Liberty KwikSew 3880

Very excitingly I bought my very first Liberty of London fabric last week...in jersey of course! I nabbed this little beauty in The Fabric Store's 30% off VIP sale last week.  I also bought a second piece but it's not on their website anymore.

The fabric is quite narrow (140cm wide) so I bought 160cms with a view to making my 2nd KwikSew 3880 - this was pretty much just enough as you need to allow for the fabric shrinking a bit in the wash. I also had to cut the neckband twice as the first one was WAY too short.

Can I just say right up front that this fabric was a total freaking pain to work with - which surprised me as people gush about Liberty (guess they're not sewing with the pesky jersey)! The edges curled so badly and would not stay flat no matter how much hot hot steam ironing I took to it.

Anyway...I stuck with it and ended a with a brilliant top that I LOVE. The fabric is fairly cool to wear and actually ironed up OK after a spin in the wash - phew! I love the big, floaty sleeves as they are so breezy to wear and I really like how its snug at the waist to balance out all that sleeviness.

I finished the sleeve hems before sewing up the side seams...lazy, but easier! The sleeves and neckband and stitched down with a longer straight stitch but the hem is with a zigzag as I think straight stitches would've been pushing it for this make.

This time I raised the front and back necklines to a size M (last time I cut them at the size XL). I also kept the length at the XL as I wanted this one to be a bit longer. The fabric is MUCH less stretchy than my last version so I probably shouldn't have sewn such a big seam at the lower hip region...but the fabric is somewhat stretchy, so that's good. I didn't have a skirt to wear with this so picked up this black number at Target - but want to find a pattern to make my own elastic-waisted jersey skirt ASAP (this one is a little bit but I was desperate)!

Neckline...what a DRAMA! The first one was too short - despite cutting it 4" longer than the pattern piece. I cute a new one adding an extra 6"!!! and it went on OK - though it was so curly it took me forEVER to pin it and sew it on...plus top stitching it down with a long straight stitch. I was convinced I would've stretched the neckline out whilst sewing - but nope, it's perfect.

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Pattern: KwikSew 3880
Size: Size XL, Size M for height at neckline
Modifications: I doubled the width of their skinny skinny neckband and added 6" to the length of it as this fabric doesn't have a lot of stretch. 
Fabric: 100% Liberty cotton knit from The Fabric Store
Changes for next time: none