Sewaholic Renfrew construction details

There’s another angle of my Sewaholic Renfrew shirt. Below I’ve got some details of putting it together. The directions are pretty easy. I consulted the web for some general knit questions. Can you believe this is the first “real” knit thing I’ve actually finished? Not just a muslin type thing. I know. Crazy.

Anyhow, good instructions. I was going slowly because I didn’t want to mess up but the next one will be much faster now that I’ve got the hang of it. Although I’ll probably have to slow down around the V-neck when I do that one. But I think I’ll whip out the same size just for fun on the next one.

I started by tracing out the pieces. This pattern wasn’t cheap (compared the usual 99 cents I can pay for a Simplicity pattern a JoAnn’s) so I didn’t want to screw it up. I traced both the 4 & 6. Such wishful thinking 😉 The 6 was just fine and I might actually go up to the 8 to account for my healthy hips.

Everything cut out. Hey! I happen to have some green thread. Awesome.

After stitching up the shoulder seam, time to add some stay tape so it doesn’t stretch. I’ve never actually owned stay tape. However, I almost always have some grosgrain ribbon on hand and it works just as well in my opinion. So used that.

Stitched it right on there. I sewed it to the back of the seam so that it won’t actually be touching me when I have the shirt on. Softer that way.

And served the edge. My serger was full of purple thread and I don’t have any green so I figured purple was just as good. Not that anyone will be seeing it, but adds a little fun, I think 🙂

Sitched up the v seam for the neck banding.

And trimmed that. No need to finish. The seams will get caught and knit stuff won’t really unravel.

Pinned the collar into the next line, lining up all those notches.

Got it sewn. So, I didn’t sew it perfectly. There were definitely some portions that had to be ripped out and re-sewn because of puckers. Still learning the stretch tension thing. But still I think it went pretty well. However, for that reason, I will definitely be sewing and *then* serging (that is, not serving direction) for at least a few more shirts until I get the real hang of it.

And the neck link is all serged up. A lot of versions I’ve seen do a zig zag top stitch to the neck. My neck laid really flat so I didn’t bother. Haven’t noticed any problems with it.

Shoulder seam all pinned up.

Shoulder seam all sewn. There appeared to be some puckers but after pressing they were not there.

Pressed shoulder seam. I had no idea that pressing made such a difference in knits! It really makes it look finished.

Pretty even from the inside!

Basted the cuff and waistband edges together.

And the waistband sewn on. The serging of this is pretty obvious.

And that’s it. That’s all there was too it. Really fast and easy. Love it. Will definitely make more!