Sew Knit Coordinates—Start to Finish
While I like trying new sewing and quilting techniques, there’s something irresistible about sewing the basics. Going back to my sewing roots, these next two episodes are all about sewing knits. You’ll get a chance to sew, then mix and match four classic wardrobe pieces in my new two-part series, Sew a Knit Wardrobe from Start to Finish on Sewing With Nancy.
Whether you’re looking for comfortable nine-to-five wear or an easy evening staple, I’ll show you how to easily stitch or serge a swing jacket, top, pants, and skirt. We’ll be using McCall’s pattern M7331. Now it’s your chance to brush up on knit sewing basics, starting with the wardrobe focal point—the jacket.
Learn to sew a knit wardrobe from start to finish on the new two-part series of Sewing With Nancy. You’ll also find fantastic tips for sewing with knits in Sew Knits With Confidence, Grab a copy of the Sewing With Nancy DVD.
Supplies
Note from Nancy: Refer to the pattern envelope for sizing and fabric yardage.
- Knit Fabrics
- Twin Stretch Needles by Klasse
- Stretch Needles by Klasse
- McCall Pattern 7331 by Nancy Zieman
- Elastic
- Stabilizer
In the first part of the two-part series, we’ll also stabilize the knit fabric along the shoulder seam, back neckline, sleeve hems, and back hems. You won’t want to miss this week’s new episode. Watch it online.
Lay Out, Cut, Mark and Stabilize
See how easy it is to match directional knit nap fabrics when we tackle the layout of the pattern tissue. Use a rotary cutter to cut out the pattern pieces once they are secure. I’ll share tips for marking the nips/notches in the pattern and share details for marking the right side of the fabric. In some cases, the right and wrong sides of knits are virtually identical.
Stitch/Serger Jacket Front
Start sewing this versatile jacket by first sewing the jacket front. In Sew Knit Coordinates- Start to Finish—part one, you’ll see how to use a serger for these construction steps or simply use a special wobble stitch on your sewing machine. Learn how to grade seam allowances with a rotary cutter with pinking blade.
Stitch/Serge Shoulder and Neckline
Next, we’ll address the shoulder and neckline area of the jacket. A few tried and true techniques will allow easy construction of this wardrobe piece.
Stitch/Serge Sleeves
Sleeves are often a hurdle for seamstresses but they needn’t be. Setting in knit sleeves can be achieved accurately and quickly as demonstrated in this week’s new episode of Sewing With Nancy.
Watch Sew a Knit Wardrobe from Start to Finish on Sewing With Nancy online.
For a chance to win a copy of the Sew a Knit Wardrobe from Start to Finish DVD, leave a comment sharing your answer to: What color do you find most in your own personal wardrobe?
The winner of a copy of Patchwork Patterns Inspired by Antique Quilts, from our gift sponsor, Martingale Press/That Patchwork Place is Sherie Christiansen, who commented, “My all time favorite vintage pattern is the double wedding ring. My Grandmother made one for my parents when they got married, and I always loved it. When each of my four children got married, I made them each one. I have yet to make me one, however.”
Don’t forget to submit your Christmas Stocking in my Stocking Challenge! The deadline to enter is SATURDAY, December 3, 2016. Click here to see how to enter. Make sure you are subscribed to my enews mailing list so you won’t miss a thing. Sign up here.
Bye for now,
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Leslie Johnson
Purple
Cheryl K.
I have more teal-colored clothing than anything else. It’s s color that looks good on just about everyone, and it goes well with most neutrals. On me, teal does wonders for my complexion, and it makes my eyes stand out. Besides, I love the color!
Linda E in AZ
I have lots of red but lots of other colors too (“winter” colors). I could sure use a reminder about all the things I used to know about wardrobe knit sewing.
Thanks!
Sandy W
The color I am always drawn to is a royal blue. I stopped coloring my hair (graying at age 16) about 20 yrs ago and needless to say my hair is SNOW WHITE. I happened to wear a royal blue sweater to a dinner and got the most comments I have ever had. When I actually took the time to look at myself I realized that it went great with my hair, go figure!!
Judy Sherwood
Blue is my color. I have this same pattern but haven’t started working on it yet. Would love the DVD to not only nudge me along, but to remind me of the special treatments to use on knits, and it will give me a chance to get back to my serger, which I just don’t use enough!
Berenice
As I look at it, almost every pair of pants is black, and several of my tops are cobalt blue. I guess it is time to mix it up!
Anne Z
The color I have most in my closet is red.
Barbara n
I tend to wear browns, tans, and black in the winter. Neutrals look nice on me. Haven’t sewn with knits in years, but those patterns are beautiful!
Kerry Engbarth
Mostly blues
Kerry Engbarth
Blue
Mary Green
The past two years have been my AQUA period but I am trying to switch over to navy. However, I do have a lot of basic black.
Suzanne
Lots of PURPLE. But also, I gravitate to rich jewel-tone colors – they make me feel good (in addition to looking good with my red hair). Most of my clothes are classic-look with a few eclectic accents thrown in. Have been wanting to get back to sewing, and the DVD would be a tremendous help!
Mary Green
I’m trying to switch over from aqua to navy but I have a lot of basic black.
Helen Disenhaus
Blue is my best color.
Debbie D.
Blue, especially royal blue! One can never have too much blue!
Dianna Putnam
Teal blue (as opposed to teal green). All the members of my family have blue eyes. Mine actually have a touch of teal in them. So, it’s a great, rich complimentary color. It also seems to be a color that looks good on nearly all skin and hair types and it dresses up so nicely with a scarf or simple jewelry. Teal blue pops!
Carole S
I recently cleaned out my closet and put everything back in rainbow order. While blue is my favorite color, my closet seems to be lacking in it. I have a little bit of a lot of different colors, but mostly white and cream. I really need to remedy that! I have this pattern, so I’m looking forward to watching the videos!
Carol
Black is the basic color I start with and then I add other colors with it. In the winter I also include brown and gray as my starter colors and go from there. I love color but I usually start with one of those base colors.
Pat
I must be a beige person because that is the color I find most in my wardrobe. After that come red and orange. Thanks for the chance to win.
Kim H
I have a passion for the pinks, purples, and lavender. I also tend to use black in my clothes.
Cyndy Lacey
The colors I have the most are greens and browns. They look good with my red hair. This knits pattern and DVD are just a great give away. Thanks for the chance to participate!
Cheryl
I tend towards blue and beige, however I was surprised to find so many shades of orange in my closet. Very Surprising
Lois
I love black as well as gray. They are always my base. Turquoise is always my go-to, as it looks good with my complexion and my dark brown eyes. Truthfully, I just LOVE color. I really like the demostrated wrap and how it is assembled.
Jean GB
I love black,white and red.However, lately deep pink has been creeping into my closet – but not with the red!
Fairlee Yelton
I really like beige and green for my favorites.
I haven’t made any clothes in quite a while. This knit project sounds inviting to me.
I enjoy your shows and videos.
Fairlee Yelton
Theresa Brooks
I have a lot of colors, black, red, pink. But lately I have been adding more blues and even a few browns and beiges!
PamB
Navy with jewel tone tops
Susie Mackenberg
Black appears most in my closet.
Becky M
I prefer browns but I seem to have a lot of blacks in my wardrobe also.
maga
Blue used to be my stable colour then I moved to black but now I go for teal, purple and grey although they are hard to come by where I am. I think the changes in preferred colour has to do with age in my case.
I have only recently started to sew knits and have a serger on order so I will need to watch all the shows that have information about knit and how best to tackle it.
Thanks for the chance to win.
Arlene Aughey
I find variations of warm blues – turquoises and aquas in the Summertime, and teals in the Wintertime. I am a Spring, and have dal eyes, and I have found this color very complementary to me, as well as going very nicely with all of my other Spring colors!
Valerie Thompson
I have black gray red pink orange green beige I’m a color lover. I’ve been wanting to start sewing my own t-shirts so I can embroidery on them to personalize them thank you for a chance to win you CD.
Sandy
Pretty basic all the way around. Dark colors on the bottom, basics, navy, black, tan, brown, & Grey. I’m trying to add more colors for the tops, picking colors that go with any of the bottom colors. Peach, green, blue, depends on the season for color tone. A lot of white, off white, creams too. Also trying to add more patterned fabrics along with more color! Usually have added pattern & color by adding a scarf to all the basics.
Judy Hart
I love the warmth of corals but I mostly wear gold and browns as the earthy colors seem to give my skin the best tones.
Sandy Davis
Since I’m a winter, I love all those jewel-toned colors – mostly purple, royal blue, black.
Lisa McClellan
I have a lot of darks,but I want to brighten it up
Colleen
I have a lot of jewel tones mostly in raspberry pink. I think it looks good on me and most importantly it makes me feel good.
Joyce
I wear a lot of black. Sometimes I go to the extreme and wear very bright, but it’s black most of the time.
JoD
Actually, there is more blue than anything else. I have a small closet compared to the new ‘norm’. Knits are great cause they don’t tend to wrinkle… or if they do, just throw them into the dryer for a few minutes.
PJ Miller
Well there’s a lot of black, but I’m trending toward Navy Blue. Every time I wear Bavy, I get compliments.
Susan T
Any Easter egg shades work for me.
Kimberly Hubbard
I wear mostly teals and purples. I have a whole wardrobe in my head with your new knit program.
Kelly Sas
The Irish in me likes green so I have lots of shades of green in my wardrobe.
Paula
fuschia (hot pink) and turquoise in various shades
Jan N.
I have a lot of red and navy blue in my closet.
Chris D.
My wardrobe is mostly grey . But I wish it was red!
Nancy Johnson
Teal and pink
Kay Coffin
My favorites are hot pink and turquoise. Together, usually,
pat Gonzales
brown beige love the pattern
Gail Beam
My wardrobe scans the gamut of colors! I do like black because it goes with so many things, and of course since I love jeans and jean jackets I have a lot of blue.
Linda Farmer
Lots of blues, blacks, roses, teals — favorites! Looking forward to more information on knits.
Karrie Smith
Blues.
I wish I knew how to sew knits!
Alana Cunningham
Although Imusually wear blue, I love purple too. I’d love to sew knits that would look like they just came off the retail rack.
BevM
Without a doubt, blue is my favorite color.
Linda
All variations and hues of Blue.
CarolKE
Green used to be my favorite, but I seem to be leaning towards pinks and purple. Maybe I should follow our granddaughter and say that my favorite is rainbow!
Martha Morgan
This year it seems to be gray. Didn’t even realize it.
Renee G
I see lots of red in my closet, with jewel tone blues being the runner up.
Carol
As I’m getting older my favorite colors are navy and peach and I have always loved sweater combos.
Carol
LindaC in AZ
My favorite colors to wear are blues and greens. I have a lot of both of those colors in my wardrobe. If I had to choose one, I would probably go with the blues. From navy to icy blue and every shade in between.
Rosemary O'Koren
My favorite colors are rose, blue and red and the they all go with black which is the prominent color in my closet. It’s funny, I have McCall’s 7331 on my cutting table.
Lana
Turquoise is my neutral and ANYTHING goes!
Carolyn Brack-Jackson
Black and grey this year!
Patti R.
My closet is filled with coral and peach colors.
Kris Valle
I keep buying gray colored clothing. I’m really attracted to it, I actually have 4 gray sweaters I wear constantly. They just go with everything in my closest. The gray just compliments my hair, I think, as people also stop to tell me how much they like the color on me.
I have to stop myself when I shop to make sure I don’t have even more gray purchases. I also am attracted to gray in my quilting. I think it’s just a sort of modern color right now.
Pamela McCandless
My go to color is black, I believe I look good in black. It goes with my light olive complection, hides a myriad of flaws. I also wear navy blue, tan, a lot of white tops in spring, summer, and fall. I like a blue base red to deep burgundy, purple, but it is hard to find, just like deep forest greens. The fashion industry dictates along with Pantone what is being offered, and I don’t always like the season or year picks they make. Even what we are offered in the fabric shops is dictated by them. I am working with dyes so I can customize, but not every fabric is good for the technique.
Joyce Leary
I love blues, pinks, mauve, and cherry red with many of my basic pieces in black, gray to match.
Ruth L
I love jewel tones. I have very light skin and although I love black, it simply washes me out. The past few years I have been choosing a lot of plum and olive tones.
I’ve had this pattern on my To-Do List for awhile and it’s time to get sewing!
Dena
Most of my clothes are varying shades of blue and green.
Arlene Burger
Most of my basic (never out of style) clothing is gray. I add trendy pieces in any color.
Karen Tucker
My closet is nicely color coordinated so it’s easy to tell what my favorite colors are. Red, white and black all win!! It’s also interesting that about 90% of my clothing is solid colors; I’m obviously not a print/pattern fan.
Jackie
I like fuschia type colors
AnnJanette McMurtrey
I love jewel tone colors. I am a musician so a big part of my closet is black. Formal, business casual and warm comfy black for playing in the orchestra pit. They are notoriously cold especially this time of year. I try to add a pop of color with scarves. Would love to expand with some beautiful knit pieces.
Michelle Hall
Shades of blue & basic black pants
Cynthia Gorin
I think I have more aqua a blue tones in my wardrobe than anything else. But I also love coral and bright green. Can’t wait to start adding more knits to my wardrobe.
Milagritos Archilla
My perfect color combination: black, white and yellow or rose for contrast.
Deon
The color that I want to dominate my wardrobe is teal, paired with gray or black. That’s not the current state of my wardrobe, though; it’s a mess! But I do have a lot of teal/blue knits waiting to be sewn, so winning this DVD would be a big help!
Claudia o.
I think I’d have to say Navy blue … casual, but also dressy with the right accessories!!! Would love to gain the confidence to sew with knits, so this would be a great win!!! Thank you!!