As much as I love to sew for Ella, she does not always love what I make her. I never know what I am going to get.
I can either get this...
The real reason is that Ella loves knit! She would wear a knit dress every single day! So, any time I make her something that is not knit, I am taking a big risk. Because if Ella does not like it (even if I get it approved by her before I make it) she will not wear it, or at least there will be a lot of tears the two or three times that I force her to wear it because I made it.
The problem is I rarely sew with knit. For two reasons really. 1. It is very difficult to find cute, reasonably priced knit that makes it worth the effort. 2. Knit is very different to sew with! And I am very far from perfecting it! But since Ella (and now Sara Wells) loves knit so much, I have been reading up on it lately. The more that I read, the more I realized most people got their knit fabric from old t-shirts. So I thought, if everyone else is doing it, so can I!
For the next couple of weeks I just kept my eyes peeled for any cute (x-large) t-shirts on sale. (Since I have gotten rid of boxes full of clothes with each of our three moves this year, I knew I would not stumble across any treasures in our closets.) I just happened to go to Old Navy on the right day, all of their clearance items were 50% off. After digging and digging, I found this cute orange strip for only $1.75. I kept my fingers crossing hoping to find another one.
And I did (plus two tank tops for me for the summer, about $1.00 each, and a sweater that was $8.00).
So, I turned this...
into this
and this.
It was a big hit with Ella
and with Sara Wells!
And with Sara Wells having a stronger opinion lately than Ella about what she wears, I feel really good about making something that both girls love. My craftsmanship on the skirt and bloomers is definitely not where I would like it to be, but I was able to use the original shirt hem on both the skirt and bloomers so from a distance, at least, they look professional.
**If anyone has any great tips or resources to sewing with knits, I would love to know them!!!
Posts
You go Kim! I am so proud of you. You are right.......cute, good knits are hard to find. Sewing them with a serger makes to a lot easier for me. Way to go!
ReplyDeleteI have tried with my serger and I felt like the seam was not tight enough. Maybe I just need to try again
ReplyDeleteI need to come over and check your tension. also, make sure you are using stretch needles--and sometimes spray starch helps in the construction process. Bee-yoo-tiful outfits. i am so impressed!!!!
ReplyDeleteThey look great from here!! Where do you find your plain white t-shirts? I feel like they are hard to find.
ReplyDeleteThey are hard ro find. You have to just grab them up when you see them. My very favorite for little boys is granimals from Walmart. They are actually really good quality and are very soft and comfy when washed! They are especially good long sleeved bc I feel like they are just a little bit thicker and seem so comfy
ReplyDeleteMary, I am going to try the starch. That is a great idea. The problem really comes when I try to sew with the stretch.
ReplyDelete