My First Successful Sewing Experience: Part 1 of 3

Pattern: Dress from Butterick B4712, diaper cover from McCall's M2213
Modifications: My armhole seams were pretty ugly so I added some bias tape to clean them up a bit.

While I made some nice newborn diapers and a great (and well used) baby sling when I was pregnant, my sewing track record is pretty ugly. Let's just say I wasted lots of time and money and leave it at that. Enter a live-in babysitter who can sew and who works at a fabric store... Emily gave me some great pointers on patterns, cutting and construction. For any other beginner sewers out there, this is what I've learned from the experience:

1. If you do not 1) use pins and/or 2) iron your pieces after each seam, you would be better off wadding up the cash you dropped on fabric and notions and torching it. It would be better to indulge your inner pyro than suffer the anger and frustration of a failed project. I know that sounds like a no-brainer but this was actually my greatest sewing challenge.

2. Transfer all of the markings from the pattern to the fabric. Of course you would do that. Why would you try to wing it? Trust me on this, I've tried and failed.

3. Follow the pattern instructions. When the pattern says to do something that you think sounds a bit too much, just do it. You will be grateful five steps later when you realize that you should have done what the pattern said to do way back at the beginning.


I like how the bias tape looks except in one spot. Do you see it here? I'm not going to rip it out and redo it but I'll never like that corner.


Check out the zipper! Not bad for my second one, I think. It's a little wonky at the bottom but you can't see it unless you're looking for it.
I'll have two more FOs in the next few days along with some notes on why knitting is better than sewing...

Knitting Funk

Thanks for all of your comments and encouragement on the mittens. I'm behind on my work this week so I haven't responded to anyone and I apologize.

I did finish my mitts at Knit Lawrence, although since I forgot the pattern book and decided to wing the thumb, the mittens don't match. Many thanks to blogless Camille and Jennifer, who encouraged me to knit the thumb sans pattern. I won't lose sleep over the lack of mitten symmetry because I made them for myself. Furthermore, one mitt is a little bigger than the other and I recently noticed a significant color chart mistake on the back of one hand so they're far from perfect. I still like the colors. We knitters are the only people that would notice the mistakes.



I also put the finishing touches (i.e. the button and ribbon) on this little tank top I made earlier this year for Beatrix. I hope she'll be able to wear it this summer. She's so skinny that a lot of clothes don't fit right. Her winter sweaters have about 5" of ease. I couldn't decide which picture to post (partly, I think, because I like the tank so much) so have several.





Pattern: Eyelet Top from Debbie Bliss' Special Knits
Yarn: Knit Picks Shine Sport in Orchid
Needles: US 4

I think what I like most about this little top is that it's the kind of sweater that I would covet for myself. Don't worry - I will never make matching mama-baby sweaters, although I won't rule out socks. Doesn't it creep you out to receive a Christmas card from the family of 10 all wearing the same outfit?

I've been finishing little knitting projects lately because I have a lot of real world work to do these days. I have some big projects to finish for my master's degree before graduation in May. I haven't talked much about what I do on my blog, but I'd like to get a PhD or MD once I have my master's and work in infectious diseases or epidemiology. Since I never took any science in college, I've been taking chemistry, physics and biology classes alongside my grad classes to meet the PhD and medical school entrance requirements. Just this week, I met with an advisor who told me I should apply this summer, when I had assumed that I'd have to wait a year until I finished my science coursework. Suddenly, I have a huge amount of STUFF to do in the next six months. It is so very intimidating. I think I'll take the MCAT this summer. *GULP* I wish I could knit while studying.