge, I used Simplicity 1945. It is a Khaliah Ali pattern. If you are not familiar, the Black History Month Pattern Designers challenge was started by Nateida (of SewNaturalDane on Instagram). The purpose is to showcase Black pattern designers, both past and present. And, the challenge is open to all! This year, Keira (of IslandSewcialist) is cohosting the challenge. All that is necessary is to sew up a pattern from a Black designer. You can read about it here.

Here is the pattern I used for this year’s challenge.

I was able to make three pieces from this pattern (this pattern is designed for knits only). The fabric used is from my stash (I’m really trying to stick to my goal of buying as few pieces of fabric as possible). So, I consider this an outfit of coordinating pieces.

The top is a tie-dye print knit that I fell in love with when I saw it. This was purchased locally last year. The wine colored pants are a ponte knit and the black cardigan is jersey knit.

If I were to make this again, I would have like to have matching fabric for two pieces. The pants fabric is so nice and I think that it would be an awesome cardigan.

I raised the neck on the top about 2″. I made my usual pants adjustment (wedge to lengthen the center back seam). The pants fit great, but I think the material may have been a bit off grain when I cut them out.

Do you have plans to join any challenges or competitions this year?

I generally don’t do challenges or competitions myself mostly because I tend to change my mind about what I feel like making. This challenge is a bit different in that I could choose a pattern and whatever material I wanted. So, I was glad to be able to get my pieces done before the last minute.

Let me know in the comments what you’re working on and if you’ve ever sewn an outfit (more than one or two garments) from one pattern. That is actually something I want to work on this year.