SEWmuchKNITting

What's not to love about a Spring wedding in Michigan, especially when the  weather turns out perfect!  One of my daughters' dear friends had a lovely outdoor barn wedding this month, and I got to wear my new dress:  McCall's 7381 I had this blouseweight Peachskin woven fabric from  FabricMart   waiting on my shelf   and it worked perfectly with this McCall's pattern. After reading a few reviews of this pattern, I knew the bodice might run a little big,  so I did not make any adjustments there. Actually, I only made a couple of changes. The pattern calls for lining the bodice, and I always prefer a lined bodice to using facings! But I also lined the skirt, a quick and easy additional step that gave it a little more structure  and also feels great!  I was also able to pull this dress on easily, so I elected to hand sew the front overlap closed, rather than use the snaps called for in the pattern directions. Due to the outdoor nat

                I like and wear my first  Blackwood Cardigan  so much (blogged about  here ), that I thought I would make up another. This time I decided to make the shorter, hip-length version.                Fabric is a poly knit from Haberman Fabrics , in a pretty coral color. I love coral with navy! Not such a flattering pic (LOL), but I did want to show the nice fit through the shoulders and the wide band at the hip.  Although I am wearing this today with slacks, I know it will also be perfect to toss  over a dress this summer.  (Curious about the quilt in the background? I made this one a few years ago, motivated by a class I took with Gwen Marston on liberated quiltmaking. My inspiration was a photo I took on a golf course in Upper Michigan: it was a beautiful summer day with green grass, blue skies and orange monarch butterflies flitting around. Heavenly!)

I've been wanting to sew with linen for a while now, and this lovely linen print from Fabric Mart just jumped into my online cart a few weeks ago.  Simplicity 1810 has been in my pattern collection (now it's OOP) waiting for it's turn in the rotation, and I'm happy I got to use it! I really love the shoulder gathers, the clean neckline facings and the fullness that gets gathered by the self ties that come out of the back darts (clever!). The linen I used does tend to stand away from the body a little bit, but not enough to bother me.  After measuring the pattern pieces I decided that there was enough ease so that I did not need to make an FBA, but I did raise the front neckline about 1/2 inch, lengthened the ties, and graded out from below the bust to hem. That extra hip room was not needed and I ended up taking some back out. Today I wore this with the ties crossing over in front and knotted in the back, hard to see with my printed linen. But I do also

It was a lovely Michigan Spring Day yesterday, perfect for my favorite wrap dress:  New Look 6301 , and my Walking Coat by LoriAnne Patterns. This is a lovely pattern from New Look, and the only adjustment I made ( I think.....I made this a couple of years ago!) was a FBA. I used a very pretty floral ITY from JoAnn Fabrics which was a perfect match for the pattern. I love yellow, and and I love my yellow Spring coat! This too was made a couple of years ago after I purchased the pattern at a Sewing Expo weekend in Novi, MI. This large weave, wool fabric was another estate sale purchase.  Lining it with a striped silky poly worked well, and I eliminated any closures as both a practical (thicker fabric!) and style choice. There is usually a small window of opportunity to wear this coat in our Midwestern Spring before the weather really warms up, but I enjoy wearing it every time!

Here we go....kicking off Me-May-May 2019 with my tried and true pattern for knit tops: Vogue 8731, which is sadly out of print. I've made this 5 times now, I think, and one of those times I lengthened it to dress length. I can sew this pattern straight out of the envelope without any alterations: quick and easy! The fabric is a nice, beefy knit purchased at an estate sale last year (or was it the year before? time flies!). I've been trying to get more adept at using my coverstitch machine. A little hard to see in the picture below with all those stripes, but it's getting better. Practice, practice. Do you use your coverstitch machine often? Any tips? Happy sewing!