Minerva ITY Knit

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Minerva ITY Knit

This beautiful print ITY knit has so many of the colors I love! I was thrilled when it arrived at my door!  It is even more beautiful in person!  It was gifted to me by Minerva.com in exchange for a blog post.

Because of the print, I decided to go simple.  I love hi/lo tops and dresses, so I used one of my TNTs - McCall's 6957 - view B.  I love the fit and flare shaping of this pattern!

The only change I made was to add sleeves.  I love elbow length sleeves.  Many of my TNT patterns are marked with that length.

I did a bit of print matching by making sure the aqua floral was center front and that the sleeves matched. Most of the construction was done on my serger with a 4 thread set-up.

I love using pre-cut fusible stay tape on the shoulders, hems and necklines of my knits.  After fusing the tape on, I serged the edges using a 3 thread set-up.  Then I simply pressed the hem under by using the stitches as a guideline and top stitched.

Here I styled it with leggings, but it's actually long enough in the front that I can also forego the leggings. I wore it to an outdoor setting, thus the flats, but it can also be styled with heels! 

Of course I couldn't resist making a matching mask. To stabilize the knit for the mask, I fused a tricot interfacing to it.  The lining/filter pocket is 100% cotton.

This dress is easy to make and fun to wear!  

Did I say that I love sewing and wearing ITY knits! 😃 

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One Pattern 2 Ways

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I AM IN LOVE!  

I've had this McCall's 7348  pattern for a few years, but recently pulled it out when I decided I wanted a quick make for Mother's Day.  

Yes! I made it the night before!  

Why do we do this to ourselves?  This time my excuse is that I was buried in Prom and Graduation makes!

But, I'm so glad I decided to make it at the last minute!

Why? 

Because I didn't have time to go through ALL of my stash to find a piece large enough in a color I wanted to wear.  I knew I had 6 yards of this coral ITY knit that I purchased years ago from the warehouse we affectionately call "2121".

I made view D with the sleeves from view C. 

It came together very quickly! 

I did not need to make any measurement adjustments at all!  

That is an anomaly - as I usually have to make fit adjustments on commercial patterns!

I did all of the construction on my serger.  I didn't have thread in this beautiful coral color, so I did what I normally would do...I blended a few colors to make it work!

Before I added the sleeves, I got out my heels and tried it on!  

I WAS IMMEDIATELY IN LOVE!

I walked around in it about 10 minutes!  

Yes! There is absolute joy in sewing for yourself!

  This was one of those moments!  I loved the fit, the flow, the drape and how it made me feel!

  

I added and hemmed the sleeves finished the neckline. 

But my serger decided it did not want to do a narrow hem, and I needed to get some sleep, I decided to leave the bottom raw.  

I cleaned up my slightly imperfect scissor cuts with my rotary cutter and I was done! This was my first time doing a raw hem.  I'm still not sure how I feel about it!  Time (and fabric type) will tell if I do it again.

This top/dress even looks good on the hanger! 😍 Look at that drape!

SEW!

I made it again! 

I bought this beautiful ITY from Vogue Fabrics earlier in the spring. When I saw it, I had no idea what I'd do with it, but after making the coral piece, I knew it would work for the pattern...and for another special occasion...my Grandheart's Graduation!

I laid it on my cutting table to take a look at the direction and area of the print, because I knew I'd have to "mirror" the pattern to insure the print matched.

I laid out and cut the back piece 1st.  When I attempted to lay out the front piece, I realized I did not have enough fabric to use in the same direction as the back.

Sew, I flipped the direction of the front pattern piece. After moving it around a few times, I decided that I wanted the smaller print at my neckline and the solid black at my waist.

Again, when I tried in on, I was in love with the outcome!

I really love how this print drapes on my body!

  Sexy!  I can say that, right? 

Again I used my serger (4 thread set up) to construct this one.

Of course, things don't always go as planned when making garments.  

But I'm happy that this time it only running out of thread on the spool of thread I was using to hem it.  I only needed about 3 more inches of stitches to finish it.  Sew out came a new spool and I finished it!

No raw edges on this one!

I narrow hemmed it with the lighting bolt/wobble stitch which stretches with the garment...no future popped stitches!

Finished the neckline and added my label!

I am happy and proud to say that my dress/top was featured by

 Judith Rosalind of the Instagram @sewover50 hashtag...which has over 12, 000 followers! 

This was quite the surprise and an honor!

I actually don't know which I like better, the back or the front!  I do know that I love the way I look and feel when I wear it!

And...I've taken a few orders for it!  Of course not in the same fabric!  LOL!

Sew!

I am definitely making another one! 

How often have you used the same pattern to create a new look by simply switching up the print and/or fabric?

Happy Endless Sewing!

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Me Made May 2018

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Well!

I completed yet another challenge!  

So what is Me Made May 2018?

It's what I consider to be a rather loose Instagram challenge to wear something you've made. It didn't need to be made in May or even this year. It's just a way to remind yourself to wear what you make and take pride in your creations and skills.  

Each person made their own commitment. Mine was to wear at least 1 Me Made garment each week during the month of May. As you can see, I exceeded that with my 6 pieces! Ahhhh...yes...I'm a Type A personality!

If you're on Instagram, check out the hashtag #mmmay2018 to see all the wonderful makes.

Of course you can find me on Instagram @endless dzns by carrie.

Even though black and white are great spring colors, I made this in January as part of a Sew Your Stash challenge!

I hacked one of my my self-drafted tops by adding the flutter sleeves. Sew feminine! 

I love this top!

This was worn during week 4 of May. 

It's one of the 1st self-drafted tops I altered after the weight loss.

And it's still one of my favorites - mostly because of the super bright print!

I also love the hi/low draping.

And the journey through my Me Made May Garments continued with this Angela Wolf design that I made 2 years ago after winning the pattern. I made it almost immediately after the win and loved how easy and fast it was to make!

I especially love how beautifully the neckline lays. It was sew fun to make!
The fabric is a rayon knit that feels luxurious! Using my serger made it so much easier to complete!

This ITY knit top was originally a self-drafted maxi dress that I made last year. But after wearing it once and putting it on twice more, I decided it was not a print that I wanted to cover my entire body. LOL! So I cut it! It's so much better as a top!

I haven't yet decided what to do with the remaining fabric. But don't be surprised if it shows up as a sleeve or some kind of accent. 😉

This is a tunic length top I made during the Sew Your Stash challenge.

I love this asymmetrical neckline and will definitely make another one. 

The pink and black lace knit fabric used for the sleeves was initially purchased to make an over-sized cowl neck collar. I'm much happier with it as sleeves. 

And of course...

My yellow dress that I made for the May 19th Yellow Dress Breakout Conference!

I hacked (lengthened) one of my self drafted tops to create this dress.

  I used 2 spools of black embroidery thread as the top thread and normal polyester thread in the bobbin for top-stitching all the princess seams and hems.  I also top-stitched an asymmetrical design on the sleeves (not shown). 

I increased my stitch length to 3.5. It took several tests to get the effect I wanted.  But in the end I was quite pleased with the shine I got from the embroidery thread.  

I'm in love with this first Me Made dress of the season!  

I'm thinking to wear it later this week to my Grandson's 8th Grade Graduation. 

What was my take-away from this challenge?

It's pretty simple really...

It's quite OK to wear my favorite pieces repeatedly, while interjecting some of the not so tried and true pieces! 

I hope you've enjoyed walking through my Me Made May 2018 journey and that it inspires you to continue (or begin) making your own garments and to wear them with pride!