Jersey Joy

Since Make opened its doors last November, the cotton jersey fabrics have been really popular and customers are sewing beautiful children’s clothes, wriggle skirts and much more using these stretchy, comfortable and stylish knits.

The quality is fantastic as I know from being on the jersey wriggle skirt with our tutor, Anna in the spring. I was a little wary about wearing a straight skirt in a figure hugging fabric but the result wasn’t as I feared because it had a quality that made it very forgiving and it became a summer staple as a result.

When working in the shop, I sometimes hear people saying that they don’t want to sew with knits as they’re difficult to work with. I don’t agree and try to encourage them otherwise. My 13 year old daughter came on the jersey wriggle skirt with me and made a maxi skirt with a split up the side……!

Have a look at these new knits.....

This is a fun jersey which came into the shop this week. I can imagine this taking you through the dark days and bringing comments from your friends. It’s called Playing Pop Sprinkles Glitch which says it all!

This bright and colourful fabric makes a striking addition to our collection. I think that it needs to be seen on the roll to appreciate it, it really is lovely!

Another cotton jersey to “wing” its way to Make last week is this firefly design which is on a beautiful blue background. I adore this material!

So what can you make with jersey?

Well, we have several workshops on offer which work with jersey.

There's the aforementioned Jersey Wriggle Skirt workshop

The Slouch Cardi worksho

The Agnes jersey top workshop

The Coco dress workshop

You can view many of these garments in the shop so do pop in and have a look. We are also here to answer your questions.

There are some patterns for sale in the shop which recommend jersey knits, many of which I wrote about in last week’s blog http://www.makeat140.co.uk/blogs/make-at-140-blog 

This Francoise dress was inspired by sixties' fashion and would look fab sewn in another jersey which has been attracting lots of attention...

 it has a retro look and texture and is called Jaquard Bilberry Fruit.

Also, last week, I introduced you to Tilly Warnes of “Tilly and the Buttons”, She has written a blog on working with knit fabrics using a regular sewing machine. It may be worth a read as it will guide you and reassure you.

http://www.tillyandthebuttons.com/2014/02/sewing-knit-fabric-on-regular-sewing.html                       

 I hope that this has inspired you to look again at knits or to come in and have a look at our new designs if you are already a veteran sewer of cotton jersey. Do continue to send in photos of your makes as these are great for others to see and try.

Happy making,

Sheila