Monday, September 10, 2012

One finished green knitted dress!

Green Knitted Dress #4

Green Knitted Dress #3

Finally, finally, finally, finally! The green knitted dress is done! Finito! Completed and ready to wear! And do you know what? I'm really, really happy with it. Thank goodness - imagine if, after all that effort, all those stitches, you put it on, stood in front of the mirror and thought "By gee, that looks CRAP!" I think I would hang up my needles for once and for all if that had of been the case, but thankfully it wasn't, and I shall live to knit another day.

Make no mistake about it - this dress was a lot of work. I think I used 14 balls of yarn (Filatura Di Crosa's Zara in shade 1889) all up. The knitting in itself took quite a while, but it was the finishing that was the real humdinger. It never seemed to end, but I was determined not to rush it and botch things up. I'm glad I took the time over it that I did, because it has come up beautifully.

I sewed up my side and sleeve seams using invisible vertical seaming, which is also known as mattress stitch, just to confuse things - you can learn how to do it here. They take a lot of work, but the result is absolutely worth it. Then, I had the fun task of attaching my sleeves and the sleeve tabs onto the dress. The key to making the tabs sit flat was to use a thin thread. In the past, I've simply divided a piece of yarn into its separate strands, but I didn't think the strands would be strong enough to stand the wear and tear of such a large piece of knitting, particularly the arms, which I tend to wave around a lot (anybody who knows me in real life will be nodding their head in agreement at this point!) The solution - I used embroidery thread in a matching colour, which is a trick I'd learnt years ago from SkinnyRabbit.com. This gives you a lovely flat finish, as your seaming doesn't end up bulky, and it makes your seaming stitches pretty much invisible, as they hide away nicely in between your knitted stitches.

The buttons were a bit of a challenge - I really wanted to give the dress a slight nautical look but just a slight one - I didn't want to come across all ho ho sailor, but couldn't find any suitable ones anywhere until I visited Buttonmania. They are just lovely - burnished metal, with the colour on each varying just enough to give them a vintagey, worn look. I was worried that the shanks of the buttons would mean that my buttons wouldn't sit flat, but I sewed them on tightly using the embroidery thread, nestling the shank in between knitted stitches, and they are as flat as I could have desired them.

All in all, it's a fab dress, and the knitting was, despite the amount, nice and easy. Maybe one in red for next winter?!? That Zara yarn sure is nice to work with!

Project details
Pattern: Robe No. 043-T10-273 from Phildar Creations Automne No. 043
Yarn: Zara by Filatura di Crosa, in shade 1889, purchased from Sunspun. I used 14 balls. This yarn is a superfine merino in DK weight.
Needles: 2.5mm, 3mm and 3.5mm
Notions: 12 buttons from Buttonmania, Sajou embroidery thread from L'uccello

39 comments:

  1. Oh my! What a gem! The dress is gorgeous and you look so beautiful in it! I am not asking you how many hours you dedicated to the work, but your dress is priceless! LOVE love love

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  2. My goodness, that is a fabulous dress! I don't even knit and I want to start, just to make something this wonderful. (But I think I'll just admire yours) :-)

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  3. Thanks guys!

    Thewallina, I have no idea how many hours I put into this...I stopped counting after the first 20...!

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  4. Wow,your dress is awesome. It fits beautifully. How long have you been knitting ?

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  5. Fabulous Jorth, worth all the effort! Great colour and great fit... it looks lovely on you :)

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  6. Thanks Lisa H and Dilliander. Lisa, I've been knitted for about 9 years, having taught myself via the internet!

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  7. Beautiful colour! Can't believe you knitted that dress. :)

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  8. I really love the colour! I am so impressed because I can't knit. Looks amazing.

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  9. what a triumph!!!!!!

    It (and you) looks GORGEOUS!!!!!

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  10. wow, you need a medal...this is absolutely lovely....the nicest knitting project i have seen all year....great job, it looks so fabulous it could be machined..well done...

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  11. This dress is awesome! So very cool - and it looks great on you!

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  12. Yay a photo of you in your green knitted dress! You've inspired me to finish my scarf that has been in the works for around 7 years. I love the sound of Buttonmania, I must look for them!

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  13. Your green dress is beautiful!

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  14. Wow! I can't even imagine the time and work that must have gone into this! Congratulations on making such a wonderful dress.

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  15. Whit-whoo! What a fabulous dress and how great it will be to tell its admirers that you made it yourself :)

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  16. Absolutely gorgeous.

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  17. It is amazing! Those buttons are absolutely perfect. Huge congratulations are in order! And thanks for sharing the embroidery thread tip; I'd never heard that before and it sounds like a good idea. :)

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  18. Finished to absolute perfection. A veritable HUMDINGER! (sorry, I seem to be using that word quite a bit today - must look up what its actual, definitive definition is - but you get my drift??)...

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  19. Humdinger: a striking or extraordinary person or thing.

    Perfect, then.

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  20. Oh. my. This is amaze-balls.

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  21. Beautiful! I have 3 dresses to finish, so if I hurry I will have them to wear this winter. I will not start another project until those dresses are done!=)

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  22. amazingly beautiful!
    Enjoy your new dress.

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  23. Wow. Stunning. Purely stunning!

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  24. as always, you make me want to knit.

    Stunning! you must have one in red!

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  25. Gorgeous dress! This is a great color and style on you! I can't believe you have this much patience and determination to knit!

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  26. Stunnign dress. I am in awe. That is all.

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  27. A mere comment on your blog post seems wholly insufficient to congratulate and compliment you on a very lovely (and flattering) dress. Bravo Jorth!

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  28. Hi Jorth, just letting you know that I worked out why the comments werent working, instead of going to Post A Comment I needed to click on the actual comments in the post! Your green dress looks absolutely gorgeous!

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  29. What a fantastic dress - and the colour looks AMAZING on you :)

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  30. Wow! I can't even manage to finish one jumper, so I am super impressed! it looks great!

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  31. Good God it's gorgeous! I love the colour, the pockets, the detail, everything!

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  32. Totally, totally amazing. The colour is just gorgeous.... one of my favourites. I am in awe of your knitting ability.

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  33. I can't believe you made that! It looks amazing!!! Bravo!!! It was worth all the effort because you look like a million bucks...dang, I really need to learn how to knit!

    -Ashley
    http://distractedashley.blogspot.com

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  34. Kerri5:41 am

    What a beautiful dress! The colour suits your skin-tone so well. One of the best knitted dresses I've seen

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  35. Anonymous6:01 pm

    This is gorgeous. That colour really suits you. What a labour of love!

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  36. Found your blog through another complimenting your dress. I only have one word to say WOW.

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  37. You look beautiful, and what a great job you did on the finishing!

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  38. Indre8:16 pm

    Absolutely accurate work. I take my hat off to you!

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