Category Archives: Fabric

YARDAGE of the WEaK

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YOW Floral Sweater Knit

My fabric stash is filled with unsewn yards of goodness that I haven’t properly appreciated. True appreciation is a sewn garment or at least a swatch card for inventorying, but in the past couple of years, my poor neglected stash as had little of either. And it’s STILL growing!

I admit my addiction to fabric acquisition (hence the play on words in the title), but the only thing I plan to do about my weakness is blog about it. A self-intervention of sorts that will hopefully inspire me to sew up some of it — at least to make room for the new stuff I can’t quite stop myself from buying.

Fabric Stash

My fabric stash lives in the linen closet. Never mind where the linens are.

I figure a weekly post to feature some of the fabulous but forgotten fabrics I’ve acquired is just what I need to cringebust my sewing of them. Hey, and since I have an audience for this project, I’ll be gladly accepting ideas for what to make.

Let’s take a look at this week’s YARDAGE OF THE WEaK (YOW). A floral sweater knit I was surprised to find on a bolt at Joann’s. Their discounts are just ridiculous. Everything is always on sale. And, if it isn’t, there’s coupons for days. Lately, I’ve been noticing they’ve stepped up their game, too. The last few times I stopped in for a pattern sale, I got ADD in the fabric aisles. This gorgeous sweater knit was a recent distraction.

YOW - Floral Sweater Knit

I bought it thinking I’d be bold and make a sweater dress (another Moneta perhaps), but chickened out on the idea when I got worried about the minimal stretch of the knit. It’s relatively stable, so a negative ease pattern might be tough to pull off. Then again, that’s probably me being chicken. I’ve never sewn a sweater knit before and for some reason the bravery I had when I bought it has evaporated. But at the same time, I REALLY want to make something with it before spring shows up for real and sundresses start to haunt me like a Poltergeist.

Swatch Card for Floral Sweater Knit

Swatch card inventorying in the works.

The new Oslo cardigan from my subscription to Seamwork Magazine is another promising make. Or, even a simple, pull-on pencil skirt. So many options for 3 yards of loveliness.

One of the challenges of this fabric will be coordinating it with other things. It looks like a black and white floral, but the black is closer to gray, so when pairing it with something else that’s a true black, it looks a bit off or laundry-faded. I may have to treat it like it’s a dark gray and style it accordingly. Oooh…a pairing with yellow could be nice.

Floral Sweater Knit Comparison

Comparison to a black ponte and gray ponte knit.

My weakness for pretty got this sweater knit into my stash, but I’d love to get it on my body one day. What would you make with it?

Meet Moneta

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I want you to meet a friend of mine.

We’ve been through a lot together recently. With all of our disagreements, I almost gave up on our relationship. Until, finally…I got her to see things my way.

Moneta and me. A friendship made in jersey.

Moneta in Denim Jersey
It only took SIX trial fittings of the bodice to sort out this pattern. I’m no stranger to multiple muslins, but fitting Colette Pattern’s Moneta dress turned out to be a crash course in knits and negative ease.

Moneta in Denim Jersey

Flat-pattern measuring doesn’t really work on garments designed for knits. So, nearly every alteration had to be verified, one by one.

Luckily, a knit bodice can be cut and basted together in about 20 minutes. They key is to have plenty of discount jersey around. Before I knew what I liked, before I could distinguish cheap from quality, before I really knew how to sew it, I bought and stashed yards and yards of knit fabric (40% off coupons will have that effect).

Moneta in Denim Jersey

All of that hoarding came in handy when discovering that Moneta basically required open heart surgery to fit me. Here are the changes I made:

  1. Removed 1/2″ of length from the chest and sleeve cap.
  2. Removed ease from sleeve cap by flattening the back and scooping out the front.
  3. Shortened sleeve by 2″ at the bicep.
  4. Reduced front neckline width with a 1″ narrow chest/shoulder alteration.
  5. Added length at the bust with a dartless FBA.
  6. Raised back bodice at waistline with a 1/2″ swayback alteration.
  7. Re-drafted the pocket so the top reached the waistline.

Whew! I’m still out of breath.

I should have raised the waist by an inch so the skirt sits a bit above my waistline (a more flattering spot on me), but I only noticed this after assembling the final dress. OK, so it’s 98% right after all those mods. Perfection is overrated. I’m wearing it.

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If this wasn’t my first knit dress, if I wasn’t such a knit-sewing moron, Moneta would’ve only take a muslin or two to make. Instead, I used my 5 trial bodices and 1 full dress trial to practice coverstitching. A most wonderful thing I’ve had the power to do for years (three cheers for convertible overlockers!), but only just acquired the bravery.

The wearable jersey I chose to make out of my blood, sweat, and fitted Moneta pattern is a denim-look fabric with a faux twill weave. I bought it at Joann’s a while back. I think it’s a rayon/cotton/lycra blend, medium-weight or double knit jersey (kinda like this one from Mood) that was probably meant for sewing jeggings. Since I’m not ready for negative ease fitting on my bottom half just yet, a dress is where my knitventures began.

Moneta in Denim Jersey

All of the fitting work was absolutely worth it. The bodice alone has hundreds of possibilities. I’ll probably start with Colette’s free collar variations. Then, there’s all of the different kinds of skirt options beyond the original gathered one – circle, pleated, pencil, maxi – a girl could wear nothing but Monetas. A wardrobe of dress jammies in all the colors of the rainbow.

Moneta in Denim Jersey
No longer a knit sewing newbie, I am grateful for the time I spent getting to know Moneta. Now that we understand each other, she gives the best hugs (in all the right places).

Dress of My Year

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There were only two things left on my list for 2014:

  1. Make a dress out of Liberty of London fabric.
  2. Properly line a dress.

2014 is ending and I did those things. I did them so well, I am having trouble caring about anything else I made this year. Or ever.

Number 001

That anxious feeling most makers have before actualizing the thing in their head? I’m beginning to get used to that. What I was calling my “birthday dress” became a daily source of welcomed anxiety while I planned its making. So, once I dropped the idea that I needed to wear it on my December birthday and simply set out to MAKE it on my birthday, the dress in my head was free to come out.

My go-to pattern combo (made previously here, here, and here) of Simplicity 2217 (bodice) and McCall’s 6503 (skirt) has become a signature silhouette of mine. I wanted this version made with the best fabric I could afford and no shortcuts. The dress in my head would be the anchor of my wardrobe, setting the tone for all makes after it. No pressure.

Design Notes, No. 001

Since there was no fitting to contend with, I could really focus on fabric choice. And, for me, for this dress, that meant Liberty of London. At about $30 a yard, I always felt Liberty was out of my league. Like I needed to become a better sewer to earn the right to cut into it. I wouldn’t be caught cutting into the loveliest cotton in the world with half-ass sewing and fitting skills. And mine are finally where they need to be. With help from a vote on Instagram, I made my choice, and bought 3 yards of Liberty Tana Lawn in the “Wiltshire” print from Fabric.com. It exceeded my expectations when it arrived. Gorgeous in every way.

Liberty of London Tana Lawn "Wiltshire"

With all of my meticulous planning, the dress in my head couldn’t do much about the lack of available time in my life. Spending my birthday sewing was a noble idea, but a fully-lined dress (my first attempt) was more than an 8-hour work day’s worth of making. I learned this at the end of Day 1, when cutting was all I’d accomplished. This is where an amazing gift from my husband was presented.

Number 001

He’d already agreed to Daddying solo, so I could spend my first day of winter vacation sewing obsessively. I was not prepared for him to offer that arrangement for the rest of the week! He told me to think of it as “a sewing retreat at a local B&B.” No diapering, cleaning, or cooking. More like a well-balanced eat, sew, play, eat, sew, play, sleep, repeat kind of pattern. That was my life for 4 days straight. And, it was bliss.

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I spent my birthday week exactly where I wanted to be, doing exactly what I wanted to do, with my favorite two people only yelling distance away.

Number 001

When it was all sewn and done, it took 32 hours to make (about 8 hours a day). An interesting fact for planning another ‘no shortcuts’ dress. But, if I’m honest with myself, only 70% of that time was spent on making. The other 30% was spent:

  • Fretting over cutting into the Liberty. It was like one of those professionally decorated cakes that’s too splendidly crafted to slice.
  • Figuring out the construction sequence for attaching the lining of a mock-wrap bodice with midriff. The original dress pattern had only facings (which I left out) and no lining – so, without instructions, there was much staring and noodling.
  • Troubleshooting my machine until I realized my tension problems had to do with a bobbin holder I replaced crookedly.
  • Basking in the moment. Oohing, aaahing, and fondling the Liberty.

 

Number 001

If I make a dress under these circumstances again, I will plan for a full 32 hours of making (70%), fretting (10%), fawning (5%), and solving (15%). The spell of Liberty has worn off a bit by now though and my fear of linings is behind me, so my next version of this dress would take about 25 hours. A whole day with no sleep or responsibilities. Three, 8-hour working days. Or, in my case, one full week.
Number 001

I know it’s cliché to say, but this dress has changed my life. For real, y’all. I can’t stop looking at it or thinking about it. Just as I had hoped, it turned out to be THE dress. The one that represents my style and skills. It’s been hanging on the outside of my closet door ever since I hand stitched the lining to the zipper (a dressmaking milestone for me). Everything about it makes my soul smile.

Number 001

In 2014, I returned to sewing. Before the year ended, I made the dress of my dreams.