Fidge and I were at Hobby Lobby on Saturday looking for some fabric for a teacher gift, and she spotted (ha! Punny) a brown and pink and green dotted knit. And she wanted another shirt. I've never sewn knit with any kind of success, but I thought it was time to stretch my wings. (HA! Still punny.)
Enter Butterick 5199, my confidence-building go-to pattern. You know what? Stretch doesn't have to be scary.
Modifications:
- shortened the length of the top
- added a ruffle to the bottom
- shortened the sleeves (but not as short as the last one.)
- Note: I ALWAYS shorten the length of the neckline elastic. For some reason, this pattern calls for enough elastic to make this an off-the-shoulder top. Not really what I'm going for here.
- Instead of hemming the bottom of the ruffle, I took my zig-zag stitch and went around the edge to finish it off a bit. I did a wide zig-zag on a short-to-medium stitch length.
Fidget was too busy pretending to be a rocket ship this morning to give me some decent shots before she went to preschool, but I'm pretty sure you get the idea.
My eldest also thinks this paticular shirt has 'Clown' potential, but we should be okay if Fidge avoids wearing it with stretch pants. Duly noted, resident fashionista extraordinaire. (she's probably right.)
Oh it's not clownish! Do you not remember Gymboree around 1993 - 1997? They were nothing but clown clothes back then and Jason and Molly were always sportin the look! I will have to pull one of my photos of Jason and Molly from that time in their Gymboree finest and send it to you! Everyone needs a good laugh. :O)
Posted by: mary | May 06, 2009 at 11:34 AM
Turned out great! Not a clown at all.
Posted by: dana | May 06, 2009 at 11:52 AM
What would be clown on a teen is not clown on a little one. This is so cute. I still don't sew many knits unless it's just a repair or a recycle. My machine can't even zigzag well, so I don't bother!
Posted by: amy h | May 06, 2009 at 12:01 PM
Cute! And, gracious, I try not to think about clowns. Otherwise, I'll be paranoid about wearing flower brooches and cinched tops. Thankfully, I'm not into big red noses and giant rainbow-colored wigs. Now that would really cross the line into clown territory.
Posted by: Kristena | May 06, 2009 at 04:09 PM
First of all this shirt looks great. How cute.
Second of all, it is my favorite pattern too, and I am so glad you posted this.
Third, I bought a bunch of knits at Hobby Lobby back in March, and still have not touched them, because I was not quite sure what to do with them. What a great idea! Thanks so much for passing it on. My daughter will be happy to finally have her printed knit made into something great!
Posted by: Jeannine | May 06, 2009 at 06:16 PM
oooh, love this one too! i love sewing with this stuff because you really don't have to hem if you don't want.
Posted by: katie | May 06, 2009 at 08:29 PM
You come up with the cutest things! Adorable!
~Patty
Posted by: Patty Boyd | May 06, 2009 at 08:58 PM
Really cute!!
Posted by: Puva | May 06, 2009 at 11:34 PM
Judging by some of the outfits that she puts together, I think my daughter actively wants to look like a clown...
I don't think I'm ready for knits yet.
Posted by: UK lass in US | May 07, 2009 at 12:11 AM
It's totally cute! and as others have said, no clown look here. Although maybe I'm not the right one to ask, since I'm a dot'oholic, LOL. Love, love,LOVE the fabric
Posted by: Susan | May 07, 2009 at 02:21 AM
I think it's really cute. She looks so comfortable, too.
mary
Posted by: mary | May 07, 2009 at 03:27 AM
It looks like your daughter is cominginto her own - future designer maybe?
Posted by: Pat | May 07, 2009 at 08:02 AM
Very, very cute! And clown never crossed my mind.
Posted by: beki | May 07, 2009 at 08:03 AM
Oh this is so cute and so is she!! I just love polka dots and this shirt is cute. I love the modifications. I think she looks adorable in it. Good Job!
Posted by: Sandy Barnes | May 07, 2009 at 11:12 AM
You are one clever mama. And she has quite the eye for fabric!
Posted by: Ali | May 07, 2009 at 02:50 PM
Love the ruffle!!!
The polka-dotted 5119 shirt I made has clown potential, too.
Posted by: lera | May 08, 2009 at 07:02 AM
Adorable! Thanks for recommending 5519 - I use it all the time. It has helped me become a MUCH better seamstress! :) ERin
Posted by: Erin | May 08, 2009 at 03:05 PM
I'm loving this material! Adorable polkadots!
Posted by: Jenny | May 09, 2009 at 07:47 AM
Oh my gosh her ponytail looks so cute (as does the shirt)!! Her hair is getting so long! Love ya!
Posted by: aunt fashionista | May 09, 2009 at 11:10 AM
Very cute - as always.
Posted by: Liz | May 10, 2009 at 05:40 PM
Both of the shirts in your last two posts are adorable. Fidget is so lucky to have a mom that sews sweet clothes for her. Happy Mother's Day!
Posted by: mary smith | May 10, 2009 at 10:55 PM
I have yet to attempt sewing clothing on stretchy fabric. Well, I did try to hem some of her play pants and I couldn't get that to work very well. You did a great job though!
Posted by: Carrie | May 11, 2009 at 06:50 AM