Facing It

Let's face it.

That's what I told myself when I thought about how to finish the edges of my Vogue striped dress. The pattern called for a crochet edging but I knew that wouldn't tame the edges which became messy when all the yarn ends were worked in.

After the dress was done and put together (several times as you may recall), I knit a swatch with one strand of the blue yarn. One strand would be less bulky and there was no need for the facing to be as thick as the dress fabric. I used a smaller needle so it would still be a sturdy fabric.

Once that was done, I measured the armhole openings and the sections around the neck. Working from the gauge of my swatch (stitches/inch) and the measurements, I could figure out how many stitches I needed for the facings.

A little different than my usual method of just going for it and ripping it out if it doesn't work! (Planning - it's not just for civil engineers anymore.)

As usual, when picking up stitches, I picked up one stitch in each selvage stitch and then increase or decrease as needed on the next row to get the necessary number of stitches. It's easier on the pick up row and it's much neater.

One thing I would do different next time is not to work in any of the yarn ends in the half of the selvage stitch that I picked up the stitches in. It was hard to find the stitches and they were bulkier. Since the facing would cover all then ends, I didn't need to stitch them in as much and could have left a longer end. But I made it work.

Once I got the right number of stitches, I knit eight  more rows so I had a little more than an inch and then cast off. I pinned the facing back and sewed it with a herringbone stitch. This backward stitching with forward stitches allows for the seam to stretch.

I used a sharp needle so I could skim just part of the stitches on the back of the dress fabric. I didn't want it to show through to the front at all.


And look how it turned out!

Isn't that a beautiful finish!!

Here is how the neckline turned out:

And the armhole again, but this time while I'm wearing it.

The facings lie really, really well. I did make increases to allow for the "corners" at the shoulders of the neck edge, the V point, and the curve of the armhole shaping. I did wing that as I went along and it worked out. (Placed a marker at the sharpest part of the curve and increased one stitch on both sides on rows 4, 7 and 9.)

Ok and now I have made you wait long enough. Here is an excessive number of shots of the finished dress:

I calculated all of the shaping.

For the most part, I think it worked well. The bottom is a little too loose but I did err on too loose because I sure didn't want it too tight. (Apparently I erred a little too much.) So it looks a little sloppy.

I'll certainly be able to use these results to shape future garments to fit better.

Considering how OCD I am, it's a little surprising that I wanted to mismatch the stripes, but I like that break you get at the side seam. I kept the colour patterns similar but not the same while changing all of the stripe widths. The only place I really wanted anything to match was the green stripe at the waist. That took some re-stitching. (Thank goodness for crocheted seams!) That was another case where the ends from the stripes being worked into the selvage stitches didn't help. It was hard to match the front and back row for row (which should have been pretty easy).

The only thing I'm really not happy with is the hem.

The foldover hem is a good option and I'm still glad I went with one strand instead of two, but I sewed it down by Kitchenering through the live stitches of the cast on and a row of knitting. You can see how it has pulled on the fabric of the dress. It'll be a pain to take out, but since the sewing on the facings worked so well, I know I can get a much better result if I redo it. I think I can also fix the bit of crazy at the side seam hem.

I wore it for the first time last Sunday. It was a cool day so I styled it with a jacket:

(Don't worry, I did not wear those boots. But I wasn't going to wear my nice shoes in that terrain.) Now that I see the pictures, I might skip the striped tights next time. (But again--chilly day!)

Being cotton (and a lot of it), the dress is pretty heavy. It took two trips through the dryer when I washed it and it still wasn't quite dry. One danger with cotton is that it has no memory. (This means that cotton dresses or skirts keep the rounded shape of your sitting-down-bum even after you stand up.) I didn't find that happened with this dress--I assume that because of the shaping, the dress didn't have to stretch out of shape. It's also knit at a fairly sturdy gauge so that would help too.

Project Stats
Started: 10 Mar '17
Finished: 29 Apr '17
Pattern: #02 Sleeveless V-neck Dress by Greta Corens
Materials: 653 grams of cotton from six different raveled sweaters.
The dress was knit as part of a knit-along in the Ravelry Vogue Knitting group to celebrate VK's 35th anniversary. This is project 1 of at least 2. Patterns must be knit from 1987, 1997 or 2007 and 2017. This project has me covered for 1997.

Always a Little More

Am I a glutton for punishment or what. After all my recent writing about not liking fiddly time-consuming finishing and embellishments, look what I've been working on:

Why why why do I do this to myself? Well, look at the picture again...at the end, it's all worth it. Look how cute that is!

And what is it? It's the hemline of a little baby cardigan I finished up "just in time" (read, two weeks late) for a friend's new baby girl. It's sized around 9-months, so being two weeks late is fine in my book. (As long as your friends aren't too impatient.) Project Stats
Started: Sum 2007
Finished: 2 Jun 09
Pattern: Baby Jacket by Michele Rose Orne in Vogue Spr/Sum 07 (rav link)
Materials: Red Heart Super Saver; DMC embroidery floss; flower button
And considering how long it took to finish, I'm glad it's even close to the birth!

I knit the sweater up pretty quickly as I recall. That was in the summer of 2007, so forgive me if I don't remember exactly. I did the embroidery on the back and was still rather enjoying myself. To finish the ends, I was trying a modification of the square knot that was supposed to be more secure.

Sometimes it was, and other times it just came undone. I had made the sweater out of acrylic so it would be easy care; having the knots come undone did not fit with my plan! Maybe it was operator error, but that doesn't help me get it retied when I've already cut the ends. Oh, it was demoralizing. So I threw the whole thing into a duffel bag and hid it under a bed somewhere.

The sweater only resurfaced 2 years later when these friends announce that they're having a girl, and the mother (on a separate occasion) happens to mention that she loves handknits on kids. Well, there's nothing like an expressed appreciation for knits to get me motivated!

So I haul the poor neglected sweater out again and ask around for some advice. The most likely suggestion is to glue the knots. Now, normally I am not a glue person.

I eschew glue.

It's all I hear on craft shows, and especially slap and dash Martha Stewart: glue it! glue it! I don't trust the stuff. Normally. But I'm at my wit's end and decide to give it a go.

I used a fabric glue that claimed to remain flexible (so it wouldn't be a hard little uncomfortable knob) and washable (falling into that "easy care" category). I used it very generously on every single knot. When the back looked ok, I proceeded to finish the embroidery on the fronts and sleeves and, again, glued every single knot...a lot.

I had no more problems with knots coming undone.

But then there was the glue. It was mostly flexible, but kind of scratchy. The ladies at Red Purl insisted in their polite way that I had to do something. Will this project never end?

The only thing to do was face the back of the embroidery to cover up the glue, and in the process, neaten up the back of the work. I know it's in the inside, but it never hurts to make the inside pretty too. And it would protect the knots and hopefully keep them from being damaged by wear.

So with all this in mind, I motivated myself for yet another step.

When the embroidery was done, the inside of the back, fronts, and sleeves looked like this:
The knots and messy stuff were exposed.

I started by picking up and purling stitches off of the first rib of knitting below the embroidery:
I then knit just a few rows of stocking stitch. In the pic below, you have the main piece (with the embroidery, and all that glue: just look at it!) and the extra flap I have knit (being held above the main piece):
Now, I've folded the flap down and you can see how it covers the ugly backside:
But it still needs to be fastened down on the free edge. Although I considered a type of 3-needle bind off, that would have been far too bulky and messy. (And ugly. We're working to minimize the ug here.) So that left me with a Kitchener stitch done between the live stitches on the needle and the last row of bumps on the panel I did the embroidery on:
I think that left me with a very neat facing, and no more ugliness. With the added bonus of increased durability.

Voila!

Having finally declared the work finished, I quick as a bunny sewed up the seams before I could change my mind. (Or anyone at Red Purl could have another nose wrinkle at it.) Then knit the collar with one buttonhole and blocked it:
I wasn't sure how blocking was going to work on the acrylic, but it did wonders. The front bands had been curling all over the place (I hate curling) (not the sport) and the blocking took care of that like nobody's business. The facings for the embroidery make the sweater very thick there and it took several days for it to dry completely! The piece should be safe in the dryer, however, so I don't anticipate that being a problem for the new owners.

And now I give you some glamour shots of the [finally] completed baby cardigan:

May it be worn in love and good health.