Dolmaniacs Sew-along: Deciding on Version 1.0

 

The reason I chose The Dolman Top pattern for a sew-along was because it is a perfect introduction to knits if you are still a bit hesitant about sewing them.  With this style of top you don't have sleeves to set in, and if the thought of hemming knits gives you palpitations you can choose to band the sleeve and waist edges until you are more confident.  Once you've mastered the basic variations, this top is the perfect 'blank slate' to play around and customise and I'll be sharing some ideas for this over the coming week.  We'll start cracking on with some actual sewing tomorrow, but first let's decide on Version 1.0.

Customising the basic pattern:

Straight off the pdf pattern, there are four basic variations:  Cuffed sleeves / banded waist, cuffed sleeves / hemmed waist, hemmed sleeves / banded waist, and hemmed sleeves / hemmed waist.  The only one not pictured above is hemmed sleeves / banded waist but I'm sure it'll pop up as the sew-along progresses!  Beyond the decision about which sleeve and hem options to choose, there is also the questiion of which size.  As I've been sewing up loads of these tops, my kids have (by age anyway) fallen on the border between sizes.  Cool Cat at the top left was my very first draft of the pattern and Maia was still four (albeit a very large four-almost-five) and it came out smaller than I wanted so this became size 3/4.  Still wearable as a skinnier fit, but certainly not something I could see her wearing at six.  The 5/6 she is wearing top right has more ease and slouch through the body and more of a blouson fit where the band hits her hips.  Jamie is approaching seven at a terrifying rate, average height for his age and slender.  The 5/6 size (where his age puts him) is a slim fit ending perfectly a couple of inches below his waist.  The 7/8 size is a lot looser on his thin frame, but the louche effect is cute.  Is it still okay to call an almost seven year old cute? Probably not.

Don't care. Still cute.  Speaking of which, let's all discuss how much we like the matching neckband.  I could not decide which colour to choose as there wouldn't be bands anywhere else to balance it out. After much staring at fabric, I decided to just use the same one.  And I really like it.  Add that to the list of variations to try.

Choosing whether to band or hem:

If you are new to knits and still finding your feet, I recommend starting with the bands.  The thicker and more stable the seams are the easier they are to sew, so by adding a folded layer to your sleeve edges and waist edge you are tricking your machine to sew it more like a woven.  I'm a big fan of adding bands instead of hems as evidenced by an entire post on the subject and also a video tute on how to sew cuffs on.  If you do decide to hem, remember yesterday's post about different ways to do it?  In summary: first prize goes to double needles, second prize to triple stretch stitch.

Preparing your final pattern and cutting your fabric:

Hopefully you found the printing and assembly in the pattern file straightforward.  Remember that as printed, the resulting pattern is for the version with bands at both waist and sleeves so you'll need to modify the sleeve and / or waist edges as instructed if you're choosing a different version!

Although I naturally favour Dolmaniacs above all others, I will offer some advice on cutting knits to non-Dolmaniacs. Most patterns will have instructions to 'cut on the fold' and the pattern pieces to match.  With knits (and actually most times with wovens too, particularly if they are directional) I will mirror image trace each piece and tape them together.  Knit fabrics tend to be so wide that constantly folding, unfolding and refolding as you cut your pieces is not only a massive PITA but also likely to get you off grain. Pattern matching across the seams will be something you only read about on other people's blogs.  Having full size pieces is also excellent for minimising fabric wastage as you can fit the pieces all together like a puzzle.  Obviously, the picture on the right is merely illustrating the cutting layout for non-directional prints and is not indicative of how good I am at eliminating wastage.  Not pictured: better pattern placement.

So there we go, this day's installment covers choosing your version 1.0 and cutting it to boot.  Ready to do some sewing tomorrow?