Nani Iro Knit Top
I really love sewing with knits. It used to be more of a fierce loathing, but I've since realized that this has less to do with some innate fault of knit fabric or my own skills, and more to do with the equipment I was using to sew with said knits (or perhaps I should say, *trying* to sew). I don't want to blather on about that because believe me I have a whole other post in my head about that very topic, but I will say that I do now have a serger so the knit projects go super-quick and are v. satisfying.Enter the Knit Fabric of My Dreams. Which as you can see has become yet another thing sewn for ME. Hooray for Selfish Sewing! **Although I do need to remind everyone that the Kids Clothes Week Challenge Fall 2011 (aka KCWC, hosted by the awesome Meg of Elsie Marley) is coming up very soon next week (with a nice pre-party this week) and then we should all put aside Selfish Sewing Thoughts for another week. I promise I shall.**
I do feel a little smug about this top because I managed to cut and sew it in just one day. And again this is partly due to the fact that I used a serger, but is also partly due to the fact that this past Sunday afternoon Clementine and Mr Rae (who is I swear genetically programmed to dead-sleep for 3 hours every Sunday afternoon like clockwork) were both napping and Elliot was happily puttering downstairs for his "quiet time" (which is almost never actually "quiet") so it was All Systems Go for me in the sewing room. I love that feeling. I traced and modified this pattern from an old tee that had fit well. This one, to be exact.
The fabric is the "Colorful Pocho" knit by Nani Iro from Charmstitch, a pointelle double-layer knit with quite a bit of stretch and not thin at all (the double layer helps there) so it's thicker than your average stretch tee and oh. so. soft. It's really dreamy. I love the dots. My friend Giedra pointed out today that they are strongly reminiscent of that candy with the colored rows of dots stuck to the card. Do you know what I'm talking about? I can't remember what they were called but as soon as she said it I was like "YES!"The only slight bummer about this knit is that it is only 31.5" wide, so I needed 2 yards for a short-sleeved tee, or in this case, mid-bicep-length tee as I made the sleeves as long as the fabric would allow. Normally 1 yard would be about right for a t-shirt, since many knits are 54" or even 60" wide so you can often lay both back and front across the width of the fabric. Anyway, it's not a big deal, and for a short while I even wondered if maybe I should just buy less and make something for Clementine, but after meeting this fabric in person I just could not put it into a garment that would only be worn by a toddler for perhaps six months max. And now that I have worn it for like three days in a row and it is starting to smell but I still kindof want to wear it tomorrow I have NO REGRETS, no regrets I tell you.
With the hot pink skinny jeans and this saucy shot I definitely look like I am trying to dress like a teenager, but since I am now in my mid-30s I can't be bothered to care about that sort of thing. So I'm young-dressed? Whatevs. Bring it.
Oh and did I have enough extra fabric for a couple of sleeves and a neckband for a size 2T Tee for Two? Why yes I did.