Jalie 2921

Whew, I am so glad Blogger is back up! I was going crazy! Since I got to sew all day yesterday, I have a ton of things to show you. First up is a tee I actually stitched up a couple of weeks ago, but was waiting on the coverstitch to hem.

The pattern is Jalie 2921. (If you don't want to deal with shipping from Canada, you can also get it here and here.) This is such a fun pattern to sew! As many have said in PR reviews, the construction is really interesting and the instructions are sort of strange until you actually do it. You basically sew up the shoulder seams, sew on the collar/scarf, then roll the whole shirt up inside the scarf and stitch it closed, leaving a gap for turning. It doesn't look like it's going to work, but it does, and encloses all the seams beautifully.

Here it is with the scarf untied. The fabric I used is a thin cotton lycra jersey. It wasn't the easiest to sew, as it curled like crazy, which is tricky with Jalie's 1/4 inch seam allowances. Fit-wise, I used the size that corresponds to my high bust (an S), and then graded out to my full bust size (a U)  from the underarm, tapering back to the S at the waist. I altered the front pattern piece only.

Here is what that looked like. I'm pointing at the original pattern line so you can see where I graded it out. Since that altered the front armscye, I also had to alter the sleeve to fit.

Jalie's sleeve is symmetrical front to back and can be cut on the fold, but since I only altered the front armscye, I only needed to alter the front sleeve. I traced the back sleeve in the size S, then for the front, traced the sleeve cap at the size S, but extended it out to the line for size U. I notched the front so that I would remember which was which when constructing the top. When I sewed it together, I eased the front into the back, concentrating the easing around my bust point so that I would have the added fullness where I needed it.

You can't tell at all that there is a length mismatch on the side seam. I'm so pleased with the way this fits, I think this will be my new FBA method for knit tops, particularly Jalie tops.

Of course, this gave me a chance to try out the narrow coverstitch. It's so pretty! The capability of doing the 1/8 inch coverstitch was what decided me in terms of which machine to buy. The Brother does it and the comparably priced Janome doesn't. Since I think this is the stitch I will use most, that made the decision a total no brainer, and so far, I am really happy with my machine.