Saturday, June 30, 2012

The sweet satisfaction of easy projects!

It’s my second day of summer holidays, and already I’ve gone on an epic fabric quest roadtrip AND made up three quick garments! Now that I don’t have to teach everyday, I’m not feeling like wearing woven dresses as much… so bring on the comfy knits!


#1: Stripy Tank


Quick Jersey Tank


Inspired by the awesome Renfrew tank dresses made by Andrea from Four Square Walls and Mela from Pincushion Treats, I decided to give a Renfrew tank top a try. I didn’t have much fabric though, so mine is just a shirt! I’ve been liking the loose a-line shape in the Wiksten/Tiny Pocket tanks that everyone has been making lately, so I thought I’d give that a go too! I’m not sure it’s the *most* flattering shape on me, but it sure is comfy!


As Andrea suggested, I used narrow bands to bind off the neck and arms… but I was a bit stuck on how to do the hem. I haven’t figured out all that stitches on my serger yet, so I did some kind of strange fold-fold-serge-open technique that I adapted off a YouTube video. Wish I remembered what it’s called, but you can see a better example in my second shirt!


#2: Kimono Sleeve Tee


Quick Kimono-Sleeved Tee


I got this fabric for $3.50/m yesterday in Fabricland, which was a big surprise: Usually their knits are either awful or expensive! For this shirt, I just traced around a RTW shirt, then used the Renfrew pattern piece to cut a scoop neck out in the front. I did that weird fold-fold-stitch-open thing on the hem again, with looser tension in the needle threads which gave it this exposed “ladder” stitch on the outside. I still want to figure out how to do a better seam finish, but this will do for now! 


I’ve got one more gift project to sew before the day is out… Back to the sewing room! 


**Edited: Yeah, so that gift project… I only had 50cm, so I tried to cut perpendicular to the grain… and 2 seams it, it was clearly doomed to be way to small. Oh well. Lesson learned: Respect the grainlines!**

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