Last year I was so excited when my sister in law Annelise asked me to sew her a Karri dress! She chose two gorgeous ponte knit fabrics from Tessuti and asked if I could adjust the pattern for those fabrics. Challenge accepted!
This was a really fun make and I learnt a lot about what changes i need to make when sewing a knit garment from a woven pattern so I thought I would share a few tips with you for how to make the Karri dress with knit fabric!
The great thing about sewing Karri from a ponte knit is that you can skip quite a few steps AND the zipper. YES! Lets do this.
Tip 1 // Cut the pattern in a size smaller than your measurements. For example if you measure as a size medium, cut a size small! I found it really useful to look at the finished garment measurements, and ideally you want to choose the size where the finished garment measurements are the same as your body measurements or slightly smaller.
Tip 2 // You can exclude all lining pattern pieces and the zipper. You may include pockets, but I found this difficult with the thickness of ponte, so would recommend for simplicity that you leave the pockets out.
Tip 3 //If you have an overlocker/serger you can simply overlock every seam which makes sewing much quicker!
Tip 4 // If using a serger/overlocker when you line up the seams you should alternate the direction the seams lie, in order to reduce bulk. For example if lining up the bodice and the skirt, you may press the bodice seams to the left, and the skirt seams to the right, which means when you line up the seams they will slot nicely together and there won’t be a big bulky lump to sew over.
Tip 5 // Baste each seam intersection with a short length of straight stitches before sewing the entire seam. This will make it easier for you to line up each individual seam, as well as being much easier to unpick if you have made any errors. Once they are all perfectly aligned, then you may sew the rest of the seam with your serger/overlocker or the zig zag stitch of a regular machine.
Tip 6 // Raise the back neckline and adjust it to be a round neckline instead of the included V. This will make it much easier to finish!
Tip 7 // When hemming simply turn in the neckline, sleeve edge or skirt hem by 1/2″ (1.2cm) and topstitch using a twin needle and coordinating thread.
And that’s it! You’re done! The easiest Karri dress you’ll ever make!
// LOOKING FOR MORE TUTORIALS? //
Here’s the full list of Karri tutorials:
- How to do a Full Bust Adjustment on princess seams
- How to sew princess seams
- How to make piping
- How to insert piping into seams
- How to sew lining to a dress
- Sleeveless Karri dress AKA how to fully line a sleeveless dress
- Karri dress pattern tester roundup!
- Tips for sewing a ponte knit Karri dress (this post)
Don’t have the Karri sewing pattern yet? Get it in store here! We absolutely love seeing what you make, so don’t forget to tag your creations with #MNkarri and @megannielsenpatterns if sharing on social media.
