Welcome to the last installment of the Skippy & Joey Hop!
Vanessa from LBG Studio cropped the skirt of this Joey dress to make it a tunic length to wear with jeans – I really, really like! How about those big, bold florals too? Pretty!
Abby from Sew Much Ado has THE cutest little girl wearing THE cutest Joey! She used an unexpected print for little kid’s clothing and I think it looks fantastic, cute little cowl neck too!
Jane from The Drapery is ready for some Spring action in her cheery Skippy dress. Love her puffy, short sleeves. She used some Lillestoff knit – one of my favourites.
How awesome is this Joey made by Christie from A Lemon Squeezy Home? Perfect print for a little girl – and she pulled out all the cool poses in these fun photos!
And Sunni from A Fashionable Stitch has produced the cosiest Skippy top around. She used some thick, fleecy sweater knit and paired it with a pretty lace knit. Isn’t it beautiful?
I’d love to send out a BIG thankyou to the wonderful ladies who took part in my Skippy & Joey Hop! So much awesome inspiration, I love seeing what others create with my patterns.
If you would like sew these dresses for yourself you can purchase them here:
I always try to have a breakfast that will keep me full up until lunch time and toast and cereals just don’t cut it. CADA is still a favourite but I’ve had it so much that if I overdo it I get sick of it very quickly. A couple of times a week I’ll have porridge made with oats for breakfast. I’m not crazy about it, but I keep eating it anyway. It does fill me up, but feels really heavy sitting in my stomach and makes me feel bloated.
Last week I decided to give quinoa porridge a try. And I’m so glad I did because it is absolutely divine! It is delicious and a bowlful keeps me going for about 4 hours with no yuck, heavy, bloated feeling. I like to sweeten mine with rapadura sugar – maple syrup is good too. You can easily customise this porridge to suit your tastes – have it with or without yoghurt, berries, fruit and nuts. At the moment I’m enjoying a simple banana – and I usually don’t eat bananas but they are really good mixed through the porridge!
Quinoa Porridge
85g quinoa 125g water 125g milk 1 tsp vanilla pinch salt 100g milk 2 Tbs sultanas sweetner of choice (maple syrup, honey, sugar) fruit/nuts/yoghurt to serve
Before cooking quinoa, you need to wash and rinse it REALLY well to get rid of the naturally-occuring insect repellant the plant produces which causes a bitter taste. Some people like to soak their quinoa for an hour or so first, but I am never that organised so just rinse it through a fine sieve a few times. Place quinoa, 125g water, 125g milk, vanilla and salt into thermomix. Cook for 15 minutes on 90 degrees, reverse, speed 1. Add 100g milk and sultanas. Cook for 10 minutes on 100 degrees, reverse, speed 1. Leave porridge for 5-10 minutes to soak up extra liquid. Spoon into bowls and add sweetener of choice. Garnish with what ever fruit, yoghurt or nuts you like! This recipe makes enough for two serves. I put the second serve in the fridge and re-heat it to eat the next morning.
Sharing a few more Spy Tops with you today…these photos of my niece, Poppy were taken at the end of last year. She is a little cutie and has grown up so much in the last 6 months. The fabric for this Spy Top is from Spoonflower here. I purchased the organic cotton knit, which was the only knit option avaliable when I bought it a couple of years ago. They have brought out a few more knits lately though that I would be interested in trying out because the ones I have fade so much. It is a lovely, snuggly fabric to work with and wear though.
Crazy Nancy-Noo in a Spy Top I made her last year also. This one is made from Lillestoff Summer Forest Jersey – cute print, isn’t it? She is a funny little chicken and had been digging around in the cemetery and tipping water out of as many pots as she could get her hands on when I took these photos of her!
And another for Lilsy because she is almost two big for her others. This fabric is a rose print from Stenzo. She has been asking me to sew something for her in it forever and I keep changing her mind because I didn’t think it would suit a little girl but now it is made up I really like it. If you look closely, you will probably notice that the sleeve cuffs are a bit darker than the hem cuff and cowl. I only wanted light pink for the contrasting colour and didn’t have enough of one piece around to use to used two different fabrics. I could just tell you that I wanted it to look like that and you would be none the wiser though…
Believe it or not, I’ve been doing a little bit of sewing! Not as much as I would like to, but slowly, I’m getting back into it. Tuesday is my “work day” without the kids. When I first found out I was pregnant and was feeling rotten all the time, Tuesday turned into my “sleep on the couch and do nothing” day. This week, I finally delved back into the sewing room and finished off a heap of half-started projects and even finished sewing the first prototype for a brand new pattern! The tricky bit will be sitting at the computer long enough without feeling yuck to do all of the computer stuff- which ends up taking longer than the actual sewing most of the time! I also sewed a few new Summer projects for Lil and I. This skirt being one of them.
I used the Frothy Skirt pattern from my book, after seeing this one by Miss Matabi on my Flickr page. I loved the simpleness of the polka dots and a more “sophisticated” fabric for a child. I had just enough left-over double gauze from my Honey Blouse and used a light cotton for the lining to keep it nice and cool for Summer.
Such a quick and gratifying project (about half an hour from start to finish) which was perfect to give me a sewing boost!
Then we snuck into the neighbours yard for some photos with her pretty flowers – actually, the bribe was that if Lil let me take some photos of her, I’d let her pick some flowers for the dinner table!
Notice Lil’s new hair? She had about 5 inches cut off yesterday! Only her second haircut in 5 years and it looks so sweet. We’re hoping it will be easier to control now and will reduce the amount of knots that we have to work through each morning!!! (If you’re interested in purchasing a copy of my book, it’s pretty hard to find in shops now, but I’ll always have them for sale myself here.)
P.S. A few people have asked me what fabric I used for the skirt – I’m not sure what it is called! It was a one-off double gauze print that I purchased from Kelani Fabric, perhaps by Kokka? Sorry I don’t have any more info to give!
Sharing a recipe for Birdseed Bars today – with no refined sugar! And they can be nut, dairy and gluten free too if you make some simple changes. These homemade muesli bars are sweet and chewy with tonnes of flavour. I can even manage to get my pickiest kids to have a little piece with afternoon tea so that makes it an instant winner in my books!
There are lots of recipes for homemade muesli bars out there, but most of them are laden with sugar, honey and peanut butter. Probably better than a store-bought bar, but still not ideal. These are much tastier and filling than anything you will buy in a box! The best thing about them is that you can make them with pretty much any dry ingredient you have around or want to add in…leave the oats out and replace with lots of chopped nuts, increase or decrease quantities of seeds, etc. Work with what you like to eat and what you have in the pantry!
This recipe is for Thermomix cooking, but you can easily make it on the stove too by toasting the dry ingredients in a dry pan (stir often and check that it doesn’t burn!) and then bring the wet ingredients to boil for 4 or 5 minutes in another pan.
Place dry ingredients (not fruit) into Thermomix bowl and toast for 5 minutes on varoma temperature, reverse speed 1. Remove from bowl and set aside. Place butter or oil and rice malt syrup into Thermomix bowl and cook for 6 minutes on varoma temperature, speed 4. Add toasted dry ingredients and dried fruit into bowl. Mix together for 20 seconds, reverse speed 3. Spread mixture into a square cake tin lined with baking paper. Press down firmly. Place in the fridge to set and cool completely. Slice. Best kept stored in a container in the fridge.
VARIATIONS: To make gluten-free, leave out the oats and replace with more seeds, nuts, puffed rice, quinoa flakes, etc. As long as your dry ingredients measure about 400g, you can pretty much add anything you like to the mix! A small handful of cacao nibs are a delicious addition.
After reading this post from hop skip jump, I am designating Friday as the day to blog 3 things that have made me happy during the week. Something to help me sum up the week and get ready for the weekend…
1. Lemons, lemons, lemons…the lemon tree out the back has FINALLY started to ripen up and we have been able to start picking and enjoying the golden goodness. Lemons would have to be my most favourite flavour ever, so you can just imagine my excitement. When I picked them, I kept taking them over to Jaron and shoving them in his face, “mmm, smell this one honey – isn’t that soo good?!!” Heavenly… 2. Sewing. Some weeks the sewing groove hits and this week was one of those. Lots of fun little sewing projects going on to keep me entertained. This nappy bag being one of them, a sample for Picture Patchwork made from Amy Butler’s pattern. My nappy bag pattern has had such a work out, I was trying to count up the number of nappy bags I had made from it when I was putting this one together and it must be somewhere around 15! Its a keeper for sure, I don’t even have to look at the instructions anymore! Also in the sewing pipeline, I have come up with another funky pattern design this week. I am loving it…alot. No peeks yet as I am still tweaking it a bit. Lil has been the lucky recipient of a prototype made from this super cute Little Red RidingHood Japanese print fabric I bought from here. Every time I look at it, it makes me smile. 3. Although it is still pretty chilly around here, the sun has been making a bit more of an appearance and the days are getting noticeably longer. There have even been some days this week that I have been able to turn the heater off during the day and still be comfortable. We have even had a few spring time flowers show their cheery faces out in the garden. It thought of warmer weather around the corner isn’t enough to make you happy, then I don’t know what is!Feel free to join in and share “3 happy things” too!
P.S. Is anyone else soo excited about the Olympic Games Opening Ceremony tonight, I can’t wait!!!
When Carli started her plot to save the world I just knew that I had to knit her some dishcloths to help her along in her quest.
“How easy is it to buy a pack of Chux, sponges or some other cleaning cloth. When they’re dirty, you throw them “away”, although by now we all know that “away” actually means moving your rubbish to a larger rubbish pile that sits for years before (if) it decomposes. Apart from the economics of buying those cleaning wipes (I just checked online and a pack of Chux now costs $3.49 = over $40 a year), they are made, packaged and delivered to your supermarket using oil. Enter the homemade dishcloth.” Quote from Down to Earth.
I had read about knitting these awhile ago, and while they are certainly not a new concept, the idea was new to me! So I headed to the knitting shop, bought myself some organic cotton wool and started knitting using this pattern. As much as I love to knit, scarves and square dishcloths are about the extent of my projects after many terrible failed attempts at clothing around this time last year! These dishcloths provided me with a bit of time out, its nice to have another craft project on the go, completely unrelated to the “deadline” projects.
After knitting these dishcloths I have decided that they are perfectly suited to being a face washer for a newborn baby. The cotton wool is sooooo soft and smooth and would be much gentler on precious new skin than a terry toweling face washer. So if you have a new baby and I hand you a bunch of these, don’t give me a “what the heck am I supposed to do with these” kind of look, okay?
Oh, and Carli, the dishcloths will come your way some time soon! On another kind of related ‘natural’ note, I got some fresh peanut butter made last week – you know the kind in the health food store where you grind peanuts yourself using the special machine? My kids are loving peanut butter at the moment and every time I spread it on their sandwiches I know that they are really just eating lots of sugar, salt and oil. I hadn’t had this peanut butter since I was growing up so went and got some to replace the commercial type. You know, this fresh stuff is the same price, if not a bit cheaper, than the stuff in the supermarket?!
So I was all geared up to make the kids a nice big sandwich for lunch using the new peanut butter…Oscar took one bite and says “Yuck Mum, thats a gross sandwich” and Lil has a taste and throws it over the side of her highchair!
We will now be introducing this new peanut butter mixed with jam and honey…
If you follow me on Instagram (make_it_perfect), I did promise awhile ago that I would share some recipes for some healthier snacks that I’ve been cooking lately.
About a month ago I got all hard core and decided that I was going to quit sugar…I was awesome for about 2 weeks and then school holidays kicked in and Harvey stopped sleeping and I lost motivation. I felt great while I was doing it though and it really wasn’t as difficult as I thought it would be. I read “I Quit Sugar” by Sarah Wilson, it is a quick, interesting and motivating read and I highly recommend it to anyone wanting to make some healthier changes to their eating habits. Although her approach is extreme, even if you aren’t wanting to totally get rid of sugar there are a lot of good tips to take away and make little changes for good in your diet. She uses rice malt syrup a lot as a sweetner – you can get it at health food stores or the health food section in Coles. It is a little midler in sweetness than honey but really yummy especially drizzled over some greek yoghurt.
Another recommendation is “Sweet Poison” by David Wilson. I bought his cookbook and it has a whole heap of yummy sweet recipes that are all fructose free. David is an advocate for using dextrose (a form of pure glucose) in replacement of sugar in cooking, I managed to track some down in Coles but you won’t find it in the baking aisle – this stuff is used for brewing beer so look in the home brew section! In my experimenting I think that dextrose is best for cakes and muffins, not so good fro anything you want to stay nice and crisp like biscuits. Here’s a picture so you know what you are looking for:
So, if you are like me and a total sugar/sweet/chocolate addict, these two books and websites are great to help get you educated and make some changes…I’m trying to get motivated to get back on track before the silly season rolls in!
When it comes to eating well, I don’t have a problem with breakfast, lunch and dinner…it’s the snacking in between that kills me. Particularly if I’m really hungry, I always find myself reaching for a quick sugar hit to keep me going. I’m sure that there are lots of people out there just like me, so here are a few recipes that I’ve been using that are much healthier than the originals and taste just as good too!
BLISS BALLS
If you do a google/pinterest search for bliss balls, you will come up with HEAPS of great recipe ideas. Basically they are made with a combination of nuts and dried fruit, plus other good things to give extra flavour.
The ones on the left are chocolate bliss balls made with: 1 cup cashews 2 Tbs raw honey or rice malt syrup 1 tsp vanilla 8 mejool dates 2 Tbs cacao or cocoa powder 2 Tbs coconut oil Place all ingredients into the thermomix or or processer/blender and process until smooth. Roll into balls and roll in coconut. Chill and store in fridge.
The ones on the right are apple and apricot bliss balls. I didn’t write down the exact measurements but I used dried apricots, dried apples, almonds, brazil nuts, coconut oil and rice malt syrup, then rolled balls in coconut.
CARAMEL POPCORN
This caramel popcorn has become one of our all-time favourites. I love that it is good for us and still just as yummy as a sugar-laden homemade caramel popcorn recipe.
1/2 cup popcorn kernels, popped 3 Tbs coconut oil 1/3 cup rice malt syrup 1/4 tsp salt pinch baking soda
Heat coconut oil, rice malt syrup and salt in saucepan until bubbly. Simmer for 3-4 minutes until it becomes golden and a bit thick. Add baking soda and mix quickly. Place popcorn in a large, greased baking dish. Pour caramel over popcorn, mix to coat. Bake in 140 degree celsius oven for 30 minutes, stirring after 15 minutes.
RASPBERRY & APPLE MUFFINS
This muffin base can be used for any fruit muffins – try replacing white sugar in cakes or muffins with dextrose. It isn’t as sweet as white sugar so the taste won’t be exactly the same. Also, dextrose soaks up liquid in a recipe so you might have to add a bit of extra liquid to get the mixture to the usual consistency.
2 cups SR flour
1 cup dextrose
2 eggs
3/4 cup olive oil
1 cup buttermilk (or milk mixed with a Tbs vinegar)
250g frozen raspberries
1 apple, grated
Place flour and dextrose into large bowl.
Whisk eggs, oil and buttermilk together in a sepearate bowl.
Add wet ingredients to dry and mix until just combined.
Stir thorough fruit.
Divide between 12 muffin holes and cook in moderate oven for about 20 minutes until cooked through.
The one thing that has been an absolute lifesaver, especially when I get to that 3pm slump (and could easily devour a block of chocolate if I had one around!) is green smoothies. I tried making green smoothies ages ago and they were always yucky, I can’t remember what I did at the time to know why they were so gross, but I was really turned off! A friend shared some recipes and samples with us at a recent Relief Society activity and they were so good – I am hooked now and can’t do without my afternoon green smoothie! They are also great if I can’t be bothered cooking dinner (the kids have them with a piece of toast!) or I’ve been too busy to eat properly throughout the day.
You can add pretty much anything you want to a green smoothie, the key is to blend them like crazy because if you are left with any lumpy bits from the greens it can be a real turn-off! I blend mine for 1 minute on speed 10 in the thermomix, and sometimes a little longer if it needs it.
My favourite combination is: handful baby spinach handful baby kale 1 orange 1 lemon 1 cup frozen mango 1 banana coconut water (or water or almond milk)
YUM! There are heaps of recipes and ideas on this website, Simple Green Smoothies. I’ve played around with lots of different combinations, but I can’t beat the one above.
Hopefully these recipes and ideas help you out with some healthier snack options. I’m already feeling motivated to get back on track!
I’m almost to the end of my un-blogged sewing projects. Like these three tops. The change of season always brings around “wardrobe crisis” – usually in the category of tops. Last year’s are tired, worn out or I just need something fresh and new – you get it, right?! Plus ALL of my knit tops end up with a couple of little holes right in the front, a few inches above the hem. I have no idea why, but more often than not I am getting rid of tops because of these little pesky holes! Does that happen to you? So frustrating!
So, for this top I used my Skippy dress pattern, but didn’t add the skirt to the bottom. I love this style – it has a lovely relaxed fit, the half-sleeves are always a win and the kangaroo pocket in the front and gathered sleeve caps help set it apart from a regular tshirt.
After these photographs were taken and after I had worn the top a few times, I ended up taking off the hem band and shortening the length a bit to make it more snug around my hips. It has a much nicer fit now. This fabric was purchased from Ixat (no longer avaliable) and I originally bought it as a “boy-friendly” print with intentions to use it for one of the boys but it was quite lightweight and I thought it would suit an adult better than a child so it became mine!
And another one of the same…Skippy dress turned into a top. This fabric is also from Ixat (also out of stock), but much thicker and with a better recovery than the arrow print and you can see how much that effects the way the finished top looks. Knit fabric varies so much, using different fabrics for the same pattern can give it a totally different look.
All of the trims and bands for this top were made using a really good quality black jersey with great stretch and recovery. The waistband on this one was cut exactly the same size as the one in the arrow top but it much tighter here because of the recovery (how much it “bounces back” when you stretch and let it go) of the fabric. Unless you have someone to guide your sewing decisions, sewing with knits is a real trial-and-error process until you get to know what is going to work, how things will turn out with different fabrics, etc. I loved this fabric uncut, but it is pretty “out there” as a top! I have to be in the right mood to wear it and have actually changed the sleeve bands from the solid black fabric to the triangle print to try and tone down on the contrast so much but I’m not sure that was the best move?!
And the last Spring top make is using a different pattern altogether! This one is the City Girl Top. I bought it during a sale from Pattern Anthology a long time ago and hadn’t used any of the patterns yet so thought I needed to at least give one of them a try!
The fabric I used was purchased on clearance from Crafty Mamas, it was really cheap so I thought it would be good for a trial-run before cutting into a more expensive fabric. I think I would like the top more in a solid print, but the fit is really nice – very comfortable to wear as it is nice and loose and flowy, but the cowl neck and pleat in the front are just enough “extra” to give it a more dressy rather than casual look.
So, now we are half-way through Summer (although it doesn’t feel like it some days!) and I have Summer wardrobe crisis going on! Need to sew some short-sleeved tops and a swimsuit or two ASAP!
Christmas time always means a bit of naughty cooking. It’s the time of the year when you can cook up all sorts of yummies without feeling too guilty!
We have a family tradition, probably one of our favourites, to cook yummy treats, package them up then drive around doing a “knock and run” on the doorsteps of friends and family. Jaron and I love it even more now that the older kids are big enough to get themselves in and out of the car and are getting super speedy and stealthy in their tactics! They are getting caught less often and get such a thrill trying to stay out of view.
Usually we cook up a few batches of things like rocky road, coconut ice, chocolate truffles and shortbread for knock and run. There is always plenty left over, I make sure that it is all packaged up in the fridge so that I’m not tempted to eat it all and it always comes in handy for times when you need a quick gift for someone or friends drop in and you want to share a treat with them.
This year I decided to do something a little different and made up a ridiculous amount of what we call “Chocolate Slabs.” I guess the are similar to recipes you see around for chocolate bark but I made mine in rectangle slabs kind of like a little block of handmade chocolate.
A recipe isn’t really necessary for these, if you can manage to melt chocolate then you are set! I had three rectangle Tupperware containers (these ones to be exact) that I used as a mould for my slabs. Make sure you line the base with baking paper, I didn’t bother lining two of the sides and because the sides of the containers are a little flexible the chocolate slabs came out without any troubles. So, after melting the chocolate I covered the base of the conatainers with a thin layer (about 5mm) of chocolate then topped the melted chocolate with what ever concoction of toppings I could come up with. I put mine in the freezer to set then took them out when they were hard and re-used the containers and baking paper over and over again. These ones were made using milk chocolate then topping with smarties, chopped clinkers and raspberry lollies that I had chopped in half. I think some lolly bananas would have been yummy in these ones too.
I also used this silicone muffin tray to make smaller, bite-sized chocolate slabs. They are really cute and looked great packaged up with the other flavours. I’m sure you could use any silicone muffin liners or ice trays though.
These ones are white chocolate with toasted coconut flakes, dried cranberries and pistachios.
I took inspiration from fruit and nut chocolate with these ones and topped milk chocolate with dried apricots, sultanas, cashews, pistachios and almonds. It is delicious and would be yummy using dark chocolate too.
To make the almonds extra yummy, I spread them on a baking tray and drizzled them with rice malt syrup and sprinkled some salt over. Then baked them in a moderate oven for 10-15 minutes stirring 3 or 4 times. I call them “sweet and salty nuts” and they are so tasty. You could also use honey or maple syrup for these.
I love rocky road and didn’t want to miss out on some this Christmas so made a rocky road chocolate slab too. Milk chocolate is topped with mini marshmallows, raspberry lollies and sweet and salty almonds. Finished off with a drizzle of melted chocolate.
And finally another white chocolate slab topped with dried apricots, toasted coconut flakes and pistachios. I didn’t think I would like the white chocolate versions as much as I do, they are so yum!
So, if you have still got to do a bit of Christmas cooking or are looking for something tasty and unique to give away for gifts, get cooking some chocolate slabs. They are super easy, stress-free and taste amazing!
Make sure you package them up nicely for presents, we popped ours in some flat cellophane bags, sealed with a bit of washi tape and the kids made some cardboard toppers to put on the top of them. If you haven’t tried knock-and-run with your family before, go out one night after dinner and choose some friends or neighbours to do it to. It really is so much fun and your kids will love it!
I had a few more ideas for chocolate slab toppings that I haven’t tried out yet… – chopped up peppermint crisp bars – red & green m&ms – crushed candy canes – chopped oreos, tim tams or mint slice biscuits – lolly bag (lots and lots of different mixed lollies) – coconut and glace cherries
If you have any other good topping ideas, I’d love to hear them. Feel free to leave them in the comments for future reference!
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I feel like I need to dedicate a post to my love of knit (stretchy) fabrics. It’s kind of funny, because when I first started getting into sewing clothing I was not a fan of knits at all. It was all quilting cotton, all the time. While I do still love quilting cotton and all that it has to offer, there is only so much that you can do with it when it comes to sewing clothing.
I often get emails from people wanting to know where to buy good quality knits from and asking for tips and tricks when sewing knit fabrics so I’m sure there are many other people who wonder but don’t actually ask! Hopefully this post will be helpful for newbie knit sewers and also for those of you who have more confidence with sewing with knits.
I would have to say that more than 50% of my garment sewing is done using knit fabrics now. Once I got over my initial fear of handling knits, knowing what stitches to use on my machines and working out some great places to buy fabrics from I was hooked! If you look in your wardrobe or at your kids clothes, I can pretty much guarantee that most of the clothing that we all wear is made from knit (stretchy) fabrics so it only makes sense that you gain confidence with sewing with knits in order to make clothes that are practical, comfortable and suitable for everyday wear. When you delve into the world of knit sewing you are opening yourself to a huge range of “everyday” clothes from comfortable tshirts to stretchy skirts and dresses to leggings. Because knit fabrics are stretchy, you very rarely have to use zippers, buttons or other closures to get them over your body! And if that’s not enough to entice you…clothing sewn with knit fabrics need hardly any ironing at all (yay!!!)
When I first started sewing with knits I was pretty clueless. My first few projects were a bit wonky but I learned a lot from them! Now that I have had a bit of practise I love sewing with knits, they are really simple and get worn so much. I have done a lot of research, shopping around and through lots of trial and error here’s a summary of what I know about buying and sewing with knits…
WHAT TO BUY First of all, I want to talk a bit about the quality of knit fabrics…I don’t know about you, but I’m not in the sewing game to save money! (Does anyone actually save money by sewing? Maybe if you are buying fabric from the op-shop!) but really, this hobby can churn through the dollars if you aren’t careful! For me, sewing clothing isn’t about saving time or money, but is about creating unique items that are exactly how I want them. If I want cheap clothes then I’ll go to Target for some instant satisfaction! Personally I don’t see the point in spending so much time sewing clothes using poor-quality fabrics. I want my handmade clothing to last and still look good wash after wash and using good quality fabrics is the only way to do that. Having said that, you can sometimes get lucky and pick up good-quality fabrics at a decent price.
Also, be aware that good quality knits are more expensive than most woven fabrics. But remember that they are always extra wide (150cm +) so take that into account when comparing with fabric that is only 100cm wide. Out of 1m of knit fabric I can make a top for myself or a couple of tops for the kids so it really isn’t that expensive when you think about it.
If you are first starting out with knits then I’d suggest sticking with a cotton jersey or interlock fabric. I’m personally not a fan of interlock fabric because it tends to stretch out of shape after awhile, but I’m happy to use it when the hems of the garment (sleeve cuffs, hem, neckband, etc.) are out of a contrast fabric which is going to hold it in shape. Interlock is really easy to sew with because the cut edges of the fabric don’t roll up. Cotton jersey knits with about 5% elastine or lycra are my favourite knits to work with. Once you feel confident sewing with knits then you might want to test out some other fabric types – and there are heaps more to try!
I know I harp on about good quality fabric all the time…by “good” I mean they wash and wear well – don’t pill or fade, are a decent weight (thickness), and have a good recovery. (Recovery is the amount of bounce-back you get when you stretch your fabric and then let it go.) If you sew with dodgy quality knits then you are pretty much guaranteed to have a bad experience.
WHERE TO BUY: This information is mostly applicable to Australian sewers. We just don’t have the range of shops and fabric choices as are avaliable in the US so it can be a bit tricky trying to work out where to buy knits from to get the best quality at the best price. I manage to source some great knit fabrics though and want to share my secrets with you here!
Where I live in Tasmania there are no brick and mortar stores to purchase knit fabrics so I have to rely solely on online shopping. This can be a bit tricky when shopping for knits as you really need to see and feel fabrics to know exactly what they are going to be like. After lots of trial and error (yeah, I put in the hard yards shopping – haha!) Here are some of my favourite places to purchase knits online:
CRAFTY MAMAS My first port of call when I’m looking for new knits is Crafty Mamas. Lisa (CM owner) works like a trojan and is always stocking her store with the most amazing knits. She specialises in European knits and let me warn you now…once you start sewing with European knits nothing else will compare! I was a little spoiled when I first started my knit fabric stash and stocked up on lots of European knits and it has made me extra picky about the quality of other knits that I purchase now! If you want top quality though, you can always rely on European knits to save the day. Look out for brands like Lillestoff, Hilco, ZNOCK, Okeo-Tex and Nosh. Eurpoean knits tend to be pretty trendy and a bit quirky so are great if you are looking for something different. If you see something you like then you better get in quick because new stock is always arriving and once a particular print is gone then it might not be ordered again. Crafty Mamas also stock other great knits too, lots of solids and some Aussie made. I like this shop because they NEVER scrimp on quality I can be sure to get excellent fabric.
DAWANDA When I am looking for a particular European knit and Crafty Mamas doesn’t have it in stock, then I’ll check out Dawanda. Dawanda is a type of Etsy platform for European sellers. It can be a little tricky to get your head around, because not everything is in English so it takes a bit of guessing or interpreting! This is the only shop that I have ever bought from and I have always been happy with their service – prompt and clear communication. Make sure you set the currency to your country so that you can see what you will be paying and keep in mind that Dawanda stores do not accept direct Paypal paments. You have to purchase Dawanda vouchers (using your Paypal account) and you can then use the vouchers to make purchases from any stores on Dawanda. Also, the price quoted isn’t always the price you will pay – usually I end up paying a little less because Australians don’t have to pay the VAT tax which is included in the price. You actually don’t make any payments until the seller has confirmed the total price for your order and then you can make changes before committing though. Anyway, it’s quite messy and not very straightforward, I don’t use it often but if I’m looking for a particular fabric I will muddle through the system.
FABRIC.COM This is the only US store that I will purchase knit fabrics from because they have excellent postage rates. To buy knits from anywhere else you are paying around $25 postage for 3-4 yards. Fabric.com is way cheaper than that and have a huge range of knits. Usually I will stick with the designer collections because I can be sure of the quality I am getting…Riley Blake knits are great, as are Robert Kaufman Laguna, Heather Ross jerseys and Liberty of London. (Once I did splurge and buy a couple of yards of this beautiful Liberty of London knit and I don’t think I will cut into it for a long time!) Fabric.com is HUGE and can be quite overwhelming if you aren’t sure what you are looking for. I haven’t delved much into the non-designer knits yet because there are just too many to sort through and I don’t want to risk getting stuck with a dud but I might test out a few in the future!
IXAT Ixat is run by an Aussie (I think?) living in South Korea and she manages to get her hands on lots of funky and interesting knits. Shipping takes a long time (4-6 weeks) but they do offer lots of knits that you won’t find anywhere else. Everything I have bought from them is good quality so far, a couple of knits were a bit thinner than I expected but that’s probably because I’m comparing them with European knits. They also have a sister store: IXAT Extra.
OTTOBRE on Etsy Occasionally I’ll buy European knits from the Ottobre store on Etsy. These fabrics are pretty expensive though so I’ll only only buy from them if I am desperate and can’t find what I am after anywhere else.
SPOTLIGHT Although you can’t purchase fabric online from Spotlight, most newbie sewers will probably head into their local Spotlight to source knit fabrics. Personally, I haven’t had much success finding good quality knit fabrics in these big chain stores. I always check out what is avaliable when I go in and don’t usually walk out with anything stretchy at all. I have bought a few knits from Spotlight that end up being good but I have also bought a few that aren’t very good quality and let me down later on. Because of this, I tend to steer away from buying knits from Spotlight – but with the trend of sewing with knits picking up, it might not take them long to catch on and start offering some better quality fabrics. Spotlight doesn’t offer online shopping on fabrics which is probably a good thing because you really need to see and feel the fabrics before buying so that you know what the quality is like.
GIRL CHARLEE I think I need to mention Girl Charlee here because I have purchased knit fabric from them in the past and I’m sure you see their fabric plastered all over sewing blogs. Personally, I have not been happy with the quality of fabric I have purchased from them and after a couple of orders I stopped buying from them altogether. Everything was thin and flimsy, lots of fabrics ended up pilling and usually the recovery of the fabric was really poor. BUT the fabric is cheap and there is heaps to choose from so that’s why so many people sew with it – remember you get what you pay for though and I’m not keen to shop with them much anymore. I did recently purchase some swimwear fabric from them which seemed okay though but I don’t have much to compare it with yet.
So, those are the main ones that I look at when shopping online – hopefully a new one or two for you to check out. If you have a favourite online store to share then leave a comment for others to see!
HOW TO SEW WITH KNIT FABRIC: I’m going to give you my top tips for sewing with knit fabric. There are so many posts on so many blogs that share tips for knit sewing success and they all vary slightly. This is really an area where you have to do a bit of figuring out and playing around for yourself to find out what your personal preference is for sewing with knits. And most importantly – get to know your machines! I’ve got a few sewing machines and they all handle knits differently so you really have to test your stitches and machines out first.
KNOW YOUR MACHINES If you own an overlocker (serger) then use that for all of your inside seams when sewing with knits. An overlocker really speeds things up and makes light work of sewing with knits because you can sew, trim and finish the seams all in one go. BUT…if you don’t have an overlocker then you can still have great success sewing with knits using your sewing machine!
I own a great overlocker now, but my previous overlocker was really old and temperamental and didn’t always do what it was supposed to do. After a lot of frustration, I gave up using it to sew knits with and have had awesome results just using my sewing machine. It took a lot of trial and error to work out which stitches were the best to use on my sewing machine with knit fabric. Before you start on your knit sewing, I would strongly recommend that you read through your sewing machine manual (boring, I know!) to see which stitches are suited for stretch fabrics and testing those stitches on some fabric to see which ones you like the look of and how well they stretch with the fabric when it is pulled.
After you have discovered what your machine is capable of, then make a simple tshirt to test some stitches out on. If you have a child to sew for, then make the tshirt for them (you could try my Basic Tees pattern) as kids really put their clothes to the test with lots of stretching seams and hems! Make sure that the tshirt is worn and washed a lot so that you can see how the stitches last over time.
Every machine is different and what works well for someone else may not work for you. For example, I know that lots of people love using a double needle to hem their knits but my double needle stitching always seems to pop and break after a few wears so I never use it any more. But it might work for you, so if you like the look of it, then try it out! And don’t despair, if it doesn’t work for you, there are lots of options you can try!
WHAT STITCHES CAN I USE? Here are some of the most popular stitches suitable for stretch sewing using your sewing machine and their pros and cons (refer to Figure 1. for an example of each stitch):
MY TOP PICKS These are my favourite stitches when sewing with knits on my sewing machine:
I use a stretch tricot stitch for all of my seams that will not be visible from the outside of the garment.
For most of my topstitching that will be seen from the outside of the garment, I use a triple straight stitch on my sewing machine. I like to use this stitch when I’m sewing binding down from the front of the garment too.
I love using the mock cover hem stitch when hemming garments.
If there is ever any decorative topstitching to be done then I like to use a honeycomb stitch.
Phew! You made it to the end!! I’ve been wanting to write this blog post for ages now, but kept putting it off because I knew how long it would be!
I hope this information is helpful to anyone delving into the world of knit sewing or for those of you wanting to find a few more sources for purchasing knit fabrics.
If you have any personal sewing preferences or other favourite stores to purchase knit fabric then leave a comment with your thoughts – I would love to hear from you and I’m sure other readers will be interested in what you have to say too!
Welcome to the last installment of the Skippy & Joey Hop! 
