Sewing with knits, a beginner's evaluation

Back in February, when I finally unpacked my second hand serger, I was not convinced I would enjoy sewing with knits. Seven months after this Start the serger post, and twelve knit garments later, it is time to make up my mind. Do I like sewing with knits? Place your bets!

Let's start with my thoughts on the Bernina 1100 D. It behaved well, from the very first moment on. Which is more than can be said about it's owner, who may or may not have used some inappropriate language in the sewing room while threading the beast. 

Really, I felt like the biggest klutz in sewing history. Determined to master the situation I kept threading and threading over again for about two hours until I got the hang of it. I never had a threading issue after that. Also: no breaking needles, no fabric eating or other incidents during those seven months of serger joy.

So technically it was a success. Yet I'm not completely sold.

As I said at the start of this experiment, I don't like fast sewing. After making some easy skirts and shirts I was missing the feeling of accomplishment, of making bespoke one of a kind garments with nice details. That's when I started to bring some of my favourite techniques into the mix. After whipping up a Moneta dress in a few hours, I wanted my next dress to be more of a challenge. And it was! Stretch lace, underlined bodice, french seams for the skirt and a hand stitched hem.

It's the most 'me' garment I made during this test period and I'm wearing it whenever I can. 

Although I may not get overjoyed by sewing knits, I do like wearing them.

Initially I thought sewing simple tees was a waste of time. Why bother? But after making a Deer&Doe Plantain shirt I completely changed my mind. This was so different! A relaxed (and forgiving) fit, sleeves that ended where I wanted them to end, nice details and a loud print. Just because I could pick whatever I fancied!

When it comes to fitting with knits each fabric will behave differently. Lots of variables have to be taken into account. The amount of stretch, mechanical- and yarn stretch, vertical stretch, weight of the fabric and more. In The Colette guide to sewing knits the advice is to fit as you work. I find that hard, especially when it comes to creating the right neckline. With my frame I look massive when the neckline is too high, on the other hand a neckline that drops too low can be pretty indecent when you're blessed with a large bust. Fitting a bodice can not be done properly without knowing how much the neckline and waistline will drop once you've added the skirt. It's interesting to compare pictures of Moneta dresses, made by bloggers in different fabrics. Fabrics with little stretch result in high necklines and short skirts, too much vertical stretch and you'll end up with lots of cleavage, a dropped waist and a midi skirt! Making a test garment is only useful when you use the same fabric you're planning to use for your final garment. That's not a very cheerful thought when you lay your hands on some beautiful but expensive knit fabric!

All in all I've learned a lot about sergers and knits and there's a lot more to investigate. And I will! The serger will stay for sure. Must make more Mabels and Monetas.

And Plantains, and... Yet, I don't know how to put it, something is missing. 

If you force me now to push one of the three buttons above I'll pick the middle one. I like the garments I've made so far cause they're easy to wear in everyday life. But when it comes to sewing, for me it's not the destination but the journey that counts. Seeing a garment come to life little by little, going through your reference books to find a new technique. Nothing beats daydreaming with a fine needle in your hand!

Maybe I need to find a balance. Sew up some knits for quick wardrobe fixes, alternated with slow and mindful sewing projects? 

Testing Lekala 8004

During my search for more knit patterns I discovered the Lekala pattern company. For those of you not familiar with Lekala: you pick a pattern from their large selection, send them your measurements and within minutes you receive a printable PDF of the pattern of your choice. Customized for your size. Sounds too good to be true, right?

Time for some testing. Lekala offers some free patterns, to convince sceptical sewists like me. As it's serger month I kept it simple, though you could also pick a free pattern for a wedding dress, a teddy bear or men's trousers. I selected Lekala 8004, a faux wrap knit top.

The printed pattern was glued together a few weeks ago while I was watching Olympic speed skating.

Some quick tissue fitting told me something was off. The horizontal seam that is supposed to sit under the bust went across my widest part. Needless to say this is not a good look. Hey, wasn't this pattern supposed to be customized?

Well, the blame is on me. I sent Lekala my height, bust, underbust, waist and hip measurements but overlooked the adjustments section. If only I had told them about my 'increased breast width' they would have known what they were dealing with. Since the placement of the underbust seam was my only worry I executed a vertical only FBA, as per Sham's instructions.

From there it was a quick and easy make. I added clear elastic in the shoulder seams and used a twin needle for the hems, just like I did in my Plantain shirt.

I bought a nice plaid for a pencil skirt to go with the top, but it will have to wait in the sewing queue till autumn.

Right now we are enjoying some bright and sunny spring weather, and some surprisingly early polka dotted guests in the garden. 

I will make another Lekala pattern soon, just to see how adding those optional measurements will influence the fit. But for now I'm already impressed. Although at 1.73 m I'm not particularly tall, I'm just slightly taller than the average height most companies draft for. It's nice to have just that little bit of extra length in the arms and bodice and the overall width was spot on.

Happy sewing!

Deer and Doe Plantain

Each day is full of challenges for the serger newbie! For my second project I chose the Deer and Doe Plantain t-shirt. Fitted at the shoulders, flaring at the hips with contrast neckband and elbow patches. The pattern is a free download and can be found here at the website of the small French pattern company that offers 'jolis patrons de couture'. And nice they are indeed!

The recommended fabric was a light jersey with a stretch percentage of 40-50%. Do I smell trouble? Like wobbly overstretched seams and baggy shoulders? Careful sewing ahead!

To avoid stretching out of shape I stabilized the shoulder by incorporating clear elastic in the seam (pinned in the above picture).

I was quite pleased with my first ever neckline band:

Although it's a little wider than I intended. It turns out I'm not as accurate on the serger as I am on the sewing machine. Something to do with not really knowing the exact spot of the stitching line, but as you can see I'm working on that issue. Testing 1,2,3.

Stitching the elbow patches and sewing the sleeves was an easy job and there were no fitting issues whatsoever.

Time for the scary bits! How would I manage to get nice hems without s-t-r-e-t-c-h-i-n-g? 

I bought a twin needle for stretchy fabrics, put the walking foot on my sewing machine and did some test runs. Argh. Skipping stitches. Changed to a universal twin needle. Better. Changed the walking foot for a standard foot. Bingo. Winning combination.

This is how the sleeve hem turned out:

While watching the Craftsy course 'Sewing with knits' I picked up another trick for hemming knits: use Steam-a-Seam to glue the hem in place before stitching. Steam-a-Seam was nowhere to be found in the Netherlands so I used the Dutch equivalent Plakgoed. Not quite the same, but it worked well on the bodice hem as you can see below.

One more picture of the back:

Le Plantain, c'est fini!

I'll be back modeling the shirt, but for now I'd better move on with all those winter fabrics.

Spring is just around the corner!

Start the Serger, day one, first project

I did it! My first serger project: a skirt in black jersey. 

There's not much to tell about the construction: threading the serger took almost twice as long as sewing the skirt. (Room for improvement on the threading part but thanks to all your great tips I hope to set a new personal best time tomorrow). I found a tutorial by Portia but whether it was due to my hip/waist ratio, my fabric or my technical skills, I had to redo the waistband. I cut some extra 4 inches off  and it still feels a bit loose. But it's a promising start!

Next experiment : a Deer & Doe Plantain top. To be continued!

Start the serger!

Some time ago I bought a second hand serger. I put it away in a safe place until my sewing room was finished. Fast forward one year and I still have not used it. What's keeping me from serging? Am I scared of the fabric eating beast?
Nope. I'm fearless. In the sewing room, that is.
If an experiment fails there's always more fabric. Then why is this beauty still unemployed?

The reason is I'm not really attracted to sewing with knits. I don't do fast sewing.
There, I've said it.
I like my garments either fully lined, or with French seams or Hong Kong finished seam allowances, with hand picked zippers and invisible hems.
I don't like whipping up a knit dress, skirt or jacket in a few hours. Although I never tried.
That's right. I never tried.
Maybe I should.

So here's the deal. The next month will be all about experiments with the serger.
If I like it, I will have learned some new tricks and sew happily ever after.
If, after that month, I still think the serger is a waste of space I will sell it, invest the money in Linton tweed and silk charmeuse and sew slow projects happily ever after.

Last week all fabric salesmen on our local market dumped their winter fabrics for 1 euro/meter. Since I had no knits in my stash I went a little overboard:

From February 20 till March 20 I will be serging my way through this stuff and learn all about 2-, 3- and 4-thread overlock, flatlock, narrow seams and roll hems. I've got my Bernina manual ready, the Craftsy course on beginner serging, two reference books and some patterns.

You can place your bets now. Will I have a new best friend, or will I give the darn thing it's walking papers?