This was another quick sewing project - once I had the pattern traced out. The design is from a Japanese craft book. I don't know exactly what the title is but it was called Camisole and Dress in the Etsy listing (I think this one came from here). It's full of cute little tops and summer dresses.


Copying the pattern out wasn't too bad. It did take me a little while to figure out which pieces I was supposed to be tracing (and I kept forgetting what my bust measurement was in centimetres and had to remeasure it) but the pieces and sizes are very clearly marked. I used some cheap cotton-poly fabric as my tracing paper - the light colours are easy to see through, it doesn't fray badly and it means my pattern pieces kind of stick to my fabric for easier cutting - and traced several designs I liked at once so I wont have to get everything out again next time I want a new top.

The sewing went really quickly. It's such a simple top. My favourite detail is the facing and dip in the centre front. It looks nice with the ties loose or in a bow. My fabric (I think it came from Goodness) is a little crisp for this design but I think it will soften up nicely with a bit of washing and wearing; right now the straps have a tendency to slide off my shoulders.


As promised, here is an 'action shot' - look at my hands, I'm getting ready to knit. Photo creadits go to Rob who was patient enough to keep taking pictures until I managed to keep my eyes open for the shot (it's a special gift).

I finished my new shirt this morning. It took me a little longer than I'd anticipated because I decided I didn't like the look of top stitching on this fabric and did all the finishing by hand instead. I used this pattern with several modifications.

When I did my mock-up I found the sleeves a little tighter than I like so I added three-quarters of an inch to the sleeve width. I also thought the shirt was a bit on the long site and took two inches off the bottom. While I was in the mock-up I also decided that I liked the look of the ungathered sleeves so I skipped adding the sleeve elastic. Since I wanted to hand finish my shirt I decided not to use elastic in the neck either (it doesn't really seem necessary anyway). Instead I gathered the fabric into a narrow binding. So far I'm finding my shirt very comfortable.  It's nice and loose but not too much and the cotton is nice and cool.


I still love this fabric. The print is a perfect balance of feminine and sophisticated for me and it has a really nice feel. It's actually two layers of gauzy cotton that are laminated together somehow; it makes it feel kind of thick and delicate at the same time. When I washed it I noticed that it frayed rather badly so I used French seams everywhere and turned in all the raw edges.  I like my clothes to be kind of sturdy anyway - it helps them last longer.

I'm definitely going to be making this pattern up again, probably with some different modifications to keep things interesting. The pattern has some longer sleeve variations that I think would look just as cute with the shirt as with the dress (though I'm thinking of making one of them too).

Pattern: Hemp Lace Tank (#329) by LanaKnits
Yarn: allhemp3 in Dusty Rose
Yardage: 3 skeins
Needles: 2.00 and 2.5 mm AddiTurbos

It's so exciting to be finally finished this project. I started this just after our wedding last summer (so about the end of July) when the weather was really hot. Hard to believe right now - it will be a few months before it is warm enough for me to wear this outside without a sweater. I found the AddiTurbos a bit slick for this yarn and will probably try to find either some bamboo or AddiLace the right size for next time.

It was a close finish yarn-wize. I stopped knitting about half an inch earlier than called for before adding the straps. My waist is a little higher and shorter than a dressmakers "standard" so this put the centre of my waist shaping in the right spot. I think if I had knit that extra half inch I'd have run out of yarn half way through the cast off. The underarm (body and strap) is grafted together with kitchener stitch. It's not too bad to do but it was a lot of stitches and I ended up with an extra one on the first side. I never figured out where my mistake was - I couldn't find any dropped stitches - so I jut threaded my yarn through it and bound it off with everything else.

There are actually quite a few spots like that in this top. Places where I was sure I had counted each and every stitch at least twice but when I got to the next shaping step discovered I was off. It was a lot of little stitches to count. I couldn't see any of the mistakes so I decided not to go back and fix them.

I tried the top on as soon as it was off the needles but it really needs a bath and blocking to soften up and loose some bias; when I first tried it on the centre lace panel slanted sharply to the left. I gave it a bit of a pressing too (mostly in an attempt to make it dry faster) and it made the fern lace pattern look so crisp.