Are you getting some warm weather sewing done yet? Made By Jack’s Mum just released this beautiful, unisex, woven top named the Dreamer Shirt and I am in love with it!

I don’t often sew with woven fabrics because, as a perfectionist, I feel the need to iron EVERYTHING! So a woven project takes me at least twice the amount of time that a knit project does. However, with that said I do really adore how crisp and professional woven projects can look. The Dreamer Shirt is certainly one that I will make again and again.

Since I have no children in baby stages, when I received my acceptance email for testing this pattern I grabbed the gauze “muslin” blankets that were sitting unused and re-purposed them into 3 of these shirts. I am thrilled with how these turned out! They will be so cool and breezy for warm summer days. It just makes waiting for the snow to melt even more painful! I also used a quilters cotton, with a print for a show that my little girl is currently obsessed with and it was of course a huge hit with her. Especially with the “Pokeets!!!” 

There is no gathering or closures needed for this pattern which makes it a quicker sew. The top yoke overlaps and simply opens up, which allows the child’s head to easily fit through. There is a facing that helps the neck to lay nicely and also finishes the edges. The hemline is slightly curved, down in the back and up in the front. There are 3 sleeve lengths. I was assigned to test the cap sleeve, and because I liked that length so much I didn’t make any other one. I thought it was perfect. 

There are also two pocket options, a breast pocket and hip (or side) pockets. I made all 3 of the ones I sewed for my youngest with the hip pocket option. She loves pockets, as do most kids I think, so she was thrilled when I told her that her new shirts have pockets. Oh the treasures I will find 😉 You need to finish the edges of the pockets since you are sewing with a woven material, which will fray if left unfinished. This was the most tedious process for me. I used my overlocker and sewed around the curves of all 4 pocket pieces. Because I was sewing a smaller size (Age 1) the pockets were pretty tiny. While sewing the curves I found I had to keep pushing the edges back under the machine’s foot because an overlocker sews straight; no curves. You could make the pockets from knit, if you find your unable to sew the curves on the woven material, but keep in mind that they will be hidden on the inside so no one will see if they don’t look perfect. I also top stitched the pockets to the front of the shirt on all the ones I made, but you don’t have to do this step, leaving them makes them look “invisible”. 

My youngest falls into Age 1 for height but is in smaller sizes for her chest and waist for all Made By Jack’s Mum patterns. I sewed an Age 1, as printed, and it fits her very nicely. This top is made to be loose fitting, almost a flowy look, though it depends on the fabric types you use (nothing thicker than quilting cotton is recommended). I really like the fact that this could be sewn early and still fit through the summer months, which will be the case with the 3 I made for this testing, since there is still snow on the ground here. I am all about stretching the life of the clothing that I sew for my kids and this top is also great for that reason. The sizing goes from 0-3 months all the way up to Age 12.

I paired her new Dreamer Shirts with some Harem Pants which is also an excellent Made By Jack’s Mum pattern. It is very beginner friendly and requires no hemming! So while your looking at the Dreamer Shirt also check out the Harem Pants and all of the other MBJM patterns. You can also join the facebook group, you’ll likely recognise me posting in there fairly often 🙂