Big things are happening over at New Horizons Designs – formerly known as Terra’s Treasures. I’ve written about Terra’s patterns lots before- using the Andover HERE, and the Streamline and Long Beach Board Shorts HERE. The drafting and fit for ladies and children’s patterns is outstanding, so I was REALLY excited when she said she was getting into the raglan game. I say that because I think almost every PDF designer has at least one raglan pattern out there- there are skinny raglans, relaxed raglans, hooded raglans, off-the-shoulder raglans. Raglans that are just raglans, raglans that are buried in add-ons. To me, raglans are like the ice cream of sewing- when I’m disappointed in some other project, I make a raglan because they are really easy, no-fail patterns. I’m at the point now where I can get one done in about 30 minutes (thank you serger!).

I’m not going to spend time trying to convince you that the Riviera is the best raglan out there. Truly, there are too many for me to even consider an attempt. If you want to see some comparisons, go visit Tibeca and read through her raglan series; with her permission, I’ll structure this so my info meshes with hers. And here, I’ll tell you what I really love about the Riviera, and you can get it here, with the release sale price of $9.

The Riviera has tons of options, as listed in the table below. I made a few versions including the tank and short sleeves, lined hood and banded hem. I’m working on a hack for a maxi dress using the tank, high-cut, crew neck options. The hood doesn’t have to be lined- the pattern includes a 1 1/4″ self-facing on the hood piece, but I like the option for using an accent fabric on the hood lining and enclosing the seam allowance. The hoodie itself is a little taller than most (room for ponytails!), and is off-center and overlaps most of the front of the bodice. It’s a great design detail, and is easy to get on and off without messing up your hair (yes, that’s important to me). The tank option is REALLY cool- I recently hacked the sleeve piece for a different raglan pattern into a cap sleeve, but this tank is what I have really been hoping for, and I haven’t seen it on any other pattern.

This was my muslin- and I love it so much! It turned out perfectly wearable. The sleeve & armscye were slimmed a bit in later versions to remove that gaping. I sized down on this one through the waist, so it’s a little more fitted.

My final version (but not my last!)- the sleeves and armscye were slimmed a bit more still after this. This is my true size (medium) through the waist and shows the intended relaxed fit.

My photographer Maggie @fotog.gal very generously offered to do a Mothers’ Day shoot for us, so made James a Streamline tee and used the Best Day Ever panel from Peekaboo (perfectly appropriate, yes?). For mine, I used Vintage Sailor Babe from Smoogie, and our stripes are from Michael Levine’s Loft in Downtown LA. These specific custom knits are sold out, but I linked the shops. This was a great, casual shoot- we didn’t pose at all (that’s pretty obvious)- Maggie just let us monkey around and managed to still get some great pictures.