Although I’ve made up Jalie 2804 twice before, it’s a couple of years since the last one!  I thought that it would be a good match for the granny square printed fabric.

I made this the size that it was already traced – which I think was a W – but ran the side seams in a little bit. I am still wearing both the other tops I’ve made from this pattern, and they are a fraction loose around the body which makes the ruched front overlay sag rather than ruche.

This is the 3/4 sleeve version, with the ruched front overlay and a modesty panel. If only I’d read my blog post from the last time I made this I would have remembered that the modesty panel causes some pulling where it is sewn into the armhole. Not that it’s very noticeable in this busy fabric anyway. The granny squares weren’t printed quite on grain, which caused me a little distress when cutting out the pieces. In the end they are slightly angled along the bottom hem. I compromised between grain and print lines – still not sure which one I should have taken the lead from. Hems were secured with Heat’n’Bond Lite before twin needle stitching.

This is a lovely weight fabric, and it’s certainly a unique item. I wore it to the Craft and Quilt Fair on Thursday, and when someone recognised me from my blog  she asked whether I had blogged it yet! I had a lovely day out at the Fair, after first visiting GJs for backing fabric and wadding for my Medallion Quilt. And the best bit – I ran into Jan as soon as I arrived and we were able to wander around the quilts and chat together. All that I bought was a bag full of interfacings and tapes from Freudenberg/Vilene. Very restrained – especially considering all the wonderful yarn that was there this year to tempt me. I also had a lovely time chatting to Jan’s friend Bonnie and was lucky enough to meet up with my friend Tanya for the second time in 24 hours! A terrific afternoon away from everything – just what the doctor ordered.

I had some ponte left over after cutting out a dress (as yet unassembled).  Not wanting to waste it, I juggled around options for a skirt.  Most of the ones that I investigated wouldn’t fit onto my limited amount of fabric.  Bummer.  So in the end I used New Look 6463 as a base, and added a hem ruffle.

New Look 6463 is actually designed for woven summer weight fabrics. It is an elastic waist, slightly a-line skirt with length and lower flounce variations.  I used the top parts of the pattern for view B, then cut straight across the full width of the fabric twice for the gathered ruffle.  Since I cut using a rotary cutter and ruler, I didn’t even hem the bottom of the ruffle.  Ponte is handy like that.

The waist was also very simple. I cut a length of elastic to fit my waist (minus a couple of inches), joined the ends into a circle, quarter marked it and placed it on the inside of the skirt, then overlocked the top edge of the elastic to the top edge of the skirt, stretching to fit as I went. After that I turned it to the inside, so the elastic could no longer be seen, and used a zig-zag stitch to secure it in place. It’s comfortable and avoids threading elastic through a casing. And because I never tuck anything in, it will never be seen.

At first I was a bit doubtful about this style – I felt it was a bit too youthful – but once paired with my boots and new granny square fabric top I was very happy! Details about the top to come later. And because I used an old pattern I’ve used before, and “scrap” fabric, I consider this to be essentially a free garment!

I’ve rather been enjoying sewing with knit fabrics lately and exploring the differences in their stretch and drape and finding out what garments they do and don’t work well in.  I’m quite happy with how New Look 6071 has turned out.

This photo was taken in the early evening with a mixture of light sources, so the colour isn’t showing up accurately. It’s really fuschia, somewhere between pink and purple and maroon. The fabric is a stretch polyester crepe type of knit, from the Darn Cheap Fabrics $2 per metre table. It’s a medium weight, lighter than a ponte but more substantial than a jersey, and I’m happy with how it worked in this dress.

I cut this one out as size 12, but sewed the side and centre back seams with 1/4 inch seam allowances rather than 5/8 inch as per the pattern. It’s given me the little bit of extra room that I need at the moment with the current 3kg weight gain that appears to have all settled around my midriff. Although you can see rolls at the back it doesn’t actually pull or feel uncomfortable. I’m not quite sure what I should do about the rolls – other than lose weight of course! I suspect that if I made the dress much larger across the back it would possibly change the style lines too much and would just stick to the rolls rather than hide them anyway. Hmmmm, dilemmas. Shall think on that further. But I LOVE the twist feature at the front!

This was actually quite simple to do, and it is very effective. I used a binding along the front neckline, as per the pattern, and it has stabilised it quite nicely. Hems were secured and stabilised with Heat’n’Bond Lite before twin needle stitching. I actually prefer Vliesofix tape to the Heat’n’Bond Lite, but that’s a whole other blog post to do with easily sourcing good products. The neckline is rather low, so to make it work appropriate I needed to wear a camisole underneath.

So Freya, would you like one of these in blue?  I have more of the same type of fabric…

I seem to be replacing the long-sleeved tops in my drawer with Renfrews.  This is number three, I think.  There are a couple more planned.  And that is just the long-sleeved ones for winter!  What will happen when the weather warms up, I wonder.  Will I be sick of these or will I continue to whip them out?

I cut this one out with narrower shoulders and sleeves again, but it doesn’t look much different! The fabric is a mystery knit – most likely polyester – left over from an earlier project (originally from the Darn Cheap $2 per metre table). The cowl drapes beautifully in this fabric.

It skims nicely over my rolls at the back, but the bottom band could possibly be a smidge firmer. The shoulders could still come in more too.  It looks as though I will alter this pattern slightly each time that I make it!