Tim Gunn is a guru...

...and not just for the designers on TV.  "Make it work" - it's so simple, but it's profound, isn't it?  So some of you will remember that this spring I decided to try working with knit.  Not knitting, but sewing a garment out of knit fabric.  I got some gorgeous Missoni on clearance, and then chickened out and bought some white knit to practice on.  And then I stopped talking about it.  I finished it a couple of weeks ago, after much repeating of Mr. Gunn's wisdom - " Just make it work."

This is the front - nice, right?  The periwinkle at the middle was an addition to my stash from our church rummage sale, and I found I needed to use it when I realized I'd forgotten to cut 2 sets of middle pieces (one for the pretty outside, and one for the facing).  I was very fortunate that I'd picked up this knit thinking to make tank tops or something for the girls.  I stitched up the front with a herringbone-style stitch on the inside to make it a little more decent for me.

(Please forgive the blurriness of this shot - I was standing on my bed).  This is where you see that I really followed Mr. Gunn's sage advice.  Okay, first of all an admission - there are not supposed to be buttons on this top.  It's supposed to be all one stretchy piece.  I may have mis-measure my rib-cage.  Maybe.  None of you have ever done that, right?  I didn't think so.  So I tried it on the first time, after attaching the periwinkle piece to the top pieces...and had to cut the side seam to get it off.  After some phone calls and discussions with friends, I decided to 1) let out the side seams, 2) cut the middle of the back and 3) increase the middle of the back slightly and add buttons.  And guess what - it works!!!  And I've worn it, and I got compliments on it!!  Click here to see the original pattern as McCall's intended it.

And now, something that didn't take me weeks, and worked exactly the way the instructions said it would:

Not the child of course, but the pink ruffle top.  A friend gave me this pattern, and I put it together for the little one, who is a very bubbly, pink-loving girl.