Made By A Fabricista: Quick Wins to cleanse your sewing palate!

Quick Wins to cleanse your sewing palate!

Happy New Year sewing friends! We are in the first full week of 2025 and it’s a whole new sewing year!  Whohooo! You’re excited for it, right?? Or, it is also possible that you may be feeling a little exhausted from all the projects you crammed into December, perhaps to meet your sewing goals, finish up lingering UFOs (unfinished objects), or perhaps to make all those handmade holiday gifts? If you’re feeling like this right now, this post is for you. Read on, my tired sewing friend, read on!

Let’s talk palate cleanser sews. In fine dining (and according to google AI!) a palate cleanser is a food or drink that's served to remove leftover flavors from your mouth so that you can more accurately taste new flavors. In sewing, it’s a quick and easy project that helps you get a small win, re-energize, and find the joy in sewing again. I’m here today with five quick and satisfying sewing projects that can help you get your sewjo back and get ready to tackle your new year sewing goals.

First up is one of my favorite types of garments to sew when I want a basic but wardrobe building project – a raglan top. It may not look quick but this type of top has several features that make it a fast sew. I used the Ellie & Mac straight fit raglan top but many patterns like this have similar features. This pattern, as it is designed, has no hemming - so if you are using a serger, this top can be done exclusively on that machine. The arms are finished with cuffs and the bodice bottom a band. The raglan sleeves are sewn in flat so there is no setting in of sleeves. I used this gorgeous lilac jacquard knit which has great structure but also good stretch. I love jacquards for garment sewing with all their fun textured patterns. They are also a very easy knit to sew and play well with a sewing machine. For my version, I elected to omit the cuffs because I like my sleeves just a tad shorter. I also graded between sizes and shorted the bodice by three inches. 

Here's my version!

And here are the cuffs I never used – I’m saving them for future use in another project!

Next project which is one of my go tos when I need a quick sew – leggings! There are so many free leggings patterns out there, and for my mine, I went with the Patterns for Pirates Peg Legs – a favorite in the sewing community. These leggings are extra quick to sew because there are only three pieces – two legs and a waistband. For this pair, I used a brushed poly l I had in my stash from Fabric Mart a few years ago. Brushed poly is great for leggings but definitely check the stretch – not all polys are created equal. Athletic knits are also great for leggings because they have good stretch (typically four way stretch) and also great recovery. I made this pair in under an hour (it also helps that I use a projector for sewing) and that was using my sewing machine too!

OK, last garment quick sew before we move on to a few non-garment projects – a knit skirt! Here’s mine:

I actually sewed this one up and shared it last year, but wanted to include it in this post as it’s such a quick and fun sew. A basic knit skirt with a yoga or elastic waistband is a great project for using smaller cuts or fabric remnants, and is also great to showcase gorgeous prints. I used the George & Ginger Patterns Perky Skirt (a free pattern on their YouTube channel) to feature this unique print I picked up here a few years ago. I had made a dress back then and saved the leftover pieces because I loved the fabric so much. This is an ITY fabric, one of my absolute favorites for sewing tops, dresses, even flowy pants. It has great stretch and good recovery, is lightweight but somehow warm in winter but not overly warm in summer, and Fabric Mart always has a great inventory of designs. This is a super quick project!

So let’s now look at two non-garment quick sews, which also make great gifts, especially when you don’t want to worry about measuring for fit.

First up – a zip pouch. I’ve made so many of these over the years. They take up so little fabric so you can use your scraps, and there are so many free or affordable patterns out there.  You can make an unlined pouch for a SUPER quick project, or do the lining for a more finished look and it’s still a very quick sew. You also get to practice zippers! Yay, right? I used a leftover piece of my knit jacquard from my raglan top and then used a poplin for the lining. Because I was using a knit for the main fabric, I interfaced the pieces with a non-stretch interfacing to stabilize everything. Fabric Mart gets a lot of beautiful wovens, including poplins, and I often have leftover fabric from making button down tops. I love making these for friends and filling them with goodies. I also use them for travel and sewing supplies.

My last quick sew is something I never knew I needed until I made one – a bowl cozy! What the heck is a bowl cozy? It’s basically outerwear for a bowl so you don’t burn or freeze your hands when handling it. And if you use all cotton fabrics, you can put your bowl in the cozy and then put the cozied bowl in the microwave to reheat food… and then just pick up the bowl without burning your hands and settle down to eat. I made one for myself last year and I use it all the time. Made for Mermaids has a free pattern for this – just search their site. Helen’s Closet does as well. WARNING – if you want to put your cozy in the microwave, it is REALLY important that you only use 100% cotton fabric and batting. Otherwise you risk fabric melting or damaging your microwave. Here’s mine:

I hope you enjoyed my list of quick sew palate cleansers and it sparked a few ideas. I wish all my fellow sewists a wonderful year of joyous sewing!

Andrea  |  @happy.things.here