Shhhhhhh . . .

I put more wool knit fabric up at Etsy. It'll go quick so grab some if you want it!

Jalie 3669–Nico Raglan T-Shirts (for Dudes!)

Jalie released three raglan tops in their last collection. One of them is for men/boys and I’m really excited about it. I have a boy’s Kwik Sew pattern that has been bullet proof for me so far, but it only goes up to size boys 14. My son is almost 13 and I am quickly approaching the time when that pattern won’t work anymore. The Kwik Sew pattern is also not a raglan t-shirt, it’s your standard sleeve t-shirt. This is the pattern I’ve been wanting to fill in the gaps between boy and adult sizes. Well, maybe “fill in the gap” really should be “replace my Kwik Sew pattern” instead. There are not many great mens/boy patterns that fit well. I love Ottobre but they don’t have much for the tween and older set. Once he grows out of the Kwik Sew pattern, there isn’t much left. Could I have modified an existing Jalie Women’s pattern? Probably yes, but things get weird with a man’s broader shoulders and narrower hips. This pattern is exactly perfect.

My son measures in the size 9 range but the size 11 height. He’s a string-bean, this one. Anyway, I should have made the size 10 and added length, but I went with the size 11. You can tell it’s large on him. He likes it anyway though. The middle gray/green fabric is a wool blend and he is always cold so he is happy. This pattern has the option of a straight hem or a slightly curves shirt hem. This has the curved hem. It also has three sleeve length options.

It’s rare to catch this one in a smile.

More later!! I’m busy sewing up a storm lately. :)

Ottobre 04-2016 #30 Long Knit Tunic

I have a girly who is a tights and tunics kind of girl. She loves her sweatshirts and her cozy clothes. She occasionally likes to dress up, but mostly it is casual knits. When I saw these cozy tunics, I thought of her immediately and knew she needed them.

 

I used a Merino wool as the main fabric. I love this fabric in theory but every time I use it, it looks like pajamas. I have an adult t-shirt made out of this fabric and I don’t really love it either. I don’t know what it is. Maybe I just haven’t found the perfect pairing for it? In any case, the “pajama-ness” of this pattern doesn’t really help. So I’m not in love with this, but the girl is so that’s okay.

 

I appliqued wool leaves to this in the hopes that it would be cute. Instead, siiiigh. I just don’t love it. I should have use several different colors of felt like they did in Ottobre.

 

I used my new Viking and decorative stitching to make the raglan seams pop. I DO love this detail so that’s a win!

 

The stitches are literally perfect until . . . You know on a “normal” machine (one that is not perfect and shiny and new) you sometimes have to help the fabric run through the machine? Well, this is what it looks like when I was “helping”. Note to self: don’t help the machine. The machine knows what the hell it is doing. Leave it alone and let it do its business. I do this automatically so I really have to remind myself not to help it feed through the new Viking.

 

She loves it and wore it with her leggings. She is also proud because she knit this hat!! Like she knit it with no help from me because I do not do that. It would be like me playing basketball. It’s not pretty.

 

I love the pop of red with the light teal. She loves it because it is (literally) like wearing pajamas to school.

Next up? Some secret sewing that I’ll be able to share with you in a month or two!!!

Sew Over It–Heather Dress

Jeez, excuse my face here. I look pained but I’m not. I still need to find a good spot at my new house for photos. This is the new Heather Dress by Sew Over It. When Deepika posted on PR about how many people love it, I decided I needed it too. (Because I’m not a follower or anything.) I made the size 8 which is the smallest size. I used a brown Merino wool with not much stretch (like zilch!). Overall, I really like the pattern lines and the directions are great. You get a great looking pocket that is inserted in the seam.


You can see on me, that there is a bit of pooling over the butt, but that is my lovely swayback. I also did my typical 1” above the bust addition (it doesn’t disturb the armholes). Next time, I will sew the bust area seam lines with a narrower SA because that is where it is too tight. Although, I think in a stretchier fabric, this would be fine. This Merino wool has almost no stretch to it. The lower arms were particularly tight. Deepika did mention this in her review but I was like, "I have thin arms! It'll be fine!" Well, with my no-stretch wool and the too small lower arms, I could get my hands into it, but it was not comfortable at all. So, believe Deepika, the arms are too tight!!! 


I will probably wear it with a bright scarf like this.


Here you can see a bit of the pooling above the butt and you can see how tight it is over the upper back. I’m wearing this as I type and I can tell you it’s not uncomfortable at all. I do wish overall it was slightly larger in the bust and slightly smaller in the waist. Those are both very easy alterations. I would have ripped out the stitches and done a smaller SA, but it was impossible with the matching thread and the weave of this fabric.  Today I’m wearing it with dark tights, my gray booties, and a chunky scarf and I think it looks better than this picture.


On this dress, I used my new Viking machine for the entire dress. Even the hem is using a stretchy decorative honeycomb stitch. In this case, I think it looks kind of like a top coverstitch machine. I will be writing a review on that Viking because it’s a great machine!!!


In other news, our house is getting put together. I told each kid they could have an accent wall and they are all done now. My son chose orange to go with his rug. We just got his bed and furniture up this weekend. There is a small amount of trim work that needs to be done but the end is in sight!!