Knits: the next frontier

I was lucky enough to get an eBay gift card for Christmas ... well, actually, it was intended for both me and my husband, but I appropriated it immediately and he didn't squeak -- he's not what you would call a big eBay shopper. And I figured I would spend it on -- what else? -- fabric. Namely, Liberty.

I fell in love with this pattern, and realized too late that it's jersey knit. I don't really sew with knits. I mean, I have done, but I've never really ENJOYED it. I even got rid of my serger last year, since I do so little knit-sewing. But for this fabric, I will make an exception. What kind of exception, I don't know (well, I know it's not going to be an elastic-waist skirt, I have it narrowed down that much). I'm thinking I'll be doing a lot of browsing over on BurdaStyle; they have great patterns for knits. I want a dress (duh) and I want pockets (double duh) which are hard to manage in knits, I think. (Maybe I'll line them with organza?) But I'll make it work. Fuchsia-style. Just watch me ... on a significant time delay, since there are about 677 projects in front of this one. But still! Knits!

Boden, Boden, Boden

I really like the Boden catalog, despite not ever really wearing anything from it (except for one floral coat that has got to be my favorite jacket ever and which goes with everything).

This dress looks so comfy that I almost forgive it for not having any pockets. And for having angora in it, which always makes me itch. And for being $118, because I know the blue and browny-pink versions (click on the image to visit the catalog page and see them) will probably go for less in the sale.

I can't remember the last knit dress I had and wore -- I think I had a very severe early-90s JCrew black knit wedge dress that made me look like as if I were the head girl in a Dickensian boarding school dressing up as the headmistress. (What can I say? It was a favorite look at the time.) All I needed was a lorgnette and a set of chatelaine-type keys (and a fondness for gin) and it would have been perfect. I think I even wore it with a wonderful pair of kiltie brogues that I wish I still owned. I wore them into slivers of leather, I did.

I'm not sure what I did with that dress -- it might have been sent away in the great postnatal clothes purge (otherwise known as "If I Can't Breastfeed In It, It Is Dead To Me" diaspora) of the year 2000; then again, it might be in a plastic storage tub in the attic. You never know.

I think if I had this dress I would want to wear it with bright tights (yellow? pink? red?) but that I would always end up taking one last look at myself in the mirror and going back upstairs to change into black ones. I'm also not sure what coat I'd wear with it -- knit dresses tend to get so bunchy under coats, and you never can be absolutely sure, even with a good slip, that static cling hasn't decided to start wrapping the dress higher and higher up your legs.

I also like the Colourblock Wool Dress, although it doesn't have any pockets, either. (It's a conspiracy to make us buy more handbags, I tell you.)

Now I have a yen to hear all sorts of knit dress stories. Leave 'em in the comments?