Success with knits! A t-shirt finish

I just finished this cute little shirt and I couldn't be prouder or more excited! I finally mastered knits! And I did it because of the book, Sewing Modkid Style.

I have struggled with knits before and managed some okay stuff. But this was super easy and went together SO FAST! I just needed the right supplies and information. And Patty Young covers all of that in this book. (I've not been asked or paid to say any of this)

And look what I learned. Most machines have an overlock stitch and it works like a serging stitch (not as great, but definitely works). Here's what it looks like. On my Bernina 240 it's stitch number 3. Looks like a wide zigzag and essentially it takes several stitches on the fabric, then one stitch on the outside.

Here's what the foot looks like for this stitch. Apparently a lot of the machines come with this foot. It has a little bar in the center that hooks the thread and makes it loop over nicely.

And, because everything was working so nicely. My model actually cooperated and let me take her picture! Yup, that's the cheezy grin you get when you ask a 3 yr old to smile.

The knit I used was from Patty Young's Sanctuary line and I got it at QuiltHome.com. Have you ever sewn with knits? Do you have a good source to buy them?

My crash and burn during KCWC

Disclaimer: I wrote this on Thursday, a day in which I spent a good amount of time at a toddler party, got seriously head-banged and got a sunburn. I might have been crabby.

I mentioned before that I had started making this Oliver + S pattern in knit for Kids Clothing Week Challenge. This was my first time working with knit. I decided to go with the dress since I had enough fabric.

I wanted to give an update on what’s been happening with this project. First off, I’ve also never worked with an Oliver + S pattern. My first tip for you - the layout diagram for cutting your pattern pieces is actually on the pattern piece rather than in the instructions. It took me longer than I want to admit to figure that out!

For the first time I used Dressmakers Tracing Paper to trace the pattern right onto my fabric without having to cut the pattern pieces. I only used this for some of the pieces since she was the largest size I wasn’t “ruining” the piece by cutting it out.  This stuff worked pretty well. You place it between the cloth and the pattern and it works like carbon paper. You do have to press SUPER hard to get a dark enough mark, but it worked and I was happy with the results.

I was also referred to this link on Sew Mama Sew for information on working with knits. It was super helpful and I encourage anyone interested in working with knits to read it. Things started off really smoothly.

I used Stitch 8 on my Bernina for sewing the pieces together. Here’s what my seams looked like on the inside.

Everything worked really well until I had to do the hemming of the dress and sleeves. I used my "Steam A Seam",  got my double stretch needle out and fixed all my settings, but I still had this problem.

I asked on flickr and was encouraged to get the wooly nylon thread.  Apparently Joann’s doesn’t carry it. I got the Bulky Nylon thread to try since it had a stretchiness to it. It’s gotten mixed reviews on the web  but I figured I would try it anyway. I got good results when I did it on my test fabric. But look what happened when I did it on my real hem.

ARGH!

I’m so done with this project. I was really proud of what I had finished. Here’s how it stands right now.

And isn’t the neckline so cute?

And I'll tell you, that fabric is as soft as can be. I was having dreams of making myself some pj pants until this.

I just need to finish the freakin’ edges! What was supposed to be a quick project has turned out to be 3 days of stress. Anyone have ideas? I'm thinking maybe just doing a single straight line rather than the double needle?

In the meantime, I’ve rethreaded my machine - need to make a big push to get my kona challenge done for Tuesday’s PMQG Meeting.