I wanted to take part in OWOP2014 so that took priority at first. I had to quickly knock out an extra skirt for the challenge, so shoved the half-finished Coco to one side, and it hung there on the mannequin looking forlorn. No point finishing it, though, if I couldn't wear it for a week.
Okay, so I'll finish the following week... No I won't, as all five of us in the family come down with the awful noro virus! Yuck!
Okay, so I'll finish the week after... No I won't, as darling daughter comes down with "Slapped Cheek" and I catch the accompanying fever and cold!
And after that?... No, by then my birthday has been and gone, I've got a bad case of the miseries over getting another year older, and I don't feel like sewing!
This is ridiculous: get a grip Louise! It will only take about 20 minutes to finish. I'm going to do it now, photo and post today no putting it off any longer.
[About 24 hours and 20 minutes later...]
Did it! Phew. Sadly the light had gone by the time I completed it, so I had to wait until this morning for photos.
So this is, I suppose, my longest make to date! Ironically, it was really straightforward.
The fabric is a sturdy double-knit jersey with a mock knitted design in grey and black. The photos do not really capture the design very well. It was a bugger to photograph and darling Hubbie (the blog's official photographer) took three lots of pictures before we gave up and said they'll do.
I went for the version with the funnel neck which I really like. I didn't realise it would be so easy. It was literally fold the collar in half and sew to neckline. Even I can do that.
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The collar does give the dress a nice sixties vibe and I am happy with the look of it.
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Size-wise I feel this is a little tight. If I made another, I would keep the neck, shoulders and armholes the same, and grade out a size for the dress section.
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I have another piece of double knit which would look nice as a coco, but it has a printed border along the selvedge. Would it be okay to cut it, so that the patterned selvedge becomes the hem. Or would being off-grain destroy the shape?
First off, Happy Birthday!! :) Secondly, that is one cute Coco, the fabric is really cool. I must find some nice patterned ponte for one too! I don't have a whole lot of experience of sewing with knits, but cutting it that way might be more tricky than it is with wovens because knits can really get stretched out of shape. I cut the funnel neck for a Coco top this way, just to squeeze it all out of leftover fabric, and it sits a bit weirdly because of the way the direction of stretch falls. (I still love wearing it though!)
ReplyDeleteThanks for the birthday wishes, I'm slowly coming to terms with getting older. Slowly!
DeleteSounds like you've had a pretty tough time of it! This looks lovely though, so was worth the effort. Not sure re cutting on the cross grain. It will affect it in someway, but I don't know to what extent. Plus, unless your fabric is 4 way stretch, you are likely to have the stretch running the wrong way - ie up and down, rather than across - which might make it more difficult to get on and off. Can you afford to take the risk?
ReplyDeleteGood point about making it more difficult to get on, I hadn't thought os that.
DeleteWell done for finally getting it done. I've had things sitting round for MONTHS before just needing a zip and the hem doing, so you're not too bad by my standards! I agree with Helen re: cutting the other way - might cause you an issue with direction of stretch, depending on how tight it is on you. I love the fabric you used for this one though!
ReplyDeleteThank you,not sure I could cope with something sitting around for ages. This felt bad enough!
DeleteLooks lovely and comfy! I agree with the others about cutting on the cross grain - if the stretch is running the wrong way it would probably affect the fit and the general shape. I'm not an expert though! Happy belated birthday, and hope you're recovered from the various bugs!
ReplyDeleteIt is comfy, think I may need to make another just due to the ease of wearing it. Yes feeling better now thank you.
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