My First Successful Knit

I finished a knit dress!  Now, don't get too excited, hand-knitters.  It's machine sewn, made out of knit fabric.  (I would love to hand-knit a dress, but I haven't taken the huge amount of time to do it yet.)

I think there's a time after learning a craft where I switch over from wearing what I make because I made it to wearing what I make because I like it just as much as what I would buy in a store.  Eventually, the hope is that my craft progresses enough that what I make is better for me than what I could find in a store!  I love wearing my quilting-weight fabric dresses, but I'm not sure I would buy so many of them if it cost money instead of time. The store-bought dresses that I wear and wear are made out of knit fabric.  They're comfortable (like a big t-shirt), they look nice, and they don't wrinkle.  What's not to love?  I've been anxious to try to make my own, but there isn't that much availability of knit fabric that I would like to wear. Last week, Jody and I went fabric shopping in Philly.  I came home with four knit fabrics, in chocolate brown, sheer black, a pink print, and the yellow you see below.  They will keep me busy for a while!

Pattern: McCalls 5752, view B
Modifications: The dress was bunching up funny where the bodice met the waist, so I took it in about half an inch on each side, and everything worked out.  I also made an integrated camisole/slip so I could wear this dress to work and not get in trouble.

The notches to connect the dress to the waist did not seem to match up in a meaningful way, so I had to give this a couple of tries before it looked right.  I'm not sure if it was pattern error or user error!

I learned a lot by reading this thread on Ravelry.  In the past, I would stretch the fabric and sew it with a straight stitch.  That never was comfortable for me, and I couldn't tell where the seam allowances should be because the fabric distorted when it was stretched.  This time I tried zig-zagging all the seams (except gather stitches), and the result was so much better.  The fabric fed easily through the machine, and the seam didn't look distorted when I finished.

I really love how this dress came out, and I'm excited to have another comfortable, great-looking dress in my rotation.  You'll see more knits from me soon, to be sure!

PS.  I seem to have a repetitive stress injury in my elbow.  I think a bunch of things added up to cause the problem, and I'm being proactive about fixing it.  But there might not be too much knitting for the next week or so, as I'm certain that knitting was one of the contributing factors to the problem.

Comments

[Nikki D.]

i have that pattern too!!

[Antoinette]

Oh my word, what a great dress! Flattering style. I love the color on you, too.

[Liz K]

you look smokin'!

[Libby]

This is a very good style on you! I'd love to see you make it in other colors as well, although the yellow makes me happy just to look at it.

[Kelly]

ohhhhh love it love it love it!!!
Fantastic!

[Heather]

It's beautiful, I love it. You look amazing!

[kv]

wow!

[Catherine G]

You are definitely what I would call an honest scrapper!

I've given you the honest scrap award! Check out my latest post for the details!

[Catherine G]

Wow! You are what I would call and "honest scrapper!

I've given you the honest scrap award! Check out my latest post for the details!

[Kirsten]

Super cute! The style of the dress looks great on you.

[Brenda]

Well done! And a very flattering design. My mom learned to sew knits (including lingerie and swimsuit fabrics) when I was a little kid. She taught me the easy stuff, and when I was a pre-teen and teen, I sewed a lot of knits. But now, you are absolutely right that they are hard to find, and they are often very expensive. But definitely worth it to sew such a great dress!