The Savvy Sewer Salon at Sawyer Brook

Ready to wear designers are doing so many interesting little add-ons for knit tops, we thought it would be fun to try some ourselves. Jenny will make several knit tops with different enhancements. Ever see a rtw top and asked "how'd they do that?. This is a great sew along for that discussion.

Fabrics: We have new knits coming each week and will get them posted as soon as they arrive. Looking for something specific?...send me a pm or email.

It is impossible for me to make a Sawyer Brook purchase and not order some knits for tops. I can never seem to have enough. My most recent purchase brought me...

Ines (http://store.sawyerbrook.com/Ines/productinfo/SO11-073/):


Cottage Knit (http://store.sawyerbrook.com/Cottage-Knit/productinfo/BR4004/):


and Spring Tees in Deep Aqua and Kelly (http://store.sawyerbrook.com/Spring-Tees/productinfo/SO11-050/):



Rather than make plain tee shirts, I thought it would be fun to try some embellishments on these tops. With the striped Ines, I'm going to make a classic boatneck top and add tabs to rolled 3/4 length sleeves.

With the blue Spring Tees, I'm going to make a long sleeved tee with a gathered treatment at the neck.

With the green Spring Tees, I plan to use braid embellishments on the sleeves and neckline.

I'm still undecided on how to embellish the Cottage Knit. I'm waiting for inspiration to strike.

I invite anyone wanting to sew up a knit to join me and offer up any embelishment ideas you have this fall.

My plan for this evening is to cut out my Ines top. I'm going to put some buttons at the neckline as well as on tabs at the 3/4 sleeves. I haven't ordered them yet, but I'm considering Sprite http://store.sawyerbrook.com/Sprite/productinfo/B109/


or maybe Clouds Too http://store.sawyerbrook.com/Clouds-Too/productinfo/B943/


or Boardwalk in Blue http://store.sawyerbrook.com/Boardwalk/productinfo/B959/


or Joy in Blue Teal http://store.sawyerbrook.com/Joy/productinfo/B980/


Ok I'm done.

Hi Jenny, Sounds like an interesting topic. Looking forward to what you do with the little "extras". What pattern are you using for the striped fabric? I tend to stay away from stripes in knits - I seem to have a hard time getting them to match. perhaps I will give this a try with you....

Debbie

Jenny, I was just remembering a navy blue t-shirt I used to have that had blanket stitching around the neckline and sleeve hems. They used a multi-color jewel tones thread. That top was always a favorite of mine because of the embellishment.

Debbie, I'll take pictures of how I match stripes. It just boils down to LOTS of pins.

Lisa, on the top you talked about, was the blanket stitch done on a raw edge, or was it finished and then blanket stitched? It sounds interesting.

Time to get this party started. Today, I worked on the neckline of my Ines top. I wish I had a completed picture of it already, but I'll just have to tell you - I put button plackets along the shoulder seamlines. This is how I did it:

First of all, cutting out the top. I found the selvage edge of Ines to shrink up more than the rest of the fabric after prewashing. This made it hard to lay the fabric flat for cutting.


So I just cut away the selvage before cutting out my pattern pieces. I'm using Butterick 3344 (out of print) for my starting point. Any basic knit top pattern with set-in sleeves would work, but I've used this pattern A LOT and love how it fits me - fitted but not tight or clingy.


After carefully matching the stripes on the folded fabric, I cut my pieces out. I leave an extra 1/2 inch at the shoulders (both front and back pattern pieces) for the button and buttonhole plackets, and I cut the neckline high to perfect later. With this pattern, I always add a few inches to the bottom for my desired length.


I use a lightweight fusible interfacing on the shoulders.


Fold 1/2 inch to the wrong side (this leaves the 5/8 inch seam allowance on the pattern for overlap). Topstitch as desired.


Overlap the shoulders 5/8 inch and pin together at the armhole edges.


Baste alone the armhole edges.


To get the neckline just where I want it, I pin the shoulder plackets together and try on the shirt over my head. I where I want the neckline to be with pins and cut it.


Make sure it's symmetrical. Try it on to make sure it's right.


To finish the neck edges, front and back, cut strips for binding. Pin to one edge of front neckline, folding up a bit for a clean edge as shown.


Stitch, stretching the binding every-so-slightly.


Wrap the binding around the raw edge of the neckline, neatly concealing the edge.


Stitch in the ditch on the front, below the binding, making sure the catch the back side of the binding.


I use a narrow zigzag as shown for any seams that must stretch.


Voila! The finished neckline. Just needs buttons and buttonholes. If you're not confident with your machine buttonholes, you could just sew the buttons on top. They won't be functional, but that's not a problem if you use stretchy stitches on the neckline.

Hi Jenny! I just found this SA. I've been so out of it for a while. I've been dealing with eye problems that seem to be adjusting now . I spent the summer sewing tees while vertually blind (as Ruth pointed out...you can't keep a sewer down).

I love the way you're handling Innes. You redesigned the pattern to perfectly suit you.
I know one of the ways to judge the quality of a man's suit is if the the jacket cuffs are functional or just decorative.
So you're classing-up the tee .
I, also have an order coming with Innes. I was thinking of using the stripes in different directions and adding strips of color as accents. Ooow, I just thought of folding the stripes in spots where only the black would show and then where only the white would show....a puckered look. It always takes me longer to figure out what to do than execute it.

I'm looking forward to what buttons you choose and how the sleeves look.

Welcome, Alma! Please do join in. You always come up with the most creative uses for fabrics.
My other idea for Ines was to put the stripe on the crossgrain for wide cuffs and the neckband, but I need another striped top like I need more fabric. I also thought of forming a chevron by seeming the stripes but I'm not sure how I'd use it. Maybe I'll play with the scraps and make a pillow or something for my ever-obliging niece.

On my top, I've put in the sleeves and sewn up the sides. i've also hemmed it, so all that's left is to do the sleeve hem detail and photograph it. Not until I vaccuum the bedrooms, though!

Jenny, I must compare your ability to stay focused and directed with my "wandering time". I got my Ines today, and have spent till now playing with sooo many ways to play around with the placement of these stripes that I feel both cross-eyed and regretful of a rather wasteful day. I know it's part of creativity, but ..........oh wait! I just thought of how to describe what I mean...I need to EDIT more. Project Runway has passed, but it just occurred to me that their was a lesson for me to take note of and it didn't click till now.. . I ,also, am taking note of your saying how many striped tops does one need and realized that at the moment I have none. Maybe I should just play it straight.
Looking for your completed top!

Finished my Ines top except buttons and buttonholes. I've decided on the Boardwalk buttons in blue (scroll up a few posts for a photo).

Here is how I finished the sleeves:
Put on the top and mark the 3/4 length I want with a pin - a tiny green dot in this pic. This tab treatment would also work very well on short sleeves.


Roll sleeves to desired length (marked by pin previously) and pin in place.


Measure height of roll. For each 1" wide tab, cut a piece of fabric 2X the height of the roll plus 1/2" for seam allowance BY 2.5".


Fuse a lightweight interfacing to each tab. The heavier the interfacing, the harder it will be to turn right side out. Fold lengthwise right sides together and stitch the long raw edge and across top. If desired, make a rounded shape at the end like I did.


Clip and turn the tabs right side out. Position on the cuffs so the rounded edge sticks up far enough for the button to fit. Pin and stitch on the inside of the sleeve.


I can't wait to show the finished shirt once I get the buttons.

Jenny, What do you like to do for a hem finish? When it comes to knits I found the amount of stretch had a big impact on the hem finish. Back in the 80's and 90's before I had a serger cover stitch and when I was sewing with my Singer 500A I used a twin needle with wooly nylon in the bobbin. I liked the way it looked but I didn't care for the wear and tear. The stitches were sort of loose because of the zig-zag of the wooly nylon on wrong side which snagged. Since those days I continued to experiment with alternatives whenever a different machine offered new stitches. I now have a cover stitch on one serger and don't really love it. What a pain to set the machine up! Takes about 20 minutes to change all the plates, screws, etc. About 2 years ago I experimented more with the stitches on my Berninas. So far I like these the best. I also tried some fusible web on hem to keep the knit from curling and stretching which really added more body to the hem edge which I didn't care for. Hope other knit sewing people will share their ideas.

Ruth, great question, and I hope others will weigh in. I also have tried fusible stabilizers at the hem before and didn't like the stiffness. Perhaps I just didn't find the right kind.

Now, I use two parallel lines of very narrow zigzag. If I had a coverstitch machine, I'd use that, but I don't. The narrow zigzag looks like a straight stitch to the casual observer and has a bit of stretch. The double lines of stitching is just to mimic the coverstitch in ready to wear. I keep meaning to try the twin needle but haven't yet. I'll take a closeup photo of my hem today.

I used the twin needle approach for quite some time because that is all I had available. It looks goods after it is sewn but doesn't wear well because the zig-zag has the loose floating stitch. The wooly nylon worked nicely because it prevented the tunnel shape between the two straight stitch lines on the surface. It eventually snags and distorts.
I acquired a serger with coverstitch around 2002 hoping it would be the answer to all my knit concerns. The cover stitch I have on my Viking 936 is such a pain. It just isn't worth the aggravation setting it up and it doesn't look as good as I expected. Some day I will set it up for cover stitch and just leave it set up. (This is why I have more than 1 serger). Sometimes my expectations really get the best of me. I found a way to keep the raw hem edge flat and concealed by sewing on the wrong side of the garment with the basic knit stitches on my Berninas which I'm more pleased with . It may not be the 'commercial standard for appearances ' but it does look good (in my opinion) and it most definitely wears and washes beautifully. No one has approached me that closely to see my hems. I'll try and photograph things today.

Hi Jenny and Ruth. My computer crashed again, so I kind of feel like I've been living the Amish lifestyle. I hope I'll be able to post this. Jenny. I love the way you've handled the stripes on the cuff. It's those details that make all the difference.

Ruth, I think it was about 7 years ago (I'm really bad with time references) that I got an Elna 945 computer. It was considered one of the best sergers , if not the best at the time. But it developed quirks that never got fixed. And you're so right...setting up the cover stitch was plain aggravating. I decided to simplify and got an Elna manuel and much prefer the more solid stitching. Nonetheless, the issue you mentioned about snagging can't be avoided. The slightest thing can pull the wrong thread and it stays pulled. A serger does make great lettuce finishes, but I wouldn't use them on a bottom hem myself.

I did just read about a hem solution...haven't tried it myself. Cut a banding strip lenghtwise or use the selvage edge for a more stable finish. Attach it to the hem the same way as a neckband: with right sides together stitch with a very narrow zigzag, turn and stitch in the ditch with very narrow zigzag.
If you doublefold the strip and stitch it almost to the top of the fold (that would the farthest point way from the hem edge) when you turn it, it looks like a piped edge.

I've had an issue with my knit tops that I want to solve before I make my next one. Suggestions welcome. When I go to fold my tees before putting in my drawer, I'v had a problem with the sleeve/underarm not folding nicely. I've designed my tops so that the underarms fit high (yet very comfortably) because I like the look. Maybe I need to give the underarm joining seams a more downward cut (but that's what I moved away from) which would change the sleeve design slightly.
Or maybe the problem is all in the sleeve...or maybe I need to cut the arm scythe deeper into the body???