Winner, winner!

And the winner of the Sewing With Knits Class from Craftsy is....

Rebekah!!!! 

I can't wait to see what you make! Please update me! :-)

Red scoop neck T

First off, this shirt is comfortable. Second, it is my first time making a T-shirt and though I may fix a few things, I am pretty pleased how it turned out!

This is my third, but certainly not my final project from the Sewing With Knits class from Craftsy. I still need to make the dress and V-neck T-shirt, and then probably a million variations of each. Don't forget to enter to win a free class. I will be drawing at 8:00 p.m. CST this evening. That gives you about 8 hours to enter to win. You will not regret it! Go check out Craftsy anyway while you are at it. They offer a lot of great classes and e-mail deals out regularly.

 I used a knit from Joann's that had 100% stretch. I was worried because the project called for 50% stretch or greater, but I think it made the shirt so darn comfortable!

Here is a close up of the neck band detail. I am so thrilled with how that turned out. It fits perfectly and lays flat with no gaping when I bend over. Yay! I could give the shoulder a good press though to make that lay flatter.

And, get this, I actually twin needle stitched the sleeve and bottom hems. Where have I been on this? That is so dang easy and looks so professional. No more raggedy, rolled up knit hems for me...well, unless it is a design feature! I have to leave myself a little room for creativity right?

I untucked the shirt for this shot. I read a few reviews that said the shirt is short, so I added an inch in length. I don't think I needed it, but I do like my shirts longer. Because the fabric is so thin you can see every bump on my denim skirt (and other problem areas!) I would like to make it in a bit thicker fabric. I actually have some on the way from fabric.com already.

Don't forget to enter to win the class! I swear I have improved in knits a million percent from this course. 

Is it age-ism?

I just got back from Joann's, and I had a moment. Let's review some back story.



I bought a shirt like this from Old Navy before school started this year, and I wear it a lot. Mine was 3/4 sleeves, but similar. The recovery on the knit is really bad. By the end of the day it is all stretched out and looks really bad. On my Sewing With Knits class from Craftsy, I found out that having a little Spandex/Lycra in your knits will really help with keeping your shirt the same size all day. One of my projects in the class is a T-shirt, so I thought, "Perfect, I'll make a new cute red T that stays good looking all day."

Fast forward to me at the cutting table with my new and improved jersey knit with 5% spandex in bright red. I hand it over to my lady who I have gotten friendly with over the last couple of years. She asked what I was making this time, so I told her a T-shirt. The older lady behind me butts in at this point and says, "Honey, that is a knit fabric, and those are very stretchy. So it's going to be hard for you to sew. You can buy a T-shirt and not have to do that," and gave me a pitying smile with nose wrinkle.

Pause.

Before I could get my neck rolling and my finger up with a, "Excuse me? Do you know who I am? I am staciethinksshecan.com, clown! I know you did not just say that to me...." The lady at the cutting table said nicely to me, "Are you going to use your serger on this?" and I answered with a stunned, "Yes."

The lady behind me said, "Oh, I didn't realize you had sewn before."

What the heck? What is it about me that she assumed I couldn't sew? Was it my age? I admit I usually like the cutting table. It is usually full of good advice like warnings that a particular fabric frays easily or something will be on sale next week or a good idea on something to try. All I can say is what the heck, and walk away rocking my yoga pants even harder than usual.

Sewing with Knits Yoga Pants

I didn't really consider the yoga pants a must have from my Sewing With Knits class. Then, you guys started telling me you would make the yoga pants if you were to win the class the Craftsy donated. To enter, go here. To join Craftsy and get all their great e-mail offers go here!

I had exactly one yard of "brushed polyester jersey knit," which happened to be just enough for a pair of cropped pants, minus the pockets...boo! Not really, they are cool without the pockets. I have already walked the dog in them. I also cut them out and sewed them in less than an hour. Notice the Texans 5K shirt? That's right, I finished my race this weekend. Whoop!

I like the length and fit of these pants. I also see me making some of the shorts for the summer. I do not see me running in these at all because of the inside seam. That can get uncomfortable if you know what I mean. I would lift weights in them for sure, and after work I usually come home and change into something cool and comfortable to walk the pooch in. OK, and I live in them all weekend too. 

I can't believe my belly button is on the internet now, but here is the fold over waistband. It is cute and a nice feature. 

Don't forget to enter to win the Sewing With Knits Class for yourself! Go here to enter and I will be drawing a winner September 30, 2012.

Leopard Fleece and a Giveaway!

****Congratulations Rebekah! She won the giveaway. If you didn't win, please check out the Sewing with knits class anyway as it is amazing!****

Well, my fears about the print being to crazy were a bit unfounded. I really like how this fleece hoodie turned out.

Wait, you don't care about that yet do you? I mentioned a giveaway....OK, let's get that out there. The good people at Craftsy have agreed to let me give one of my fabulous readers a free enrollment into the Sewing With Knits Class with Meg McElwee of Sew Liberated. This fleece hoodie is project one of five from the course which includes:

1. Fleece Hoodie
2. Scoop Neck T
3. V-Neck T
4. Yoga pants or shorts (with pockets)
5. Empire Suplice Dress

To enter to win please comment below with which project you most want to make of the five. The course also includes lessons just about knits themselves and how to sew knits on a sewing machine. It is well worth it! I will draw a winner at random next Sunday, September 30. By the way Craftsy often sends out specials via e-mail on classes and fabrics, so it is good to join them anyway!

Back to me. 

This hoodie had a nice overlapped hood that kept the neckline looking clean.

Meg gave great tips about working with knits including hems. Whenever something started to feel off I could go back to the video or take a second to think about what Meg had said. Did I mention how much I love this class? I am pretty knit ignorant, so I was excited to get all the great information as I try to make a me made wearable wardrobe.

You can't tell from the pictures, but the hoodie has a mullet hem, which I thought was fun. 

This is my favorite picture of the hoodie. It is sitting well, but Mr. Thinks He Can took that moment to say, "It can't possibly be that hot." Do I look amused? I had a fleece photo taken outside in 90 degree weather!

I want to sew through all five of the projects and am just waiting for a nice sale on knits somewhere to keep going. Anyone seen a good sale on knits?

Check out how well those underarm seams match up, and don't forget to leave a comment to enter and be assured I give this class two thumbs up to anyone who wants to know more about knits from the history, to different types, to why they do what they do! 

Oops, crazy fabric

I am cutting out my fleece hoodie from Sewing With Knits on Craftsy, and I had a thought I haven't had in a long time...

"Will I look like a lunatic in this print?"

I had to ask myself that lot in the beginning. Sometimes chic polka dot dress = Minnie Mouse costume or Adorable flower print shirt = old body with a child's mind. Maybe this will be better as it goes. Either way pictures of me in fleece in our brisk 90 degree Fahrenheit fall weather should be great!

Polka Dot Shirt

OK as a disclaimer here are new things I did with this shirt:

• Raglan Sleeves
• ITY knit
• Wrap front anything

So Simplicity 2369 is highly rated, and it should be, this is the best fitting knit experience I have ever had. Here is what happened...

I put in the raglan sleeves, checked the pattern and put the neck facing. However, I was so excited I had done raglan sleeves that I then went all ego-crazy and decided I could wing it from there.

Facing fail! I serged the facing on, but it kept rolling and exposing my lazy girl serger thread. I had to zig zag it down. 

Overall you can't tell. It is a bit low cut, but I wore it to watch football yesterday and no one noticed, of course. I have not hemmed it yet because I am out of white thread...how does that happen? Anyway it is knit and it won't unravel. I did find I liked the raglan sleeves and the bell shaped sleeve. The ITY was a bit stuffy when I was out and about though. Overall it will be worn and loved, but the next one will go better and cover more cleavage. 

Next up: an even stuffier fleece sweatshirt from my Craftsy course. I am loving it!

Don't mind my crazy face and hair, I had been tracing my Junipers!

More Colette Pants

Guilty! I just saw the Juniper pattern from Colette and ordered it.



My Clover pattern has paid for itself because I made three pairs and wear them over and over. I'm hoping this one fits just as well!

By the way, I have been using a lot of my sewing time this week to watch Meg McElwee's Sewing with Knits class on Craftsy. I have sewn a lot of knits, but this class has been invaluable and I haven't even gotten to the patterns yet. I highly recommend it! If you follow this link you can get it for $20.

What?!? I'm sewing something!

That's right. I haven't sewn in while, garments anyway. I miss it. I have had a great piece of purple polka dot knit I bought during my drug fueled fabric shopping spree back in February burning a hole in my stash. When I saw Lucinda from Sew Wrong do her version of Simplicity 2369, which I have had in the cabinet for quite a while, I knew it was destiny.

OK, I haven't gotten far yet, but it is something! I think the other school teachers can agree with me the beginning of the school year hots us like a ton of brinks. 

You: Well Stacie, you had eight weeks off before that.

Dang! Well, I got my Realtor's license and have been looking for a house to buy ever since. I have seen so many houses I could cry, oh wait, I have cried because I haven't found the right one. So maybe I need to quit looking so hard and do something to get my mind off of it. Oh yeah, I really miss sewing. Despite the inconvenience of my present living situation to my sewing, I will persevere. I did make an unblogged pair of Clovers, and it was just fine.

In other news I have been training for a 5k. That is a big deal for me. Before my foot injury I was a runner, triathlete and all around bad a$$. Now I'm back huffing and puffing through a couple miles. My goal race is the Houston Texan's Run Of The Bulls September 23 with brunch to follow with some of my fabulous and sweaty friends if anyone is interested in joining me! Beyond that I was granted a slot in the Houston Half Marathon in January. Last year I didn't get to run anything and the year before that I traveled to New Orleans to run theirs. I loved it! It will be nice to run my hometown again though!