it's all about the fabric - pitt trading double knit (cynthia rowley simplicity 2054)

in my sewing i often seem to sew a lot of one type of garment for a while before swapping to another garment type.  at the moment its dresses, and more particularly the knit dress.

the fabric is a double knit from pitt trading.  i was drawn to the fabric as soon as i saw it on the pitt trading IG feed.  i wasn't able to get in store so called and ordered the fabric over the phone - the service was very helpful and quick.

the girl i spoke to at pitt trading initially called the fabric 'scuba like' when i was describing it.  i was a bit worried as i don't find thick scuba suitable for dresses, but she assured me it would be ok for a dress and she was right.  i have worn this many times already and the material breathes fine.  the fabric is also reasonably slippery so perfect for wearing with tights.  but the thing i love most about this fabric is the COLOURS!! the bright colours are perfect to brighten up dull winter days.

the pattern is my tnt for knit dresses - cynthia rowley simplicity 2054.  i have made this pattern many many times before.  i make a size 10 even though my waist and hip measurements are between size 14 and 16.  i vary the seam allowance width depending on the stretch and thickness of the fabric - for this fabric i used 3/8".  i also add two darts at the back to get a fitted result.

for this version i went for 3/4 length sleeves as i was worried that the fabric would not breath well - but as i said i haven't had any troubles with this.  the pattern has a binding for the neckline but for this dress i turned the neck under 1/4" and used a twin needle which worked out fine. 

so yes its definitely another 'no iron work wardrobe' win woot woot and yes i really need to make a grainline morris blazer as i only have one rtw work jacket and a whole bunch of cardys.

while i do love this pattern i am keen to try some new knit dress patterns too - next on my to make list is the named inari tee dress, hopefully i will be blogging one soon!

emma

a tale of 3 bloggers - cynthia rowley simplicity 1366

i love this make and i especially like that 3 bloggers from different cities made it happen.

firstly, the inspiration.  i was reading a blog post on how good is that? one day and i saw in the side bar a blog i had never read before effortless anthropologie so i clicked on the link and this was the post that appeared.  i love everything about the neoprene sweatshirt featured, the style, fabric design and how it looks dressy but that i imagine it would be very comfy.  i decided i wanted to make something similar but needed a pattern and fabric.

i thought about using a rub off pattern that i made from a rtw top, but it has long sleeves, a high low hem and a round neck.  luckily for me lily sage & co has made up simplicity 1366 - a cynthia rowley pattern recently and as soon as i saw it on her blog i knew it would be a perfect pattern to use.

lastly i needed some fabric. recently darn cheap fabrics posted a photo of some new spring neoprene fabric on IG.  both myself and lara of thornberry liked the fabric and as the fabric was not available online lara very kindly offered to pick me up some next time she went to dcf. I love how social media works!

so here's my top:

i made a straight size 8, even though my bust measurement correlates with a size 14 and my waist and hips with size 16.  i decided to go with a size 8 based on the finished measurements printed on the pattern and am happy with how it worked out - though during construction of my first 1366 i did wonder if i had gone too small!

the only alterations i made were to lengthen the front and back by 2 1/4" and shorten the sleeves by 3/4". i also used home made bias binding to finish the neckline, rather than use the pattern piece provided.

i used my sewing machine with a small zig zag for all of the construction.  the inside of this fabric looks fantastic too.

i used zig zag to hem the sleeves and bottom as i thought it suits the triangle cut outs.

yes there will be more of these tops, perfect for work and play.  have made 2 others in knit already (they are quick - like a couple of hours) and am keen to try some woven ones too.  perhaps at some time i will try a neck band, cuffs and a sloping hem like the anthropologie one too.

emma

cynthia rowley 2054 dress…again…but this time its sleeveless

i really do have a whole pinterest board dedicated to patterns for knit dresses, but i just seem to keep making this pattern up.  i can generally get a dress with 3/4 length sleeves out of 1m of fabric so its just too easy when in a fabric store to get a metre instead of wondering how much i should buy for a different pattern.

i got this fabric at darn cheap fabrics on a recent trip to melbourne (the trip was to see the afl grand final, but being a sydney swans fan the highlight of my trip was probably my 5 minute dcf visit).  its a polyester knit with minimal stretch that goes up and down the fabric as i have placed it.  personally i think the pattern would look a little odd if i had put the stretch cross ways.

construction is the same as my other 2054 dresses e.g. shoulder and side seams, back darts (i added these myself as the pattern does not contain them) and hems.  pretty easy.  for this dress i had to let the side seams out to almost nothing to make up for the lack of stretch.

i did cut some 3/4 sleeves the same as my jaywalk dress, but when i tried it on after stitching the side and shoulder seams i decided to go with a sleeveless dress instead.  i think this will work well for hotter weather given that the fabric is polyester and the dress is close fitting.

to go sleeveless i cut a few mm's from the armhole between the front notches and back notches.  i turned the hem under on both the neck and armholes and stitched with a twin needle.  i was a bit worried how this would go given the lack of stretch but am pretty happy with how it turned out.

now having seen the pics of the dress on me, for future makes i will take a bit more of a curve out of the front armhole.

although i am keen to try some other knit dress patterns i can see a few more of these being made for summer, particularly as they only take a few hours to knock up. 

emma