Printed Pullover

Pattern: Burda's Young Burda Fashion Jacket #8042

Fabric: cotton + ribbed cotton knit + Rit's fabric dye

Price: gift

A bright print like this should be worn to the beach (in my poll, most people voted for the hawaiian dress). But where I come from, beach days can be cold and cloudy, and even on the sunniest days you can often see the next morning's fog out on the horizon. So I ended up opting for the Hawaiian pullover--still beachy, but warm enough to put on when the wind comes up. Not a dress, but I really like how this turned out.

For the cuffs, I bought some white ribbed fabric and dyed it to match. Aside from my ill-faited chair cover, this was my first time using the dye. It worked out well, I didn't stain any of my clothes, and the color was a pretty good match (and an even color throughout). Also, because I continuously fail to convert stretch knit patterns for use with woven fabric, my pullover has cotton knit running up the sides and down the arms. I actually ended up liking this detail.

How Sewing Works:
Finally, because this fabric was a gift from a non-sewer, I plan to once and for all explain how sewing works:

<-- Designing doesn't have to be that hard: you buy a pattern (they usually have ugly pictures on the cover), and use the pattern pieces to cut out your sleeves, front, back, etc.












Place your pattern pieces right sides together (so, for instance, lay the front piece on top of the back), pin it in place along a seam, and sew a line down the side. -->

A sewing machine, FYI, works like this:

<-- When you open the seam, it will look like this! Nice and neat.








Because fabric tends to unravel at the edges, you can "finish" the raw edge with a second, fancier sewing machine (or one of various other techniques). -->










Basically, you do that enough times until you have all your seams sewn together. You might also have to hem the bottom and make things neat and tidy (OK, I'm skipping a few steps for more complicated things here). But basically, that's it--you have a sweatshirt!

Read my review of this pattern at PatternReview.com.

And check it out at BurdaStyle!