The Becky Set in Snake Print

I made the Becky set by Thalia's Threads, the cropped top and the high waisted skirt, in size E. I'd seen a bunch of examples of it online and it's been on my to-sew list for a while.

For the fabric I used a snake print maroon stretch knit a friend gave me from her stash. I'm still getting more comfortable sewing with stretch fabric, so this felt like a good one to try it on.

Sewing Stretch Fabric

Since I'm still fairly new to stretch fabric, here's what I used on this one. I switched to a ballpoint needle instead of my usual one. It's rounded instead of sharp, so it slides between the knit fibers instead of piercing them, which is what causes skipped stitches and little runs. For the seams, I used my serger. My sewing machine also has a stretch stitch setting, which works well too if you don't have a serger.

A few other things that helped:

• A walking foot, so the layers feed through evenly instead of stretching out under the presser foot
• Letting the feed dogs do the work instead of pulling or stretching the fabric myself, which is an easy habit to fall into without noticing
• Checking the stretch percentage listed on the pattern against my actual fabric before cutting, which I could've been better about checking this time

Seamwork has a good rundown on sewing knits if you want to go deeper on any of this.

The top is a halter neck with a shelf bra built into it, which I hadn't sewn before. Her instructions were really clear and easy to follow. It adds an extra layer of support, and the skirt actually has shorts built into it too, so it's more of a skort. Between the two I felt really comfortable in the whole set.

I love this pattern. I think it's so flattering, and I was impressed with how fast the whole set came together.

The fit came out good, but it's on the more fitted side. I'm not sure if I should have gone up a size, or if that ties back to the stretch percentage thing. Either way, I still like it.

I wore it all over town on my last trip to Palm Springs. It's easy to dress down as something casual, but I could also see it working as a going out fit. I could even see someone making this to wear on the pickleball court.

I already want to make another set. The pattern comes with two top options and two skirt options, I did the cropped halter and the high-waisted skirt this time, next I want to try the longer halter top with the low-waisted skirt.

Come find me on Instagram @DesignsbyERB if you make your own Becky set.