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Sunday, April 22, 2012

Spring Tops

I started to make several things this week to enter Rae's Spring Top Sewalong.  I found some great brown jersey knit at the thrift store, but it turns out it wasn't enough for a top for me from any pattern I had!  So, I ran to Joann's while the clearance items were still 50% off and bought some knit.  It's striped and I love stripes, but I had passed it over earlier because it's sheer-ish and not as "stable" as the knit I had used for the Renfrew.

Holy double hockey sticks (I think my mom reads this blog) was it horrible to work with!!  Lesson learned on working with more "stable" knits.  The fabric curled all over the place and stuck to itself (and everything else) like a suction cup.  I spent more time arranging the fabric for cutting and then pinning seams together than sewing.  I decided on a pattern from Tanya Whelan's book Love What You Sew.  There are several other patterns I'd like to try with better fabric.  The neckline gave me some fits and I ended up ripping out stitches and using some Lite SteamASteam2 (double sided fusing) to help secure the neckline and stitch it down.  It's just a quick and easy dolman sleeve type shirt (easy with better fabric).

Spring Top #2 - Everyday Knit Tunic


I finished just before we needed to head out, so I grabbed Phil for some quick shots and then decided to enter the Renfrew, too.  (Even though it is too small, like, really too small...)  So, I did get two shirts done and entered and that's been on my to do list for years (kinda like the 10-15 pounds....).


Spring Top #1 - 1st Renfrew


The lovely orange band is on my wrist from our Earth Day activity today - protesting the possibility of cutting down Stadium Woods for an athletic facililty on Virginia Tech's campus.  A cause my kids can get behind.

Tomorrow KCSC begins!  (I am already behind!)

4 comments:

  1. I was totally wondering about the band. I think it's great you are taking on challenges and making decisions. Keep learning so you can school me.

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  2. Beth, I've always been a bit leery of working with knits. Kudos to you for triumphing over the less stable one. The tops look great!

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  3. Good for you for giving it a shot! I always learn from each garment I make. Unfortunately, it's been so long since I've sewn any clothes for myself I'm afraid that I've forgotten evernthing that I used to know. I just continue to collect patterns like I'm going to do something with them one day :)

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  4. Came here from your Spring Tops flickr entry... it sounds like it was a pain to make but the dolman top looks fantastic! And hey, I live in Virginia, too!

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