Free Pattern: Sammy's Slouchy Beanie

You may have noticed that at CKC we want you to fall in love with knits.  And today just might do it for you! Next up in our series of My First Sewing Projects for Kids is... 

Sammy's Slouchy Beanie!

I love slouchy beanies!  If you have never seen them before, you're in for a treat. They look especially adorable on tiny kids but my older ones love them too. In fact this pattern goes on up to adult sizes! They are great for everyone! I have five reasons why I love slouchy beanies: 

Did you count them? 

 Now I have another five reasons why slouchy beanies are fantastic:  1) They feel good on your head instead of crushing your skull. 2) Your ears stay completely covered all the time. 3) They look cute even on large heads. 4) They don't have an annoying cuff that always comes unfolded. And, 5) They are made of soft knit so kids actually want to wear them. 

I love them! 

So here's your chance! Download our FREE pattern for Sammy's Slouchy Beanie and have some fun making a beanie with your kids today!  I bet you can't make just one. Hint: These make excellent gifts! 

And did you notice the gorgeous knits in my pictures above?  I bet you want to know where I got them from.  

Purpleseamstress Fabrics is the place! I highly recommend her knits if you're looking for excellent quality and super cute designs. I needed to order some striped knit for a little project I was working on (my local store doesn't carry it) and she had exactly what I was looking for. I was very impressed with her customer service and prices, and when my package arrived I instantly fell in love with the fabrics. 

Now you can fall in love with them too!  For the next 24 hours, Purpleseamstress Fabrics is offering 10% off to our readers. Just mention the code CKCFANS to her when you order. (Offer good until 5:30 PST on 11/14/13. Not valid on existing orders.) If you have any questions about her knits, she is happy to answer them - just send her a message! That's also how to order when you're ready.

Look how fun my other project turned out using her knits! Trista's Pixie Hoodie, Christmas style. (I can't wait for my daughter's photo shoot!) At CKC we have SO many fun patterns that use knit and we hope you'll take this chance to try it out with our free pattern for Sammy's Slouchy Beanie!  We'd love to see how they turn out for you.

Let's Create! ~ Kristen 

How To Tuesday: Knits

    So as our collection of knit patterns grows here at CKC, so does the amount of questions that we receive from our amazingly talented fans. Trust me I get it, knit is scary! Heck, it took me ten years to muster up the courage to sew with knits. Surprisingly enough, I was shocked by how simple it was. I think we over complicate knit it in our minds. And yes, there are few extra little steps that are needed--well not even needed but HIGHLY suggested and will make sewing with knits about 100 times less stressful. So prepare yourself for knit overload!!

    I'm sure that most of you all have read the tips that Heather from Girl Charlee gave us back around this time last year. Along with the Double Needle How To that Julie did for us we have a great base point to jump from. So lets 1st go over the types of knits and what type of knit best suit our patterns and what type of knit we suggest to a beginner.

    So let’s start at the very beginning: what is a knit fabric? Where woven fabric is made of horizontal and vertical threads being woven together, knit fabrics are made by threads being looped back and forth to form the fabric. Or as I like to call it "mini knit" if you have ever knit before you understand what I mean. ;) 

So now lets go over some of the more popular knit fabrics.

Interlock

    Interlock knit is ideal for those who are just learning to sew with knits. Interlock knits are fairly thick and don't do that scary curling when cut:. Interlock is pretty stable so as long as you're follow our tips and tricks for sewing with knit you should be just fine tackling your 1st knit fabric project.

Interlock fabric would be perfect for the following ckc patterns.

Aylah's

Cosette's

Jessica's

Kayla's

Leah's

Tessa's

Cotton / Lycra Jersey

  Cotton jerseys are a lighter weight fabric and will roll when cut. Cotton / Lycra Jersey is made of cotton but with lycra added. These are soft and great for clothing and have the benefit of extra stretch and they recover and go back to shape nicely. There are different weights of cotton / lycra jersey, but the general rule of thumb is the heavier the weight the easier it will be to sew with.

And again I know that the curling maybe a bit scary to some. But follow the easy tips and tricks coming up and you will be fine, I promise!

Cotton and cotton/lycra jersey would be ideal for the following ckc patterns:

Abby's
Libby's

Kelsey's

Melinda's

Trista's

 

And while we are on the subject of the lycra. This is where the knit that is used for swimsuits fall in to place. Swimsuit lycra has added nylon.

Swimsuit lycra would obliviously be best for:

 Naomi's Ruffle Bikini
Arielle's Tankini
Pearl's One-Piece Swimsuit

    So now lets move on to a helpful tips and tricks!

Cutting and Prepping Knit

• Knits are known to shrink more then woven fabrics. For this reason it is important to prewash your knits.
• Cut all pieces along the same grain. This helps with the stretch of the fabric and will help to ensure the fit of the garment.
• Be sure to use the proper needle for sewing knit on your machine. For most that will be a Ball Point 14/90. Ballpoint needles have a rounded point that penetrates the fabric without catching or cutting the fabric
• Make sure to use pins or pattern weights when cutting due to the curling of some knits.

  

Sewing with Knit

• Do not pull the fabric as it goes through the feed dogs: you may risk breaking your needle and damaging your machine if you do.
• Use polyester, nylon or poly cotton thread. Pure cotton thread lacks the elasticity that is needed for knit fabrics.
• We suggest having your stitch length set to 3.

Seam Finishes

Knit fabrics don't generally unravel, so for most you can get away without finishing the seams. If your pattern does not call for a straight stitch, try a zigzag stitch. Zigzag stitches allow the seams to stretch and move easier. If your machine has a tricot stitch as pictured below, (on my machine it is the D stitch) USE IT!! this stitch is VERY flexible and perfect when sewing with knits. 

The best tip to finishing knit seams is clear elastic tape. The trick is to add the clear elastic tape on the top of all the seams of your garment. This helps prevent stretching and curling in the seams.

To start you will want to give the clear elastic a good stretch.  After following the directions in your pattern and pinning your raw edges together we will use the zig-zag stitch we talked about earlier to sew the clear elastic and the raw edges all together. 

This life changing tip is highly suggested when also sewing any type of skirt to a knit bodice. In a pattern like this you will want to first sew the elastic to the knit bodice before attaching the skirt. In this case the clear elastic is being sandwiched between the bodice and skirt. This helps prevent the weight of the skirt from pulling and stretching the bodice.

This trick can also be done with a serger.

 In the sample photo below the one on the left is the one that was sewn with the clear elastic. You will now note that your knit still have plenty of stretch, but it is stronger and this will create a much more durable seam. 

Hem Finishes

 Before hemming use the following the tip to create a clean and nicely laying hem. By doing so, you are adding a tad bit of extra weight to your knit. This helps the hem to fall and lay nicely.

Using a fusible interfacing cut a 1" strip to iron to the bottom edge (wrong side) of your garment. When doing this make sure that the stretch of your of interfacing is running in the same direction as the knit fabric.

Now that your interfacing is in place you can proceed to hem the garment in your desired way.  You can see that in the sample picture below I used the interfacing trick on the top piece.

If you take a look at store bought knit wear that you are most likely wearing at the moment, (sorry nudist!) you'll see most have hems with two row of stitching on the outside with a serger like stitch on the inside. (like the picture above)

Manufacturing companies use what is called a coverstitch machine to get this neat and tidy finished hem. But lucky for you, you do not need a coverstitch machine to get this look., Most machines can accommodate a double needle to help you acquire the same look. This needle may look a little funny but it sews a perfectly spaced double row of stitches on the right side of the fabric, with a zigzag on the wrong size. Create Kids Couture has a great blog all about sewing with a double needle that you can find HERE. I hope that this knit overload will help you tackle your fear of knit! 

Happy sewing y'all,

Morgan

Tips and Tricks: Kelsey Leggings

So we all love our Kelsey leggings! And if you don't own this pattern, you will by the end of this tutorial! It really is a must have!

Okay so one you lovely ladies (don't ask me who, I have ADD) asked if there was a trick to adding the ruffles in a round (ruffle attached to the base of legging).  Versus them being sewn onto the leggings. Now I will say that the way the Kelsey's are already written is by far the easiest way. But we totally understand that some prefer their ruffles in a round. So here is a super easy tutorial on how to this with our Kelsey's. Also note this could totally work on store bought leggings!! SWEET!!

So to start make your Kelsey's as written for regular leggings. (ie. why I said you can do this with store bought)

First, we are going to be drawing our ruffle placement lines on the bottom of the leg pieces.

We will now attach one of our ruffles to the bottom of the leggings. Take the ruffle pieces, pin them right sides together, and sew along the short sides so we one continuous loop.

Set the sewing machine on the longest stitch length possible. Sew 1/4" down from the top of each ruffle making sure not to backstitch at the beginning or end. Some seamstresses prefer to have two rows of stitching in case a thread breaks, however, if you are using high-quality thread as we do, then one row of stitching should be sufficient.

Take the leggings and lay it on a flat surface for reference on how wide our ruffle needs to be. Begin gathering the ruffle by pulling the top 2 threads and moving the fabric back so it is gathered together.

When it looks like it is the right width, we can begin pinning the ruffle to the leggings by putting the right sides of fabric and adjusting the gathers as we go. At this point we will know if it is gathered too much or too little and it is easier to adjust correctly.

We can now sew on the ruffle. To sew the  ruffle to the leggings we need to be sure to sew below the gathering line otherwise it will be visible on the outside when we are done.

Now that the ruffle is attached to the legging we will now cut at the drawn ruffle line. I know it seems crazy. No really, I do. Just trust me.

Now with that ruffle set aside we repeat the same steps again to the new bottom of the leggings.

Then once again cut off and repeat.

Now you will have a pile that looks like this.

Now time to start attaching these all back together.

Start off at the top. Flip the ruffle up and attach the connector piece to the bottom edge. And repeat with the next ruffle.

This is what your inside will look like.

And just like that you have your Kelsey leggings with ruffles in a round.

Now on a side note, if you feel you have stretched your leggings out too much. lift each ruffle and add a row or two of shirring. This will help the leggings go back into shape. And the shirring will be hidden by the ruffles.

And if you need a quick lesson in shirring, along with a little dance party. Follow this link to video how to from the CKC girls.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XfqAwJC_a6A

Happy Sewing Y'all!

Morgan

How To Tuesday: Using A Double Needle

Hi (waves), it's Julie here, I've introduced myself before on the blog but I'm back with a new title! Pattern Designer! I have joined up with the Create Kids Couture team, and very soon we will be releasing something new; dancewear/ gymnastic/ cheer/ figure skating/ activewear patterns! If you are a dance mom like me, you know how much all those jazzy spandex outfits can cost, so have a little fun learning to make your own at a fraction of the cost!

One of the techniques that I will frequently be using in the patterns is mimicking the look of a serger coverstitch. If you look at the hem of most manufactured knit garments, you will see a coverstitch like this t-shirt I pulled from my daughter's drawer. On the left side, you see the front view, two straight lines of stitching, and on the right side, you see the underside of the hem, it looks pretty much just like a regular overlock stitch from a serger. If you were to pull sideways on this hem, you would notice that these stitches allow some "give" so that the hem can stretch with the fabric.

You could just finish your hem or sleeves with a straight stitch, but if you want to make your finished product look more polished, why not try out using a twin needle?

Sewing with Knits: Debunking the Mystery

Our friend Heather, owner of Girl Charlee, is stopping by today to talk to you a little about sewing knits. Until recently, most CKC patterns have been for woven fabrics, but now we are branching out into knits patterns, and we want to help take the mystery out of sewing knits. To be perfectly honest, I (Robin) was scared to death to try sewing knits for the first time, but Heather sent me a sample of her fabulous knit fabric to try, and so I dove in. I made a pair of Kelsey's leggings, and it was so much easier than I thought. Here's Abby modeling them, not bad for my very first try, right?

If you haven't taken the plunge yet, we hope this post will give you the confidence you need to dive in. To give you a little more encouragement, Girl Charlee is offering a discount code just for CKC fans: it's 10% off of your order if applied before checkout.

Lettuce Edging...who knew it was so easy???

Hi! Krista, of MaeFlowers & JuneBugs, here again with some more sewing tips! Aren’t you loving the new knit patterns that CKC is releasing? I’m not sure who in my house loves them more, me or my daughter! I made up the new Leah’s Knit Top for my daughter and she loves it! She calls it her “Rock Star” shirt.

Free Tutorial Tuesday: Roxanne's Rumba Pants

It's that time again...Free Tutorial Tuesday! Aren't you so proud of me for trying to be on time? I am on time right???

Are you ready to be blown away with our incredibly unique AND cute tutorial today? You better sit down for this one because it's super duper cute! 

Introducing Roxanne's Rumba Pants. TA DA...

Cute right? I bet you've never seen anything like them have you? We try to tell you guys that we LOVE ruffles and over-the-top boutique designs and hopefully this helps you realize that we are serious! No joke. Can't get more ruffly than this! This design stemmed from our love of the rumba pants and our hate for sewing and sewing and sewing ruffles on those darn pants. All. Day. Long. So here's OUR take on the Rumba pants. Best part? You can sew these puppys in about 30 min. to 1 hour! Take that Rumba Pants! In this pattern we will teach you how to add ruffle fabric to already owned, leggings, jeans, or shorts to create a fun and unique look! However, if you happen to own our Layne's Ruffled Shorts PDF Pattern then you can make your own shorts and modify them to be these using any amazing fabric you have lying around! Here though, we are using boot leg knit pants from Target and Frilly Double Stretch Ruffle Fabric from RuffleFabric.com.

Free Tutorial Tuesday: Rachel's Tiered Ruffle Fabric Skirt

OMG. We can't even tell you how EXCITED we are for this pattern!!!! We came up with this skirt last year and kept meaning to make it a pattern but then we decided that it's so simple we should just do it as a free tutorial. Did I mention we decided this in like December of last year?!? lol. Behind much??? Well, here we finally are with our FREE Rachel's Tiered Ruffle Fabric Skirt. Woot! Better late than never right? 

Tips and Tricks Thursday: Caring for Your Handmade Clothes

I figured we should write a blog about this topic since we write patterns on how-to make handmade clothing, but have never discussed how to care for all these clothes you create. Caring for a handmade garment requires special care from the clothes that you purchase from a store.

Kiki, Kara, and Mia Patterns made using cotton fabrics.