Long cardigan Ottobre and Vogue knit tunic top

I have a long nylon/merino hoodie that I wear frequently around the house,during cooler weather, so when I was working on the winter travel wardrobe, I thought a smarter version of this would be a good idea for layering.

The pattern is Ottobre 05-2011-06, previously made here, but as you can see, this time I made it without a hood, for fabric saving and luggage saving reasons, and self bound and overlapped the neckline, wth an attempt to make the cardigan a little less sporty. The fabric is a wool ribbing, from Fabric.com, purchased quite some time ago, and is quite stretchy. I added about 5cm to each centre front with the idea of an overlap fastening, and due to the stretch this overlap is considerable. 

 

I prefered to fasten it only at the top (inside and out), and am pleased with the brooch effect of the inner button when the cardigan is worn open (silver button) or closed (bronze fastening)

I particularly like the opportunites for fitting given by using a centre back seam in this type of pattern.

Although I was reasonably pleased with the effect of turning in the centre front edges to finish them, this finish is quite bulky. Much against my sewing instincts, I chose to leave the hem and sleeve hem edges raw. They have held up surprisingly well and do not appear to ravel at all.

Underneath is a lengthened version of one of my favourite cowl neck t shirts, Vogue 8634. 

The fabric is a truly gorgeous heavy weight rayon knit from Knitwit, and I was extremely happy with this tunic - until a very kind person did some washing for me and managed to shrink it considerably. My older daughter was a grateful recipient of this worn-once tunic , and fortunately I was able to purchase more of the fabric, but alas, it is still in the flat fold stage. As you might have noticed, I used remanants from the original piece of this fabric for the insert in the Wren dress I posted about yesterday, and I am being very careful not to leave the dress anwhere where someone else is likely to put it in the washing machine for me!

Two grey tops, Vogue 8634 and Burda Style 01-2013-119

A casual winter wardrobe for a young woman at University is greatly enhanced by a couple of knit tops to wear with jeans. My daughter rather liked my repetitions of V8634, and thought it might look good on her too. I made it in a tunic length so that she can wear it with leggings as well.



She knit the fancy cable scarf herself - Jo Sharp Knit 8, in Alpaca Silk Georgette in Peony, knit together with SohoSummerDK cotton in Fog, which just happens to blend in beautifully with the grey marle knit.

Grey looking so smart with her new pink coat, I  then made her a BurdaStyle 01-2013-119 in  the same grey marle knit, with a doubled rolled edge neck, using black as the under layer. She likes this one too.



I am on a roll with knit sewing at the moment, but there is a fancy wool coat lurking behind all this quick easy sewing, I might be missing in action for a while.


Stashbusting statistics, 3m of cotton lycra knit Stretchtex, 2012

Winter dress Frankenpattern Vogue 8634 and Vogue 8571 winter t shirt dress

A great advantage of Southern Hemisphere sewing is that the majority of bloggers live in the other hemisphere. This means that when you are inspired by someone's outfit, you often have months and months for it to drift upwards in your ridiculously long sewing list  perculate in your sewing unconsciousness before it would actually be useful to make the garment.

With only a 3 or so month delay, I really thought I was on the ball here. Ripple Dandelion at A Sewing Life makes terrific clothes that not only appeal to my aesthetic, and look like the sort of garments that would be very useful and worn-to-death. In March, she posted a t shirt dress in wool/rayon knit. She didn't seem terribly excited by it, possibly due to Isewedititis, but I was instantly struck by the brilliance of adding an elevated waist seam and slightly fuller skirt to a long sleeved t shirt for an easily sewn, easy to wear winter outfit. (Her cute boots may have had something to do with this instant appeal). She also kindly mentioned her fabric source, FabricMart, and as she had not left the fabric lying around in some stash for a year or so until she made it (my usual tendency), I was able to buy the very same excellent fabric (in 3 colourways) through the wonders of freight forwarding (they do not post to Australia directly). The fabric was still a bargain.

I used my favourite of the moment winter top Vogue 8634, and the skirt from Vogue 8571.

Fortunately for me, the draft seemed quite consistent between the two patterns, and I merely laid the skirt over the t shirt, matching waist lines, and used the horizontal empire cutting line on the top as my joining seam.
Long version - FabricMart wool/rayon blend knit dark coral

Shorter version - The Fabric Store merino knit with lycra.

In both versions I self lined the upper bodice, enclosing the raglan and empire waistline seams using the yoke lining by machine method, and adding elastic to the empire waistline.

Unfortunately I did not stretch this at all in the green front bodice seam, so I have a little rippling here, but not enough to make me unpick the seams and do it again. The self lining means that there is pleasing disguising of any underwear lines or lumps and bumps.
The merino version is thicker fabric (and was 3x the price), and I prefer it, but the wool/rayon version will also be very useful. I have already worn both dresses and they are  both warm and comfortable.

I found my silk petticoat invaluable to prevent adherence of tights to the skirts of the dresses, and there was no static build up using these natural fibres, so I plan for a full silk slip somewhere in my sewing future.

Colette Beignet 1005 skirt. Winner! (+ Vogue 8634 top)

I won Paola's give away. She is so generous.  I am so lucky. I had been fancying this Beignet skirt for a little while, but was trying to talk myself out of it due to having an extremely large pattern collection. (You have plenty of skirt patterns Kbenco,you could just adapt something, etc etc). But fortunately for me, as I would never get around to adapting something else, here is the real deal.

I am very happy with this skirt.
It was a dream to sew. The drafting is perfect, which is such a relief after sewing all those Big4 patterns. I had a little moment of intense satisfaction every time a seam line matched perfectly. This oddity is possibly why sewing makes me so happy.
I admired Colette's instructions, particularly the tip to reinforce the waistline with twill tape ( I used a bit of selvage). 

In fitting, I ended up decreasing a size, having gone up to the next size per Colette instructions as my hips are between sizes, but finding this too big in the toile (non-stretch).
I took in at the waist in both my toile and in the final fabric, which is a stretch denim, circa 2008 from Kerryn's Fabric World.  The skirt was also cut a little shorter than Colette designed, due to fabric constraints. There is a tiny bit of piecing in the front facing for the same reason.

I did not line the skirt. I have some stretch silk lining, but decided an everyday denim skirt was not  a good candidate for this fabric, nor for a non-stretch lining, so I bound all the seams and the facing in a bit of left over shirting cotton cut on the bias.

The fabric is quite thick, so I did not bother making a matching petticoat.

I finished the hem with bias binding, using a catch stitch so that the hem will stretch with the skirt and not pop my stitching during wear.

I find that front buttoning skirts have a short life due to buttonhole wear. In an attempt to extend the life of this skirt, only the top 5 buttonholes are functional. All the other buttonholes are uncut, with the skirt machine sewn with zigzag to the underplacket, and the button attached by hand over the top of the buttonhole.

I do not often wear a belt with a skirt, but wanted to leave myself the option to do so. I made the buttonkeepers with buttonhole stitch over 6 strands of embroidery cotton, instead of applying fabric tabs. These are quite unobtrusive when the skirt is worn without a belt, which is just how I wanted them.

I topstitched the front and back princess seams, but not the side seams, so that I could adjust the skirt for fitting should I need to. Of course, having allowed for fitting, the final skirt try on was just right, and I did not have to do a single bit of unpicking. This may be a first for me in an item worn below the waist.

Feeling rather smug about my new skirt, I hung it up in my wardrobe, where it looked just like an orphan, so I made a few tops to wear with it.

I am wearing the first of these tops, Vogue 8634, which I made several of  last winter.

 This one is made from a cotton jersey, The Remnant Warehouse 2012, (this is the fabric that ran in its welcoming wash, but did so in a rather attractive manner - see that nice blotchy pink within the print?) and I squeezed it out of a 1.2 metre  generous cut by having 3/4 length sleeves and a slightly less generous depth of cowl.

Stashbusting statistics,2.3 m denim 2008, 1.2 metre cotton jersey 2012

Elastic in seams, Vogue 8305 top, Jalie Sweetheart top

I am highly flattered by being asked a technical sewing question.

Mary Nanna, excellent seamstress of Make it Smirk fame, commented "You mention using elastic in the seams with the merino - can you explain this process?" 

Despite a sneaking suspicion that Mary Nanna is much better at sewing than I, and could possibly be asking this question with the aim of provoking some smirking from champion sewers of knits, here is my approach to this process, developed by close inspection and some destruction of RTW, and considerable trial and error. Please note that I am a self taught seamstress and profess no qualifications in the "right" way to carry out any sewing what so ever. (That disclaimer was for Bunny, because she has a very good point about tutorials). This is how I use elastic in the seams of knits. Your results may not be the same ;)


1. Inspect the fabric. Deliciously buttery stretchy fabric that ripples into a puddle on the sewing room floor at every opportunity is a very good candidate for elastic in the seams. If your knit is stable and has fabulous recovery, elastic may not be of much  use to you, and may just increase bulk in your seams.
2. Consider your seams. Elastic is useful in knits for seams that you want to stretch just a bit, but not too much. Seams under stress, that you do not want to stretch at all (eg fitted shoulder seams) may require more stability than elastic can offer. For example: I regularly use twill tape or woven fabric selvage in shoulder seams on knits - voile or organza in a fine knit, and quilting/shirting cotton for a medium knit. Other people regularly use clear elastic in shoulder seams with good results, but this has not been my experience.
3. Elastic, Foot, Needle and stitch selection:
These decisions depend on several factors. For merino knits, swim wear, and thin rayon knits, I use a clear elastic described as "swimwear" elastic, produced by Beutron, and supplied in Australia by J.D.Leutenegger. I buy it by the roll, and use a roll within 2 years or so, so the elastic is relatively fresh.  I find that this elastic is difficult to sew with a ball point needle, which is recommend for knitted fabric, and which is the needle I tend to use for merino where elastic is not involved. Instead I use a stretch needle of 70 or above when using elastic in the seams. As I am lazy, I generally do not change the needle back to a ball point to complete the remainder of the garment, which has occasionally lead to stitch problems with fine fabrics. I generally use a walking foot on my conventional machine when sewing with knits, and have much better success when sewing elastic if I am using the walking foot rather than when using a regular foot.

The stitch I like to use when including elastic in the seam is a 3 step zigzag, with stitch length of between 1.0 and 2.0mm and stitch width of between 1.0 and 1.5mm. On occasion, when I am using the elastic to assist in gathering the fabric, I use a straight stitch.
4. Consider the purpose of the elastic
 a) Supporting a stretch seam
In the raglan merino top I made recently (Vogue 8364) leading to Mary Nanna's question, I wanted the elastic to support the seams mostly vertically, as the fabric was very unstable, and did not have a snappy recovery. (Merino rib knit). I suspected that should I sew this garment without using elastic, my top would end up knee length by the end of the day, with sleeves extending well past my finger tips.
I sewed the elastic on top of the seam without stretching, just holding it in place as I sewed the regular seam.

 I did this for all of the raglan seams, the neckline seam and for the sleeve and side seams, so that the top does not stretch out of shape during wear, nor during washing. I clip the elastic where seams intersect.

Adding the elastic to the seams worked very nicely, even though I hung the top on the line to dry (folded in the middle over the line) instead of laying it flat on a towel to dry as would have been the most garment protective option ;).

In the following top, Vogue 8305, which I sewed for my demonstration photos, I used the elastic differently. This merino jersey top has some lycra in it, and has better recovery than the merino rib fabric used in Vogue 8. The elastic requirements are different.
b) Preventing gaping in a neck seam
I used elastic in the neckline-facing seam. I had previously found that this wrap over style tended to gape during wear, so I stretched the elastic slightly as I sewed it directly over the seam, gathering the seam very slightly. To do this, I used the same needle, foot and stitch length, but stretched the elastic equally to the front and the back at the same time (so that the needle was not pulled to either direction. I stretch the front with my right hand and the back with my left hand.

 (just pretend that photo has the elastic being pulled straight from the front - pressing the button on the camera was tricky with my left hand)




In wear, the intention is that the the slight gathering will be stretched out by the body, so that the neckline lays flat. This is where trail and error come in!
For this garment I did not use any elastic in the sleeve or side seams with the following exception-
 c) A stretchable stay for gathering or pleats
The other use of elastic in this garment was as a stay for the gathering at the side seam. This gathered area needs to stretch with the garment, but when unsupported, has a tendency to droop in a southerly direction, ruining the line of the dress and giving an unfortunate impression of pot bellied-ness. In this seam, the gathered fabric is overlaid with the unstretched elastic, and the same 3 step zig zag is used to attach the elastic as a stay before the side seam is sewn.


Here I guide the fabric front and back using my left hand to hold the elastic in place, without stretching.

d) To increase the recovery of a knit fabric within a binding
In Jalie 2795, the sweetheart top, which I have made many times, the front bodice binding is stretched significantly to shape the t shirt.

 My merino knit did not have enough recovery, in my opinion, to shape the neckline sufficiently without unsightly rippling and bagging of the finished front neckline.

In this instance, I placed the unstretched clear elastic inside the folded binding and overlocked the three layers together.

When I later stretched this  binding to fit the front bodice piece per the instructions, the elastic ensured that the bodice was gathered in as if I had used a fabric with better elasticity than my merino jersey. (The seam is also topstitched through the elastic)




Elastic in seams gives the garment more longevity, sometimes more stability and sometimes more recovery. Using it is a bit of a trial and error process, but  for me, it was worth some experimental sewing.

Missing link?

There is something in the air in Queensland. I have just read Bloom's Fabric obsession's post, about her fabulous fuschia skirt, and Raindrops and Belly flops' post, displaying her lovely cowl neck t shirt, and had to write about my otherwise uninspiring and un-post-worthy t shirt - fuschia and a cowl neck. SNAP!

Unfortunately, I am rather unhappy about this project.
It is a refashion, of a silk jersey dress which I had worn only twice - too bright and shiny for me. The fabric was an internet surprize colour.

The top pattern is Vogue 8634 again, and is much more loose in silk jersey than in my merino or cotton/lycra versions. It is also rather unflattering. However, I am blaming the colour, not the pattern, as I like the earlier versions. I am not sure how it looks on your monitor (to me it is rather more pink in real life than it appears on my screen), but when I wore this into the living room for family display, my 17 year old daughter asked me about the scars on my face - which have been present since a bicycling accident in 1993, and she had never noticed previously. Hmmm, maybe this is not a colour that enhances my complexion....
Sometimes a dress you don't wear should be passed on, not cut up to make yet another thing that won't be worn. I guess you can't win every time!

Knit tops. Vogue 8634 and Knit & Sew 110B

There are many people who are extremely good at sewing knits and frequently say things such as "They are so quick and easy", "I made this top in half an hour" and "I just whipped this up on my overlocker".
I am not usually one of those people.
However, today, I can show you this headless photograph and write. "I made this top in less than 2 hours"

Unfortunately, although this statement is true, it is not precisely the whole truth and nothing but the truth.
The full story goes something like this:
With colder weather setting in,  I had noticed a lack of long sleeved knit tops in my wardrobe. Naturally I needed to remedy this with a new pattern, having become a little bored with my tried and true Burda long sleeved t shirt with scoop neck at different heights. When it comes to sewing, I am fickle.
I looked at all my patterns and Burdas, then looked at a few hundred blogs. My research is thorough.
I fancied Elizabeth's and Janis' cowl neck tops.
I was very lucky, and received an email from the Remnant Warehouse about a $12 Vogue sale, and ordered the pattern, Vogue 8634.
With quite incredible service, despite the pattern being on deep discount (for Australia) the postage was free. (Just to compare, the BMV postage for one pattern is $ US15 to Australia, so this beat buying overseas for once)
I sewed up version one of this pattern, in the size M, into which my high bust measurement placed me.

This is version one with 5cm removed from each side seam.
I thought this was not too bad a fit, despite my 1.2m of hideously expensive poly knit from Kerryn's fabric world not being sufficient fabric to give me a proper cowl neck nor to cut the upper bodice in one piece. (I was glad to get rid of this fabric - Kerryn is a very good saleswoman, much to the development of my "what was I thinking" fabric stash).
So I made version 2 in some pleasantly stable cotton/lycra knit from stretchtex, using only my overlocker and cover stitch.

I decided that the fit was too big around the neck, despite my side seam changes and square shoulder adjustment.
I thought another pattern might be better. Here is a Knit and Stretch pattern from the op shop for 50c in the same cotton/lycra knit.


I didn't fancy the neckline on this at all.
The instructions had you stitch the self facing to the seam line which looked quite horrid on the right side.


 and the fit through the body was boxy until I took it in about 7cm.  I will use this as a pyjama top.
Back to Vogue 8634, with square shoulder adjustment, cheating FBA (bump out at the side seams at the bust) and in the size Small (Ha, ha) in the same cotton/lycra knit in a different colour. (Vogue describes the top as close fitting, which gives 0-2 7/8"ease according to their fitting information, and this pattern in knit has 2+" ease at the bust for size 12, which I would consider on the high side for a knit top, and is not terribly close fitting IMO, naturally this is compounded by size M having to cover both size 12 and size 14)

I was pretty happy with this.
Naturally, it then looked quite  different in version 4, in merino rib knit, with elastic in all the seams, and sewn on a conventional machine. It only took 2 hours or so.....