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Sewing Ideas and Inspiration
Ok so this New Look 6735 top isn't anything particularly exciting, in fact most people probably have something similar hanging in their wardrobe or folded in a drawer somewhere. Having said that, it was my first attempt at sewing with jersey fabric so it was pretty exciting that I a) finished it and it is totally wearable and b) didn't find it difficult to make.
I have only been mixing in sewing circles for the last 8 months or so and during that time I've met a lot of experienced sewists who said they were scared of working with jersey or knit fabric. Use an overlocker (which I don't have) to make anything using knit or jersey. Based on this evidence I should have run for the hills right? Wrong. When it comes to sewing I'm like a naive child, full of enthusiasm, not scared of anything, willing to give anything a go. This approach is bound to end in tears at some point, but I'm happy to say it didn't this time.
I chose New Look 6735 because it looked like a nice shape and also had an encouraging word on the packet - 'easy'. The only advice I had was to use a walking foot (we have a range of different brands available here), which stops the two layers of fabric moving at different rates, to check the seam allowances on the pattern instructions (3/8" rather than the usual 5/8") and to use a ballpoint needle, which doesn't fray the fabric like a normal needle can. And off I went.
Of course, I washed and tumble dried the fabric first and the combination of the lovely fresh laundry smell plus the softness of the jersey made me want to whip this top up quick sharp so I could wear it, like yesterday. The jersey did curl up at the ends, which is quite normal, and this was the only bit I found a little tricky to handle. You have to really watch it isn't curling up too much around the machine foot so that you don't sew over the wrong part of the fabric, but the walking foot certainly helped with this. Matching up the garment pieces was difficult due to the curling too, but I read a good tip somewhere to insert the pins at 90 degrees to the edge of the fabric rather than running horizontally alongside it and this worked well.
Whilst the curly ends problem is a bit of a snag (story of my life with my crazy hair too!) the fact you don't have to finish the edges of jersey fabric is a total winner! I've washed and worn the top three times now and the edges haven't frayed one bit.
The pattern was easy to follow and very simple to put together, the only thing that didn't work out as well as I would have liked it to is the neckline. It is a little bit loose and I should have stretched it and pulled it tighter when I was attaching it to the top then trimmed off the ends, which would make it sit flat against my chest. I've promised myself I will cut it off and replace it at some point, but the chances of this happening are pretty slim thanks to my magpie like mentality: spotting more and more new and pretty things I want to make every day. I was pretty chuffed with the stripe matching on the shoulders though. Confession: it was a fluke AND I couldn't get them to match on the back seam...I'm too honest for my own good aren't I?!
I could also have used stretch interfacing to support the neck and hemlines and will probably use this next time, although I haven't had a problem after washing the top so far. I also used seam binding at the shoulder seams to prevent them from stretching out of shape and simply stitched a line down the centre of the binding to keep it in place.
I had a go with a twin needle for the hemline, which allows you to stitch two parallel lines of stitching at the same time. I experienced a tunnelling effect on the fabric I gave up and resorted to sewing two lines of stitches separately. I needed to adjust the top tension on my machine to correct this problem, which I will do next time.
Having attended the Simplicity Bloggers Meet on Saturday it was great to hear May Martin giving exactly the same tips and advice on sewing with jersey!
Despite the neckline issue I love this top and it is an incredibly useful wardrobe staple. I've worn it with jeans on colder days and shorts on warm days and it is also extremely comfy and soft. It definitely stands out from the crowd of cheap jersey tops hanging in my wardrobe, which have twisted at the side seams after washing and are made of fabric that is a very inferior quality compared to our stripy jersey (seriously it is lovely and I would say that even if we didn't sell it!)
Me and Ed popped down to one of our local hang outs we visit with the kids to take the photos and practised bad parenting giving Alex an ice cream at 10:30 in the morning so we could take the shots in peace. He didn't seem to mind one bit and slurped away while we had a go at getting some good photos. It was pretty windy and my hair looks pretty ridiculous (again) but nobody is really interested in that anyway (I hope). I couldn't resist a photo by the narrow boat with my nautical theme going on - please excuse the cheesiness! I had to delete one of the narrow boat shots - I actually looked like Alan Partridge. Not cool!
Shopping List
Stripy jersey fabric
White Gutermann Sew All thread
Walking feet AKA dual feed feet can be found here
Have fun sewing!
Lucy
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