A winter's worth of sweater dresses

Knits have a reputation for being truly terrifying to sew. A sewist who is mostly self-taught, I lurched into knits before I had much of an idea of what I was doing, had a series of not terribly successful experiences and effectively gave up trying to sew stretchy things for about ten years.

However since late last year, I've been upping my game by taking a few classes and learning some of the skills that had passed me by.  Mostly I've been concentrating on classes that will give me the skills and confidence to sew my own knit tops and dresses (and eventually, pants) because:

1. comfort is awesome; and
2. stretchy waistbands rock my world.

The first class I took was specifically about sewing knits on your sewing machine (rather than an overlocker). I learnt some handy techniques and useful guidelines - like what kind of needle to use and what stitch will stretch with the fabric (see how much I was flailing around in the past?) I also learnt, after 31 years of being alive and never noticing before, that I had a sway back! What a surprise that was.

I took the second class at the beginning of this year. After running my overlocker for almost the entire time I have been sewing, I finally admitted that I had very little idea what I was doing and signed up for a beginner’s overlocker class. I was allowed to bring my machine with me, but the teacher asked that I get it serviced - and it turned out that it needed a new knife and A LOT of love before it was up and running in the way that it should .

Side note: Get your machines serviced regularly. I am just AMAZED at how much easier my overlocker is to use now that it’s been serviced.

Thus equipped with a functioning overlocker and new found twin needle/lightning-stitching abilities, I have been a virtually unstoppable sewist of knits - to the extend that I made my own sensible merino tops for winter.

I also branched out into making sweater dresses, which I LOVE and yet have rarely had the chance to wear. I think because there never seems to be any around that are really that flattering on me? I don’t know.

The first sweater dress I made is in a black flecked merino sweat-shirting. I used the Colette Laurel pattern which is actually designed for wovens. This meant (of course) that the frock came out quite a bit bigger than it needed to be - so after wearing it a couple of times, and being annoyed by how huge it was I had to take it in.

My adjustment was pretty much a hack job - I just ran my overlocker along the back seam where the zip was, cutting it out entirely and taking in the dress a few centimetres. There's enough stretch in the fabric to allow me to pull it over my head, no additional fasteners required.


My second dress used Tilly’s Coco dress pattern which is designed for knits - the fabric is, again, a merino sweat-shirting (this time with a deliciously flocked back, so cosy).

I am VERY into this fabric; I was eyeing it up at The Fabric Store for ages before I took the plunge as it was quite expensive, but NO REGRETS guys, I am totally in love.

I think I look adorably Seventies in it, I wear it with a white wooden bead necklace and black stockings with white polka dots, and I think I look pretty snazzy when I’m wearing it.


The final dress is in a woollen knit fabric with a polyamide percentage and is quite a stretchy knit, unlike the other two dresses. I used a free pattern for a kimono sleeved fitted dress.


I’m not as in love with this as much as the other two as I don’t think it’s a super flattering style on me and I don’t think that I’d bother to use that pattern again. The sleeves underarms weren’t really cut high enough (although that’s an easy fix) and I should have stay-stitched the neckline because it stretched out while I was sewing (hence the button). If I was to throw caution to the wind and re-use the pattern, I would probably re-draft the neckline to a boat neck.

Hey also, while I was sewing this dress, I had one of those gloriously awesome moments where you accidentally sew part of the garment to the centre of the piece you’re working on - EXCEPT I WAS USING AN OVERLOCKER AND CUT A HUGE HOLE. Luckily I had enough to cut the piece for a second time but honestly - it just goes to show what a bad idea it is to sew when ridiculously tired.

So, yes, knit dresses are the best! I am proud of my sewing skills and I am loving going to work in a dress that wears like an oversized jumper.

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Brief life note

Guys, I'm a little bit disturbed about my level of obsession with that new Taylor Swift song. It’s the first of hers that I've ever listened to in any capacity and I'm thrashing it in my headphones and having private dance parties in the kitchen at work.

I have also had a cold for all this week and I am exhausted tonight - I kept pretending that I wasn't sick and good to do whatever but it looks like that has pretty much worked against me in the long term. *coughs pitifully*