Has Spring arrived where you live? I hope so…and if not I would like to send some good vibes with my green Billy Cardi.

If you follow a blog called No big dill you will have come across Katy’s tutorial… it’s been on my to-do-list since it was first published in October. I adore green and especially that shade of green and I also love cardis. So you can imagine how thrilled I was when I saw it.

The only problem was finding the right fabric… thicker knits are very hard to find where I live and even more when you want that kind of acid green. I had to search a lot, ordered some samples from online shops but never found the right material. Until one day I saw a lighter jersey knit at my usual fabric shop and asked the owner if he happened to have something thicker… bingo! He searched in his storage area and found it. So, I ended up buying a whole 3.5 yards of green jersey and I even found matching thread at a reasonable price! I am wondering if I should have bought more fabric :o) Shall I go back?

The tutorial was easy to follow even if it included creating your own pattern… but you know me, I like this kind of challenge. Although it could have been sewn on a regular sewing machine I took the opportunity of testing out my new serger, which made the whole process a lot faster. Using the assembling tips from Sewing with Knits, I assembled the sleeve caps before sewing the sleeves closed and the sides all at once. It’s really a lot easier.

I still haven’t managed to sew a proper belt so I used the one I made last year for the Puff Sleeve Blouse

Also, in the meantime I shortened the sleeves…having seen the pictures they seemed way too long and wide on me. One word of warning though… if you do this on a serger make sure your pins are far away from the knife (I put a dent on my blades!) and define your sewing line very well so that you can follow it. I found it a lot more difficult than on the sewing machine to take in a section of a garment by overlapping a previous seam (if you see what I mean)

Having bought so much fabric I actually sew 2 Billy Cardis… one is for my sister who is also a green fan. Hopefully I will take a picture in June when I am going to visit her.

By the way, I found out today that a new comfy sews VS cozy knits is back in April for a spring/summer edition. Check out Luvinthemommyhood

• Do you tend to buy several yards of a fabric you like or are you more frugal?
• Do you have any tips on serging with knits that can’t be found in books?