Though you haven’t seen it yet, I’ve just sewn three very complicated garments in a row for my Halloween costume this year which meant that I was absolutely gasping for a “quick knit top” palate cleanser by the time I’d finished! I cannot wait to show you the complicated historical Halloween garments – you’ve voted for me to share my “making of” posts ahead of the big photoshoot, so I’m prepping those now.
I’d bought 1m of navy blue organic cotton elastane jersey from Fabrics Galore in July for £15 for the purpose of making a teeshirt with the cherry glitter HTV I’d vectorised around the same time. It looks like they’ve sold out of the navy colourway, but some other colours are still in stock, including black. It’s a perfect teeshirt weight with great recovery, and I’d definitely buy more in future!
I think Fabrics Galore gave me a generous cut, because there was more leftover for the sleeve than I’d usually get in 1m from my size M “Sew Your Own Activewear” Loose Fitting Top Block, but not quite enough to squeeze a full length sleeve in. So I cut the sleeve as long as I could (it was about 6cm short) then pulled out the Thumb Cuffs pattern from the Winter Base Layer in the same book, adjusting the width to match the sleeve end.
After it was all sewn up, I ironed on the cherry glitter HTV I’d cut over the summer with my Silhouette machine – Bang Bang on the front, Lestat on the back, and the show logo and VL on the back neck and sleeves. If you still haven’t watch The Vampire Lestat tv show yet, “Bang Bang” is from the song “All Fall Down” in the opening credits, and this typography was used in an early official video for the show. I vectorised it almost immediately, and even have “Lestat” in this same lettering in prominent position on my bike.
The glitter HTV always weeds and irons on so reliably, and I’d also cut out a little VL symbol (which I put on the sleeve), and a show logo (which I put in place of a label on the inner back neck).
At this point it’d be reasonable for you to ask “Just how many vampire shirts does this woman need??” and in my defense, I haven’t actually got any long sleeve tees before this one! Just two sweatshirts and a ton of short sleeved tees and tanks. But I hate to tell you, if you’re sick of vampire content already, then you’re not going to enjoy my Fall/Winter 2026 sewing plans, which contain a few more looks based on the show, and jackets using the last few props auction fabrics – plus a few dresses that have nothing to do with vampires, just for some variety! 😂
But I’m curious – what’s your go-to palate cleansing garment/pattern to sew after you’ve sewn something complicated, or just need a mojo boost? What do you reach for?