Well matured fabric/pattern

Double knits are great to use when you're building up a new wardrobe, or are refreshing an established one. This is a Lincraft pattern from way back, possibly 15 years.

The story behind this trim is this - I bought some cushion covers for the dining table and the cushions were held together with this ribbon. The idea isn't anything new but I thought that I should challenge my skills a bit.

I've kept the details close to my face, so the style is kept simple and clean. The jacket is interfaced with texture weft, to give the jacket more durability.
I wore it last night and it's comfortable and a nice layer to wear in the cold. I did notice the the back needs more shaping so I'll work on that in the coming weeks. For now, this is a nice addition to my winter wardrobe.

Knit or woven?

This fabric came from The Fabric Store. I bought it in November with a view to playing with it for winter. It's a chardonnay/verdehlo fabric.

Because I have a couple of pair of brown boots, they finish this dress off really well.
This fabric is a double knit but looks like corduroy. This seams must be overlocked. I was fooled into thinking that they would be fine, unfinished.



I originally left the sleeve hems unfinished because the selvedge is on the sleeve hem looks like a really short fringe. Since wearing it for a day, I've overlocked and finshed the sleeve hem.

Sewing hints

• foldover elastic was used for the neckline.


• The seams are overlocked.


• seams great was used on the shoulder seam


• I've reinforced the sleeve head.

The brown knit jacket is coming up next, using fabric from Knitwit direct (7 years ago). Definitely a red wine fabric.

Animal instinct - giraffe

Animal prints are not my scene, especially tiger/leopard prints. The humble giraffe is much slower and definitely my kind of animal.

This fabric was on the bargain table and it suits my sewing buddy, but I loved it, so we both have this print in our stash/wardrobe.

Birds of a feather, flock together...



Sewing hints
Seams great on the shoulder seam.
Twin needle hemming

Cycling + elastic

I finally brought out my winter cycling gear and low and behold, the waistline elastic died on me. Unpicking overlocking/serging is painful but I didn't want to buy another pair of longs.

These longs are now back in my cycling wardrobe and they still keep the wind off my short little legs.

Now to get back to some real sewing. I have a couple more brown outfits to come...

winter greys - kwik sew 3378 and 2683

I had some time on the weekend to finally make these tops for my winter wardrobe. Many of my tops have a v-neckline and they're flattering but they let me down when it's cold and I have the sore throat that signals an oncoming head cold.

These fabrics are all soft knit that have 10% wool and 5% spandex and they are from one of my favourite places - Pitt Trading. I have a habit of doing reinforcing stitching on the sleeve head to strengthen the sleeve/neckline shape.

These fabrics were not bought to mature like good red wine. They're the chardonnay/verdehlo types that needs to be made now - so I have made them up.

This top is really comfortable to wear and I really enjoyed wearing it on Saturday. They are now part of my layer basics.

Sewing hints

There wasn't a full length piece to make the sleeve, so there's a seam near the elbow.

I've used seams great on the shoulder seam for reinforcement.

Double needle was used on the necklines and the hemlines, when the thread didn't break. Otherwise, I've zigzagged the hemlines.

No seam finish was used.

Winter warmth - Kwik Sew 3617

Here's the fabric that I bought at The Fabric Store in March. I liked the colour, fabric print, fabric feel and level of spandex in the fabric. Spandex ensures that the fabric doesn't bag to quickly. The downside, is it can make the fabric feel harsh or cold.

I enjoyed making this pattern up earlier this year as a dress and this fabric gave me the opportunity to build a brown knit top to go with the layers I wear in the winter.

As you can see, the fit is very relaxed and it's comfortable to wear.

After attending an Industry day, I'm still not interested in quilting or patchwork. What I did do with this pattern and fabric was to use another brown knit fabric to embellish the neckline.
With the amount of sewing gadets I have, it seemed wasteful not to use the cutting board, blade and ruler to prepare the bias piping. I used some webbing to iron the piping in half so it was easy to use on the neckline.