Monday, November 26, 2012

Whipping out 5 knit tops

I have been suffering from a serious case of 'knit-top-shortage'. This ailment has been brought on by:
1) not wanting to sew knits, fearing that my knit sewing looks seriously homemade (and not in a cool, hip and happening 'my goodness I can't believe you made that - you are so awesome!' kinda way)
2) finding it difficult to buy RTW knits, given that my hips are disproportionately wider than the rest of my body.

Obviously, I had to come to some compromise. Either 1) start sewing knits or 2) accept the clingyness of RTW tops showing off every detail of my muffin top. Option 1 sounded much more appealing.

So, I jumped onto EmmaOneSock, ordered a bunch of knits, waited for the post to arrive and got cracking. I completed all 5 tops in dribs and drabs over two mornings.

1. Red and natural stripe
- Vogue 7933
- Yigal Azrouel rayon/spandex/viscose knit
- I hemmed the bottom with a wide band. Sleeves and neckline are finished by turning under a small hem and sewing with a zigzag stitch.

What can I say....I love me some stripes!


 2. Watery landscape with cranes
- Vogue 7933
- Fabric type (forgotten) rayon?
- French
- I hemmed the bottom with a wide band. Sleeves and neckline are finished by turning under a small hem and sewing with a zigzag stitch.

This one is a bit more of a Winter look for me. Darker top, worn with dark jeans. The print is lovely and a bit lighter and washed-out in real life.


3. Pink eggplant techno knit
- My cowl neck pattern (I promised to post a copy of this pattern some time ago but got a little stumped when it came to linking the PDF. I'll try again one day. In the meantime, if you're seriously interested, email me (pbgubby(at)spin(dot)net(dot)au) and I will send it to you.)
- Viscose/lycra
- French
- I hemmed the bottom with a wide band. Sleeves are turned under and sewed down with a zigzag stitch.

I think this one is my favourite. I love the colours and pattern. I think it looks a little fancy...perhaps a little high end. 

4. Little dots knit
- Simplicity 2593
- Fabric type (forgotten) I think it's rayon and something?
- French
- armholes and neckline are finished with a binding. Hem is turned under and sewn down with a zigzag stitch.

This pattern is a little odd and a little unexpected. Basically you sew a tank with bound armholes and neckline. Then you hand sew a twisted piece of fabric onto the neckline. The overall effect is effective yet the technique feels unimpressive and a tad amateurish. Still, it's easy to wear and matches a lot of my shorts.



5. Yellow splashes
- Vogue 7933
- Rayon...I think
- I hemmed the bottom with a wide band. Sleeves and neckline are finished by turning under a small hem and sewing with a zigzag stitch.

This one was sewn using leftover fabric from a top I sewed my sister. There wasn't quite enough fabric so it's a bit short. I'll try layering it. If that fails, say hello to my new PJ top.


Well there you have it. Five new knits tops to fill the tee gap in my wardrobe. I actually made these up quite a few weeks ago and have been wearing all of them consistently since then. I was going to take the time to show you them all styled with different shorts and accessories for Summer but that just didn't happen. Even though it happened in my head, it just seemed like to much effect in the end. I guess I'm just not one of those bloggers. I did change all my shoes and accessories though!

11 comments:

  1. Nice work dear. I think I may be following you down this path soon.

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  2. These are all fab! I had the same problem recently and the same plan for fixing it. Life got in the way and now I've ordered 4 knit tops. With Xmas coming, I had to admit defeat! LOL

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  3. These tops all turned out great. I need to tackle my fear of knits, too. Maybe during Christmas vacation.

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  4. They look fabulous. I love your sense of colour.

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  5. They all look great. I think the red striped tee is my fave. I'll have to check out that pattern.

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  6. I love your knit tops - so stylish! And what discipline to make 5 things you can actually flog to death!

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  7. Nothing homemade looking here. Love the pink eggplant techno knit and flying flamingoes. Will have to did through my Burda and pattern stash to find a similar pattern to V7933. I'm also seriously short of summer tops.

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  8. oh yes, EmmaOneSock. I've actually banned myself from that website whilst I'm on my fabric diet... everytime I click onto it I end up buying something!! Some really great tops here. Really great. But what struck me most is your body comment. I honestly thought you had just about the perfect shape (I've always wanted a bit more in the hip department to balance out my shoulders) - isn't it crazy how what we see as an imperfection/annoyance can be someone else's ideal?
    I'd totally been on the look out for some good knit top patterns - so this has been like a bumper issue for me. Thanks :) And I'm still loving that turquoise beaded necklace on you!!

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  9. Great work - love those stripes - clever you!!! I like how you photographed them - and I like your intentions ... "one of those bloggers" ha ha - me too!!! Happy New Year!

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  10. That's prolific! These are great looking tops. I mentally gave up on sewing tshirts after a few disasters last year but your tops are egging me on to try again - especially that stripey one! I LOVE stripes too! Can there ever be enough stripes in the wardrobe??

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