Wednesday, April 25, 2012

KCWC-Day Two: Easy Knit Shrug + TUTORIAL

DSC_9416-EditTuesday, day two of the KCWC, I made a little knit shrug to go along with the Tiered Ruffle Dresses I just finished for the girls. These dresses were unique enough in color and style, they needed their own shrug; nothing the girls already had seemed to go with them.

This shrug was made with a few alterations of my TNT T-shirt pattern, Jalie 2805. Click below to see the details and how to take any t-shirt pattern and turn it into a shrug of your own!

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Beginning with a basic t-shirt pattern, I first cropped the bodice front and back to a more “shrug-like” length, about 4” or so below the arm.

On the bodice front, I added 1/2” to the center front and did not cut it on the fold. I also rounded the bottom corners.

The sleeves were not changed at all, and the only adjustment to the neckband was to add the 1/2” to each end, or 1” total to mimic the extra 1/2” on each side of the center front.

The first step was to hem the sleeves. I always do this first, just so it’s out of the way. I prefer to hem any knit sleeves flat (I also set them in flat). It’s easier to get a flat and even hem when hemming flat vs. in the round.

I gave it the ‘faux coverstitch’ treatment by serging, pressing up and then topstitching with a double needle. (and then pressing again.)

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Next, stitch the bodice fronts to bodice back at shoulder seams.

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I use a strip of clear elastic to stabilize the shoulder seam. I just lay it over the seam as I’m serging and then trim any excess down. This help the shoulder seams to not stretch way out of shape with wear, but I also find that it gives the shoulders a really crisp finish when pressed.

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Then sew the sleeves on in the flat.

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And stitch the length of the sleeve down to the hemline of the bodice.

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Then serge around from the center front, down and around the hemline and back up to the other center front.

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Then, the key to getting a nice, even hem on that curve is to gather the curved portion slightly to help it turn under evenly. I was able to do this by pulling the left and right needle threads from the serger, but you could also go and add a row of gathering stitches on a regular machine.

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Press up the hem (mine was 1/2”, the amount that I added to the center front when I cut the pieces out) and stitch all the way around. Depending on the type of knit you’re using, it may come out a bit wavy, but nothing a good steam pressing can fix!

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Now, attach the neckband, leaving the extra 1/2” on either end extending past the hemmed center front of the bodice.

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Turn that 1/2” under and blind stitch in place. On the left side of the shrug, add one button.

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And on the right side, add a hand worked button loop.

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And there you have it! A really simple shrug to accessories any dress!

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Here it is paired with their dresses. I love how the outfits turned out!

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I was actually able to make my hour of sewing time to meet the challenge goals on Tuesday, only because the girls caught a little cold and went to bed earlier than usual. I’ve seen some great kids clothes so far this week, seem like everyone is having fun with it!

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5 comments:

  1. Beautifully sewn! Thanks for the clear elastic and setting the sleeves in flat tips.

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  2. how fun! An hour for sewing & then 2 hours for blogging, right? (at least that's how it seems to work for me!)

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  3. Ha ha! Yeah, some times it is that way. I like writing tutorials though, it really makes me think through my construction process and I think it's even improved my sewing skills!

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