Fabric: Purchased 1 1/2 yards of a beautiful dark teal cotton jersey knit from Hancocks. With a coupon I ended up paying something like $7's. Of course, I went back to purchase more it completely sold out the next day.
Notions: 1/4" wide elastic, matching poly thread, ball jersey needles and of course the decorative 7" zipper. All of which I purchased at Hancocks when they had their notions sale.
First things first, I have never worked with knits until I sewed this blouse. Of course the internet is wonderful for researching sewing knits, with or without a serger. Also, I do not have a serger, but do have an overlock pattern on my machine so I knew it would be o.k.
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| First Signs of Spring in Asheville |
After sizing my fabric, I used a rotary cutter to cut my fabric. Sewing: I used a small zigzag stitch for all horizontal seams and straight stitch for all vertical seams. Then I trimmed seams to 1/4" and then used the overlock stitch.
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The pattern was very easy to understand. I didn't have any issues sewing the fabric together. Although, I did question the front neck facing, but it worked. Even though cotton jersey knit is not as crisp as a woven fabric like cotton; it did iron well and wasn't nearly as "headache" worthy as silk charmeuse.
Adjustments: I did a pattern fit and it looked like it was long enough in the torso; however, after sewing it up I really should have lengthened the torso about an inch. Yeah, there is not a lot of flowing fabric near the waist line. Easy fix for next time.
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| Spike likes the blouse too! |
All and all I think this is a very easy pattern. And cotton jersey knit is so comfortable. I am not really a t-shirt person (unless I am exercising or working in the yard) so this blouse is a great compromise. I plan to make another one in a different color after I finish a summer dress that is already cut and ready to be sewed up. Also, I do plan to sew up the cut dress version. Lastly, I do want to get a pair of white slim jeans for spring to wear with this blouse.
Onto another completely different topic:
We just put our Asheville house on the market for sale. After living in Asheville for almost 10 years, I couldn't help but miss my family and friends in New Orleans. With years of debates, we finally came to a decision to move. I closed our business last year and decided to make the leap. It sounds crazy, but I have hope that it will work out.
We put in lots of landscaping....I mean, veggie garden, herb garden, spring garden, fruit trees, blueberries, grapes, etc. We are crazy gardeners, and the yards have really matured after 5 years. Check out some photos:
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| The front of our yard |
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| Backyard with blueberry patches |
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| Glenn with grape crop last year/2014 |
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| Digitalis with Spike (Can you see him) |
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| Last year's snow in backyard |
