Wednesday, May 7, 2014

Knit Pattern and Sewing Advice Wanted: Rambles Included

Hello Lovelies,
Nothing new to show although I guess that's not totally true, you can see I've got two sets of back pockets done and I'm hung up on the fly fronts. It's more of a mental hurdle than anything... I chose my vintage zippers from the stash, yesterday. They are apple green and Copenhagen blue to semi coordinate with the pockets. Most importantly they are metal.

I think I'm going to win the consistently terrible photos award for MMM this year. I keep telling myself I'm keeping it real and the important thing is I am getting my outfit photographed every day. On the flip side, if the photo is so grainy, blurry and cluttered that no one can see my outfit what is the point?

MMM has also shown me I like every single version of the Wiksten Tova that I have ever seen. Coming in at a close second are all the Lolas I've been seeing pop up...
Speak of Lola, have any of you sewn her up? What have you sewn and loved in knits? With all the craziness going on I failed to get us a knit interview for this month so I thought I'd interview you all! Leave me your answers and I'll do my best to gather them up in another post.

What is your favorite knit pattern?
What is your biggest struggle/fear with knits?
What has been your greatest help/resource in learning to sew with knits?
Even though we're supposed to be stash busting... where is your favorite place to get good knits?

6 comments:

Kristin Jones said...

Argh, you're doing better than me. I can't even get photographs at all of my outfits. I've never followed a knit pattern, but I love knits! I usually self-draft and they they're close to perfect each time. Even when I make mistakes, they're so soft and comfortable that it doesn't bother me that much to make them. My local fabric shop is the best place for knits, they're pretty cheap at 4-8/yard but I've been resisting! I need to use my stash up so I can go buy. It's driving me crazy lol!

Sew Little Time said...

my me made may shows a heavy bias towards cake patterns with tira, red velvet and carmine all getting a look in! so lots of knits. i also love sewaholic's renfrew (like the rest of the sewing blog world!) and maria denmark's kirsten kimono tee (free pattern!). i'm not scared of them any more, probably due to steph at cake's great tutorials, so that would be my best resource! i also just bought the colette book which is really good. and i have the moneta pattern on the way. i find it hard to get good knits online as i never know the weight they will be, and my local fabric shop does quite cheap knits that don't wash well. so i tend to stock up at goldhawk rd in london!

Becky W said...

I honestly can't remember being scared to sew with knits-- it probably helps that I've been sewing most of my life, and trying to rework t-shirts is pretty much a teenage sewing standard. But I think the biggest help for me in learning to sew with them was getting my serger! My machine doesn't have that lightning bolt stretch stitch, so I just get much better results with that than I do with a zig zag. My favorite knit pattern so far has been the Renfrew, since the hem bands mean I can do the entire thing on my serger and it's so easy. But I've also had good results with the Tiramisu, the BurdaStyle Sadie tank top (it used to be free on there, I'm not sure if it still is or not), and Butterick 5206, which I've been meaning to revisit for years. Most of my knits tend to come from either Joann's (convenience) or Fabric.com (good prices), but I'd love to hear about some good online resources for nice ones!

Heather Bee said...

Kitschy Coo patterns are my favorite to sew right now because they fit my figure easily. I would suggest starting with stable knits, like cotton without anything but spandex blended in. Personally I think sewing with a serger is the best way, but if you haven't got one then sewing machine it is. You can get cheap knits from Girl Charlee and natures fabrics. Than move on up to pricier stuff at gorgeous fabrics.

Sharon said...

My favourite knit pattern is Kwik.Sew 3740 and use it as a base for a lot of modifications as well as the original styles (you will see them all during MMM. I've yet to try sweater knits but plan on having a go this month. The Kwik.Sew patterns are a good resource for knit fabric sewing.

Fadanista said...

I enjoy sewing in knits and my favourite patterns tend towards the vintage, particularly the early Knitwit patterns. Knit sewing is very forgiving, it is easy to align seams and match patterns and the fit is often better because it follows curves well.