Sneaking in Sewing

It's been a busy few weeks, with more selling of wine than sewing of garments, but I was able get a few things done in the studio. After completing a black men's shirt for a customer, I made up the first of my knit tops. This was made entirely on the serger, with the exception of the hems. I love this pattern, which I purchased two years ago with some retro 70's knit. The knit sat in a pile with the pattern and some brown twill for years until I decided that I needed a new outfit for Thanksgiving last year and made up the top and skirt in a day. Makes all of that sitting in the drawer seem silly.

But I was happy to discover that the pattern fits perfectly goes together in less than an hour so I'm using it for three knit tops in my swap. For this one, I cut a wider neck with the intent of making it a boatneck. It isn't quite that wide, but works very well. Boatnecks can be difficult to pair with foundation garments. This top also has longer sleeves than the other two; more of a true short sleeve than the cap sleeve.

The neck edge binding is bias-cut self fabric which works very well. Because I had re-sized the neck, I cut the bias 1" shorter than the overall neck edge and that worked perfectly.

It had been years since I had used my double needle, but it sure came in handy. It makes such a nice finish on a knit and has just enough stretch to it that I won't have to worry about the hems popping. For the neck edge, I did a shallow zigzag with a long stitch. In all, I am pleased the the second top from this pattern was as successful as the first and will be making many more. No more store-bought tshirts for me.