Hello friends!!! I am so thrilled to share with you some exciting news: I’ve joined the MOOD SEWING NETWORK!!! ahhhh!!! In case you aren’t familiar, the MSN is a community of sewing bloggers that share projects made with fabrics from Mood. I feel so honored to be included among some of my favorite sewing friends and inspirational bloggers. Even cooler…I get to share with my followers an exclusive coupon code for you to use for your Mood purchases: MSNSHINE. Let’s take a look at my first MSN project: a Tie Dye Sweatsuit. Although this post is sponsored, the contents and opinions expressed are my own.

The Inspiration

Tie Dye is trending HUGE right now- especially during stay at home orders when people are looking for fun craft projects to do during the down time. I have seen gobs and gobs of my fellow sewing friends posting their own tie dye makes on IG as well as online retailers promoting their own RTW tie dye apparel. I think Tie Dye makes people happy with the bright colors, unique patterns and “one of a kind” vibe. Here are some of my favorite tie dye items:

The Patterns

Loungewear is just as big of a trend as tie dye so naturally I should just pair the two, right?? I’m now in the midwest where the weather changes by the minute so a sweatsuit is the perfect plan for the yo-yo of spring to summer transition!

The sweatshirt is sewn from the Sheridan Sweater pattern by Hey June Handmade. I have sewn this pattern twice before and love it every.single.time. The sleeves pack a statement punch, the fit is spot on and I love the cropped length to show a hint of skin. I sewed the crew neck option, sleeve cuff and hemband (View A). I did not add any length for my height for this one. I love a good one hour sew, and the Sheridan is just that!

The pants are sewn from the Hudson Pants pattern by True Bias. I’ve made Hudons several times, but this is the first time I actually used knit fabric (as the pattern calls for). I chose the cropped length (view B) as a nod to the hopefully warmer temperatures I keep hearing about…#midwestprobs. The pockets were a must and are just the right size to store my phone, keys and lipgloss. I used a strip of the knit fabric to make the faux drawstring ties.

This set is comfy. It’s cute and cheerful. A winning combination in my book!

The Fabric & Dye

Finding the perfect white fabric presented a challenge. I’ve been looking for the right weight, stretch, fabric type, etc. as the inspiration of a tie dye sweatsuit was on my mind over the last several months. Mood to the rescue! I scored this buttery soft Bamboo Stretch French Terry with my fabric credit. I love that it has a fluid drape and isn’t stiff or rigid at all. The fabric is a lightweight and thin but quite opaque for a white knit. I found it to be the perfect choice for a spring sweatsuit. There are several colors of the Bamboo French Terry to choose from…I kind of want to make another in one of the 13 other colors and use bleach to do a reverse tie dye. Wouldn’t that be fun!?!?

Tie dye works best with cotton fabrics as it soaks into the fiber quickly and keeps a vibrant hue as opposed to synthetic fabrics. I went for the classic Rit box dye in Lemon Yellow and Fuchsia, both also from Mood. The convenience of being able to get all my needed items from one store made this project smooth and easy!

If you don’t want to dye the fabric yourself, Mood has some amazing tie dye fabrics available.

The Finished Look

I used the Dip Dye tutorial from Mia Goes Shopping to make a somewhat two-tone ombre effect on the top and bottoms. I definitely need some practice at my folding technique but I do love how the pattern looks more random and “ink blot” like rather than the typical swirly tie dye style. It was a great learning experience as I haven’t tie dyed anything since my high school spirit days! I am planning a few more tie dye projects in the future, especially for my two kiddos! They want a matching sweatsuit and I can’t wait to get going on that.

Hop over to my Instagram for a fun giveaway! You could win $50 to Mood Fabrics to recreate this look or just to stock up on some gorgeous new fabrics!

Thanks so much for reading about my first MSN project. Stay tuned for more!!! Big thanks to Mood Fabrics for the fabric credit to use to purchase the supplies needed for this project.