Summer Clothing for Casual Fridays

Style is the Key when Sewing casual-looking office Attire

Jun 11, 2007 Connie Krochmal

For Casual Fridays, you can easily sew casual-fitting clothing.

Style is the key to selecting seasonal attire. For casual Fridays, you can easily sew casual-fitting clothing in lieu of the usual suit. With ready made clothing being so expensive, this gives women one more reason to make their own.

For women, the goal is to look nice without wearing a suit. Typically, this means casual slacks with a blouse or an unlined cotton jacket for spring and summer. Both short sleeve and half length sleeves on jackets are just perfect for this occasion. All of these are items you can easily make using patterns. What is called business casual would also be suitable for many social settings where the usual jeans and top aren’t dressy enough.

For spring and summer, choose lightweight fabrics, such as cotton. Though all sorts of color—especially seasonal ones—would be suitable, the same isn’t true for every type of print. For casual Fridays, stick with tried-and-true fabrics, such as plaids, checks, and small scale prints. Flamboyant prints, such as Hawaiian, and tropical-looking ones, are unsuitable in a work setting even on casual Fridays.

When selecting patterns for casual Friday, choose classic ones that can be used over and over, or versatile styles that offer several different versions of the same garment. The Easy Stitch’ n Save pattern brand has several jacket patterns that are ideal. One of these comes in two sleeve lengths, and even includes a pattern for a shell top.

Regarding blouse styles, there will be a wide number of sewing patterns available. Quite a few work perfectly for this occasion. For a classic blouse pattern, a basic shell is just perfect. Tops with curved and round necklines are definitely casual, while square and pointed ones give a sense of formality. A basic, no-frills, short sleeve pullover blouse is ideal for casual wear.

For timesaving sewing, use cut-on cap sleeves for blouses since these don’t have to be set in. A simple blouse pattern with a collar and cap sleeve is easy to make and very versatile. Raglan sleeves are a great choice for the same reason.

Choose blouse patterns with hemmed sleeves over banded cuffs for the same reason. Start with a classic, long sleeved blouse pattern, and shorten the sleeves to the length you want. A simple, short-sleeved, v-neck with no collar is casual and easy to make.

So far as patterns for slacks are concerned, loose, casual fitting styles work fine for casual Fridays so long as they aren’t harem pants. Pull on slacks are easy to make. You can also start with a pattern for standard slacks and modify them for a comfortable fit, such as adding an elastic waistband to the back.

The copyright of the article Summer Clothing for Casual Fridays in Sewing/Needlework is owned by Connie Krochmal. Permission to republish Summer Clothing for Casual Fridays in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.