BurdaStyle Cowl Neck Jersey Top

A sleeveless summer top in double jersey with a cowl neckline.

In fact, this fabric was purchased to be a dress but the fabric had other ideas. It is part of my knit jersey stash that I bought way back in the summer.

I'm afraid that the 2 yards I ordered, and was charged for, turned out to be closer to 1.5 yards. When I decided that the time had come for the dress to unfold, I discovered that it wasn't going to be enough. The knit is crooked and the fabric yardage wasn't there. A single layer dress in fabric this thin would not have been pretty so I faced facts and made a top instead.

I realised how many patterns were at my disposal, now that I have a copy of Burda Style so I had a look and quickly found what I was looking for. Sleeveless, double layer, stretch fabric. Pattern tracing is not something I enjoyed, but I look at it as the price to pay for this many patterns for $9.50. I had to go over the outline with a black marker to be able to see it through my (gift wrap) tissue paper. I added a 1cm seam allowance.

The top was super-easy to sew. Cutting out the knit was the second hardest part (after the pattern tracing). I now use a layer of computer paper under the knit fabric and the needle-jumping has become minimal. I learned a new construction technique for enclosing seams within a lining - the first that are fully enclosed with all machine sewing. I'll be trying it again for sure, although I don't know if it will be as easy with cotton which is thicker and stiffer. It requires a bit of reaching through tunnels of fabric. The thin jersey lends itself to the cowl neckline perfectly and the neckline means no need for nice finishes or exposed seams. Perfect!

I've left the hem unfinished but I now have a twin needle so I am going to hem it. The pattern is also a bit too large and I am going to go back and take in the top pieces of the side seams.

Final cost: $20 (unless I make something else from Burda)

For the record, the pattern is BurdaStyle 11/2013 Dress 112, I made a 38, but the arms feel a little large.

Re-hemmed Angel Dress

 

As promised, I re-hemmed the white dress into a more suitable length post-nativity.

Knitted Christmas Tree Decorations

These Julekuler were the perfect way to try my hand at stranded colour knitting. 

They are small enough that it feels like making a sample, and they come together quickly, but you actually have a result at the end.

I bought some polystyrene craft balls to stuff them with. I like how they give a perfectly round shape, which toy stuffing just would not achieve. My gauge ended up being right for the 7mm size.

The pattern I started with is called Balls Up! Ravelry link here. I ended up drafting or modifying designs to fit the number of stitches. There are loads more I want to make. I like the red backgrounds better, on the white there is more likelihood of the darker yarn showing from underneath.

Merry Christmas! X

Angel Dress

 
My big girl isn't going to want to dress like this for too much longer, so it is lovely for me that she loves dresses like this.

She admired this fabric at the Isle of Wight so I got 3 meters. I knew it would make adorable children's dresses and now that I've worked with it, I've seen that it is very versatile. I could easily wear a summer top in this. Maybe 3/4 sleeves, or a cute Sorbetto. It needs lining or underlining but it is lovely and soft and hangs well. 

The school nativity play was just the deadline I needed to get on and actually make the dress I was planning. Luckily she has been cast as an angel. I've left the dress really long, almost floor length, and I will shorten it after the play to a more suitable dress length.

I used the trusty Cottage Mama Party Dress as my pattern block. The pattern came up pretty small in the chest and length. She has grown fast, so I have now re-drafted a bodice block for her current 6-7 yr size. The pattern length is the reason there is a cummerbund around the dress. I'm pretending it's a design feature. Actually, now that she is bigger, a plain bodice would look overly large in a plain-ish fabric such as this so I do like the feature that the band adds. I can see a lot of puckering in the pictures so it could have done with some lightweight interfacing. I top stitched over the band as well as around the armholes and neckline.

I'm getting better at installing invisible zips. I am so pleased I splashed out invested in an invisible zip foot for my machine. It is truly worth it. I almost got the two sides to line up evenly, I only had to take a little nibble out of the back neckline afterwards.

As I knew I would after my last post, I steeled myself for lots of skirt unpicking and reduced the skirt circumference by half. It is now 140cm around, which is one width of the fabric. I'm so pleased I did. The fabric is so delicate and light that less really is more with this dress. Plus, in white, with that fullness of skirt, there was a real danger in her being mistaken for a 6 year old bride, instead of an angel!

I used up the last of my plain white cotton for the lining and planned ahead at Mood with an array of invisible zips.
Fabric:<£5
Lining: stash
Zip: $1 
Total: about £5.50

Christmas Gift Bags

How about these as an alternative to wrapping paper?

 

I've been thinking about the idea of fabric gift bags ever since I saw SouleMama's a few years ago. The ultimate reusable gift wrap.

Christmas fabric is so cute. I love the gold paint, it really brings it to life. You can get about 4 bags from one meter of fabric. Mine are sewn with the drawstring on the long edge but you could save some ribbon length by putting it on the short edge. I French-seamed the side seams, left 14cm open at the top, sewed a little seam in there, folded over and seamed the channel for the ribbon.