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

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

tessuti 2014 jaywalk competition - my entry

wow may is a busy month at our place - my eldest son (elvis) has his birthday and thanks to having a great bunch of friends from mum's group when our first bubs were born may is one long party month.  added to that a few kids from elvis' day care also have may birthdays, meaning at least one weekend day and sometimes both are taken up with parties.  i did get a chance to do a bit of sewing during may but not as much as normal.

one of the main things i worked on was my entry for the tessuti 2014 jaywalk competition. here's my entry, a close fitting dress with three quarter sleeves.  i used simplicity 2054, similar to the one i made in my recent post.

i made the front by cutting the black/neutral jaywalk into strips of various widths and sewing them back together.  i also used some black ponte for the sleeves and one horizontal stripe.  for the back i made a yoke and used the contrasting white/neutral jaywalk. similar to last time i made this dress i added back darts.

i sewed the strips together on my regular sewing machine using a small zig zag stitch.

i also used my regular sewing machine for all of the dress construction.  the one place i ran into a bit of trouble which i hadn't considered was at the neckline due to the bulk of fabric i created.  i used a walking foot here and it went together ok.

i am pretty happy how this turned out.  its great to challenge yourself and try something new.  i'm enjoying checking out all the other great entries - good luck everyone!

hopefully i'll be back soon to blog a few of the other things i made in may.

emma

a sewing schmorgesborg (a dress, a top and two skirts)

todays post is a sewing schmorgesborg of 1 dress, 1 top and 2 skirts.  i've been doing a bit of sewing lately, but not much photo taking.  so yesterday when it was 29 degrees in sydney in april i took the opportunity to dress up in the clothes i've made for autumn and winter and take photos.

first up is simplicity 2054, a cynthia rowley dress pattern for knit fabrics.  i have made this pattern a few times before and wore my black and white spotty version to the sydney bloggers meet up (see third photo of this post).

i got the fabric for this one from darn cheap fabrics in melbourne.  its a knit that is of medium thickness. i cut a straight size 10 which is the same size i have cut previously, even though i measure around a size  14 according to the pattern.  for this version however, given the thickness of the fabric i reduced the side seams to the edge of the foot.

i finished the neck and arms with black ponte bands and put 2 darts in the back to create shape as the pattern as designed is a bit baggy.  i also lengthened the dress a bit.

next is a grainline scout using the same altered pattern i used in the lurex mini challenge.  the fabric is a soft stretch sateen from spotlight that i bought with a birthday gift card from my sisters - thanks gen and caz! 

i constructed the top using french seams throughout and finished the neck and arms with some home made bias binding.  this top is extremely comfortable and great for work.

on to the skirts.  first up another deer and doe anemone in a cotton from darn cheap fabrics.  i love this pattern and was keen to make another after my first one.

i made this using the same alterations as my first one, but didn't try it on during construction as my other one fit so nicely.  this one is a little big as the fabric is lighter in weight than the ikea furnishing fabric i used for the first one.  its ok but i wouldn't be unhappy if it shrunk a bit after a few washes. i also made the length on this the largest pattern size, adding a fraction more length but still keeping it short.

lastly its new look 6228, which i have also made previously - wow it just occurred to me i have made all of the patterns in this post previously.  the black ponte part of this skirt started life as the cynthia rowley dress at the top of this post, but the black ponte was not very forgiving for my lumps and bumps so i never finished it.  i hate the thought of sending fabric to land fill though so kept it in a screwed up heap.

one day it occurred to me i could make it into a skirt, but it turned out i didn't have quite enough ponte to make the whole skirt and upon checking my other black ponte in the stash found that none matched. so i decided to go with charcoal ponte for the front side panels and black everywhere else.

i made this using a straight stitch on my regular sewing machine and used a twin needle for the hem. again this is a comfortable skirt which is great for work.

phew after all that i need to sew something from a new pattern.  lucky for me i did a tessuti pattern fitting class on the thursday before easter which was excellent and have a new to me pattern ready to make up in the next couple of days.

hope you had a great easter, i am just starting to think i should ease up on the chocolate...

emma