HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!
Despite what some design companies might predict, I’m planning a year filled with color and patterns! Basic white is boring (and hard to keep clean), so it rarely has a place in my closet. Instead, my first make of 2026 is this rainbow Jenna shirt! Closet Core Jenna has been on my to-do list for a while, and I’ve had this Blackbird Fabrics shirting since July, but the slow pace of the holiday season finally allowed me time to make it. This lightweight cotton is perfect for wearing year-round as it can be layered as needed, and the primary colors literally go with anything.
The first time I saw this checked cotton shirting, my Spidey senses tingled! I love color and am constantly looking for ways to bring more color into my everyday wardrobe. What could be better than colorful, office-appropriate shirting?! One thing to note is that this fabric is a fairly short 44”, so be sure to take that into account if you order this with a specific sewing pattern in mind. This fabric laundered well and none of the colors bled, which can be a risk with fabrics like these. It was a dream to sew and I’m sure the 100% cotton base will continue to age beautifully.
So, I’ll be honest – when Jenna was first released in February 2024, it didn’t speak to me. It was yet another button-up shirt pattern with the addition of a shirtdress option. Fine, but nothing about it made me want to run out and get it. Then, as months passed, I kept thinking about Jenna. Sure, it was a loose fit, but I could always size up one of my other patterns. I would casually look through my pattern collection and find a bunch of “almost, but not quite” patterns and wondered if I dismissed the pattern too quickly. I could make tweaks here and there to existing patterns to try to make something similar to Jenna, but not really. That niggling li’l feeling kept growing and growing, until eventually, I bought Jenna (yay for pattern sales).
Sewing Jenna was pretty straightforward. Oftentimes, I buy patterns as soon as they are released or I serve as a pattern tester, so there are few, if any, resources if I get stuck. Since I waited over a year after release, when I finally had the pattern, there were tons of online resources for me to use. This proved to be so helpful! Even though the instructions were clear, it always helps to see other methods. For Jenna, I used the Minerva video sewalong to help me through some of the trickier bits. I’m so happy I gave Jenna a chance! My shirt is perfection, and I know it will have a special place in my wardrobe. Now I’m wondering what other patterns deserve a second chance. Are there any patterns you initially dismissed and were happily wrong about?
