Recently, I discovered the wonderful world of knit fabric, and the secret society of knit Facebook groups. In these groups, you get fabric for cheaper prices by placing (and paying) pre-orders and then waiting anywhere from 4-10 weeks for your fabric to arrive. These groups sell fabric by the yard, but many also sell panels. I wasn’t sure what these panels were at first, but OMG- they are fabulous, and compliment the fabrics they’re designed to match perfectly. Last month, I ordered a yard of the mighty machines fabric from Peekaboo Pattern Shop and a matching panel. The panels from this shop are different from most others because they’re twice the size of most (20″ by 28″), providing fabric for the front and back of a shirt. 
I mentioned this shop in a previous post, and if you haven’t checked it out yet, you must. I purchased the Maui Muscle Tee pattern to use and both Zac and I are in love with the finished product. The shorts are from Brindle & Twig, and are one of my favorite patterns at the moment. They work great for boys and girls, and use no elastic- only lycra/cotton jersey fabric. Super comfortable and I think we’ll get 2 years wear out of the 3t/4t size for Zac. 
If you want to try out any of the patterns from Peekaboo Pattern Shop, use my referral link for 15% off your first purchase. Happy shopping!! 
Monthly Archives: June 2015
Shop Small September
When I was pregnant with my son, I discovered Etsy. I loved the idea of getting unique one-of-a-kind items that you couldn’t find in retail stores. Some of my first purchases were knit hats that we used for Zac’s newborn photo session. 
As he grew, I continued to shop on Etsy (especially for photo session outfits). It wasn’t until I opened my own Etsy shop I realized how important shopping small really is, and the value in supporting small businesses.
These days, I make a lot of Zac’s clothes, but I LOVE buying items from small shops too. I’ve also had the joy to participate in a few trades and love swapping items with fellow Etsy shops. Recently, I got the idea to challenge myself to dress Zac in only items made either by me, or from other small shops. It will take some planning, so I’m starting now- today actually, with this blog post. This year, I want to make the month of September, the month to encourage myself, friends, family, and followers to shop small. I’ll be using the hashtag: #ShopSmallSeptember on Facebook and Instagram to help advertise, and I encourage you to do the same.
I realize that a month is a long time, but you have time to plan. Can’t commit to a month? I get it- try a week, or maybe just the weekends. This summer we are in survival mode, but once school gets started again I plan on offering some coupon codes and promotions for Shop Small September, so stay tuned!
Here are some of my favorite shirts from some of my favorite small shops. Miracle Baby tee is from Tink & Key, Why fit in? and Forever Young are from The Blue Envelope, and the Independent tee is from Riverband Threads. The Pete the Cat pants, triangle pants, and stars and stripes shorts are made by me. 🙂
The Wonderful World of Knits
I have several friends who also sew, and one thing I’ve heard over and over is how terrified people are to sew with knits. Raise your hand if this is you… It used to be me too, but not anymore. I LOVE knit fabric, and the possibilities are endless as to what you can create. I haven’t sewn with knits for long, but in the past 6 months I’ve learned a lot and want to share it with you.
Don’t be afraid!
Seriously, if you can sew with cotton fabric, you can sew with knit. I recommend (if you haven’t already), invest in a quality cutting mat, rotary cutter, and straight edge. These are really musts for anybody who sews, but especially with knits. Depending on what I’m making, I need to change my rotary blade often, and that’s OK. I love my serger for sewing with knits, but it isn’t a must. I promise, it’s addicting and you won’t regret purchasing one. I have the Brother 1034D, and it was less than $200 on Amazon. Prime shipping will get one to your door in 48 hours or less. 😉
Different types of knits
Jersey knit is sort of a generic term for the stretchy fabric that t-shirts and leggings are made out of, but there are different types of knits and they’re used for different things.
- Cotton/Lycra blend- often called 95/5 (95% cotton, 5% lycra or spandex) is my favorite. It has excellent stretch and recovery and I use it whenever possible. It is great for pants for kids and grownups too.
- Sweatshirt Fleece- just what it sounds like. It’s fuzzy on the back and is what sweatshirts and sweatpants are made out of.
- Hacci Sweater Knit- unlike the sweatshirt knit, this is not like a typical sweater fabric. It’s thin and silky. I’ve used it for children’s clothing before, but it’s great for scarves or women’s tops.
- Interlock- a variation of rib knit construction. Double knit constructions makes it a thicker fabric with a tight weave. It’s a great fabric to start with if knits make you nervous.
Quality fabric is worth the price
I’ve sewn with a lot of different types of fabrics from a lot of different suppliers, and the one thing I learned is that there is a reason cheap fabric is cheap. Something else to remember when buying any type of knit fabric is that you get a lot more per yard than typical fabrics, so take that into consideration when looking at the price. Normal jersey fabric is 58″ to 60″ wide. When making children’s pants, I can usually get 4 pairs of pants out of a yard of fabric, so it goes a long way.
The secret world of custom fabric
I’m part of several Facebook groups that pertain to sewing and embroidery. I was always seeing people post pictures of children’s items they crated with super cute fabrics that I could not find in stores. I recently unlocked the secret, and today I’m sharing that secret with you. There are Facebook groups for custom knit fabrics. I’m a member of at least a dozen, probably more, and then there are B/S/T (buy, sell, trade) groups for those groups too. These groups offer pre-sales of fabrics, offering them at usually $20 a yard. Once the pre-sale closes, the fabrics are printed, and then in 6-8 weeks they show up at your door. Don’t want to wait that long? That’s where the B/S/T groups come into play, BUT you will pay more for these fabrics later. I’ve seen some fabrics going as high as $100 a yard, but usually there is a 25% to 50% markup. The great thing about the B/S/T pages is that people offer FHs (FH stands for fat half, and it’s a half yard cut longways, so approximately 30″ by 36″), and you can get great fabrics for cheaper prices. A great place to start is the Knit Destash group on Facebook. Go check it out!
Working with a pattern
I love making clothes for my son. Trust me when I say that it’s worth it to pay money for a great pattern. Here are some of my favorite pattern shops!
- Max and Meena
- Brindle & Twig
- Peekaboo Pattern Shop– she also sells custom knit fabrics and they are fabulous!
I hope that this was helpful and inspires you to take the plunge. Here is a pic of Zac with his new Big Hero 6 pajamas. Shirt is raglan tee pattern from Brindle & Twig, pants are maxaloones, and the fabric is from Sew Cute Fabrics on Facebook.
Kitchen Table Makeover
The first weeks of summer are when I get projects done. I think it goes back to my days teaching, and waiting for summertime to conquer my projects. 9 years ago, my husband and I bought our first (and only) house. We felt the need to fill it with furniture even though we didn’t really have the extra cash to do so. One of our first purchases was a new kitchen table. A kitchen able should be something you invest money in because it takes a lot of wear and tear. We did not… It didn’t take long for our new table didn’t look new anymore, but we just lived with it. 
Perhaps you’re in the same situation. Well, if you are, keep reading!! A few months ago, I was browsing pinterest and this picture came up. I immediately fell in love. I desperately want a farmhouse table, but I know this house isn’t our forever home and don’t want to invest the money until we move. This project looked so easy- paint and slap some wood on top (my husband is a woodworker so he could help).
Much to my disappointment, my husband pointed out that the grooves in that table would be a magnet for crumbs and the other gunk that our toddler leaves behind. So, back to Pinterest I went for new inspiration and I found this-
I loved the contrast of the chairs to the table. Our kitchen walls are painted a light blue, our cabinets and floor are a dark wood, and I have orange accents in the kitchen. I considered orange chairs for a pop of color, but didn’t like the way that looked with the floors and cabinets. Matching a blue to coordinate with the wall would be too difficult, so I thought I’d play it safe and just go with grey. When I googled grey chairs/white table, this picture came up and I knew we had a winner.
I went to Lowes and bought some supplies, 4 cans of Valspar satin spray paint. It’s a paint plus primer and seriously the best. I did a couple of coats of the paint on the chairs. 
All of this was done the Sunday before Memorial Day. I woke up, told my husband- “hey, I think I’m going to start the table project”, and by dinnertime the chairs were painted. He’s come to understand that this is how I work. I get an idea and run with it. While we were at Lowes that morning, I picked up several (ok, probably 30) paint swatches for different greys. We decided on “armitage grey” from the HGTV Home collection by Sherwin Williams. Monday night I primed the table. I had primer left over from my guest room makeover project last spring, and Tuesday I painted the table grey. During all of this, we ate our meals in the family room. 🙂
I let the paint dry a couple days before I put on 3 layers of polyurethane. I needed durability, and didn’t necessarily want a lot of shine, so after talking with the wonderful people at Lowes, I went with a semi gloss. It went on really easily and the smell was almost nonexistent. Best part is, it dried in 2 hours! They recommend 48 hours before using the table, and 7 days for it to fully cure, so we continued to eat in the family room through the following weekend. The final touches were placemats and seat cushions. I loved the grey and white, but it needed some color. I spent probably $60 on painting supplies for the table and chairs and felt I could splurge a little for cushions. I am so glad I did because I LOVE how this turned out.
Sew Sassy Creations 