For my 10th project “J”, I chose to sew a Jalie pattern. Jalie is a Mother-Daughter owned company based near Quebec City, Canada. Their patterns are very body conscious and true to size. Jalie patterns are fit on people instead of mannequins, and perhaps that’s why Jalie fits “real” people so well. (Or it could be because the company originally made swimwear patterns). Jalie designs their patterns to be sewn on home sewing rather than industrial machines, and refines their instructions to be as simple as possible.

I bought several Jalie Patterns quite a few years ago and I immediately made several Jalie tops. But back then I didn’t measure the stretch in my fabrics and the tops I made turned out too small. Being used to the “Big 4” where everything I made (based on my measurements) was way too large, I was completely confused by Jalie’s sizing. But that was due to ignorance on my part regarding fabric stretch and had nothing to do with Jalies pattern sizing. I’m so glad I tried my Jalie patterns again. Choosing fabric with the right amount of stretch made all the difference! I now realize that because Jalie patterns have negative ease built-in, the fabric used must have the required amount of stretch (noted on the pattern envelope) or the garment will never fit correctly. And Jalie fits wonderfully when the correct stretch fabric is used. It’s a treat to find a pattern line that fits straight out of the envelope without any adjustments!

The top above is Jalie 2682. I purchased the fabric from Colorado Fabrics in 2013 for $5.96. This stretch polyester fabric had a very bold and crazy pattern, which turned out to be a plus since I didn’t need to attempt to match the design. Jalie 2682 was voted “A Best Pattern of 2007” by patternreview.com members. Now I know why it garnered so many votes! It has a clever design with the zipper enclosed between the bodice and lining, plus it’s completely machine sewn. No hand stitching whatsoever – I love that!

The Jalie fit is terrific and I wish I had chosen the correct fabric type for my first attempts at sewing Jalie patterns years ago. It would have saved me lots of time and money buying and trying so many other top patterns over the years. Jalie has fulfilled all my needs as far as stretch knit top patterns go. I’ve already cut out several additional versions of this top.

Thank you to Jamie for taking the photos above and giving my husband a break from photography duty.  And thank you to Jill for acting as my personal stylist for the photo shoot. I love my sewing friends!