Blue Jewel

Another knitted FO, and another Wendy Bernard pattern. This is Jewel, from Custom Knits.

A lot of my favorite knitted garments are made from Wendy Bernard patterns. For me, she's got a nice balance of do-able and challenging. I've heard that, in science, the key is to pick a problem that's complicated enough to be interesting but easy enough that you can solve it. And so it is in knitting.

Jewel has a bit of fancied-up ribbing at the top and bottom, and the rest is stockinette with a bit of waist shaping.

The top is actually supposed to be longer, but I ran out of yarn, so I cropped it by popping on the bottom band just after finishing the waist decreases. As long as I wear it with high-waisted bottoms, I'll be fine.

I used 6 skeins of Llana Grossa Binary, in a kind of steel blue color. I scavenged it from the Four Buck Bucket at the Swift Stitch,  here in Santa Cruz. That Four Buck Bucket gets me every time.

I've made this pattern two times before. I'm giving myself some bonus points for this version because I think I finally figured out how to do the crocheted crab stitch edging on the arm scythes. Thank you, YouTube!

I'm a miserly yarn-buyer, which is why I so often end up having to figure out how to do something useful with 600 yards of yarn. Lucky for me, sleeveless shells end up being pretty wearable here on the Central Coast.

My Ravelry notes are here.

Two More for Knits Month

Knits Momth is just about over on the Stashbusting Sewalong. It's been a fun ride!

I churned out a couple more items in my final days:

These shorts are from the June, 2014 issue of Burdastyle. They're shorts #116a, but made at the length of #118. According to Burdastyle, "These jersey shorts with elastic at the waist ... and practical side pockets, are everything that Pattence needs at the shoreline to pair with her bikini." No bikini for me, though. I was aiming for some loose, comfortable shorts to wear while I'm mucking around in the garden.

I made my usual Burdastyle size 38 at the waist, grading to a 36 at the hip.

They certainly are loose and comfy, plus there are nice big pockets to hold a trowel or a packet or two of seeds. Flattering, maybe not so much. I knew they were meant to have plenty of ease, but somehow they looked trimmer on the model in the magazine. Maybe because she's a flat-stomached 20 year old in a bikini?

They were easy to sew up, even though I did initially put both back pieces in upside down. So glad I noticed before I trimmed and finished the seams! And I was glad that I was using a regular straight stitch instead of the stretch stitch. Made that unpicking so much easier.

My pattern review is on SewingPatternReview.com here.

Photo bombing Zoe

I also made up a quick version of Burdastyle 04-2015-103 (Top with Shoulder Straps). I couldn't resist the squared off arm scythe and the pleats at the shoulders.

Can you see the arm scythe?

The pattern is intended for a woven, but I had a piece of this bright chartreuse jersey that looked just big enough, so I gave it a shot.

Burda wanted you to apply bias binding at the neck and arm scythe and then turn it inside and stitch down. Since I was using a knit, I tried to handle it more like the neckband on a tee shirt. It worked out OK in the end, and if I make this again in a knit I'll know how to manage it more gracefully.

Back view

I would like to try the pattern in a silky woven sometime. It's a nice, simple style and it ends up being pretty easy and breezy to wear. Plus, it doesn't use much fabric, so it's a nice little stashbuster. Next time I'd add a bit to the length and I might try fiddling with the princess-esque side seams to give the top a little more shape.

My pattern review is on SewingPatternReview.com here.

This brings my knit stashbusting efforts to 2 Renfrew tees, 1 Santa Monica tee, 1 Gertie knit pencil skirt, 1 Burdastyle tee and one pair of Burdastyle shorts. I was hoping to slide in some undies, but my Beginning Underwear Sewing class at Hart's was cancelled (cue sad trombone). I was looking for some expert tips on applying lingerie elastics, but I'll have to soldier on alone. Luckily, there was a nice little set of instructions on the Colette blog this morning!

Stashbusting Challenge 2015

Announcing the June theme for the 2015 Stashbusting Sewalong:

Knits!

Click here to read all about the Sewalong

Yes, June is all about knits. You know you love them. Even if you don't sew with them very often (or perhaps at all?), I bet you wear them all the time. Tee shirts, yoga pants, underwear - nothing beats a knit when you want that second-skin comfort. And when that hot, summer weather hits, a knit dress or top in a nice, natural fiber is just what the doctor ordered.

The knit stash - smaller than it used to be!

Why did I volunteer to be the host for knits month? I can tell you that it's not because I am a skillful or experienced knit seamstress - I'm still a newcomer.  What I am, though, is an enthusiastic and accomplished stasher of knits. Knits were probably about 75% of my stash when I began the Stashbusting Sewalong in January. I've been diligently chipping away at the knit shelves over the past 5 months, so I'd say the proportions are now more like 50-50.

Oh, what the heck. I'll just come right out and admit it; I've bought some knits over the past few months too. I just can't say "no" to a good knit, especially if it's a great color or print.

Got these at the Tilton booth in Puyallup. The devil made me do it.

If you're comfortable working with knits, jump on the bandwagon and dive into your knit stash! You'll be glad you did. Especially when you throw on that new tee or maxi skirt and head on out to the beach. Or, if you're a Southern Hemisphere sewist, when you cuddle into that soft, warm cowl-neck Renfrew...

If you are a bit of a knit newby, here are  couple of knit myth busters that might encourage you to give sewing with these fabulous fabrics a try:

Don't you need a serger to sew with knits? No, you do not! I don't have a serger and I can sew up most any garment I want, right on my Babylock Craftmaster. My seams might not look quite so pretty on the inside, but knits mostly don't fray. Practically speaking, you don't need to finish those seams at all. And as far as hems, I often don't hem my knits at all. Remember, those edges don't fray, and no hem means less bulk if you're going to tuck in that top.  If you do want a hem, your regular sewing machine can handle the job just fine, especially if you throw in some stabilizing hem tape.

But you do need a special stretch stitch, right? Again, no! My friend Martha has recently been sucked into sewing. She's been turning out super cute tee shirts on her grandmother's Singer Featherweight.

I recently took the Craftsy class on the Ultimate Tee, taught by the Tilton sisters. I learned that, unless you're sewing something with negative ease (like a swimsuit), you can just go ahead and use your straight stitch. My machine does have a stretch stitch (a.k.a. lightening bolt stitch) but I rarely use it these days. The straight stitch is quicker, uses less thread and is much easier to pick out (not that I ever need to do that).

So, toss that stash and pull out your bits of knits! And remember to share the inspiration on facebook and flicker!

Style Arc Barb and Still More Knits

I finally tried my first Syle Arc pattern and I have to say I'm a believer.

Front view

The Clothing Engineer very kindly pointed me to a joint promo by Style Arc and Threads Magazine offering a free PDF download of the Barb stretch pant pattern. I'm the kind of gal who does not look a gift horse in the mouth. I hopped on over and signed up right quick.

Side view

Style Arc offers their patterns in a single size only. I decided to go for the size 8, even though my hips would put me in a size 6. I didn't want the fit to be too snug. The 8 matches my waist (more or less).

Rear view

What a happy surprise to find they sent me the size 6 and the size 10 as part of my bundle! Instead of printing out the 6 and the 8 and trying to merge them, I just went with Plan A and used the straight size 8.

The PDF was set up differently to what I've seen before. The pages printed so that the pattern lines overlapped at the bottom and the right edge of each page and it wasn't necessary to trim the edges to match up the pattern lines. Does that make any sense? I could just lay the pages out and tape them together with no sicssors required. I had to be a bit more careful to line things up because the print lines didn't go all the way to the edge of the paper, but the whole taping part went much quicker.

Top tucked in so you can see how high the rise is

Looks like I've hemmed these a bit too long. I was traumatized as a teenager by a pair of too-short pants so I still struggle with hemming issues. Otherwise they came out just as I hoped they would; slim but not skin tight and really comfortable to wear. The waist comes up to my true waist, which is just the height I prefer. I could see myself wearing these pants with a shirt tucked in - something that is almost never the case for me with an elastic waist. The pattern calls for 2 inch wide elastic, so the waistband sits nice and flat.

I've admired StyleArc patterns for some time now, but hesitated to put in a order because I wasn't sure of how their sizing would work for me. With one size per packet you don't have much fudge room. Now that I've tried them out, I feel like I can order with confidence.

My pattern review is over on PatternReview.com here.

And, in other sewing news, I made a quick stop by Backstitch over the weekend and gorged myself on more knits. 

Deanna with my pile of goodness

I feel a tee shirt orgy coming on.