Category: knit prints

Marrikesh Burda top 7828

~ velosews ~ Leave a comment
I know I was supposed to save the rest of this Marrikest knit fabric from Pitt Trading for a new pair of bathers but I changed my mind and whipped up this top on afternoon.
I was feeling cold again #Winter.
Finished front view
Burda 7828 offers a dress or top option. 
Finished back view

What did I change?

The top has a tie bit on the front bodice. I didn’t include this feature. I just wanted a top with no fuss.
Neckline progress view
The fold over picot edge elastic was too pretty to not use again on the neckline.
The hem for this top is the same as the pattern, so if you’re average height or taller, extend the hem for the top.
Photos taken by my SIL
How long did this take to make?
With the overlocker and twin needle on the sewing machine, this top took 2 hours to make from cutting the fabric to hemming it.
So easy to wear with my jalie jeans on the weekend.
Simple.

Thanks again to Pitt Trading for these knit fabrics and notions. I’ve had lots of success with their knit fabrics as has Susan and Jillan. They’re highly creative sewers.


PS: The rasant thread is a dream to sew with.

It’s still Summer

~ velosews ~ 20 Comments

It’s still quite hot and I’m sure summer ended at the end of February. Yet it’s still stiflingly humid. Training in the morning outside before the sun comes up (yes I know that’s crazy anyway), the humidity is so heavy even the mozzies are weighed down.

Here’s my version of the Summer Street dress by Pattern Review. Dress designed by Deepika and Maria Denmark digitised and drafted this pattern. Pattern courtesy of Deepika. Pose – somewhat like a pageant contestant 🙂 

Fabric purchased from Pitt Trading at an end of season sale.

Yes, I cut the hem is a bit high on this test version than I’m comfortable wearing but this is a summer street dress after all. 
More leg that I bargained for 🙂

And no, I won’t be putting my hands on my hips – point taken.

Overnight my skirt grew by 5cm. Isn’t that a neat trick.

The skirt join has gathers and I’ve used pleats to flatten the look. 
This dress is a cinch to cut and finish in an afternoon.

I’ve kept back hem is slightly lower than the front. It’s just a ‘thing’ I do. Not fashion.
I spliced the centre front of the bodice to practice using the print to form a v-shape. 
And that’s how simple this dress is to work with.

Beth of SunnyGal Studio Sewing made a Vogue knit dress last week (great work as always) and she links to a Threads video on applying neck binding. I’ll be using this technique next time.

Minerva make – Jumpin polka dots

~ velosews ~ 22 Comments

After making a summer work wardrobe, I chose to go easy and enjoy celebrating summer with this top and pants. Actually, this is a jumpsuit McCalls 6083. The fabrics including the interfacing are from Minerva Crafts UK. These were ordered before Christmas and arrived in Australia from the UK before New Year. You’ll find a few jumpsuits at Minerva.

Pretty plain looking on the hanger right? These fabrics washed nicely and were easy to work with. I used ‘Seams Great’ to stabilise the shoulder pleats. The pockets have swimwear elastic to give the gathers. 
You don’t need a super duper sewing machine to sew this successfully. Just a normal sewing machine will help you achieve this easy, breezy piece. Being knit fabrics, seams don’t need to be finished. These fabrics have been through the wash a few times now and the seams edges remain intact. This such an easy jumpsuit to wear.
Invisible snaps at the front will keep you in (and get you out) of this comfortable jumpsuit. The sleeve edges and back neckline are folded down once and zigzagged. I did use the coverstitch machine for the hems on the pants but you don’t need a coverstitch machine to finish the hems.
This was taken outside the Amory buildings in Sydney. Summer is coming to an end.
The kit from Minerva includes McCalls pattern 6083 (sizes 14-20), spotty jersey cotton knit fabric, plain jersey fabric and woven interfacing. This is the perfect project if you only have a sewing machine and aren’t confident sewing in a zipper.
You can see how flowing the pants fabric is. It’s gorgeous to sew with too.
This version has

– pleats at the shoulder line. Pleats suit the cotton knit used for the top.

– wide elastic at the waist. I added more seam allowance on the top and on the pants to do this without distorting the pattern.
– smaller arm holes. I raise the arm holes of the front and back bodices
– The base of the pocket bags have been cut off. The original pockets ended at mid-thigh level.

Wear it will a cute belt and flat shoes.
Or wear it will heels in a similar print. I decided to wear these heels and not the flat shoes.
When I took these indoor photos, it was a Friday night after a busy week and I was about to catch up with friends, so I wanted to feel comfortable but look sharp. I’d be happy to see you in this outfit too. Grab the kit and make your version today. Thank you Minerva Crafts.

And that’s my Sew Grateful project brought to you by Minerva Crafts!!

Dress or top

~ velosews ~ 7 Comments

This week I was tossing up which version to make up from Kwik Sew 3658. The top or the dress.

Initially I made this up as a dress for Christmas eve dinner. Our weather today is mild but overcast and my planning is to have a couple of knit outfits available.
This dress uses a large knit print Pitt Trading in September at $2/m. The fabric has a dry knit feel to it, so it should wash/wear well. The other aspect of this print was it’s on a black background, which I liked. The print colours are bold enough and the only way I could keep the pieces continuous was to have the print aligned rather than match up, if you know what I mean.

This next version was the Christmas day version but for the life of me I couldn’t figure out where to measure from to get the hem right. The reason for this is the collar is all part of the bodice and it is self faced. At the hem I’ve added continuous piece but this hasn’t worked out. This version was also earmarked to be without sleeves but there was too much fabric in the front shoulder seam so I’ve added the short sleeve.

 

The red/grey fabric is from the winter Knitwit direct collection and I’ve still got plenty left for different styled knit dress for weekend BBQs. When I wore this version with my bare legs I realised it was a bad look, so I think this will need some work outfit for autumn. I’ll have to do a bit more planning with the next version made from this print.

This last top was made (cut and sewn) in an hour on Christmas eve morning before I left for work. What motivated me was that my key task at work was to clean so it was ‘down tools, gloves on and cleaning products in hand’.
The fabric is from The Fabric Store $8/m from a sale last year. I’ve used this fabric for a dress and then realised that it’s works best for tops.
Merry Christmas to you all, happy sewing and enjoy the festivities over the holidays.

Talk about fast…

~ velosews ~ 5 Comments


Last Monday night I went to the Knitwit showing at Artarmon. Today I received my order. That’s fast. The beauty of attending is seeing the larger print fabrics, so you know what you’re buying (and how to use it one day). Wendy’s team do some good work making up garments to take full advantage of the fabric. The danger is the dent in your credit card.

Above are the four pieces that I bought. Every year I notice that every Winter fortfolio, the red fabrics go fast so this time, I bought the two red prints that I can use. The Kwik Sew pattern was a special ‘throw in’ when you have a Stitches mag subscription.

While my right hand (thumb) is healing, I’ve been slowly, adjusting and making up a couple of toiles. Once I make up this skirt toile, there are two other fabric pieces in my stash waiting in line, to be made up. I’ve kept the width adjustments to the larger front and back panels.


Next Saturday the Rhodes group are running a chanel jacket class and this is the pattern that I’m going to take for some expert advise. There where five other chanel jacket patterns that were suggested, so there’s another chanel-type jacket that is still to be cut out and adjusted this week while DH is travelling for work.

And, I’m going to convention at Ballarat this year.