My Grainline Studio Linden Sweatshirt...

A hectic pre-Christmas schedule meant that I did not get chance to blog about all my makes during the month of December. You may remember the difficult decision I had to make about the sweatshirt fabric I wanted (see here). As you can see, one of my chosen ones is the ever so on trend Burgundy, plait patterned, quilted, sweatshirt jersey! (Please note that Pantone's colour of the year for 2015 is Marsala, or to you and me; Burgundy!)I also went for a soft cotton ribbing in the same colour. 

I chose to make the traditional sweatshirt version and I decided to cut all the pieces flat, without a fold in the fabric to ensure that the plaited pattern stayed straight throughout. Although this was time consuming, it was certainly worth it. My advice to others is, don't try to wash and dry 5 yards of quilted sweatshirt material in one go, it takes over your whole flat! 

So, onto the making part. Grainline patterns have brilliantly clear instructions, so I found the putting together and sewing very simple. It was a very quick make. The ribbing had just the right amount of stretch to make the cuffs and neck/waist bands fit perfectly. The only issue was the thickness of the seams when joining the ribbing, but with a little bit of pulling through my overlocker, it did work. I would say the sewing was quicker than the cutting process!

As for the finished garment, the fit is on the larger size, despite following the finished garment measurements. However for the type of sweatshirt I was looking for, it does the job. I wore it over the festive period in the UK and Austria layered over a checked shirt and it looked great! I'm pleased with the fabric, it is very warm and soft. However, I have noticed some pilling already on the under sleeves. For the price, I can't complain!  At $60HKD a yard, I think it was good value for money. 

I now need to wait until it's a little colder in Hong Kong to wear this sweatshirt. I will certainly be pulling it out when I go skiing in Japan. I recommend the Grainline Linden without question for a quick and easy sweatshirt pattern that guarantees a nice shape. I think i'm going to make the short sleeved version soon as this will probably be worn more in Hong Kong. 

Chevron patterned Coco!

So I said in my previous post that I purchased some chevron patterned cotton jersey from Spotlight in Singapore. This is the make I used it for! After the success of my first Coco, I knew that I wanted to make more garments from this wardrobe building pattern. 

Chevron patterned fabric is something I have coveted for a while and have yet to find any for clothing in Hong Kong. I had considered purchasing some Riley Blake chevron fabric from modes4u.com, but it was quite pricey so I decided to wait. I'm very glad because I totally love this red, fine stripe version. It's a challenge to look at, especially with the funnel neck and cuffs! However I do enjoy the pattern it creates at the joining point. It is certainly a statement piece! 

The manufacture went smoothly and substituting a sewn neckline with the funnel neck made it even easier to sew than my first Coco (see here). I used the hemming tape that I also bought from Spotlight to help with the finishing of the hem. This made the process extremely easy and i'm sure that a novice with knitted fabric would find this very straightforward.

I'm now almost looking forward to the weather getting cooler here in Hong Kong so that I can wear all my lovely new wintery clothes! I'm off to Beijing on a course on Wednesday, so this little number might make it into my suitcase. 

Has anyone else made a statement Coco? 

Too many Knitted fabric choices?!

I finally made the trip to Sham Shui Po to look at my knitted fabric options for the various projects that I have in mind. There are far too many choices and I went to two shops I had seen on a previous trip. The first shop was Kam Fung Trading Company, which stocks so many different knitted fabrics. This includes sweatshirt knits and t-shirt weight jersey's, which are on my list to buy. I'm primarily looking for stripes as you can see from my photographs, but I was drawn in by the cotton, quilted sweatshirt fabrics. I love this one below, which is a plaited effect!

The other fabric shop I went to was 'Bowa', which was next door to the other knitted shop on Yu Chau Street. This shop stocks lots of knitted jerseys that are primarily plain. They also sell a lot of different ribbed jerseys, which is also on my 'to buy' list.  The ones below are a mix of cotton(95%) and spandex(5%) and have a nice width of rib suitable for collars and cuffs of sweatshirts (ideal for my Linden!). 

My finished Coco...

I've finished my Coco! After cutting and sewing the sleeves in one hour on the first evening, I then spent approximately an hour the next day finishing it off. This is an extremely quick make that I think is suitable for all levels of experience with knitted jersey fabrics. This fabric in particular is a sort of sweatshirt fabric, so it was fairly straight forward to sew. I did choose to add some iron on interfacing to the neckline, just to stabilise and prevent stretching. This technique did work and i'm pleased with the overall finish of the garment. I used my overlocker throughout to sew the seams and I am so pleased that I decided to finish off the sleeves with a cuff. This is such a quick method of finishing and the effect suits my style perfectly. 

I am certainly going to make more Coco's, as it is such a lovely shape. I want to try some different knitted fabrics, because I think that different drapes of fabric will totally change the aesthetics of the top. This makes it a very versatile staple of any wardrobe! Well done Tilly on another lovely pattern. 

My adventure into knitted fabrics begins - featuring the iSew IS-722D Overlocker and Tilly's Coco...

Ok, so I've finally made the leap. At the weekend I bought an overlocker. It has taken a lot of thought and decision making, but i've ended up with an iSew IS-722D. I bought it from the Brother shop in Sham Shui Po after much to-ing and fro-ing between this and the brother overlocker that they stock. Although very similar in appearance and in price I went for the iSew because it had an extra year's warranty. That equals 3 whole years! I think that is certainly a massive plus. I don't usually get my sewing machine serviced and I can generally fix any problems that I have, but an overlocker is very different. They can go wrong at any point and it is really difficult to diagnose problems.

The iSew can do 3 and 4 thread overlocking in different widths including a very neat narrow finish for fine fabrics. (I'm exciting to give that one a go!) The gentlemen in the shop gave a great demonstration and I got to try my machine out in the shop to ensure that it was working correctly. They even gave me advice on how to adjust the tension if the stitch was wrong - very helpful indeed! My new overlocker has found a home on my sewing desk and fits in very well. I have used it on lightweight woven fabrics so far and it stitches like a dream. The only issue I have discovered so far is that it is a bit of a challenge to pull through threads if you want to change colour. However I solved this by taking my time and pulling each of the threads separately. 

Now that I have my machinery in place I'm finally venturing into making some knitted clothing for myself! I downloaded the Coco pattern earlier in the week and put some ideas on paper. I've cut out the top version with 3/4 length sleeves. I've also cut out the cuffs to try out - I'm not 100% sure whether I'm going to include them or not. I'm now all set up to sew this evening. I think this is going to be an incredibly quick process, so I'm looking forward to seeing the final outcome. 

Watch this space for photos of my finished Coco...