Friday 3 June 2011

Butterick 5497

Also entitled:  "My eyes, my eyes".....  Please someone remind me that small stripes make your eyes go funny.

A super easy knit top.  Easy to make and easy to wear.  I made the long sleeved version.  I cut a size 12, shortened the sleeves by 1" and shortened the length by 1.5".  I also had to grade out the hip area to a 14 at the hem.

Do you remember I have already commented "I don't do knits", well I was determined to crack it and after lots of trial and error with needles, tension, overlocker differential feed etc, I think I finally have - yey!

It's not me, it's Jennifer.  She really does not like knit fabrics.  But Betty has come to the rescue, good old Betty.  Oh, perhaps I should point out that Jennifer is my Janome 1660P and Betty is my lovely old Bernina 730.  I don't have two ladies hidden away doing all the sewing for me!

Trust me, Jennifer and I tried everything we could think of, ballpoint needles, blue tipped ballpoint needles, stretch needle, normal needles all to no avail. Ollie (the overlocker) tried and he did much better than I expected.  Bearing in mind Ollie only has 1 needle (shamefully the same one since I have purchased him over 20 years ago) and squeeks when helping me, He was a winner with this project.  BUT  you can't use the overlocker too much on this one because of the casings for the elastic at the arm and underbust points.

Anyhoo, Betty saved the day.  Here it is modeled on Vivienne for now.  I'll be wearing it over the next week so you will see it in the MMJ page shortly.

It looks much better on a real body!

Elasticated shoulders
Enjoy the rest of your day and hope the weather is as good for you as it is for us today. Bye from a sunny, warm Wiltshire....

It's a dogs' life!

7 comments:

Irene said...

That is a very nice top. Can't wait to see you MMJ pictures!

Kestrel said...

I love the look of your top, it looks really flattering. I avoid knits as I don't have an overlocker. Like you, I tried a few different things with my machine, but it wasn't happening.

Bella said...

The top looks very fresh - love the clean white and blue strips.

p.s. Can my dog "follow" your dog? She's rather in awe of dogs that are allowed onto the sofa. It doesn't happen here, unfortunately!

Michelle said...

Oh I like the drape in the top, it will look really cute on. How adorable is your dog? Does he like to fight fabric and patterns when you're working like my dogs do?

Krystina said...

Lovely top! I wasn't sold when I saw the pattern picture. Your version is so much nicer!

MushyWear said...

Very cute style. I know what you mean about working with stripes. It always feels good to be done, because wearing them isn't as hard on the eyes as sewing them!

Eugenia said...

Wow that top is really pretty. I passed that pattern by but you've got me wanting it now. I love the stripes and it looks like you and Betty have done a fabulous job with the construction!