Category: green knit

New top. New look 6940

~ velosews ~ 18 Comments
This cute top was the second time I made up with the pattern to go with my Raven shorts.
This is the test version using a Charlie Brown remnant knit from Pitt Trading.

I love how this knit has is a bold print in dark colours. A sense of the dramatic maybe. I have a few more pieces to work with 🙂

I wore this test top for a day and realised the shoulder seams were too short. So a slight shoulder seam adjustment and my usual sway back adjustment is all I had to do to make this top work.
On both of these necklines, I’ve increased the shoulder seams and made the front and back necklines narrower.
The neckline sits better and there’s no neckline gaping. That makes me happy.
Yes I did shorten the length of this top. And I lined the bodice with a mystery white knit fabric.
You can see the sleeve gather detailing better below.
My coverstitch machine found this fabric a bit too thin so I’ll have to buy some tear away stabiliser to make sure the stitching catches.

I used ‘steam a seam’ to stabilise the neckline of the test version. The hems are simply turned under once and sewn.

This is one wearable toile I’ll be wearing a bit longer.

SIL dresses

~ velosews ~ 6 Comments

Making a couple of knit dresses is motivation. I can cut the dress out before work and after work, pull it together within a couple more hours. That’s if I’ve made it before and the fabric is behaving.

McCalls 5752
This was a pattern I made for myself a couple of years ago in a zebra print knit so the bodice already have an FBA. The blue version is a well worn work version. So this was easy to cut out and sew up again. Would you believe I found a mistake in my original version by sewing it again? Anyhew..

The green knit is toile fabric which you’ve seen recently from the Missoni dress. This fabric is still from the Pitt Trading $20 garbage bag of fabric remnants.

The mistake was not including the vertical gather on the front ruching.

McCalls 5974
Instead of adjusting the round neck version, I used the cross over bodice that creates a v-neckline. No zipper was used for this version but I’ve kept the back shaping even though it would have been easier placing the centre back seam on the fold. I’m hoping the back fit will be great on SIL.

Now to do a fitting. I’m hoping I’ll only need to adjust the width and length. My unpicker and I are becoming great friends.

Sydney sewing blogger meet up
I attended my second Sydney sewing blogger meet up last Saturday. My first Sydney catch up was during Made Me May. Our summer weather was just kicking in so by the time we’d chatted and fabric shopped at Tessuti’s and The Fabric Store, we earnt a well deserved drink at the Clock Hotel on Crown St in Surry Hills. Here’s the great pic Christy took.

It was a great way to end a fun afternoon fabric shopping and catching up with our blogger friends in real life. Thanks Christy of Little Betty and Kristy of Lower your presser foot for organising the meet up. They both have lovely posts about our meet up and hopefully we can do this again in February.

Thanks to Kyle for letting me know about this meet up. Kyle let me know about the meeting up while she was keeping safe during Hurricane Sandy in the States.

2013 ASG workshops:
In case you’re interested Rhodes ASG has a few sewing workshops in the pipeline.
At this stage the workshop wish list is:
– a workshop on tips for sewing knits with zips,
– a session on trims and neckline finishes and
– a fitting workshop on sleeves and armholes.
Let me know if you’re interested in attending and I’ll send you the details when they’re available next year. I’ll keep you updated.

Silhouette Patterns webcast 17 December
If you want to check out Peggy Sagers webcast, the 2012 webcasts have officially finished. However there’s a special ‘off the record’ webcast that won’t be recorded on 17 December. That’s actually 18 December at 1pm Sydney time. The official webcasts will start again in 2013 and previous webcasts are on her website.

Green spring – B4789

~ velosews ~ 11 Comments

It’s still cold here (7 degree C mornings) but I love working with green fabric so here’s the story about this dress. This fabric was a remnant piece that I bought from Pitt Trading last year at $2 per metre. I bought some more fabric from Pitt Trading last week but that’s a bunch of stories in the making. This fabric has two-way stretch and it has a huge print so I tried to keep the yellow colours away from my face.

The front has a knot just below the bust, and it’s easy to make up, but I got it wrong, even after reading the reviews on PR. However, I was able to save fabric and the error is tied up in the knot.

I’ve shown you the front and back so you can see where the print placement is on this dress. I love the v-neck on the front and back. The hem could come up, so I’ll do this on the next version. I’ve used seams great on the shoulder seams and twin needle on the neckline finish. The fabric is so dark you can’t see the black thread I’ve used throughout the dress.
I’m really loving green. This pattern also has pants but I can’t see myself making these up while I’m developing woven pants that fit.

I’ve since finished a pink UFO that I’ll post up soon. I’m just planning what I should make to go with it. Decision time:)

Maggy London b5173

~ velosews ~ 3 Comments

Spot the difference. Can you see how I’ve changed this dress? 

This version has no sleeves. The reason being is the armhole was way too high. I’ve lowered the armhole by 3cm. By the time I did this, the sleeve didn’t fit and I’ve finally run out of this static-rich fabric. I took Wendy’s advice and sprayed the fabric with anti stat but it just kept sticking to itself. I cut the dress out on the carpet because it stuck to the carpet really well. The other issue is that it was just too humid to do anything else.
The front tab has been shortened. When I initially constructed the front, it was so far down my front that it was pointing to my tummy. Not a flattering look. I moved the gathers to my bust area but that wasn’t enough to overcome the tummy arrow effect. The remaining front gathers were converted to an inverted pleat.
BTW: DH was not put off by the gathers at the bust area…
From the line drawing, the front neckline does point to the tummy, so I should have done a bit more planning.
 This time the side view is a bit less voluminous and if I was taller, that wouldn’t be an issue. The back fits really well.




The original adjustments were sway back adjustment, I took some of the volume out of the skirt by straightening the side seams. If I do this again, I’ll have to redraft the centre front and raise the front neckline. I’ll also buy better quality fabric too:) 

Faux wrap – Vogue 8379

~ velosews ~ 5 Comments

This is my favourite faux wrap dress that I’ve made before. At our last sewing session, my sewing buddies were all making something in green so this is my first green piece of 2011. Yes – green with envy…

I added a grey/green piece of lace on the neckline and then added some beading to lift the neckline. The girls at work commented on it. They’re so used to seeing my wardrobe change that it’s only when I do something different that they comment. I bought the fabric from The Fabric Store early last year.
This has my normal adjustments: sway back adjustment, roll shoulder adjustment, shortened hem line and I use the sleeve size without the cuff.



This week I saw a couple of episodes of The Mary Tyler Moore Show, so I used the striped knit burgundy and gave it a bit of 70’s treatment on the neckline and cuffs.

The nice thing is I orginally used the 14 size pattern and now I’m using the 12 size. You can see how I’ve had to take out fabric from the back bodice. The skirt wasn’t working so I made the side seams straight.


The front is easier to retro fit because I’ve just readjusted the existing wrapped front to fit.
 
The cuffs don’t close together. Faux cuffs.
I think this fabric was also bought from The Fabric Store at the same time.

I’m also fish-sitting a friend’s pets and they’re keeping me company in my sewing room. They’re not too fussy. They just enjoy being fed and swimming around while listening to my sewing machine hum. I’ve even put the aircon on so they don’t get too hot:)