Fall Sewing 2015 - Mood Dimensional Knit Fabric

Friends, every year about this time Fall sewing starts to pop in to my mind.  Long before we have passed the dog days of Summer, I start to get the itch to stitch all things Fall!

With that in mind I have been perusing the deep dark hole of fabrics available on the internet.  I came across these two fabrics on Mood this week and I wanted to squee with delight!

Moodfabric.com Oil Blue Dimensional Paisley Knit

Moodfabric.com Heather Black/Charcoal Dimensional Knit

If you have been reading the blog for very long, you may remember this raglan t-shirt I made last Fall.  It was one of my most viewed posts back then.

I used a dimensional (I called it quilted at the time) knit for the body and cuffs of this shirt.  Now, I am seeing that Oil Blue Paisley Knit used with a steel gray sleeve and cuff for this Fall!  You can check out the Heather Black/Charcoal Paisley Knit here.  I can honestly say that this shirt was one of my absolute most warn garments last Fall and Winter.  You may take pause when you see that the cost of this great fabric is $25 a yard.  With the pattern that I used from GreenStyleCreations I only needed a yard of 58 or 60 inch fabric to make the body pieces and cuffs.  When you add in another half yard of a different knit for the sleeves and collar, you could easily make this shirt for $30 with a really nice fabric.  This dimensional knit is 9% virgin wool!  It is going to be warm and cozy, like pajamas you can wear in public.

Friends, I am not associated with Mood Fabrics.  I don't get any special treatment or any kind of kickback for showing you this fabric.  I am only pointing it out, because I am buying it and so many people reached out last year to find out where I got the original fabric for the shirt above that I knew I had to share as soon as I saw it.

So, what would you make with these lovely knits?  I can see sew many possibilities!

A Black and White Green Style Laurel Sweater Dress #SewnWithMood

Friends, there has been a lot of hub bub and rigmarole in the sewing world about knit dresses that feel like jammies, so I had to join in the action and make myself something comfy but warm enough to wear in the snow!

Ta Da!

During my day after Christmas fabric binge, I ordered 2.5 yards of this fantastic Black and White Wool Sweater Knit from Mood Fabrics.  Ya'll I love it!!!  It is heavy weight and fantastically warm.  I was a little hesitant seeing as it is wool that it might be itchy, so imagine my surprise and delight when it didn't itch not one little bit!  Though I am not at all affiliated with Mood, if you are looking for a warm sweater knit for a cold weather wrap dress, or a nice warm sweater, get yourself over there and order some of this, because they still have it in stock, and with temperatures dropping I don't think it will be around for long!

I ordered a few other goodies from Mood, but the best surprise of all came in a small zip top bag.

That's right friends...it is my very first Sewn With Mood tag.  There is something thrilling about the little things in life, and I giggled like a school girl when I found this among my treasures.

As for my Sweater Dress Pattern, it is a Green Style Creations Laurel.  This isn't my first Laurel.  Though it has not yet been lifted to pattern addiction the way their Centerfield Raglan has, it is a great pattern with lots of variation.

The Laurel is perfect for my pear with a big booty body type.  The empire waist line shows off my best assets without clinging to my liabilities...if you know what I mean!

Those girls with all the Ks in their names ain't got nothing on me!

I did make an alteration to the pattern this go round.  I decided that since I normally do a sway back adjustment on most dresses and shirts I should do something on this as well, because my original Laurel hangs a little low at the back bodice.  Since the Laurel comes with cutting lines for short, regular and long torsos, and I use the long torso for the front bodice, I just curved from the long torso line to the short torso line on the pattern.

This little adjustment made the back bodice perfect length, with no dragging or sloppiness.

I decided to hand sew the hem and sleeve cuffs, because I just don't like the way that a double needle finish looks on a heavy knit.  Plus it gave me an excuse to use some of the new gadgets that I got for Christmas (these nifty hem clips...thanks Mom!)

I am very happy with how this great Italian Wool Sweater Knit Dress turned out.  I think that it will fill a void in my wardrobe, and it will keep me warm.  The high here in Indy is supposed to be seven degrees.  So cold in fact that school is on a two hour delay because it will be below zero when the buses would normally run!  I see lots of warm ginger tea, and wool knits in my future!!

Friends, what are you sewing to keep warm as the mercury is dropping?  Maybe a long overdue Winter Coat, or some nice Fuzzy PJs?  Tell me...what is on the cutting table!?