Cozy Winter Sweater Jacket

I love Vogue patterns. They're so well done in all ways. Directions, drafting, style....and this was easy too! Pattern # 8546. I presented my review here on Pattern Review.

Placket Demo

In the previous post, I talked about two dresses that I made recently. On the knit dress, I wanted a front opening. Here is a series of pictures and a little description. I'd call myself an intermediate sewer...with a gigantic streak of impatience. I find myself struggling between beautifully finished and quick and dirty. This placket seems to have a little of both qualities!


Measure the length of your placket. Here, I chose 4 inches. Note that I marked a little ways beyond the 4 inch mark. This is to give you a reference mark when we get to the end.



I stitched 1/8 of an inch away from the center line. As I got closer to the point, I made my stitches closer together and I tapered their direction to the end point (like a dart). Then, you cut down the center line that you drew.



You cut a strip of fabric double the length of your placket. plus a little bit just in case. The width depends of how wide you want your placket, or how big your buttons, snaps or velcro is. Here's how you line up your next piece...



Here are the pieces pinned together, with the binding strip on the back.



Stitch close to the previous V of stitches, being sure to taper them to the end point.

Here's where you press it so the binding piece sticks out...that amount depends on how large you want it.



Then, you stitch the binding down in the ditch.

Here's what the wrong side looks like...this is a non ravel-y knit fabric, so I chose not to finish the raw edge.


Now you can see the placket you have just created! Notice the black mark on the bottom of the placket...That's where I marked too far...and you can see it on the right side of the fabric. Be careful to keep your marks where you won't see them!


I topstitched the bottom through all layers, and the side through one layer....just like a fly front in a pair of pants. Easy, no?


Right now, I'm working on a turtle shirt for Amedeo. It's giving me some problems. Is it ok if I curse a whole lot as I'm making my child's garment? I hope so....

Okie Dokie Pink Dresses

I've been sewing like crazy lately and I am truly falling behind on blogging about the things I've been making. The seasons are starting to change, and I've already switched from summer to winter sewing. I just got a package of wool fabrics in the mail today. In my enthusiasm to get started on some cardigans, I slapped them into the washing machine (yes, on cold). Now it smells like a giant wet sheep upstairs. Anyways...let me finish telling you all about the end of the summer sewing. Here are two pink dresses...

Simplicity 3622

I've already made a red knit dress out of this pattern and it's awesomely comfy. This time, I chose a pink linen. The cross threads are orange and purple, so the fabric has a neat sheen to it with movement. I didn't have quite enough fabric, so I made it sleeveless.




Pink Dress #2...Simplicity 2863

This dress fooled me. I thought that it had actual buttons down the front. LIES! The buttons are simply sewn on the front of the dress to look as if there was an opening. Grrrr. One of the reasons I picked it was because I thought it would open in the front. So, I inserted my own placket. I'll put up my placket demo tomorrow. Even with the nasty no-button surprise, I love the pattern. It's easy and cute. The fabric is a medium weight cotton poly knit. I used the wrong side as my fashion fabric side in the hopes of preventing pilling. We'll see how this fabric holds up....I've been burned so many times by stupid, poor quality fabric. Keep your fingers crossed! If anyone knows where to go to get high quality knits....please clue me in!




Ha ha, pattern, I win this time!!!

Ok...so this isn't pink or a dress, but it is the latest thing to come off the sewing table. Burda pattern 7867.


This one should have been easy, but I managed to muck up the sleeve band. I gathered the upper sleeve only on the top of the arm instead of all the way around. Ah well, I made it work. The fabric is a very lightweight cotton and bamboo blend.



Look for the placket demo next...and hopefully some more winter stuff.