New Look #6683 – Sweater Dress

Featured ~ Pamela Klingensmith ~ 1 Comment

Baby it’s cold outside! Time for sweater dresses. This is one of the new Fall 2020 releases from New Look patterns. It features dropped shoulders and ribbed cuffs on the sleeves. There are two views from which to choose: View A – short stand up neck and patch pockets OR View B – cowl neck and side seam pockets. I chose to sew View A.

The neckline on my dress doesn’t stand up as straight as the pattern photo shows, but that is because my fabric has a substantial drape. If I were to sew this again with this same fabric, I would interface the neck piece so it would have more stability. That said, it still looks good and does not affect the wearability of the dress.

The neckline from View A allows for bold jewelry or scarves to be added without interfering with your accessories:

I chose the size 16, but I wish I would have gone with the 14. My dress fits great in the hips, but it is big in the bust/armhole area. If I sew another dress from this pattern, I will go down a size in the shoulder and bust area and just grade up a size toward the hips. I will also add bust darts, which would give the upper body some nice shaping.

The fabric is a boucle sweater knit from Stylemaker Fabrics (from last season).

All in all, I consider this a successful make and I plan to wear it throughout the winter.

If you are interested, I posted a video on my YT channel:

I would love to hear your thoughts on sewing with sweater knits. Please leave a comment.

Thank you for visiting my blog.

Sewing Workshop Noto Tee

Featured ~ Pamela Klingensmith ~ Leave a comment

The Sewing Workshop offers a year-long series titled Sew Confident. With the series commitment, you receive a monthly digital magazine, 4 exclusive digital patterns, and access to a private Sew Confident Facebook community along with several additional perks. If you are interested in checking out the Sew Confident Tutorial Series, you can find it here.

The digital magazine is worth the price of admission! 🙂 It includes gorgeous photography, helpful sewing and style articles, and the current pattern instructions, changes, and helpful tips.

The Noto Tee is one of the four digital patterns for Series 9. The patterns are added to your account once every three months. The digital magazine give you style and fabric inspiration along with sewing instructions for your pattern. Then, each month between pattern releases, you will get instructions on how to change up the original pattern. The original Noto Tee is a shorter length, no side slits, and it has a crew neckline.

The version I am showing you today is a twist on the original pattern. It has a V neck, is a longer length, and has a slightly modified side seam. I am so very happy with this version of the Noto Tee.

I unashamedly copied the exact fabrics from The Sewing Workshop’s digital magazine. I love them so much!

The side seam is adjusted to gradually come forward as it approaches the stomach and hip area. I added an extra inch to the length on the back of my tee.

And can I just say, I love a good V neck style.

For a closer look at both versions (the original and this new V neck style) head on over to my YouTube channel:

I would really enjoy hearing your thoughts. Please leave a comment below and let me know what you are sewing.

Silhouette Patterns #120: Patty’s Princess Seam Top

Featured ~ Pamela Klingensmith ~ 2 Comments

Here’s my test version of this princess seam top. Overall I’m quite pleased with the outcome. The color washes me out a bit, but that has nothing to do with the pattern and everything to do with the fabric. 🙂 BTW, the fabric is a medium weight, stable knit from Joann Fabrics.

I sewed a size 3, and the pattern calls for 2 yards of 60″ wide fabric. This is how I laid out my pieces. I did not measure the length of fabric, but I know it did not use 2 yards. I’m guessing it was about 1 1/3 yards of fabric.

I always use my quilting ruler to measure from the straight of grain pattern line to the fold of my fabric so I don’t get any garments that hand with a skewed drape.

These odd little marks are on the side back pattern piece along the princess seam edge. I’m not sure for what they are to be used. There is no indication on the instruction sheet and this is the only pattern piece on which they showed up. I just ignored them!

The sleeve pattern has a dart, which was an interesting addition that I’ve not come across until now. Here is what it looks like when finished:

I discuss the arm dart more in my YT video. There is a link at the end of this post.

The neckband is attached in a continuous loop, then the “V” is made by sewing a small dart into the band. Here is a look at the inside of the neckband where that dart is sewn:

When you sew the dart, be careful to sew ONLY the neckband being careful to not catch any of the garment under neath your presser foot (do not go past the seam line or you will have a pucker at the point of the “V” – trust me, I speak from experience.

Thread sinks into knit fabric and it is a real challenge to pick out stitches without making a hole in the fabric (see example above) *sigh*.

This is an easy top to sew and I like the little bell sleeve.

Here is my YT video:

Thank you for spending a few minutes of your day with me. 💜

If you have questions or comments, please leave them in the comment section below. I really enjoy feedback from my readers. Until next time, happy sewing!!!