I definitely have to make another one of these.
I’m wearing the first one I made almost every day now. (Its so warm and comfortable…and the color goes with everything!) Mill Direct Textiles
has some stretch fleece in a few different colors. (The Rainshed is
also a good source, though the last time I ordered they only had one
color in stock.)
Just finished this today:
First thing I’ve made recently. I used a taupe stretch fleece from The
Rainshed. I will say it isn’t one of my better projects. In general I
don’t like working with knits, and this one was twice as hard to work
with because of the thickness.
I had some issues with the zipper. What ended up happening is I didn’t
account for the fleece being a four-way stretch knit, and the zipper
ended up being lopsided. I ended up chopping off the uneven part of the
collar and using some binding around the raw edge to disguise the
unevenness. Looking back now I should have interfaced the front before
putting in the zipper. It works, but it could have been a lot better.
One thing I do like about it is the fit. It is a bit hard to tell
from the picture but in person this is fairly fitted and very
comfortable. I did go a little larger on the bust than usual because I
wanted to make sure there was enough room for layering.
Notice anything about the Vogue V2987’s top and view A of Kwik Sew 3497? Seems to be a popular look this season.
On a side note, that Vogue jacket looks like a very challenging project. Just look at all of those seams on the back!
Just finished these last night:
These were made out of a 2-way stretch rayon jersey (96% rayon, 4%
lycra). I got it from fabric.com – just do a search for “stretch
rayon jersey”.
I made some different design changes this time. I love
lace waistbands, so I used stretch lace instead of elastic on the
waist. Nothing fancy this time, just serged together in the back
and topstitched to the body with the cover stitch machine, then trimmed
the excess fabric. For the legs…I don’t have black plush lingerie
elastic on hand, only the plain kind. I noticed on my Calida
bikinis that the elastic is cover stitched on the outside instead of
turned under (like the instructions recommend). Of course I don’t
have the same quality elastic they do, but it is nice nonetheless so I
cover stitched it on the outside, then trimmed like I did for the
waistband.
The only thing I might try different next time is drafting the
leg holes lower, and making the stretch lace in the front a V instead
of going straight across. I’ve seen this on a ton of RTW panties.
I think they turned out really, really nice. I’m glad I
bought that bolt of 10 yards of this rayon, because it is perfect for
this project – very thin and soft, with a silkier feel than plain
cotton/lycra jersey.
As with most projects, the two-way stretch worked out better for
me than the four-way. They seem to stay in place better.
I’m starting to wonder if four-way stretch jersey is all it is cracked
up to be. It is much easier for me to make fashionable tops out
of the two-way stretch stuff. It can be difficult judging knits
and how well they will work for a pattern since they vary so much with
thickness and degree of stretch. I also noticed I’m getting
better results now that I sew with knits with a maximum of 6%
lycra. Usually 4% or less works best for what I sew.
This is my second time making this top, though this time I did view A:
This time I used a two-way stretch rayon/lycra knit (50% stretch
across the grain). I also drafted the pattern a half size smaller than
recommended. This time it came out very form-fitting, but it looks
good. I would definitely need to go up a half size if I used something
less stretchy. The only thing I would change next time is to snug in
the armholes a bit. I ended up using 3/8″ lingerie elastic instead of
clear elastic on the arms/neckline because of the trouble I had with
the clear elastic sliding everywhere.
This top works well with more delicate knits.
These are View B of Kwik Sew 2908. I drafted, cut, and finished
these in a few hours. I made them out of a mint green rayon/lycra
jersey; the fabric content is 92% rayon, 8% spandex:
I
love them! I highly recommend using a rayon/lycra knit. It is still
breathable like cotton, but has an extra sheen, and clothes seem to
slide over it a little easier. I’ve made these before, but this is the
first time I’ve used this type of knit. I also used my Baby Lock Evolve
machine. Have a coverstitch machine makes knits so much quicker and
easier to work with.
A few things to note about this pattern:
Read the full pattern review.
I made View A, the longer shorts. I added 1″ to the hem to give it
an inseam of 3″ instead of 2″. I made it out of a cotton/lycra
bottomweight. It feels almost like a cotton satin…I’m not sure what
it is. But I got it on clearance for about $1 or $2.
I also interfaced the fly. I made a special pattern piece just for this, which is shown below:
Read my pattern review here.
Just completed Kwik Sew 3524 with the View A neckline but View B length. I used a midweight red cotton/lycra print from The Rainshed. It is so comfortable…I love it! This is my first project using the Baby Lock Evolve.
Read the pattern review here.
I’ve been instead going through my sewing and fabric stash lately,
and picking out the interesting stuff: silks, linen, twill for shorts.
I also found a Wicking Fabrics Color Swatch Set from The Rainshed that I ordered last year.
Coolmax
Doubleplay knit can be described as a cross between a regular t-shirt
knit and mesh. It isn’t as soft as a t-shirt knit, but is easier on the
skin than a typical mesh. It is as light as a feather, with tiny
mesh-like openings and a shiny finish. Be careful when sewing seams
with this one, since it doesn’t recover well from picks. The texture
also makes it difficult to see stitching. Otherwise, it is stable and
can be sewn on the serger like any other knit.
I have a good
friend that bikes a lot during the summer, so I wanted to make him a
t-shirt that would be breathable and keep him relatively dry. I ended
up using Kwik Sew 3299
as my pattern, and the red Coolmax Doubleplay Knit in The Rainshed’s
wicking fabrics collection as my fashion fabric. It was a quick
project, taking less than two hours total to complete. He loved the shirt. The fit matched the pattern photo shown in the PDF
- not too loose, not too tight. He said it is so lightweight that it
feels like he’s not even wearing a shirt, while at the same time
wicking away the sweat. A year later, it still looks like new. This is
good stuff!
Now that it is in the mid-90’s during the day, I
wish I had ordered some more for myself. There’s lots of nice little
knit summer tops in the latest Burda magazine, and most call for a
2-way stretch knit (like the Coolmax Doubleplay). Usually I shun
polyester, but Coolmax is one of the exceptions.
This weekend was good for sewing - class is out and once again I
have a few days to work on projects! This weekend I completed
View B of Kwik Sew 3497. Basically it is a knit tank top with a wrap-over front. Shown below is the pattern drawing from kwiksew.com:
and here’s the finished product:
Since
the camouflage knit I used was more like a t-shirt knit than a jersey,
it was a little too beefy for the clear elastic to stretch like it was
supposed to, and minimize gaping. I ended up doing a Sewing 911 type of trick, and tacked the neckline in place with a few invisible hand stitches, and put a rosette on top.
I’m
definitely going to make this top again, just out of a more delicate
knit that is more sensitive to the pull of the clear elastic.
.