Category Archives: Sewing

Sewing patterns – knit cardigans

I’m planning a 6PAC (6 Piece Autumn Collection) together with a whole bunch of people in a Swedish Facebook group and wanted a cardigan in knit fabric to suit my plan. I will post my plan when it is finished. I looked around the interwebs quite a bit to find patterns I liked. As there seems to be others looking for patterns as well I thought I’d list the patterns I found plus I can easily find them myself since I only ordered the first three.

Jag har gått med i en grupp på Facebook – Sy garderoben – med en plan – där vi ska planera och sy en minikollektion, en s.k.  6PAC. Det är riktigt kul att planera och jag kände snabbt att jag ville ha en kofta i trikå med i min plan. Jag har letat runt endel efter mönster och har nu beställt tre. Då fler verkar leta efter koftmönster tänkte jag därför lista de jag hittat. Plus att jag lätt kan hitta dem själv när jag vill beställa fler. 

Here goes:

Simplicity 2560 – on its way to me

 

Jalie 3248 – on its way

 

New Look 6164 – on its way, although am not planning to make this cardigan, only the top and maybe dress.

 

Jalie 2912 – almost ordered this one. Maybe next time.

Simplicity 2603 – Like view B.

McCalls 6408

McCall 6084

McCall 5890

Simplicity 2148

Free pattern in size M

Project boxes

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Inspired by Sewing cake, two boxes came home with me from the latest trip to IKEA to use as project boxes. The idea is to put everything for a project in the box for easy access as the project progresses. In this box I’ve placed everything for the mei tai. The pattern is pictured in the book seen in the lower left corner. In the other box are the fabric and pattern for the next Renfrew.
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Jag blev inspirerad av Sewing cake och köpte två lådor när vi var på IKEA i veckan, två vita Kassett. Tanken är att förvara allt till ett pågående projekt i lådan så man inte behöver leta efter något och därmed kan använda sin tid mer effektivt. Hoppas det funkar. I den här lådan ligger allt till den mei tai jag tänkt göra och i nedre vänstra hörnet av bilden syns mönstret jag tänkt använda. I den andra lådan ligger mönster och tyg till nästa Renfrew.

Fabric Friday

Keeping the stash small is hard work. Two friends are having babies and we wanted to give them something. As DH is very kind and supportive he agreed that me sewing some gifts was a good idea. We found some awesome fabrics for the wee ones, fishes and racing cars. The most recent plan is to make blankets and so we also got some yellow velour for the “wrong” side. I’m also making a mei tai because Mini wants to be carried a lot and is getting rather heavy.

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Sources:
Fish and racer jerseys – tyglycka
Yellow velour, black twill and printed brushed twill- Stoff och stil

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Med en mycket förstående make så tyckte han så klart det var en bra idé att sy något till vänners kommande småttingar. Vi hittade jättefina tyger med fiskar och racerbilar. Nu har vi nog bestämt att det ska bli en huvfilt och dregglis så vi köpte även lite velour till baksidan. Det andra tyget skall bli en mei tai för att bära Mini.

FO Friday

My first Renfrew top. Am definitely making more. Next I want to make a Renfrew with a cowl neck in the left over turquoise jersey from the Eva dress – if there is enough fabric.

This fabric was purchased with a dolman top in mind. I cut the fabric and basted the shoulder seams to fiddle with the neckline. But it just did not look good. The fabric was not drapey enough and just had to wait for my Sewaholic Patterns to arrive. It was put together rather quickly. Since the fabric had already been cut for a dolman top there really weren’t room for sleeves. It’s not a perfect fit but for a first top it’s ok and I have worn it to work under a cardigan. I am still a bit worried that a seam will break or something when I put on a garment I’ve sewn. But it’s getting better.

Pattern: Renfrew by Sewaholic (link to pattern)

Fabric: wavy stripes printed cotton jersey from Stoff och stil

Thread: polyester from Stoff och stil

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Size: 8 graded down to a 6 at the hips

Modifications: skipped sleeves and simply pressed on some stay tape, folded and stitched with a twin needle.

Notes: In hindsight, I clearly did not check the measurements properly before tracing the pattern. Sure my waist is a bit wider than size 6 but there is 10 cm of ease at the waist. In a garment in knit fabric I never wear clothes with that amount of ease. So for the next one I’ll do a size 6 at the waist. I’ll measure the pattern to make sure it’s not too small. It’s a lovely pattern with great instructions – just make sure you read in the right place.

Quick delivery

When I started surfing the Web for sewing related information earlier this year, Sewaholic and her patterns quickly emerged as something I’d like to try. However, I prefer to shop from European shops. Both due to time but also cost of postage.

I was planning on buying from a UK based company, but the other day it occurred to me that I could check for the pattern in Sweden. A quick Google search later and three Sewaholic patterns were ordered from Fagert. Very quick delivery!

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First sewn garment since school

I made it on time! We went to DH’s childhood friend’s wedding last weekend and I just finished the dress the night before we left. It was a wonderful wedding and I really like the dress. It was a bit scary to wear something handmade in stretch fabric. What if a seam would break…But it didn’t.

Eva dress

Pattern: Eva Dress from Your Style Rocks

Fabric: Lightweight viscose jersey in turqoise from tyg.se

Thread: Polyester from Stoff & stil

Eva dress back

Started: May 2013

Finished: June 6 2013

Details: I used zig zag stitches for all but the hems. For the hems I used a twin needle. Used clear elastic for stabilisation of the back neck and shoulder seams.

Eva dress front

Notes: Even for a beginner sewist like myself  this dress is not too difficult although I bodge up the back neck facing on the second attempt. Tried to make it neater the second time but it ended up turning over. Since I made a hole in the fabric the first time I left it like that. The pleats in the back gives it a nice figure without too much work.

Wearing a knit dress is something new to me. It felt really nice and the fabric bounced as I walked. Like to try making one in a heavier fabric.

One step forward and two steps back

I managed to squeeze in some time to sew on the Eva dress. In hindsight I should have gone to bed on time and not stayed up late. image

One of the shoulder seams aren’t elastic enough. Need to fiddle with the stitch settings. On the other two seams I used clear elastic to stabilise. But it also helps with the elasticity. Need something better for the rest of the seams.
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Unpicking was difficult and before I finished there was a hole in the fabric. Luckily I bought enough fabric, planned on making something else. Guess something else will be smaller than previously thought. Ah well, back to the cutting table floor.

Many steps before sewing

There are a few things that you have to do before you can sew. Especially if you want to make something from an e-pattern. First, print the pattern and piece it together. There were 48 pages. They did not fit on the table so I had to do one piece at a time.
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Second, transfer the pattern to pattern paper and cut out all pieces. I used Swedish tracing paper.
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Third, cut out the pattern pieces in the fabric. The fabric does of course need pressing before you lay it out.
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This was the first time I cut something this big in knit fabric. Was a bit worried, but it worked quite nicely to just weigh it down. And to avoid the fabric stretching I worked on the floor. The scissor in the image was only used for clipping the markings. I have a bigger one for cutting out the fabric.

First item in knit fabric

I’ve been wanting to sew for a while now. Apart from it being nice to make stuff I think the idea that I will be able to make more FOs by sewing compared to knitting is stuck in my mind. We’ll see how that turns out.

Anyway, I bought a course on Craftsy about sewing with knits but what really did it was when I found the Eva dress pattern. To boot it’s free. So I ordered some fabric and some essentials like stretch needles online. Every thing but the fabric arrived on Friday two weeks ago. So I managed to convince DH that Mini needs a new cap more suitable for spring.

That Sunday morning I managed to sew my first FO in knit fabric. Less hassle than I thought there would be.

Pattern: My own. Measured Mini’s head and drew a pattern on a A4 sheet.

Fabric: Cotton Jersey from Stoff och stil with printed cows.

Thread: polyester

Machine settings: Narrow zigzag, B on my machine. Width 2.5 and length 0.5. 0 pressure and 2 in thread tension.

Notes: If I do this again the shape of the cap needs to be more narrow at the sides and a bit longer. After washing the fabric curled a lot and that was difficult.

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Also bought some striped fabric  to make a Dolman shirt.