A Note About Knits

I think I prefer to wear knits over wovens.  Most of time anyway.  I have  a giant stash of cotton and rayon knit fabrics, some with lycra and some without.  This dress is made from a medium weight cotton/lycra jersey.  When I bought it, it came in blue and black and I've made identical dresses with both fabrics.  I originally used Kwik Sew 2517, which is a dress pattern, and adapted it into a racerback tank top.  Then I added princess seams and used those to create the sweeping skirt style of this maxi dress.  I like ankle length dresses and I like them with only slightly flaring skirts.  It makes me look taller and at 5'2" I need all the help I can get  :)

Lots of people make garments with knits on a regular sewing machine using a tiny zigzag stitch.  I've seen some really beautiful projects.  I must confess, though, I almost never sew knits with a regular sewing machine.  I use my  single needle for details on knits, but for construction I'm strictly a serger-girl.  Maybe I'm spoiled.  My first job as a teenager was sewing sleeves into knit turtlenecks with an industrial serger.  I've never gotten over the thrill of sitting down at a machine and zipping through a seam.  I got my first serger in the early '90s and I haven't been without one since. That's not to say that I don't love sewing on my regular sewing machine.  Just not knits.