The Swingy, Stripey, Knit, Top

You may have noticed, when I get into something, I get really into it. Goats? Ask anyone I went to high school with who I was and they'd say "the goat girl". Historical clothing? When one dress is done I'm all ready to start on the next. Clothing made out of shirts? Once one item was done I immediately had an idea for the next. Knit fabric? I'm getting the hang of it! By sewing one thing after another.

Last time I went to Joann's I went for one specific piece of fabric. Well, unsurprisingly, I came home with more than I went for! A teal and white/silver striped knit caught my eye. So I grabbed it, then noticed that McCall's patterns were on sale. Of course I had to look through the pattern book! I found a pattern that would be perfect for the teal fabric. Yep, both came home with me.

As you can see, the pattern was for a dress. Well, I really don't need any more dresses, so I shortened it into a shirt. I added a little extra width to each shoulder, slightly shortened the sleeves, and made the neckline a bit bigger. I cut out the shirt and sewed it together. 

This shirt went together really easily! The blue knit fabric I used to make one of the 3 dresses with was very thin, stretchy, and tightly knitted. This fabric? It was thin, stretchy, and loosely knitted. The looser knit of the fabric meant the sewing machine needle could easily get through the fabric. Thus the needle didn't push the fabric down into the sewing machine, causing it to "eat" the fabric, something that happened several times with the blue knit! Still though, due to the stretch factor, I wasn't sure I could achieve a nice, neat hem on this shirt. Luckily, one trend I've noticed, and really liked, lately is lace at the bottom of sweaters. 

Now, this isn't exactly a sweater, but I figured a little lace wouldn't hurt anything. Sewing the lace onto the bottom of the shirt made the fabric a bit more stable, and much easier to hem! Thus, I hemmed the shirt, bound the sleeve hems and neckline with strips of fabric, and the shirt was good to go!

Comfy, swingy, and pretty.

A lovely addition to my everyday fall wardrobe.

I can see this shirt getting lots of wear! Now, back to Joann's for more knit fabric? 

Well, I'm beginning to think I really, really don't need anymore clothes for myself, especially shirts. So, I'd better avoid the fabric store for a little while ("Nooooooo, I don't wanna!"), and find something else to really get into sewing. Christmas presents maybe? Something that uses up (a little) of the fabric in my gianormous stash? Hmm, I should get onto figuring that out. Any suggestions? I could use a bit of help here!