Molly's Mittens (Unfelted)

My inbox is overflowing with email from places from which I'll probably never make a purchase again. Some of the email I don't ever look at; it's deleted immediately. I know you know what I mean. But I'm getting better at unsubscribing. One day it will be more manageable.

But there are emails that fill my inbox that I absolutely love: personal notes, the occasional email from Habu, and the fairly regular email from Purl Soho. And though Purl Soho happens to be a very convenient three minute walk from where I live and work, my inspiration from Purl Soho very often arrives by email.

That's where I first saw Molly's Simple Felted Mittens. I love the clever construction. And since I'm temporarily restricted to sewing my own sweater knit fabrics (my self-imposed restriction), I decided to give them a go using a plain double knit, a fancy double knit, and ribbing. The rust-colored double knit has a subtle texture, which is more prominent depending on lighting and the viewing angle, like the grain of a woven fabric.

I ended up using the paper pattern download from Molly's original Felt Mittens with Knitted Cuffs.

Though I used a serger for most of the construction, for the tricky thumb and seam on the palm it was easier to zigzag each piece, then sew with a regular sewing machine. In this way I was able to open the seam allowance for the rest of the stitching. (See instructions on Purlbee.) And I did not clip the curved seam allowance on tip of the thumb, as it was unnecessary with the knit fabric.

The ribbing and texture make the mittens not quite as elegant as Molly's Simple Felted ones. I may sew a pair one day without ribbing and just a simple double knit.

The 100% Merino wool, however, makes them soft, cozy, and warm.

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With each project that I complete, I feel more prepared to get back to the original inspiration for this blog, the Pattern Magic: Stretch Fabrics book. A recent comment on this site led me to Lisa's Small Things blog, where she's doing a Project Pattern Magic. I think I'm going to sew along when she gets to the knits. Perhaps you'd like to join in?

O!

Further Notes on the Providence Sweater

Directly off the serger and not steamed or blocked in this pic, it's already closer to what I wanted.

As I hinted might happen at the end of my last post, Steps for Sewing a Sweater, I took the plunge and redid the cuffs and bottom rib band of the Providence sweater. I know, I know the sweater was wearable, but these are new techniques for me, and I learn through practice and repetition.

In the end the only thing I did differently when attaching the ribbing was to raise the differential feed to a 2. I tried stay stitching the main fabric before attaching the ribbing (again practicing on cutaways) and I couldn't see a difference, at least not on this fabric.

I also gave top stitching a try, zigzaging (for stretch) with a 1 mm width and a 3.5 mm length.

Look closely below the words "Top Stitching" to see it.

I decided against it this time with no particular reason. I'll probably top stitch a future project.

My takeaway from the Providence sweater:

• Sewing a sweater is nowhere near as difficult as I imagined. Being a first time owner of a serger, it took time for me to get my settings, but next time it will be so much easier.
• The cut and sew technique is very versatile. It was easy for me to change the ribbing -- I just cut off the old and attached the new. You can't really do that with fully fashioned. I drafted the sewing pattern for me, so I knew it would fit, but doing alterations on a too big project would not be a problem. You can't really do that with fully fashioned either.
• I love my machines! Ok, I knew that one already. From making my sweater knit fabric with a my knitting machine (Btw did you know some of my fabrics are now available in my shop?) to constructing the sweater with sewing machine and serger, machines are cool tools and I'm grateful to have them.

If you can't tell that I'm excited about this project, let me just say that I AM!!! And I can't wait to start the next one!

O!

Steps for Sewing a Sweater

This post has been expanded as Sewing a Sweater, a more thorough page that's updated from time to time.
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Perhaps a better name for this post would have been How I Sewed My First Sweater. Though I've designed and knitted many fully fashioned sweaters in my life, I've just completed my first sweater using cut and sew methods only.

If you try this at home, remember that before the prepping and before the cutting, the very first step is always to choose a sweater knit fabric that you really love and one that will work for the particular project. And that's the part that I'm most pleased with. The fine merino wool was a great choice. The sweater is wonderfully soft, just the way I like sweaters.

Though there are a few online classes offered on "sewing knits", none that I've seen take the heavier sweater knit fabric into consideration.  My resources for sewing were Revised Knit, Cut and Sew: Bk. 1 and The Complete Serger Handbook (affiliate ad links). I used both my sewing machine and my serger. Below are the instructions I wrote out for myself (with additional notes) so that I could remember what to do as I went along. I also wanted a written record in case I decided to  tweak the procedure a bit the next time.

Step 1. Sewing machine:  Machine baste Stay-Tape to Back shoulders. (I placed the Stay-Tape on the seam line, then machine basted along the upper edge of the tape.  The Stay-Tape was lightweight and really worked well. I may try experimenting with clear elastic to see how I like it.)

Step 2. Serger:  With a 4-thread balanced overlock stitch, stitch Front and Back together at the shoulder seams. Steam seams to one side, toward front of garment.

Step 3. Serger:  With right sides together, stitch side seams for all ribbing (Front Neckband to Back Neckband, Front Hem Band to Back Hem Band, and Cuff seams) so that they form tubes. Steam side seams to one side, toward back of garment.

Step 4. Sewing machine:  Fold ribbing in half horizontally with wrong sides together and zigzag-baste together raw edges. (I used a 4 mm width and a 4 mm length. In the future I may skipped this step, once I've had more practice.)

Step 5. Serger:  With ribbing on top, stitch neckband to bodice matching side seams. (I "pinned" neckband to bodice first using binder clips and removed the clips as I serged. In fact, I always "pinned" with binder clip before stitching fabric.)

Step 6. Serger: Stitch side seams of bodice and stitch seams of sleeves. Steam seams to one side, toward back of garment.

Step 7. Serger: With ribbing on top stitch appropriate ribbing to sleeves, neckline, and bottom of bodice, always "pinning" first.

Step 8. Serger: Attach sleeves to bodice. (So that there's no extra bulk under the arm, after the ribbing is attached and before the sleeve is attached to the bodice, the sleeve seam directly under the arm must be steamed toward the front of the garment. This way when the sleeve is attached to the bodice, the sleeve seam goes toward the front and the bodice side seam goes toward the back.)

Attaching ribbing is where I had my biggest difficulty. After working my practice scraps I decided to use a differential feed at a click under 1.75. I still managed to overstretch the bottom of the bodice and sleeves when attaching the ribbing. Next time I'll raise my differential feed up to 2. For now I may try top stitching to see if that tames the flare any. Next time I may use the method described in this BurdaStyle tutorial (Steps 2 and 3), stay stitching before attaching the ribbing. If anyone has other suggestions, please let me know in the comments!

A special shoutout to the crafters of #VirtualCraftNight for their moral support through sweater construction. :)

So... I plan on redoing the bottom band and the cuffs. Though the flare is not too noticeable when worn, I'm all about process and I'd like to learn a method that works for me. And it's such an easy redo -- just a little re-cutting and re-sewing.

O!
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ETA On January 18, 2013 I posted a follow-up Further Notes on the Providence Sweater.

Making (Seam) Allowances

Seam allowance -- that little area between the sewing line and the cutting line. For some reason that little quarter-inch to one-inch area has been a huge point of indecision for me.

As I mentioned in my earlier general post on The Sweater Knit Fabric, the expert information that I've come across has ranged from 3/8 of an inch to a full inch when it comes to seam allowances for this type of fabric! But I've been practicing and experimenting and practicing some more and I've settled on a basic seam allowance of 1/2 inch.

How did I finally come to my decision? I admit to preferring paper patterns without marked seam allowances so that any adjustments can be made without the seam allowances getting in the way. It follows that I'd draft and print my paper pattern without seam allowances. After reading this article and this one on Fashion Incubator, understanding that I was not making garments for production, and still being needlessly nervous about frays and runs, I decided to go with the 1/2 inch. (For the record, with proper fabric prepping and power cutting, I haven't had any problems with frayed edges and runs.) And that was that.

The next step was adding the seam allowance before cutting. A Google search for "adding seam allowance to pattern" will bring up various methods. This is the unique way I added mine.

Yep, I removed that blue perpendicular indicator thing from my Dritz sewing gauge ruler. I just squeezed the blue plastic piece (with its hidden metal spring) out of its slot on the ruler. I then pushed the piece onto the upper blade of my Black & Decker Cordless Power Scissors. It's exactly 1/2 inch from the cutting edge of the blade to either point of the blue winged indicator. I kept the point aligned with the edge of the paper pattern as I cut. Easy.

Caution: These rulers come in different sizes and the perpendicular indicators come in various colors, which may mean that the sizes of these indicators vary. If you decide to use this method, be sure to measure yours from between the blades to the end point of the indicator.

A Possible Future Adjustment
Using 4 threads, my serger is set (out of the box) to create a seam that's one-quarter of an inch wide. This means that if I have a half-inch seam allowance, I must trim away the remaining quarter inch (1/2 - 1/4 = 1/4) as I stitch. Horrors! I don't like trimming away that much of my beautiful fabric, especially when the edges are so neat and clean. So despite all my hand wringing and semi-clever ideas, I may go another way next time. I'll let you know.

In the meantime, I would love to hear how you handle seam allowances in this type of situation and others.

O!

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A further note on the volatile Power Scissors market:  The price fluctuates wildly. I paid $21 this summer (2012). I've seen them as high as $98 online. Buyer beware.

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