I enjoyed listening to Lori’s “Sew Forth Now” podcasts so much, I have been inspired to improve my sewing skills with knits. I pulled two different types of knit out of my stash. It’s sure nice to put my sewing time into things that are really worth my while because I get so much use out of them.
The first was a thin green jersey-type knit. It’s very fluid and very stretchy. The second is a black, velvet-type. I think the type is something like a stretchy devore velvet.
I’ve written before both in my blog and on Crafster about my experiences pulling this pattern together. These tops are the fifth and sixth ones I’ve created with this concocted pattern or a variation of it. I expect I will keep working with it and intend to try more new ideas with neckline, shape, sleeve style and length. The more familiar I get with one pattern, the more it helps when I work with different types of material.
I make a neckline facing for this like a regular woven facing. I’ve been experimenting with how to sew down those facings. With the heavier knits, the rib knit and the fleeces, I did two rows of straight stitch, similar to what I’d seen in some purchased tee shirts. When I got to the jersey I ended up adding a thin voile ribbon all along the underside, a length of grosgrain ribbon across the front, also underneath, and three courses of stitching to make it stiff. The first line of stitching was straight stitch. The second two were a feather stitch. I did the black top second and did the feather stitching right off. That was enough to stabilize it. I also used that same stitch on the sleeve edges and hem of the two tops.
In the case of the green top I found that the neckline stretched out too much and it didn’ hang well. I decided to make the extra material a feature and made the little tuck in front. I really like that tuck now.
The pattern for both is same one I created and wrote about on Crafster and also at
1) Sewing: Goodbye Winnie-The-Pooh, Sweatshirts
2) More Stash Sewing: Three New Tops
Great tops.
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