Jalie 2805

I am going to start with a rant about knits. This is more or less copied directly from the review I did for my new t-shirt on Pattern Review.

For years I did not sew with knits - it never occurred to me. In the last twelve months I sewed up Jalie's Clara leggings in three fabrics, as well as three knit camis (self-drafted) and two bikini bottoms. And it is pretty true, sewing with knits is not as hard as I used to think. BUT the decision-making that comes from choosing a pattern and a knit that 'go together' is mind-boggling. Sure I know how to measure my fabric's elasticity, maybe not super accurately, though! Then there is X % horizontal and Y % vertical... so many different permutations... so what to do with that information. How do you find the exact pattern for the fabric you have chosen, or how to find the perfect fabric for the pattern you have chosen?! And it is always a leap of faith to size up or down!

For this project (wearable muslin) I used fabric which I thought had more stretch than required. The end project is as snug as I want the next project... which seems to have less stretch....

Who wants to print out, or trace up various versions of the same pattern to accommodate different stretch? I made this t-shirt, and now I have to decide if the other fabric is, in fact, less stretch, or what! Both t-shirts are to wear mainly under my jumper, so it needs to be snug, but you still want it to be not too snug, in order to wear uncovered!

 Anyway, enough of a rant!

Jalie 2805 has so many options - I think buying the pattern was indeed a good buy - variations in neckline treatment and sleeve treatment... I am quite suprised by the finished garment of this pattern. It actually looks good! And even though I am not sure of the composition of the knit (called 't-shirt knit', bargain basement ends, $3/metre - but had to get it in two pieces of 85 cm!), it is really soft to the touch, but poly can be. I am hoping this t-shirt will be worn under the plaid 'Brownie dress' I want to make, (see combo in photo.) The t-shirt knit had a wonky selvedge, but there was also a bit of a visible 'grainline' so I lined it up by eyeballing it... I think I managed it fine! The t-shirt went together well, except for the turtle-neck seemed a bit snug. It is typical to stretch the neck-band to fit the neck in a t-shirt, to make it lay flat, but this was so stretched that you can see some gathers in the actual neck. So next time I should make it a bit longer. Not much, though!

I looked into wool plaids. OOF, pricey! I reached for some at a local shop, gorgeous, soft. $159/m, wool/cashmere. I could not justify that... especially since I don't have a lot of experience matching plaids. I saw some nice stuff online for $40 metre (washable wool), and before I saw the cashmere price, this seemed a bit pricey, but now - hey it is a gift! But I found some brushed cotton plaid for $10/m, and that sounded like a good starting point.

It will have to wait for me to finish a few more projects though!

  This is the bamboo rayon to make version 2 of this t-shirt. Possibly with shorter sleeves (not sure I have enough for the longer sleeves.

It is hard to tell, but this grainline was NOT at all straight!

It was suggested to me to stabilize the shoulder seams, so I sewed in a piece of nearly-matching linen. I think it works well!

I constructed the t-shirt entirely on the serger, except for the sleeve and bottom hems, where I used the mutli-step zig-zag of my Elna.

And in other sewing news, I finished PJ set number four, AND cut out the Mitchell trousers muslin... 

Even though 50 cm for the contrast pieces seemed like a lot - it was not enough to get all the bias tape this time. So I used the linen for the neck and hem bindings! I am including a photo of ALL that is left of the contrast!

For the Mitchel trouses... I had graded from a 4 at the waist to 8 at the hips. I thought I had done it right, then Closet Core published a guide on how to grade this pattern (because of the pocket and pleats it was possibly a bit less straightforward than other pants.) So I went back and checked out my pattern pieces, and realized, '"this will work." I woke up in the middle of the night and realized that I HAD done it wrong. I had the waist line graded, but along the pocket edge rather than the hip edge, which means the back and the front (along the pocket edge) may not line up nicely. Good thing it is just a muslin.

I bought this drapery fabric for the muslin. It is 100% cotton, but treated with anti-stain stuff. It will do for a muslin - hey it could even do for pants. But I am making a quick FITTING muslin, not a wearable muslin. Or that is the plan!