Knit Bodice Add On Sew Along Day 1
Good morning and welcome back for another Sew-A-Long! This one is going to be so exciting! For those of you who don’t know me, I am Katrina, the face behind Wild Bumbleberries, and I will be your hostess for the week. This week we will be sewing up Simple Life Pattern Company’s three new knit bodice dresses. Knit Bella, Knit Lucy and Knit Ayda. Recently, Katie updated these already adorable patterns to have comfy knit bodices. I will be using three of Art Gallery Fabric’s new Fusion Lines for these dresses. If you haven’t used their knits before, I highly recommend them.
Now, if you haven’t sewn with knits before, these dresses are perfect to start with, so you’ll definitely want to join us for some fun! Since these are pretty easy, and because we are going to try to tackle 3 dresses in 5 days, Bella and Lucy will be done in one day each. I will be walking you through a few details of the patterns with some photos of what should be done each day. I’m going to do my best to not make it overwhelming, and since these are fairly easy, it should be great! You will just love the result, plus there will be some great prizes at the end when we’re all done. On that note, let’s go over what we’ll do each day!
Every day this week we will have a new blog post for you to follow along with us. Also, make sure to join us in thefan groupwhere we will have daily albums to upload progress photos, ending on Day 5, when we will have a final photos album for voting!
Let’s get started! First you’ll want to decide if you are making one, two or all three dresses! Whatever you decide, make sure you get a copy of the patterns … Knit Bella add-on, Knit Lucy add-on, Knit Ayda, as well as the regular Bella and Lucy patterns for the skirt info. If you still need to purchase it, head on over to the website and use code SLPcoSAL for 20% off the patterns!
Ok, so now that you have your patterns, let’s talk fabric! This is the hardest part, so take your time. You’ll want to pick either all knit or knit and woven fabrics for these; however, if you are doing the circle skirt on the Knit Ayda, you will need knit for the skirt (only use woven if you are doing a basic gathered skirt). I highly recommend you use a high-quality knit with good stretch and recovery like Art Gallery Fabric’s knits.Luckily I got to choose 3 different sets of fabric because choosing my favorite was not going to be an easy. *IMPORTANT NOTE: Before you sew, especially with knits, you will want to wash your fabric. Just a quick cycle will do. Thing is, knit shrinks … A LOT. You want all the shrinkage to happen before you cut and sew anything.
Now that your fabric is clean and ironed, print out your patterns. One nice thing about Simple Life Patterns is that you have the option to choose your size before you print. Click the layers section, pick your size and print away. Need help printing layers? Check out thisBLOG POSTon how to print just the sizes you need. Once you have that done, you’ll need to decide on your options:
Bella: simple skirt, maxi skirt, ruffle skirt, all knit skirt?
Lucy: Wide or narrow racerback, square pockets, rounded pockets or no pockets? Knit or woven skirt?
Ayda: Sleeves or sleeveless? Knit circle skirt or woven gathered skirt?
Next you’ll want to tape up the pattern and cut out according to the options you chose.
That’s it for today! I am so glad you joined us today. Make sure to tag your photos with #SLPcoknitSAL when you load them to the group albums. I’ll see you tomorrow for more!
-Katrina from Wild Bumbleberries
