The fabric had such a relaxed weave that I am not thrilled with the binding (part of the reason I think I will add a lining) as it looks a bit chewed in places.
The invisible zipper is perfect thanks to a closed end tutorial I found at http://www.thesewingdivas.com/. I had always found invisible zips unsatisfactory because of the little ripple/lump that occurs when trying to finish the open seam after the zips insertion. In the Diva method the seam is sewn shut, just like a normal zip, and then the zip is sewn in. And see how much better it looks! I even managed to match the yoke seam edges well!
It's funny that I remember my mum and sister using invisible zips way back when I was a little kid and yet they have only seemed to catch on fairly recently, with me at any rate. And here I am so inspired by them that I am going to have to go and replace all the zips in the clothes I made before.
I finished the end of the zip with bias tape and caught the zipper tape in the seam bias for a clean finish. I even like the way you can finish facings on the inside with invisible zips. With regular zips you just cannot get that close to the teeth to sew a facing/lining down, and thus I always resorted to hand stitching which never looked quite so even, nor so tight. Yay for the invisible zip is all I can say.
I put a hook and eye at the top of the zip to add a bit of insurance in case of zip failure. It has happened before much to my chagrin.
I found a long forgotten piece of black tricot and a length of wide lace so simply threw together a classic straight knee length petticoat with an elastic waist and lace embellishment at the hem. It feels rather pretentious to call a rectangle of fabric sewn together with one seam a self draft. I think 'thrown together' is much more accurate. But, even though it is nothing special I am kind of thinking that this skirt will need the support if it gets the regular wear I expect it to.
I made hangers from the left over satin bias with thread loops at the waistline to hold things flat. It has turned out to not be a monumental success as the fabric is so soft it crumples inward as soon as it is hung, so the skirt is living over the hangers skirt rail which is a bit of a bummer as it means I will have to press it every time I wear it :-(.
I used the satin lining as a facing for this top and the understitching, even though I could not take it right to the edge of the split, works splendidly. Someone asked me if the top was reversible and I was almost inclined to tell them yes.
The armholes is where I strayed from the pattern instructions the most. In the reviews I read at http://www.patternreview.com/ it was noted that the instructions for attaching the lining did not work, on top of that this fabric was demanding in it's construction. Thus I chose to put things together differently.
I sewed the central portions of the top, both fabric and lining, together around the neckline and zip. I finished the neckline completely with clipping, pressing, understitching etc. I then sewed the side bits (fabric and lining) together around the armholes, again finishing them completely. This left me with 3 sewn pieces; the front and back, and the two sides. I then sewed parts together along the front and back princess seams in both the fabric and the lining. I really believe this resulted in a better garment than sewing the neck and armholes together and hand finishing the shoulders. I in fact, hand finished the upper part of the armholes including hand picked understitching and have been rewarded with a smooth armhole.
In the pattern legend the instruction was to stitch the lining to the top around the hem, but others found that this resulted in a resistant sausage when they tried to pull the top right side out. Spurred by this knowledge, and also due to my realisation that the challis fabric begins to relax after hangs around a while to such an extent that when left hanging for half an hour, hems that were basically equal in length are now a good inch different, I went my own way. I decided the simplest and possibly most effective method was to hem the fabric and the lining separately. The fabric I simply turned up and fell stitched by hand including the mitred corners.
As the neckline is wide and the shoulders are comparatively narrow I made lingerie loops which you can hardly see in the above fabric. Photographing black garments is a frustrating and largely disappointing performance. I did try upping the contrast and lightness but it ruined the pictures. Anyway, I made the lingerie latch out of satin bias which i hand stitched into shape and added the ball part of the dome too and stitched the corresponding socket to the lining of the garment. Strong and useful.
Wow, somehow I managed to compress my usual three years of knitting into 3 months, funny enough it still felt like three years in the execution. I guess it bodes well that I completed this project in semi-reasonable time, though when I look at the throughput of some of the experienced knitters out there my mind boggles. How do people knit that fast? I timed one of these rows and going flat tack it took me 9 minutes :-. That means if I knitted constantly without stopping, all 161 rows would take me 24 hours ... hmm that is not as long as I thought it would be, and thus my point is kinda undermined. Lets move on.
I am glad it is done. I am also glad that there are no glaringly obvious errors. I guess I am also glad that it is pretty. If I keep concentrating on the good the bad will pass, eventually. So what if I had to unpull it 15 times. Yep, that many. It was only then that I learnt that the way to stop myself from losing count over 350 odd stitches was to type each row out long hand.
I feel a little embarrassed that I needed that sort of primer to complete the job, but I shouldn't really complain as it was that, combined with stitch markers, which mostly solved my problems, and as noted, at the end there are no obvious blunders. Thank goodness!
I also got to grips a little more with pattern knitting so I am feeling a little bolder when it comes to trying new things. No more stocking stitch for me! That of course is a bit ridiculous but in the next few projects I am looking at a quilting stitch, which I partly understand but think I will be able to work out when I have it in my hands, and cables! I'm wondering if cables maybe easier than I think and that I have been freaking myself out needlessly over them. Hopefully so. Positive thoughts, positive thoughts.
One bit I did fudge on was the edging. It was supposed to be crochet, but as I read C3, tr across, DC through back, I decided that I would pick up stitches along the edge and do three rows vertically of garter stitch instead. I like to climb only one mountain at a time, thanks.
Ok so costs and whatnot, firstly for the skirt, top and slip. I had some difficulty finding something to compare as when I put border print wool dress into search this is what I came up with ... 
.... for $49.99 US at Chadwicks.com. I pass no judgment on this dress as it was just about the only thing that even remotely compares to what I have made. Obviously I am out of fashion again! Anyway, my outfit cost considerably more than that. Though www.emmaonesock.com does not appear to keep records of transactions so I cannot check the price of the fabric. My guess would be around $40 NZ per yard, so at a guesstimate around $62 NZ. The notions including the patterns, zips, bias, lining etc came to $53.40, so a total of S118.40. Add on another $14.50 for the petticoat and in my opinion I got my moneys worth. What do you think?
Now the shawl came to me in kit form from HERE, and it cost $34.95. Seems reasonable to me especially as a hand knitted shawl cost $69.99 ($129.93 NZ) from HERE. Those shawls sure are lovely though aren't they, and I don't see one bit of hair pulled out, or red faced swearing in them. Makes you think about what the real cost is, don't it?
1 comments:
The skirt and top came out beautful.
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