Trixie Sew Along – Day 1

Welcome to day one of the Trixie sew-along! I’m so excited to have you join me. If you had told me a year ago that I would be hosting a knit sew-along I would have laughed in your face. However, with the help of the wonderful SLPco community and staff I’ve learned some tips and tricks that makes sewing with knits much less scary. You, too, can sew with knits! I promise. So, let’s get started on our Trixie creations.

Pattern Options

Trixie is a sporty top or dress with a beautiful A-line drape. This knit pattern also features a henley placket front and collar. The first thing I do before starting a new sewing project is look at all the available options of the pattern. If you look on page 5 of the tutorial you’ll see several line drawings of your options.

For Trixie you have four sleeve options: sleeveless, short, elbow, or long sleeves. There are also two length options to choose from, top or dress. If your little girl loves pockets there’s an option to add those as well! I will be making an elbow sleeve dress with pockets for this sew-along.

Once you’ve chosen your pattern options you can then print your pattern pieces. There are layers within the pattern pieces that allow you to print only the size(s) you need. If you are unsure how to print with layers this tutorial can help you. Also, make sure you check out the nifty chart on page 5 that shows you what pages to print for the options you’ve selected.

Fabric

Trixie is drafted for knit fabrics. When selecting your fabrics try to find a quality fabric that has between 50-75% stretch. Try to avoid using slinky, thin, or warped knit fabrics as they can cause final fit issues. Cotton lycra or cotton jersey are great fabric base choices for Trixie.

All fabrics used in this sew-along are from Art Gallery Fabrics. AGF knits are super soft and consist of 95% cotton and 5% spandex. They also have a great weight of about 7 ounces. The print fabric I’m using is from the Day Trip collection and features the cutest vintage cars and campers. The coordinating solid is turquoise from their Knit Solids collection.

Once you’ve selected your fabrics, make sure to wash them before cutting. Fabrics have a tendency to shrink slightly during the first wash. This shrinkage can cause fit issues of your finished garment. I always wash new fabrics in free and clear detergent with several Color Catchers thrown in to catch any possible color bleeds. I never put knits in the dryer and always lay them flat to dry to avoid any stretching of the fabric.

Cutting Your Fabric

When cutting knit fabrics I like to use a large cutting mat and 28mm rotary cutter. The smaller rotary blade allows me to cut curves with accuracy. To keep your fabrics from shifting while you are cutting, you can use pattern weights. If you don’t have pattern weights, rocks or canned food can work great!

Pay close attention to the direction of stretch of your knit fabric. Make sure it matches the direction of the stretch arrows located on your pattern pieces. Cut out your dress/top front and back pieces, placket, collar, collar stand, sleeves/sleeve binding, and pockets (optional).

Day 1 Progress

That’s it for day 1! Easy, right? Make sure you upload a photo of your day 1 progress into this sew-along album in the Facebook fan group. I’ll see you back here tomorrow when we’ll add the henley placket to the front of our top/dress. I will have a video to help walk you through these steps.

 

Happy sewing,

Chauncey