Not only can you convert it for the seasons, but I used a knit fabric! You may or may not know, but knits and I have not always been the best of friends.
Crinkle Knit Fabric
This one is a 70% polyester, 30% rayon crinkle knit with a lovely wavy creased texture to it. I used another Burda pattern, that I do believe NOBODY has ever sewn before, Burda Style 7512. I really liked the line drawings, but not so much the way the dresses fit the models, nor the fabrics they chose, so I was not sure what the result would be. But, I think the crinkle knit was an excellent choice! The cowl back drapes nicely and it top stitches with a twin needle well without stretching at the wrapped cross-over front, and the hem.
The fabric colour and texture and the fact that it is a knit, really allow it to span the seasons as being either a spring/summer or fall/winter fabric. So, that’s how I used it! Summers here are so short (and this one has been cooooollllllddddd!) so I really like a wardrobe that is easily converted for the seasons. This dress is my contribution to Heather’s Summer Sundress Sewalong.
The style reminds me of the new Colette Patterns Myrtle dress, except the cowl drape is in the back and the front is a cross-over style which I think adds a bit of joosh. The pattern calls for Vilene Bias Tape to be used on hemmed areas, at the crossover front, armholes and bottom hem, but if you can’t find this, you can just use knit stay tape or even cut knit / tricot interfacing into strips.
Check Out the Twin Needle Top Stitching! And, I Used Matching Over-locking Thread, Booyaa!
For those of you that like sewing with knits because it is faster, this may not be the pattern for you. You cannot sew the whole dress on your overlocker, and you are constantly switching from a stretch stitch to a twin needle on your sewing machine. You can’t save up all the twin needle topstitching until the end. Also, there are six straps as fabric tubes to sew and turn. Six!
I asked around on Instagram if anybody knew how to care for this fabric and consensus was that I sew test stitching samples. Good advice, but it sounded really boring. So instead, I sewed a yoga skirt with a slight A-Line and added fold-over elastic at the waist. This way, I could practice my stitch lengths, twin needle stitching, pressing methods and use of knit stay tape and still end up with a wearable garment. Bonus!
Yoga Skirt Instead of Test Sewing Samples
Psssst, did you happen to notice the change of artwork from spring/summer to fall/winter? It’s the little things…. 🙂
If you haven’t voted yet on ‘what is your favourite fabric to sew with’, be sure to go here and add it to the comments section! Chart forthcoming…
That was Neil Armstrong observing the Earth and finding it blue. February was #BlueFebruary around the sewcialist world where we had to sew with the colour blue. Blue is the favourite colour of all people. This is not surprising and likely why I found it so easy to complete this challenge. I would be stunned if any of you do not have blue in your wardrobe or fabric stash. But, there must be at least one, so go ahead, stun me!
I sewed the free Tee pattern, Deer and Doe Plantain. And, for the FIRST time, the knit fabric I chose, did not cause me horror, (OH, THE HORROR) and distress. Yippee! Gillian will be so proud, sniff.
The navy/indigo is a cotton knit, thicker than a jersey and the spotty blue fabric is a 4-way stretch cotton jersey, the same fabric I used for one of my Diane Von Furstenberg dresses. I also added sleeve bands, the same width as the neckband and a hem band, double the width, to make it look more like a tunic.
The one issue I did have was with the neckband. I raised the front neckline 1.5″ (4cm) before cutting and, therefore, shortened the neckband accordingly. I also interfaced just the neckband with stretch knit interfacing to try to keep it from stretching out too much. But, when I attached it, I’m not sure why, but the neckband was way too loose. I had to remove it and cut out a new neckband that was about 2″ (5cm) shorter, but same thing. So, I removed and shortened it by 4″ (10cm)! At this length, I really had to stretch the neckband to fit the neckline, but it was the only way I could get the neckband to lie flat. Is there a special trick to knit neckbands that I am missing? Please do share.
Garment Inside: overlocked seams and ribbon stay tape added to shoulder seams.
And, this is the very first garment I’ve sewn completely by overlocking/serging! I used the overlocker to stitch all the seams together as well as to attach the neckband and sleeve and hem bands and also added ribbon staytape to the shoulder seams. I have to say, it did make things go together very quickly! I made the smallest size with no alterations and added as much length to the sleeves as I had fabric.
Layering Contrasting Banded Plantain Tee with Blue Sweater. Me Likey!
Today’s Blogpost is brought to you by: The Colour Blue. Blue is the coolest colour (as in temperature, not as in happening, hip or groovy) and is the colour of the sky, ocean, sleep, twilight.
You might wonder why the Blue Tee stands out so dramatically against the orange wall.
Blue and Orange are Complementary Colours.
Well, blue’s opposite or complementary colour on the colour wheel is orange, which will make the blue ‘pop’. Blue gives a feeling of distance. Artists use it to show perspective. Blue is sharply refracted by the eyes. This causes the lens to flatten and to push the blue image back. We perceive that blue areas are receding and smaller. It is cold, wet, and slow as compared to red’s warmth, fire, and intensity. (To learn more about the colour red, go to this post.)
“An executive for a paint company received complaints from workers in a blue office that the office was too cold. When the offices were painted a warm peach, the sweaters came off even though the temperature had not changed.” – Pantone
La Vie
The Old Guitarist
Pablo Picasso’s “Blue Period” refers to a series of paintings in which the color blue dominates and which he painted between 1901 and 1904. The Blue Period is a marvelous expression of poetic expression and personal melancholy and also contributes to the transition of Picasso’s style from classicism to abstract.
In the meaning of colors, blue relates to one-to-one communication. Blue is conservative and predictable, a safe and non-threatening color, the most universally liked color of all and is often chosen by conservative people. This is a color that seeks peace and tranquility above all else, promoting both physical and mental relaxation. It reduces stress, creating a sense of calmness, relaxation and order. It slows the metabolism and can suppress appetite.
Positive aspects: loyalty, trust and integrity, tactful, reliability and responsibility, conservatism and perseverance, caring and concern, idealistic and orderly, authority, devotion and contemplation, peaceful, calm.
Negative aspects: being rigid, deceitful and spiteful, depressed and sad, too passive, self-righteous, superstitious and emotionally unstable, too conservative and old-fashioned, predictable and weak, unforgiving, aloof and frigid. It can also indicate manipulation, unfaithfulness and untrustworthiness.
Blue is the #1 favourite colour of all people.
53% of the flags in the world contain blue.
Blue is the most commonly used color in corporate identity.
A dark blue suit is common professional business attire.
Blue is used to symbolize piety and sincerity in heraldry.
Blue jeans are worn all over the world.
“I want to die with my blue jeans on.” Andy Warhol
Greeks believe that blue wards off the evil eye.
The color blue in many cultures is significant in religious beliefs, brings peace, or is believed to keep the bad spirits away. In Iran, blue is the color of mourning while in the West the something blue bridal tradition represents love.
Dark blue is the color of mourning in Korea.
The god Krishna has blue skin.
Blue is for a baby girl; pink for a baby boy in Belgium.
“Prince Charming” is called “The Blue Prince” in Italy and Spain.
Chakra:
Blue is the color associated with the Throat Chakra also known as Visuddha. This chakra deals with communication of how we feel and what we think and rules knowledge, health and decisiveness.
In colour therapy and colour healing blue is used to aid physical ailments such as inflammation, raised blood pressure and infections. Blue is used to treat mental and emotional ailments such as aggression, anger and stress. Blue is also used for physical and mental complaints related to the throat such as speech impediments and throat infections.
Blue in Speech:
Out of the blue: unexpected
Into the blue: into the unknown; not knowing what you are walking into
True blue: to be loyal or faithful
Once in a blue moon: an event that occurs infrequently
Blue ribbon: first place; to describe something as being of the highest quality
Blue blood: an aristocrat, royal or noble in European languages
Blue law: laws about morality issues
Blue comedy: jokes about socially taboo subjects
Blue language refers to using profanity and blue films is used to describe pornography.
Blueprint: a detailed design of an object or idea
Blue plate special: a special priced meal at a restaurant
Bluestocking: a woman with strong scholarly interests
To blue pencil is to censor
Feeling blue or A Blue outlook: to feel sad or unhappy; offering little hope; dismal; bleak
The Blues (music): The blues grew out of African spirituals and worksongs. In the late 1800s, southern African-Americans passed the songs down orally, and they collided with American folk and country from the Appalachians. New hybrids appeared by each region, but all of the recorded blues from the early 1900s are distinguished by simple, rural acoustic guitars and pianos. Most blues feature simple, usually three-chord, progressions and have simple structures that are open to endless improvisations, both lyrical and musical.
Blue Represents:
Communication: Blue relates to one-to-one verbal communication and self-expression.
Peace and calm: The color blue induces calm and peace within us, particularly the deeper shades.
Honesty: Blue is the colour of truth.
Authority: The darker the color blue, the more authority it has.
Religion: Blue is the colour of devotion and religious study.
Wisdom: Blue enhances the wisdom of the intellect.
Put some blue in your life when you want:
calm and relaxation to counteract chaos or agitation
to open the flow of communication
to broaden your perspective in learning new information
Jungle January, hosted, once again, by the vivacious and print loving lady, Anne, comes to a close today, on Chinese New Year! Gong Xi Fa Cai (pronounced King Hey Fa Choy in cantonese or Gong See Fa Tsey in Mandarin) means “happiness and prosperity”. And, Xtnnian hao (pronounced shin-nyen ha-ow in Mandarin or sen-nih ha-ow in Cantonese) means “Have a good New Year”.
It is auspicious on the New Year to wear red, hang red lanterns, give monetary gifts in red envelopes or write in red ink. Red is representative of fire and is believed to symbolize luck and ward off evil. Also, this is the time to set aside grudges against enemies and call off unpaid debt. Let bygones be bygones – if personal differences or financial obligations cannot be settled before the Chinese New Year, they shall be forgotten.
I sewed Lolita Patterns Gunmetal dress in an abstract art leopard print for Jungle January. I was lucky enough to win this pattern over on Melanie’s Blog when she was a tester for the Gunmetal dress. The pattern is for knits and is a lined princess seamed dress with option to add a sheer overlay. There were many pattern pieces and lettered notches, so when cutting the pieces, I used small stickers to label the various notches.
The pattern uses a tiny cap sleeve with the option of adding an elastic hem. I wanted long sleeves, so extended the sleeve to the desired length, using the same angle as the sleeve pattern piece.
Originally, I wanted to add cuffs and a hem band in a beautiful teal fabric. This fabric is a sueded microfibre knit and is also the devil. Do NOT look directly at it!!!!
Uh oh…MY RETINAS! THEY BURN!! I tried everything with this fabric, using a large sized microtex needle, using tissue paper strips, using various stitch types (lightening bolt, triple stretch, zig-zag) and a walking foot but nothing worked. It ultimately ended up damaging my new sewing machine. Ya. Luckily, I was able to take the case off the machine and pick out bits of thread and fabric and fixed it.
And, I could not use my overlocker to sew it as it was already damaged by the tissue knit fabric that I used for the lining. The overlocker pulled it into the feed dogs and seems to have misaligned everything. I don’t know how people sew with tissue thin knits, either on an overlocker or sewing machine, they seem very temperamental to me. And, is tissue-knit just another word for ‘only lasts through one wash?’ The fabric feels lovely but stretches out of shape almost immediately, especially the 4-way stretch knit, and just cannot withstand any kind of stitch ripping whatsoever and often gets pulled into the feed dogs. I would only use it again for a very simple, non-fitted pattern.
Anyhoo, despite this, I did add cuffs to the sleeves using a zebra print stretch knit that’s been in my stash for a while that I obtained from a sewing meet-up.
How to Sew a Sleeve Cuff: 1. Measure how long you want the cuff and double this. Next measure the desired width and cut out the rectangle. Sew the rectangle together along the length. 2. Fold the rectangle in half, right side out. Line up the cuff seam with the sleeve seam. 3. Match raw edges of cuff and sleeve and sew with right sides together. I opted to make the cuff tighter than the sleeve, so first gathered in the sleeve to fit the cuff. 4. Pull out cuff from sleeve and press.
I lined the dress in a 4-way stretch tissue knit, added black lace seam binding to the hem and sewed the seams with a lightening bolt stitch.
For the bodice, I did not make ruffles, but rather used 3 strips of black sheer organza ruffled ribbon for the middle and then added 2 rows of a teal lace to either side.
I found the neckline very low on this dress, too low for my comfort level to wear. I’m not sure if the 4-way stretch leopard print and grey lining fabric stretched during sewing or if it is because I am short-waisted. So, I added black fold-over elastic binding around the neckline and stretched it while sewing. This helped to tighten up and lift the neckline somewhat. I love the ruched side panels on the bodice!
And, Kitty, for his part in Jungle January, opted to sew himself a zebra print collar and tie. This project, along with the dress cuffs are my contributions to Stashbusting 2014, January’s Challenge, where we had to use stash fabric that was less than a yard in size.
Kitty Prepping His Collar and Tie Pattern
Colourful button added to the back of the collar.
Kitty Sends Up the Cat Signal
Do you want to sew a collar and tie for your cat? Ya, you do!! Here is the link for the free pattern and instructions. Make sure you measure your cat’s neck before you cut the pattern as you may have to add length.
Measure Kitty’s neck and adjust pattern, if necessary.
SO Handsome!!
Look At Mah Collah and Tie!
LOOK AT IT!!!
Zebras are ungulate mammals that are members of the horse family, Equidae, and are closely related to the domestic horse.
And, being the ever relevant cat that he is, Kitty opted to fashion his collar and tie out of zebra print since 2014 is Year of the Horse in the Chinese Zodiac.
Were you born in the years: 2002, 1990, 1978, 1966, 1954, 1942 or 1930? Then, you, my good friend are a Horse in the Chinese zodiac. Those born in horse years are merry, skillful with money, witty, talented and good with their hands. Rembrandt, Harrison Ford, Aretha Franklin, Chopin, Sandra Day O’Connor, U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt and Jerry Seinfeld were born in the year of the horse.
Strengths: Cheerful and perceptive. Very social, with high energy.
Weaknesses: Can be impatient and quick-tempered and independent to the point of excluding others.
According to Paul Ng, an astrologist and feng shui expert, horse people are entering a year of conflict in 2014. They are to pay extra attention to their health this year. Do not make any rash decision when it comes to personal finance and avoid gambling. Spend modestly and increase savings.
What animal are you?Kitty is the sign of the Dog. Makes sense, doesn’t it?
I really liked the line drawings, but not so much the way the dresses fit the models, nor the fabrics they chose, so I was not sure what the result would be. But, I think the crinkle knit was an excellent choice! The cowl back drapes nicely and it top stitches with a twin needle well without stretching at the wrapped cross-over front, and the hem.
The fabric colour and texture and the fact that it is a knit, really allow it to span the seasons as being either a spring/summer or fall/winter fabric. So, that’s how I used it! Summers here are so short (and this one has been cooooollllllddddd!) so I really like a wardrobe that is easily converted for the seasons. This dress is my contribution to Heather’s Summer Sundress Sewalong.
The pattern uses a tiny cap sleeve with the option of adding an elastic hem. I wanted long sleeves, so extended the sleeve to the desired length, using the same angle as the sleeve pattern piece. 
Gjeometry 