Tag: Kwik.Sew 3740

Orange Swirls

On By Sharon13 Comments

I’ve got a new top!

This fabric was purchased from Cabramatta in May last year and has been tempting me every since to make it up.

I have again made another version of KS 3740, and this time I have used the base I adjusted back here.

One thing I forget to check with was the amount of stretch this fabric had and it just felt a bit snug when I first made it a week ago.

So during the week, I unpicked the 4 thread overlock on the side seams and added a 4cm tapered gusset to the side seam.

Thankfully with the busy print it is hard to see.

I can see this top getting quite a bit of wear during winter!

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2015 Stash Out: 5.85 m
2015 Stash In:13.5 m

A new top!

On By Sharon10 Comments

I have a new top for the wardrobe, it is another version of KS 3740 which I have made quite a number of times already.

For this version I have:

  • added a FBA of 1.5cm.
  • reduced the cuff width by 1cm
  • removed 1.5cm from the shoulder seam

These changes will now be in all future versions.

I purchased this fabric from Kerryn’s Fabric World back in July 2010, so it has been slowly maturing in the stash.

The neckline is raised by 4cm from the original neckline and I have again played with my coverstitch machine to do the neck binding.

Not much else to say about this top so here are the photos.

No doubt you will see more of KS 3740!

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2014 Stash Out: 25.45 m
2014 Stash In: 45.75 m

Blue and Gold swirls

On By Sharon12 Comments

I have a new top and have again used Kwik Sew 3740 view A without the cowl and raised the neckline by 3cm.

The fabric is called “Sandra Printed Knit” from Knitwit which I purchased in June 2012, I am loving the gold looking swirls.

My purls are making the neckline stick out!

I cut this top out on Anzac Day and took it to my ASG meeting on Saturday along with my Coverpro machine and knit binders as I wanted to try to do the neckline binding.

Here are some not so clear iPhone pictures more for my reference for future.

Neck binding has been threaded through and under the needles
Here the neckline is being fed into the binder

Maybe it was because I was jet lagged but with Alison’s reminders about setting it up, I was rather surprised when it worked first time, even calling the rest of the group over to have a look which was probably why I ran off the neckline at the very end, but thankfully Coverstitch is very easy to pull out.

It did take a few more goes to get the binding on, I also spray starched the neckband once which seemed to make a difference.

Here is a close-up of the bound neckline and I still have some work to do to get the stitching to sit correctly on the back of the binding.

You will see a lot more of this top during May worn with various skirts and jeans!

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2014 Stash Out: 8.95 m
2014 Stash In:  40.75m

Bronze Sequins!

On By Sharon7 Comments

This was one of the last garments I completed for SWAP and sorry it has taken a while to show you more details.

I used Kwik.Sew 3740 as this pattern is a great knit TNT for me.  I found the bronze sequins at Spotlight in July last year and just had to have it as I hadn’t seen that colour before.

It wasn’t until SWAP was announced that I realised this fabric would be perfect for a little evening top.

I checked my copy of  More Fabric Savvy by Sandra Betzina and it was suggested I use a Size 14 Jeans needle and a stitch length of 3 which worked out great even on the knit.  I cut the fabric out with my older Sierra Sharp scissors.  Now this fabric is very scratchy on the wrong side so I purchased some dark brown jersey lining from The Remnant Warehouse.

I stabilised the neckline and armholes on the jersey as I couldn’t fuse on the sequins and then constructed the sequin top and jersey lining separately and joined them together at the neckline, understitching the neckline for added stability and of course to keep the lining on the inside.

For the armholes and hem I turned under a 1.5cm hem allowance and then used a herringbone stitch to attach the sequin hem and then a slip stitch to hand stitch the lining to the hem allowances, I didn’t think I would be doing so much handstitching on a knit garment.

and here it is on

I am really happy how this top has turned out.

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Stash Out:  12.35m
Stash In:  0

Glittery Jersey

On By Sharon13 Comments

I mentioned in this post that I have started working on my Evening Collection for the 2nd half of my SWAP.

My wardrobe has very little evening styled garments in it, and during the year I do have a number of dressy occasions to attend and this hopefully will reduce the mad sewing for an event for a while.

When Ann from Gorgeous Fabrics posted her Gala Top I quickly popped over to her online shop and found some fabric named Disco Glam Jersey – Bronze and just had to have it.  Luckily my boss was in the USA at the time and he so kindly agreed to be my courier. 
When this arrived, I knew exactly what it would be, it has such a wonderful drape! 
Another KS 3740 the wonderful cowl top, but this time I have made it sleeveless.
For this version I have:
  • taken out 1cm (3/8″) from the underarm to tapering back to nothing 4cm (1 1/2″) lower
  • as the fabric has a bit of weight to it, I have added a ribbon across the back neck to keep it from falling off my shoulders.
So here is my first top for the Evening Collection of my SWAP.

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Stash Out:  4.95m
Stash In:  0

At last …

On By Sharon16 Comments

I managed to spend some quality time with my sewing machines on Saturday at my ASG Group, working on 2 UFO’s that have been staring at me for a while now.

The first is another version of KS 3740, I love this pattern and when I purchased this fabric this was the pattern I had in mind for it.

This top was cut out and sewn back in May, but when I tried it on to find the hem length, I noticed the sleeves were twisted, so it has been languishing on my sewing table waiting for me to unpick the 4-thread overlocking I had used to sew the sleeves in.

So on Saturday the sleeves were re-sewn, and the hems levelled and coverstitched in place.

Now to add the finishing touches to my cardigan, back soon!

SWAP Stripes

On By Sharon13 Comments

I’ve decided to make 2 knit tops for my SWAP, so here is the first which is another version of KS 3740 with the higher neckline.

This is the first time I have worked with stripes and it did take some serious pining to get those stripes to line up so I could cut out this fabric as well as to sew the seams.

I saw on the Vivienne Files a great t-shirt in this wardrobe (In the bag picture) which I rather liked and was thrilled that I had a very similar fabric which I had purchased from Knitwit’s Winter 2010 collection.

I also used Carolyn’s Metalicus finish for the neck binding for this top and am very happy with the way it has turned out.

All the seams have been sewn on my new baby, the Elna Lotus so I could see how she would handle the knits and I am very pleased with the results.  I did use my Coverstitch for the hems.

and look at the matched stripes

all those pins worked perfectly.

So this is Item 8 for my SWAP, the Minoru (which has advanced a bit more) is Item 9, so another knit top and another pair of shorts and I’m finished.

At last they are finished …

On By Sharon8 Comments

Finally, the reveal from our sewing weekend that I hinted at back here. Hemming is one of those jobs that I just can’t get motivated to do.

The top is Kwik.Sew 3740 without the cowl in the chartreuse/grey/ink navy knit fabric. I am really liking this pattern as a basic T-Shirt and the only adjustment I made to this pattern was to raise the neck edge by 5cm (2″) and take it back to the original shoulder seam.

You have already seen this top worn during Self Stitched September here and here.

The pants are V7881 in a navy wool crepe which are fully lined and I finally finished the hems last night as today was forecast for 19 C (66 F) for the 5th day of summer, this is still a bit cool for light summer skirts so I thought I would see how I like the pants.

Pattern adjustments

Front:
– Add 0.5cm to side seam from end of curve back to nothing
– 1cm wedge in centre front taking back to nothing at side seams.
– raised the centre front crotch by 0.5cm

Back:
– reduce the back side leg by 1.5cm
– Deepen the crotch curve
– 0.5cm off inseam to below the notch on the pattern.

These adjustments were made in calico and I felt confident enough to cut out the wool crepe that I had to see how they would make up, also realising that they are very different fabrics which could give me very different results.

Here are the results. As you can see there is a lot of fabric in the front crotch area.

and the back isn’t too bad, they fit very nicely for my sway back and besides that pleat of fabric I think the leg width is too wide for my frame.

I’m still working on the frustrating journey of pants fitting, do I try and get the excess out of these or go back to the drawing board, decisions, decisions.

Now Jeans are another matter …..

Perfect way to spend a weekend …

On By Sharon6 Comments

is with 12 other sewing friends, at the Courtyard Marriott from 8am on Saturday to 5pm on Sunday.

This year was a new venue for us and they did an excellent job fitting us in, but their guarantee that we would all fit in one conference room just wasn’t going to happen, so thankfully they had also assigned us a 2nd conference room to use for fitting etc, so we were able to set up some of the group in there. This meant a lot of crossing the hall to see what each other was doing, getting advice and general chat.

I worked on two projects:

  • Vogue 7881 Claire Shaeffer’s Custom Couture Collection Pant.
    These had been fitted by Angie Zimmerman at the fitting weekend I referred to in a ink blue wool crepe and are fully lined.
  • Kwik.Sew 3740 with a bit of variation in a chartreuse/grey/ink navy knit fabric.

Both of these are up to the finishing stages, the pants only need the button holes, buttons (these hadn’t been purchased) and both the pants and knit top need the hems completed.

Hopefully it won’t be too long before I can show you the finished items as I am rather pleased with how they have turned out.

The beauty of TNT’s

On By Sharon4 Comments

As I mentioned yesterday I finished two tops.

The first is BWOF 02-2009-108 which I first made here and was another garment that was supposed to go the USA with me.

So during last week, I had stabilised the shoulders, turned and cover stitched the neck edges, sewed the shoulder seams and pinned in the sleeves. It didn’t take long to get this to the hemming stage on Saturday.

I didn’t take my cover stitch machine to the Guild Meeting so the hems were left until I got home.

Even though I have made this before I hadn’t realised the fit issues and when I make it again (yes I love the style) I will adjust the shoulder width and add more depth to the armholes.

The second is Kwik Sew 3740 which I first made here and this top gets worn a lot, I just love it.

This fabric I purchased from Joann’s during my trip to the USA this year, and it is the 3rd piece of fabric from the right on the bottom row. What you can’t see is the large circles that are on this fabric. This took a bit of careful cutting and I hope I am happy with the placement when I finally wear this top.

The beauty of this top is that I cut it out on Saturday morning while I was waiting for my sewing buddy to arrive so we could travel together. I will admit that trying to pin the cowl on at 2pm in the afternoon is not a good idea, however with my sewing buddies giving that small tip, it suddenly became very clear. This top was also finished up to hemming stage by the time we left on Saturday.

So tonight after dinner (confession time, I fell asleep on the lounge last night) I pressed and glued the hems in place and then cover stitched them in place.

My apologies for the hanger shot, however it won’t be long before you see them being worn in Me-Made-June.