Yet another one

I knit another top.  Yes indeed.  Knitting something takes approximately 1,000 times longer than sewing something, but I'm finding it strangely soothing as an activity.  It's so portable.

This is a pattern on Ravelry known as the "Grown-Up Tee", because it was originally published as a kid's pattern.  There are only two other projects for the adult version of this pattern posted on Ravelry, which strikes me as strange since this is kind of cute, and not hard to knit.


One modification I made was to add shaping to the lace section by using smaller needles above the hip, and reducing one stitch per lace repeat at the waist level.  It is *extremely* subtle since the 100% silk yarn (ColourMart again) is very drapey and the ribbed lace pattern does not really draw in, but in my imagination the blockiness of the pattern as designed (no shaping whatsoever) is avoided.  (To be fair to the designer, if this was knitted in wool as intended, the ribbing would naturally pull in to create the illusion of shaping.)

It is an interesting exercise to apply my sewing and fitting knowledge to knitting patterns. The pattern as designed is the same front and back, which would make for a very wide open and low-feeling back neck.  I added some short rows which start along the top of the sleeve to add approximately 2.5cm (1") to the back neck.  At left is a photo of the sleeve, taken from above, showing where the short rows start.  The line is approximately where the neckline as designed would have fallen.

I am going to my sewing room now to contemplate Claire Shaeffer's latest Chanel jacket pattern...

Light relief ... again

 Jeans are hard.  Not only was the fitting a challenge, as you know, but the actual sewing is physically demanding.  Denim is thick and tough to sew; there's lots of practical details like belt loops and topstitching, to be sewn through multiple layers, and there are metal zippers and metal rivets, and buttons that need to be hammered in place.  Assembling the main pieces of the jeans is relatively quick; finishing them off takes three times as long.

When the Sewing Lawyer has had it with a tough project it may be time for some knit tops.  Jalie always  seems ready to come to the rescue.

By lucky coincidence there were two dark brown-based knit fabrics in stash begging to be made up, and so another iteration of Jalie 2805 and Jalie 2921 (the scarf-collar top) came quickly into being.

Here's the latest version of 2908. The most interesting thing about this shirt is the print - the fabric is a fine rib-knit cotton/lycra printed with a VERY large and colourful swirly paisley motif (this was a Fabricland offering from earlier this summer).  The motif is larger than the front or back pattern pieces as you can see here (the fabric is lying on my cutting table; those are 1" squares).  I had two complete motifs plus parts - which became the sleeves.

I cut out the back with the print in this orientation (orange swirls at the shoulder) as you can see in the next picture, but the front in the opposite direction after a moment of angst about whether the print had a noticeable direction.

What do you think?  Not obvious?  Phew!













The scarf-collar top is, as any of you who have tried it will know, quite magical.  The instructions for the ingenious construction of the collar/tie are well illustrated in the pattern, but I was also lucky enough to see Jeanne Binet demonstrate how to make this top at PR Weekend Montreal.  I'm sure it works best with a thin knit; luckily that's what was on hand in the stash (a crepey polyester knit acquired at Couture Elle in Montreal, a few years back).  This is another big-scale print, but although one needed to be alert to avoid the dreaded big "bull's eye" on the upper front, cutting it out involved less angst.

I'm wearing the top with a vintage plastic buckle in this picture.  It also looks good threaded through the little hole in the CF (another genius trick in this pattern) or simply tied in a bow.

Another T-Shirt Interlude

Sometimes you just have to do what pops into your head, as long as it's legal and reasonably safe that is (the lawyer in me can't resist qualifying that statement...).  So I made this T-shirt.  The stretch lace was given to me by a friend and fellow-sewer here in the Nation's Capital, and the underlining was in the stash, the result of an earlier gift from another end of the country.  The fold-over elastic (FOE) also came from stash.  Oh, and I borrowed the pattern (from DIGS).  So that makes this little T pretty much cost-free, and it didn't take much time either.   

Like every other Jalie pattern I have tried, this is a winner.  Simple and it fits.  What's not to like?

And it's a fabric miser.  I might have had 70cm of this fabric.  There is a bit left over. 

Because the lace is sheer, I underlined the body pieces with a flesh-tone cotton lycra jersey.  The sleeves are just the lace.  The illusion is not bad.  I hate worrying about whether my undies are showing, and the wind won't whistle through it either.  So practical!


I finished the neck and sleeve edges with narrow FOE.  This is so easy it is just ridiculous.  I used a small zig-zag (1.5 x 2 mm).  Applying a very small amount of tension to the FOE works best. 

I traced size S, blending to T at the hip.  I cut the neck down very slightly, and cut the sleeves shorter than the short sleeve line marked on the pattern (but longer than the cap sleeve line).  I also cut the T shorter (used the size M hem line) because Jalie's Ts are always too long for me.  I allowed myself 1.5cm at the side seams for fitting because Jalie's 7mm (1/4") gives no room for error at all.  Because the fabric with underlining is a bit less stretchy than many knits, I needed the extra at the bust and hip.

Here is a close up of the lace fabric, with the hem turned up so you can also see the underlining. 

I AM going to cut out my jacket now...

I hope I have enough fabric for a coordinating skirt...

Interrupting the stream of sewing...

Here's an instant-gratification project.  It's nice to be able to take something from flat folds to finished garment in a few hours.  This is my second version of Jalie 2794, an all-round favorite on Pattern Review with (as of today) 58 reviews.  It was chosen as a "Best Pattern of 2008" and is in the "Hall of Fame 2009" (a prior year's "best of" with lots of continuing positive reviews). 

There's not much more to say.

Except, of course, that I made it to coordinate with my orange plaid jacket & black skirt.

Back to my muslins...