My kids love to help me design their clothes. Whenever it's time for me to sew for them I send them to my fabric area to "shop", then we look at patterns. It was no surprise that my kindergartner picked the Little Dreamer: he loved the scaled down Dream Tees I made in the past. For fabric he picked Naomi and Pink Honeycomb, but I did not have enough of either to do a full top so I got to thinking about what to do next when I remembered my color blocked back Dream Tee from last year (which I still wear all the time)!
I laid out my fabric pieces to see the best option the color blocking and got to work: the piece of Naomi I had wasn't wide enough for sleeves so it needed to be the bottom section. I use a projector to cut my patterns, but this is a very easy modification that can be done with paper patterns too! I used the lengthen/shorten line as my guide for color blocking. I cut the top section out first: I laid out my fabric and cut around the top, ending just below the lengthen/shorten line. Using a quilting ruler I measured 1/4" below the line and cut across.
Next I did the same thing with the bottom section, cutting 1/4" above the lengthen/shorten line. The extra length is my seam allowance so when I sew the pieces together they will be the same size and shape as if I'd cut a single piece. If you're using a paper patter you would simply fold your pattern where you want the color blocking to be. When cutting out your pieces, fold the pattern up or down out of the way and cut across, remember to add your seam allowance in. Cut out the rest of your pattern pieces and you're ready to sew!
With right sides together, sew or serge the color block pieces together, press the seam towards the hem and topstitch if desired ( I highly recommend at least pressing so it lays nicely). I chose to topstitch because I didn't know how the seam would lay once the top was worn a few times. I didn't want it to be uncomfortable. Finish sewing your Little Dreamer as instructed in the tutorial. Have fun mixing and matching all the fun pieces of fabric in your stash!
*I also banded the sleeves on this top instead of hemming to have an extra little pop of color from the front. I measured the sleeve opening and subtracted about 10%. I didn't worry about adding seam allowances back in because I subtracted a smaller percentage than I normally would and DBP is super stretchy.
