Sunday, July 8, 2012

A sack and my first knits!

I finished this dress (New Look 6803) back in May but haven't worn it yet because I'm still searching for the right belt. It most definitely needs a belt, as otherwise it is a shapeless sack. This is because somehow I managed to cut out the wrong view (View C instead of View A) and, not wanting to make a tunic dress, I just kept the neckline intact instead of slicing it down the middle to make the tunic.  I was very disappointed because View A has such a cute neckline! In these pictures it even looks like a hospital gown. I assure you that the fabric is cute though, it's a gray swiss dot. It will be great for the fall/winter paired with a cardigan and tights, but for now I'm struggling. I'm thinking I need a medium to thick width belt, worn around my natural waist. Any other suggestions?

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Now on to happier topics. During this round of sewing classes, we chose to work with knits. Having never sewed with knits before, I was a little hesitant, but my sewing teacher said I would have no problem using my sewing machine and not have to resort to using a serger.

Then I realized that I already had a knit dress pattern, New Look 2618. Most likely I had it because I liked the dress and didn't realize that it was meant to be sewn with knits. Oops! My teacher recommended Sophia knits, which thankfully were reasonably priced on Fabric.com. I chose a cheaper knit to sew up my muslin.

After checking out the measurements and the amount of ease in the garment, I ended up cutting out a size 10, four sizes smaller than the pattern suggests for someone of my measurements. There is a ton of ease in this thing. I used a zig zag stitch with a .5 width and 2.5 length and had absolutely no problems sewing together my muslin even though my machine doesn't have a dial to change the presser foot pressure. The other great news is that my muslin fit pretty much perfectly! Yes, I realize I didn't match up the print, but I'm ok wearing this dress anyway.

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Then I cut out the pattern using my nice knit fabric. This stuff is thick! In real life, the fabric is a nice and rich wine color, which is going to be great for the fall. I think the fabric is a bit too heavy to wear in the dead of summer, but it will be perfect come September and even into the winter if I pair it with a cardigan.

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I think this is it for me with this pattern though, mainly because I am not fond of the seam hitting at the widest part of my belly. Also, the neckline calls for a facing and I'm not crazy about how this looks with the thicker knit.

Still, I loved sewing with knits! Who knew it could be so easy? When I ordered this fabric I also ordered some knit fabric in Jay McCarroll's Germania line to finally make a Renfrew. Hopefully that will come together just as easily!

5 comments:

  1. Ooh, your knit dresses look so cute! If you like the knit pattern, you could modify it so the seam hits higher. It really is a cute neckline, and that wine color is gorgeous!

    For the Swiss dot dress, I wonder if you could add a collar to it. I bet it would be super cute with a Peter Pan collar!

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    1. Oooh good idea about the Peter Pan collar!

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  2. Sorry I don't have any good suggestions for your 1st dress. I'm fashion challenged. Your knit dress is so cute! did you use any special threads when sewing with knits? I just bought some to try and sew a dress for my daughter.

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    1. Thanks! I just used regular old thread to sew the knit dresses. I tried out a few lenghts/widths of the zig zag stitch on scraps before I started sewing to make sure you couldn't see the stitches when you spread the fabric apart. The 2.5 length and .5 width zig zag stitch worked out perfectly. I had no gaps or puckering at all! It really was that easy.

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    2. Thanks! I used regular old thread to sew the knit dresses. I tried out a few different lengths/widths of the zig zag stitch on scraps before I started sewing sewing the actual dress to make sure I didn't have any gaps or puckering. The 2.5 length and .5 width turned out to be perfect. It really was that easy!

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