Quickie

First ever knit top!

Wow, that was fast. My very first knit top. Two pattern pieces, four seams (two of them not even an inch long), a little bit of time messing around with edge finishes… and voila! A top cute enough that my hubby insisted I wear it agan this morning.

Based, as you may recall, on Ichigogirl’s cowl top/dress pattern. I narrowed the shoulders, though in hindsight I should have widened the neck. This is a very deep, drapy, almost V-neck cowl; I think if I make it again I’ll try and reduce that… right now I have to be pretty careful when I shift around that, ah, all of me stays inside the shirt. I made the entire front double, since my knit is very thin and a touch sheer.

The part I was afraid of about sewing with knits was finishing edges without stretching them entirely out of shape. I

knit top---rear view

 would have to say I think my fears were justified, at least with this fabric. The back neck is… less than perfect. I tried to do a double-fold band there and… well, I’ve never had much luck with getting these to look good in wovens, so I don’t know why I thought it might be any different in a knit. It is, shall we say, a little wonky, AND stretched out (I have some hopes that it will un-stretch a tiny bit once it’s washed. We’ll see. I did manage to do a nice, scalloped rolled hem along the arm-holes, which looks cute and didn’t stretch out that much, but I don’t think really matches the rest of the top. I haven’t hemmed the bottom yet. Trying to decide whether to do another scalloped edge or just a flat hem. Also now that I’ve worn it a bit it’s stretched out and is bagging at the back, so I’m debating bringing it in at the sides…

But, anyway, semi-wearable and self-sewn, so that’s a good start, right?

In other news, my hubby declared that he really likes this fabric. Will I make him a shirt from it? Sure, dear. (I’m picturing a nice long-sleeved T-shirt. He always has a hard time finding ones where the sleeves are long enough… we’re well matched that way. Our poor kids)

 Will I make him a button-up dress shirt from it?

Um, what?

So, yeah… he wants a typical button-up shirt made out of a super-stretchy, drapy knit. I think he is insane. The question is… can it work? Maybe with an underlined yoke and cuffs and lots of stay-tape at the seams? I’m having a hard time picturing it, though…