Muse Jenna Cardi + Sewaholic Renfrew

I have wanted to add handmade cardigans to my wardrobe for quite awhile since my RTW cardigans are starting to look a little raggedy. I used the Muse Jenna Cardi pattern and paired it with the mustard yellow fabric from Cloud 9.  I've never used their fabric before but I was impressed with how soft it is.  I was pleased to discover that it goes with a lot of tops in my closet already, like this Granville and this Granville. It adds a nice pop of color. 



Do you see the waves along the hem band?  Is that a tension issue with my serger or an issue with the fabric I used?  The blue polka dot top Renfrew top is also from Cloud 9 (and also super soft, by the way).  I used the same tension and had no waves.  I thought using a twin needle to topstitch the seam allowance might help.  It didn't.   Speaking of the Sewaholic Renfrew pattern, it's the best tshirt pattern in the entire world in my humble opinion. 

The Jenna Cardi is a very quick make.  I would like for it to become a wardrobe staple but I'm not sure if I like how the shoulder seam hits below my shoulder.  I prefer it when the shoulder seam sits on my shoulder like in a button up top, so I'll have to decide if I can live with this. The sleeve piece is also incredibly long.  I think I ended up cutting off about 3 inches so that the cuff wouldn't go past my fingers. 

Winston and I are trying to pretend like it's not freezing outside in Kansas today.  Happy sewing!

Two Sewaholic Renfrews: Stripes and Chevrons

The Sewaholic Renfrew pattern is officially my go-to tshirt pattern. It's so easy to make and comes with all the sleeve variations and neckline variations that I want.  This is my first time sewing with stripes and chevrons.  I'll do stripes again but definitely not chevrons. 

It was easy to line up the stripes on the sides but the sleeves didn't work out so well.  I was stretching the sleeves and shirt to fit each other and that messed up the stripes.  I'm too lazy to tear out serger stitching and I'm thankfully not a perfectionist so I can handle it.  I'll get better as I go along.

I have an early version of this pattern and didn't realize that the instructions are wrong on the cowl neckline variation.  It says to sew the cowl with wrong sides together.  I did that and then looked at the online tutorial to make sure I was doing the rest of it right.  That's when she clarified that it's actually supposed to be sewn right sides together. 

 

It's not perfect but I anticipate wearing this top a lot this winter.  The material is a nice hefty weight and it looks cute with a jacket.

 

And then we have the chevron top. Grrrrrr.

 

 

I picked out this material last winter before I'd ever made a knit top.  I actually made this one before the stripes because I wanted to practice.  This was one of those projects where I knew it wasn't working but I also had no idea how to even begin to make it work.  After awhile I gave up matching the chevrons and just sewed it together matching the edges.  It's a disaster but guess what? I've worn it three times.  And twice people have said, "Cute top."  The material doesn't have much recovery.  In hindsight it wasn't a good choice for this pattern but with each knit project I learn more about what works and what doesn't.

 



 

 

 

 



Sewaholic Renfrew: My first knit project + Several positive comments about Craftsy's Sewing Fashion Knits course

 

 

 

It took me several hours to figure out why I am so insanely proud of the plain V-neck t-shirt I'm modeling in these pictures.  My last couple of projects have been labor intensive wool coats that I have a lot of love for, so I was thinking that this project would be a bit of a let down.  Wrong! When I became obsessed with learning to sew and then joined the RTW fast, I wondered what I was going to do when I needed to replace something simple like a t-shirt.  The answer: Just sit down for a little bit and sew it!  It turns out that you actually CAN sew all your own clothes.  Sometimes it's the little epiphanies that make you the happiest and proudest.

 

There is nothing I can say about sewing this pattern that hasn't been said a million times already.  The purpose of this post is for anyone who is as afraid of knits as I once was.  Don't be!  Holy smokes it's easy!  I wish I had recorded actual sewing time, but that would be hard for me.  I don't know about anyone else, but I can sometimes get a little sidetracked when a text comes through, or someone (ok, one person) hollers at me on Voxer, or I stop to pet my cat, or I go to look something up on the internet and get sidetracked on Yahoo.  Even though this was my first time sewing with a knit I bet actually sewing time was between 1-2 hours including when I had to run to the computer for help.

I had a truckload of anxiety about sewing with knits even though 75% of the stuff I normally wear is a knit. I've had the pattern for months but I thought learning knits would be like learning a foreign language so I avoided it.   I hopped on Craftsy and watched Linda Lee's Sewing Fashion Knits: Beyond The Basics before I even cracked open my pattern.  It was extremely helpful and if you are new to knits I HIGHLY recommend it.  She breaks down preparing fabric, cutting and marking, seam finishes, stabilizing knits, hem finishes and edge finishes.  She takes you through different ways that you can do each of those things.  After watching it through I started to get super confident and thought to myself,  "That doesn't seem that hard.  I probably won't even have to refer back to this class once I start sewing."  Just to be clear, I made it to the second set of steps in the pattern instructions regarding sewing on the neckband before I had to go running back to Linda for help.  She didn't fail me.  Thankfully you can watch the Craftsy classes as many times as you want because I'll be going to Linda's class a lot.

For my bands, I opted to sew on the band, serge the raw edge for a more professional look, and then use a double needle to stitch on both sides of the seam line.  I have to confess that I used to be intimidated when people said they used a twin needle.  Using a twin needle involves buying one, inserting it in your needle slot, threading it, and sewing like normal.  It's that simple.

There are many more knits in my future!  Don't be afraid.  You can do it!