Vogue 8663 - Teal Knit Dress

These photos (much belated, I'm afraid) are of a knit dress that I made back in late January/ early February. I haven't posted them until now because I'd hoped to take better ones, but as it looks like I probably won't be taking more in the near future, I'll just let my dress form do the modeling for this post. ;-)



The pattern for this dress is Vogue 8663, from the Very Easy Vogue collection. For the fabric, I used a teal cotton/spandex knit from Spandex World, basically the same type of fabric that I used for the Jalie camisoles (the color is actually a bit darker than shown in these photos).



As simple as the dress is, I did make some changes to both the pattern's fit and construction process. First, I made my typical short waist adjustment to the pattern tissue, removing 3/4" at the lines provided. Next, when cutting the material, I used size 10 for the upper bodice and sleeves, but left a little extra room in the side seams but cutting between sizes 10 and 12 on the bodice and skirt panels. I also eliminated the center back zipper by cutting the back pieces on the fold and added several inches to the hem, as well.

When assembling the dress, my construction differed from the instruction sheet quite a bit. I wasn't so sure about finishing the neckline with woven bias tape as suggested, so I tried experimenting with a 1/4" with clear elastic. Unfortunately, it did not work well and left me with a distorted and over-stretched neck opening. In the end, I decided to pick out the elastic and salvage the dress by stitching a self-fabric band to the neckline.



Aside from the neckline, I also changed the order of the garment construction. Instead of completing the bodice side seams and setting the sleeves "in the round" before adding the skirt, I started with the shoulder seams and neckline treatment. Next, I hemmed the sleeves and set them into the armholes, leaving all the side seams open until after I added the skirt panels, so that I'd be able to stitch the sleeve seam, underarm, bodice side seam and skirt side seam in one continuous line. This sequence simplified the assembly by making it easier to maneuver the panels through my serger -- especially when setting the sleeves.

When all this was complete, I did go back and tweak the bodice fit by taking in the front of the side seams at the underarm, to eliminate a bit of bagginess. Afterward, all it needed was a bit of trimming at the hem or a more flattering length.



Standing alone it was a bit plain, so I tried accessorizing the dress with a belt as illustrated on the pattern envelope. . .



. . . which really made a difference!

All in a Day's Work

Just a few shots of a knit top I made for my sister this past Saturday. I had some extra material left over from my scarf-collar top, so I put it to good use by cutting out another top from Simplicity 4076, identical to my orange version here. Since I had found a solution to my sleeve troubles with the last shirt, it went much faster this time, and I was able complete it in an afternoon (granted, I had already cut out the pieces for it earlier in the week). It looks like this just might have become a "tried 'n' true" pattern for me. :-)

More "Sewing with Jalie"

Since I've been working with knits more, lately, I've been trying to fill in some of the "gaps" in my wardrobe that I wasn't bold enough to face with my own sewing in the past. I have been needing some camisoles to pair with my tops, and since I liked the Jalie pattern that I used to make my scarf-collar top, I figured it couldn't hurt to try using 2564. This pattern calls for fold-over elastic to bind the top edges and make the straps, with the option of stitching it in place with a zig-zag stitch or a cover-stitch. The serger that I have cannot do cover-stitiching (it's a four thread), so near the end of last year I purchased a separate machine devoted to this purpose. Most of the work on these tops has to do with attaching the elastic, so this project has given me quite an opportunity to use my "new" cover-stitch machine and learn how to adjust the tensions and troubleshoot some threading issues.

Below are two tops I've made so far. The first one I left unlined and basically used to test the fit. Afterward, I made a second casmisole with a few revisions.





When making my first camisole, I cut it to the size that matched my bust measurement, as directed, though I made the top edge about half and inch higher to suit my preferences. The fit was okay, but the elastic was a bit snug at the underarm and the neckline needed a little tweaking to achieve the shape I wanted.
To be truthful, I think these two issues may be tied to my being somewhat smallish compared to average upper body sizes, so on a fuller busted person, this top would likely be filled out so that the neckline and elastic would fit more like the pattern photo. In other words, I don't think these are flaws in the pattern or its chart for elastic lengths; these are my own fitting quirks.



For camisole #2, I tried the lining, which worked nicely. I also made the neckline a little higher and the slightest bit more rounded. The changes in the neckline shape really aren't apparent when modeled by my dress form, but it does make a difference in the way they fit me ;-)
I did also allow for a little more slack in the fit of the elastic by increasing the cutting length and made the garment an inch longer, as well. Here's a peek at the lining:



I used fold-over elastic to finish the bottom edge of the lining, rather than regular elastic. When I first tried to attach it, it started to stretch out because it wasn't any shorter than the perimeter of the lining's edge, so I took in the elastic a little.

Below is my third camisole, waiting to be sewn. If you look closely, you can see my modifications to the front of the pattern.



For materials, I used a cotton/spandex blend from Spandex World and found the fold-over elastic and the bra slides at Sew Sassy Fabrics.

I'll try to keep things updated here as often as I can. I've been a bit busier now since I've been taking on sewing projects for other peolple. So even if I'm not posting here much, I am still sewing and hope to share a few pictures of a knit dress that I made sometime soon.

My first Jalie pattern

This is a top that I made over the holiday season and was my last "finished object" of this passing year. I've been wanting to get more practice with sewing knits on my serger, and since Jalie 2921 has earned many positive reviews, I though I'd give it a try. Here are my photos:



There is a scarf that is connected to the neckline that offers several tying options. Here I have it threaded through a slit in the front, and then knotted into a faux "gentleman's tie."





I used a cotton/polyester knit from JoAnn's . . . to be honest it was a little cheap, and as I found when cutting it out, the "horizontal" stripe was not perpendicular to the selvedge. Oh, well. It worked well enough to test this pattern; I cut the garment so that the stripes would be straight, and it still worked out in the end. The photos make the lighter stripe look blue, but it's actually a mint green color.

The pattern is fairly simple to put together, though I had a few tricky moments stitching the center front seam on the serger, since it has a slit left in it for the ties. Aside from this, though, it went together well and I really like this pattern. For those who are interested, I've included more information in my review for this top at PatternReview.com.

Another Knit Top

Here's my second version of Simplicity 4076. This one has the same cut as my first top, in respect to the neckline and lengthened hem (see the details here), except this time around, I allowed a for bit more ease and tried a sleeve variation.





The fabric is a bright orange, cotton/lycra jersey knit from Fashion Fabrics Club. It actually has a bit more stretch than the material for the last top, and it's also "slinkier" than the other because it stretches in both lengthwise and crosswise directions. I pretreated it by machine washing and drying it twice to eliminate any significant shrinkage.

To construct the top, I followed the same basic steps as I did for the last one, but I wanted to have a little more wearing ease in the armhole and side seams, so I stitched using a 1/2" seam allowance instead of 5/8." Also, to stabilize the shoulder seams, I used clear elastic instead of seam binding.



When I altered the pattern for the sleeve, my original intent was to gather only the top part of the sleeve. I altered the pattern as pictured below:



My plans changed after I'd hemmed and set the sleeves; their fit was looser than I'd hoped, and they were a little droopy. :-( I decided to pick out the hem stitches and gather the lower edge to a band, similar to the finish of the neckline. In a way, I'm kind of glad it ended up happening as it did because I actually like the sleeve bands better.

Brown Knit Top

This is a brown and tan printed top, which I completed early last week, using Simplicity 4076 (view D) and a length of polyester jersey. As evidenced by the other projects I've posted, I haven't sewn much with knit materials in the past, mostly due to negative experiences in which my machine stretched them beyond recovery. Late last year, however, I was able to acquire a four-thread serger/overlock machine, which, coupled with a need for more tops and blouses, has given me a bit of incentive to try knit fabrics once again.



Pattern Changes
Since this top basically fits like a T-shirt, I didn't really need to make any fitting adjustments; my focus was more on learning to construct a garment with knit fabric. I did lengthen it by nearly three inches at the hemline, though, as well as bringing up the front of the neckline slightly. To raise it, I cut the neckline along the line for the largest size at the center front and blended it with the lines of the size ten, as shown below.



This caused the neckline opening to become slightly smaller, so I trimmed the neckband piece by about 1.5" to 2" to compensate for the loss of length.


Construction
When constructing the top, I followed the instructions provided with the pattern, except for the portion on setting the sleeves. The pattern recommends assembling the sleeves and main part of the garment separately, then setting the sleeve "in the round," but I found it easier to hem the sleeve, set it into the armhole, and then stitch the underarm and the garment's side in one continuous seam. When the seams were complete, I pressed them toward the back of the garment and topstitched them in place at the hems of the sleeves, as often seen in ready-to-wear (the topstitching is barely visible in the photo below).



Working with the Fabric
Prior to stitching into the actual garment pieces, I spent some time testing scraps of the fabric on both machines to become more familiar with the knit material and adjust the stitches and settings. Once everything was finally ready, assembling this top was fairly simple.

When sewing all of the seams, I used a four-thread overlock stitch on the serger. With some of the seams, such as the neckline and armholes, I found it helpful to set the differential feed at 0.3 to slightly ease in the fabric. The easing didn't show in the finished garment because the fabric was only being eased enough to counteract the stretching that would have been caused by the feed dogs, had they been at the normal setting.

When working with the sewing machine, I used the straight-stitch foot for the basting and topstitching; the foot's narrow hole for the needle helped prevent the needle from pulling the fabric up and down. In order to prevent the fabric from stretching too much, it also helped to reduce the the pressure of the presser foot. The hems were sewn with a twin needle, using a stretch stitch - not the triple-stitch type, but one that greatly resembles a zigzag stitch, where the needle doubles back with each stitch it takes forward. Finally, I also hand-wound a bobbin with wooly nylon thread to lend the hems a bit of stretch.

In Conclusion, I think I actually had a bit of fun experimenting with knits. It seems that once the stitching and construction issues are resolved, this type of material can be somewhat forgiving in the way it fits the body. Aside from preferring just a tiny bit more "wiggle room" at the side seams, I'm pleased with the outcome of the pattern. And since it never hurts to get more practice, I might just find myself using knits again in near the future. :-)