My sister just finished her Renfrew top and it’s just like mine! We both bought the same fabric at Metro Textile in NYC when I visited her in January and made the same top from the same pattern, how funny is that? She calls it our “crafty genes.” Maybe the two of us can be totally dorky and wear them at the same time when she comes up to visit next weekend, heehee.
Check out her review of the pattern on her blog The Stitcherati and read about her first time sewing with stripes, eeek!
Pattern: combo of Renfrew by Sewaholic and Vogue 8138 (OOP)
Fabric: sweater knit from Fabric Place Basement
Leggings: DKNY
Boots: Franco Sarto
I don’t own anything designer. Probably the closest designer items I own are a Michael Michael Kors blazer and a Marc by Marc Jacobs iPhone cover. I love looking at designer clothes for inspiration, like the Calvin Klein top I used last year, or even going into Nordstrom and inspecting the inside of garments for construction details and ideas. As I was snooping around my favorite local fabric store, this fabric jumped out at me. It makes me think of the Italian fashion house Missoni, know for their famous zig-zag and geometric knitwear. So, in a sense, the fabric inspired me to make a dress styled like the Missoni dresses I’ve seen in Neiman Marcus, but for a fraction of the $1,000 price they usually retail for (seriously, I made this for under $30).
Knowing I wanted a simple silhouette, like many Missoni dresses, I looked in my stash to see if I had a simple knit dress pattern, but everything I pulled out had some kind of styling to it that wouldn’t lend itself well to this funky print. You know where this is going…
Oh good old Renfrew, how I love you. I took the top of the Renfew pattern and the bottom of my Vogue dress pattern and combined them together at the waist, grading seams where necessary. I had some tweaking to do at the sides to make it a bit more fitted than my Renfrew tops, attached the long sleeves, and hemmed the dress to a shorter length that I’ll be ok wearing in warmer weather, sans leggings. I’m thinking that these colors will make my faux Missoni dress a great transitional garment when the weather decides to get a little warmer.
While I may not have used real Missoni knit fabric for this dress, like Sarah’s version, I still feel like this dress is special and fun to wear. I’m looking forward to getting lots of wear out of this in the coming months!
Where do you look for sewing inspiration?
Pattern: Renfrew by Sewaholic Patterns
Fabric: Sweatery jersey from Metro Textiles in NYC
Size: 4 graded to a 6 from waist to hips
Skirt: Tommy Hilfiger
Leggings: DKNY
Yup, another Renfrew! I can’t get enough of this pattern, I wear my two Renfrews all of the time when I’m out of work or on the weekends. When it’s not warm weather outside – you know, dress season – I live in basics like long sleeve shirts and leggings. It’s no-fuss dressing, especially in the blah, grey days of pre-spring.
Look at that stripe matching, what what! I really do suck at stripes, though. Somehow, I couldn’t even tell you how, the stripes allllmost matched up when I attached the sleeves to the body of the shirt. I didn’t even think about making sure I matched those when I cut out the pattern pieces, but the sewing gods said yes, the stripes shall match at the seams on this Renfrew. And so they did.
Ok, except for this front shoulder. But I was pretty darn close!
And no, I’m not done with the Renfrew. Wait until you see my other rendition later this week…
I’m pretending I’m in Aspen or some other posh, snowy place in this picture. In actuality, I’m at my boyfriend’s condo in northern Mass.
But I did it! I squeaked out one more finished garment for 2012 on Sunday, just to show that it’s possible to make a sweater in one day.
Pattern: Renfrew, view C
Fabric: Wool/nylon sweater knit from Gorgeous Fabrics
Size: 4 graded to a 6 at the waist
In an effort to add more cake to my closet and create more of an Everyday Wardrobe, I reached for my trusty Sewaholic Renfrew pattern and a sweater knit I bought a few months ago from Gorgeous Fabrics. Learning from my first Renfrew, I cut out a 4 for the top and graded it out to a 6 and I like the fit much better this time around – it’s not as baggy fitting.
I was nervous about sewing with a sweater knit, a fabric I’ve never used before, and thought that my machine would chew up all the fuzziness as I sewed my seams, but it went along quite smoothly. What I’m most happy about with this sweater is that I cut it out from 1 yard of fabric. That’s right, 1 yard! The fabric is originally 68″ wide, making it easier than the usual 60″ wide fabric to cut out the pattern pieces, but at the end I needed to get a little creative with my pattern layout.
The bottom band is half the original width – I didn’t have enough fabric for the full length of the band (it’s supposed to be cut on the fold to make a long band go all the way around your hips) so I cut only half of the length, cut that in half, and had two narrow pieces to seam together at each side seam and attach to the bottom of the sweater. I ended up using a zigzag to catch the seam allowance on the inside and prevent the band from flipping out, which you can sort of see in the picture above.
I also stitched around the cowl as well. I loved the double-sided construction of the cowl and appreciated the extra warmth on a cold first day of the new year.
So, the Renfrew pattern has officially earned its spot in my sewing pattern arsenal as a TNT, or “Tried and True” pattern. The fit is great, it’s a cinch to whip up, and it allows for a lot of variations so it doesn’t look like the same ol’ pattern.
Also, what is up with my affinity for making gray colored tops lately?
Pattern: Sewaholic Renfrew
Size: 6
Fabric: Sweatery knit from Metro Textiles in NYC
Skinnies: Tommy Hilfiger
Shades: Tommy Hilfiger
Flats: Aerosoles
Lipstick: MAC Russian Red
What’s there to say about Renfew that hasn’t been said already? This pattern has been reviewed by so many sewing bloggers and even though it’s a basic garment (think cake, not frosting), it seemed like a great wardrobe builder and has the potential for many design possibilities. Plus, Tasia’s patterns are well-drafted, wonderful to sew with and she offers tips on her site on how to make her patterns. And that’s why indie pattern companies rock – there’s all sorts of extra goodies like pretty packaging, well-written and clear instructions and illustrations, and an online community of support.
Following the sizing on the envelope, I cut out a size 6, which was almost spot on with my measurements. My finished top ended up fitting a little looser than I like for my knit tops, but that’s ok for this rendition – I wanted the fit to feel like a sweatshirt. For the next Renfrew I make (and oh yes, there will be more), I’ll probably cut out a 4 and grade it to a 6.
Stitching it up was a breeze as well, talk about instant gratification. I made it up in the morning and wore it out to go yarn shopping later that afternoon. Win!
The fabric – can I say yum? It’s a thick, buttery knit that’s almost sweater-like, but feels like a luxurious sweatshirt. I originally hoped that I had enough for the cowl version of this top but a only a yard and a half, I could only squeak out the scoop neck version. It’s such a dream to wear and I feel comfy but don’t look like a grungy college student – it’s sweatshirt chic.
If you haven’t sewn a Renfrew: DO IT. There’s a reason everyone raves about this pattern!