Knit Picky

I have fallen in love with sewing with knits!  I can't seem to get enough of knits.  This afternoon I went to JoAnn's and could not leave without at least one knit in hand!  With a grandmother and mom who were avid sewers/quilters I can't tell you what age I learned to sew. I always remember having a needle in my hand, but I really began to perfect the art of sewing after my first daughter was born seven years ago.  

I remember finding some adorable knit material on sale at Wal-Mart for $1 a yard and probably bought 5 yards.  I cut out my pattern and started to piece it together, but the material stretched all over the place.  I was frustrated and remember wanting to swear at the machine and threw everything away.  Luckily I kept the uncut knit.  As I was cleaning out material (Yes, I have to admit that I am a fabric hoarder!) I found the knit. I knew exactly what I wanted to make.  One of my first pins on Pinterst was a Razor Back Knit Dress, by Crafter Hours, which is perfect because I was definitely crafting after hours on this one!  I was so excited because the blog includes a tutorial and a PDF version of the pattern for sized 12 months to 8 years.  I made both girls the dress and they love them.  It is lightweight and so comfortable.  I am almost tempted to make several and use them as nightgowns or bathing suit cover-ups.  

I learned a lot while sewing these dresses together and thought I would share my journey along with a few tips that I have learned from sewing with knits.    

Since the pattern is a free PDF download, you have to print the pattern and cut out the pieces and tape them together.  This seems like a hassle, but each piece was marked and lined up perfectly.  I used double-sided tape to make the process go quicker.  I printed two copies of the pattern so that I didn't have to try to cut around the other sizes to get the 12-18 month size. (Something I do with a regular pattern printed on tracing paper.)

When pinning the paper on the knit everything kept sliding.  I was beginning to get frustrated again and had flashbacks of the last time I attempted knit.   To prevent everything from stretching out before I even began I placed my pins in the material against the stretch of the material.  That way my needle didn't keep pulling the knit.

Of course I had to monogram the girls' initials on the dresses.  I hate to hoop knit material because it leaves the burn marks where the hoop sat.  Instead I place pins all the way around the design.  I start with one  on the top and bottom, then left and right and then place the corners.  This keeps it from slipping off center and me not realizing until the last minute.  When embroidering knits be sure to use a good stabilizer.  I like to use a mesh or thick cut away.  Never use a tear away!  The knit is just not stable enough to handle it.

To keep the knit from stretching while sewing on the machine you can use a walking foot.  My Bernina has a built in walking foot that straddles the regular foot to help the material move on both sides.  I could really tell a difference with the walking foot engaged.  If you don't have a walking foot, or it is a hassle to use,  you can lift the pressure of your foot.  Most machines are set to a default setting that is too snug for knit and it doesn't allow the material to glide through like cotton does.  Check the setting.  I love my Bernina 830 because it has an auto adjustable foot and it releases the material if it senses too much pressure. 

It also helps if you have a knit stitch on your machine.  My machine has a crazy looking zigzag that allows the thread to stretch with the knit.  Some machines have what is called a jersey stitch that does the same thing.

If you don't have a jersey stitch, you are in luck!  You can easily set a zigzag stitch to allow for stretch.  I set my width at 2.0 and my length at 2.6.  I think I liked this just as much, if not better, than the stretch stitch.  The jersey stitch was tighter than I liked and it seemed to pull the material too much through the machine, but it wasn't noticeable in the end product. (I think it is supposed to do this, but I felt like I was messing up the dress while stitching.)  

You can also use a serger to sew knits.  I really liked using the machine for this project.  I always feel like I have more control on my machine versus my serger.  The seam also looked a lot less irritable on the machine than having the looped thread from the serger.  After attaching the ribbing I trimmed all seams to an eighth of an inch. 

Another part I dread about knits is applying the ribbing.  The walking foot made this step so much easier.  Once I tacked on the ribbing with the first few stitches I was able to stretch the material out as I sewed.  Be sure to keep the dress material from stretching, you only want the ribbing to have a slight stretch to it.  Don't pull it too hard. 

I did add an additional ruffle on to the bottom of the skirt.  I just sewed about 2x the length of bottom of the dress together.  I made the ruffle about 1.5" wide.  Since knit does not fray this ruffle was fairly easy.  I ran a gathering stitch down the center of the strip and gathered it up.

I pinned it on to the hem of the dress.  It really helps if you use LOTS of pins.  I place them about 2-3" apart.  I am the type that likes to skip steps along the way to help hurry the dress along.  This is a step that you do not want to skip!!!  I also skipped actually turning under the hem on the larger dress and that was a big mistake.  I am going to have to remove the ruffle and make a hem and place the ruffle back.  The ruffle apparently needs something stable to sit against.  Since I trimmed the underside after attaching the trim, the trim just folded on itself.  This might be too confusing to put into words, but bottom line, it looked bad!  The smaller dress I did I actually hemmed the dress according to the directions and then added the ruffle.  The bottom of the ruffle went just a hair past the hem of the dress. 

Upcycled T-shirt Dress

I came across this size medium Old Navy Shirt and and fell in love with the sleeves and mock slit down the front.  I have seen several really cute upcycled projects on pinterest and thought I would try my hand at it.  I was surprised at how quickly the plans for it came it along.  I had this dress finished in about 45 minutes and that included my time sitting and thinking of what to do next. Most sweater to dress tutorials I have found use the existing neck for the upcycled dress.  The neckline of this shirt was too large to do that, so I made ribbing to line the neck.

Before!

I placed a dress I knew fit my daughter and placed it over the shirt.  Since I am using the shirt hem, I do not have to leave a seam allowance at the bottom.  This shirt just did fit the length needed, so I cut across the arm seam of the shirt.

After cutting the top, I used the store bought dress to guide my armholes and tapper off the sides of the dress.  As narrow as this shirt was I probably could have gotten away with only cutting out the armholes.  I modeled the cutout after a peasant dress.  

Next, I cut the sleeves off the dress on the outside of the existing seam.  I then cut off the bottom part of the sleeves fit more snug.  This step also makes the dress easier to work with when putting in the sleeves.

Sew the sleeves to both the front and back of the dress with right sides together.  Repeat this step with the other sleeve.

Using the remaining fabric cut a strip the length of the shirt and about 2" wide.  This strip is going to be used as your ribbing for the collar.  Install ribbing around the neck of the dress.  To do this you will fold the ribbing wrong sides together and sew the rough edges of the ribbing to the rough edges of the collar.  You will stretch the ribbing as you go to help maintain body in the collar and give it some elasticity when putting the dress over the child's head.

The last step is to place the dress inside out and sew up the sides.  Start at the sleeve and stitch around the armpits and down the the end of the dress.  I used my serger to complete this step, but be careful around the sharp corners of the armpit.

In order to add some personal charm to the dress I added a flower at the top of the fake split in the shirt. To make the bow you will need a scrap of the shirt that is about 5" by 4."  I folded the bow with right sides together and stitched around the rectangle leaving a small opening tin the center of the bow.  Use this opening to turn the material right side out.  Don't worry about sewing up the opening in the bow.

Once the bow is turned right side out i folded the left and right ends of the bow together in the middle.  I used a zig zag stitch to hold the taps down in the center. 

I used a needle and thread to accordion style fold the bow and hold in place.  I cut a small portion of the ribbed cuffs and wrapped around the center of the bow sewing in place and then hand stitching to the front of the dress.   This dress was super easy to assemble and looked so cute on top of some black tights.  The lightweight material and the 3/4 sleeves allows this dress to be worn in both the summer and spring.   

Strawberries or Watermelon?

I bought this material a year ago and wanted to make a watermelon themed dress for my two girls.  I washed the fabric with all intentions of whipping out two dresses, but a year later I found it still sitting on my shelf.  To make it easy I just dressed up a basic pillow case dress pattern.  I found the armhole pattern somewhere on Pinterest last year. I wish I could remember where I printed it from and I would link it.  Now that it is finished though I can't decide, watermelon or strawberry?

For the 12 month pattern I used a third of the width of fabric for the width of the dress cutting out the armholes according to the pattern (basically a 4" long "J" shape), and half of the width of fabric for the size 6/7 dress and a 5" armhole.  After cutting out the material I serged the two side seams.

Next, iron the armhole raw edges under twice.  I tried to make this very narrow1/4" hem.) Sew the edges down.

Next iron/sew the elastic casing.  I normally use 3/4" elastic, so just be sure the elastic has plenty of room to seat flat in the casing.

Cut out the straps and front flat.  I made the front flap the width of the casing and about 5" tall.  The straps I cut about 13" long and 2.25" wide.  Fold each strap in half lengthwise and sew down the side seam.  Fold the front flap in half lengthwise, but leave a 1' opening on the top center of the strip.  Sew on all three sides leaving the center open.

Flip strapes and front flap right side out and iron.  Use a poker or blunt side of a pair of scissors to put out the seams.  Make sure the seam on the straps is running down the center back of the straps.  

To add the front flap I pinned the rectangle with the opening towards the dress.  I placed the flap on top of the casing and pinned in place.  I pulled back the flap in the picture to show you how slight the overlap is.

To thread the elastic you will need a safety pin and plenty of elastic.  The straps and front and back casing are filled with elastic.  I have made pillow case dresses by using ribbon and have found that elastic holds better than the ribbon and keeps the shape of the outfit. 

I don't like to cut elastic to a certain length when sewing.  I buy my elastic in bulk and don't like to leave extra throw away pieces.  To avoid this I threaded the elastic through a strap, the front casing, a strap and then the back casing.  It makes a circle of elastic.  Then I start on the back casing and pin the end of the elastic to the end to keep it from coming loose.  Work with the opposite end of the casing and wrap the strap around the elastic and sew it stationary.  Then allow the elastic to spring back in the casing.  Push it in if needed  Once the strap ends are no longer showing sew down the casing securing the strap in the casing.  I followed my armhole stitching to make it look neat and put together. I continued this method around the dress.   

Once I was back to where I started, I unhooked the safety pin and pulled the elastic out of the casing enough to sew it to the strap elastic.  Trim any elastic past the seam to avoid bulkiness.  To finish I pushed this seam back into the casing and secured with a straight stitch just like the others.

To finish the top I did a blind stitch shown below to attach the front flap to the armhole seams. 

To finish the dress I used my ruffler to make a pleated ruffle to go around the bottom of the 12 month dress and a solid green stripe to sew around the bottom of the 6/7 dress.

I was hoping that the 12month top would be more shirt length than dress length so you could see the cute bloomers I made to go with the outfit.  I just attached three layers of pleated material on the rear making them barely overlap.

I had some extra material left over and really want to make the girls a doll dress using the Oliver + S popover doll pattern.  I used the pattern for a birthday top for a friend's daughter and fell in love with the pattern!  Can't wait to post a picture of both girls with their matching doll dresses.