Here's a look at how I sewed subtle rainbows into a ultra-cozy French terry sweatshirt tunic. The pattern is Simplicity 8738.

In my quest to fill my closet with leggings and tunics, I’m back with another iteration of Simplicity 8738 (aka the cheater sweater).

Simplicity 8738 is a speedy sew. It has few pattern pieces and no tricky curves to cut out. And, if it’s not obvious from the video, the relaxed fit means there’s basically no fitting to worry about.

The sweater is made of French terry that has a rainbow speckle, which inspired me to sew rainbows into its seams. Why choose one color of the rainbow when you can choose them all? In the case of this tunic, you can find rainbows in:

  • Variegated thread on the button holes and drawstring channel.
  • The drawstring, which is bias binding from this woven T-shirt made from Liberty of London cotton lawn.
  • The exposed four-thread overlock stitch in red, yellow, green, and blue.

Question for you: Should I shorten this tunic? I want to keep the edge raw, but because it’s so sack-like, I wonder if maybe it wouldn’t look better a bit shorter. The thing that’s holding me back from taking my rotary cutter to it is that it’s soooo cozy.

Links of Interest

Here’s a copy of Simplicity 8738.

Read my first post about this pattern:Β Simplicity 8738: A Sweater for Non-Knitters.

Here’s the rainbow-speckled Robert Kaufman French terry. (Kinda spendy but worth it, IMO.) P.S. In the video, I say it’s 100 percent cotton. It’s 98 percent cotton/2 poly. Def feels more cottony than poly-y.

This is the variegated rainbow thread. The colorway is “Jewel.”

Here’s my big Olfa cutting mat.

This is my Rowenta iron.

Check out the Melly Sews tutorial on how to add a cowl neck with a drawstring.

I used this (similar) Fiskars 45 millimeter rotary cutter to cut out my pattern pieces.

Just because it’s a dang-good meme: Kermit “But That’s None of My Business” socks.

I serge on a Babylock Imagine.

If you like this video, you’ll probably like these posts:

Rainbow Darling Ranges Dress: A Flannel Encore
DIY Sweatshirt Ideas: 33 Cozy and Cute Tutorials
12 Rainbow Clothes Ideas That Won’t Make You Look Like a Child

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Video music by Joakim Karud https://youtube.com/joakimkarud