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Sewing Happiness: A Year of Simple Projects for Living Well is a new book out from Sanae Ishida. Sanae weaves twenty easy sewing projects with thoughtful narrative about working through a difficult time in her life and health. Sewing was a big part of her return to a healthy body and balance, and the peace this “sewing happiness” brings to her life is important. It’s a lovely book, and very relatable if you’ve ever struggled with your health or with finding meaning and joy in your life.
From the publisher:
- Twenty simple sewing projects are tied together with a thread of memoir that tells the story of how sewing brought Sanae Ishida profound happiness. Each seasonal project, specially designed to promote health, creativity, relationships and more, provides gentle inspiration to live your best life.
When Ishida was diagnosed with a chronic illness and lost her corporate job, she thought her life was over. But these challenges ended up being the best thing that ever happened to her because they forced her to take stock of her life and focus on the important things, and enabled her to rediscover sewing–her true passion.
Inspired to succeed at just one thing, Ishida vowed to sew all of her daughter’s clothes (and most of her own) for one year.
Sewing Happiness includes 20 projects plus variations (including Japanese-inspired home goods and children’s and women’s clothing) organized by season, and stitched together with Ishida’s charming personal story.We have an excerpt from the book for you, and a chance to win too! The Versatile Knit Dress will be a wardrobe staple, and Sanae takes you through each step in the instructions below. You can also comment for a chance to win Sewing Happiness: A Year of Simple Projects for Living Well. (US addresses only this time, please.)
(c) 2016 By Sanae Ishida. All rights reserved. Excerpted from Sewing Happiness: A Year of Simple Projects for Living Well
It took me a while to work up the courage to start sewing for myself. But once I did, I was addicted. Through trial and error, I ascertained that I like clean, streamlined designs. No frills, frou-frou, or blinding bling for me. And when it comes to clothes, I’m all about comfort. I’ve tried a lot of different patterns since I started sewing, but the ones I wear over and over are the ones made out of knit with little fanfare. That’s exactly what I’ve created here— a low-key dress made out of knit jersey. I’ve had to go through a myriad of iterations to figure out what style works best for my unique body type, and I’m not sure if I’ve completely nailed it yet, but I keep trying. The best part is in the practice and learning, and I hope you’ll feel encouraged to do the same.
This is one of those workhorse garments that you’ll reach for time and time again. With a little nip and tuck and snip and extension here and there, the possibilities are really endless for this beginner-friendly, versatile knit dress. Now, I know that there’s a visceral fear of knits out there, but take heart: the stretchy stuff is incredibly forgiving.
I’ve created a couple versions of this dress using different skirt lengths, which is an easy way to alter the entire look of the dress. All you need is a tank top that you already own to get started on the drafting process. Make sure that the stretchiness of the tank top is comparable to the fabric you’re using to get similar fit. For example, if your tank top is super stretchy but your fabric is not (some knits like interlock don’t stretch a lot), the bodice of your dress will be too tight. And vice versa. It’s always a good idea to first test this out on inexpensive knit jersey before cutting into the nice stuff, just in case. Drafting a dress may seem daunting, and it’s quite possible that your first attempt won’t look exactly the way you’d hoped. If that happens, I urge you to soldier on and try it again with tweaks because oftentimes repetition is the greatest teacher. I’ve done my best to include detailed instructions, and I know that with some practice, your result will be a keeper.
Supplies + Materials:
- 2 to 3 yards knit fabric
- Coordinating thread
- Ballpoint or stretch sewing machine needles
- Drafting kit
- Favorite tank top or sleeveless knit dress
- Rotary cutter (optional)
- Serger or overlock machine (optional)
Fabric Recommendations:
Knit jersey is the required fabric for this project, but keep in mind not all knit jerseys are created equal. Try to find stretchy fabric that isn’t too thin (you’ll thank me) or prone to curling at the edges. A touch of spandex or lycra— just a touch (you’re not auditioning for So You Think You Can Dance), will make the sewing experience much nicer. Organic bamboo or hemp cotton knit is absolutely lovely, but quite pricey, or you can actually find some beautiful drapey polyester-blend knits if you don’t mind polyester. Make sure to prep the fabric by washing, drying, and pressing.
Finished Dimensions: Modifiable to your size and desired length.
Instructions:
1. Did you find a favorite tank top or sleeveless knit dress? This will form the basis of your pattern piece. Put it on, and with a pin or a marking tool that won’t leave a permanent mark, decide where you would like your waist to be at the side. Mark or pin that spot. From that waist point, measure how far down you’d like the skirt portion of the dress to fall. Make a note of that dimension.




For the width, take your pattern piece bodice waist measurement, double it (remember, the pattern piece is for only half the body) and add 4 inches. Keep in mind that the skirt will be gathered at the waist and you might need to adjust after making your muslin version, which is always a good idea. Make a note of this width.
I like to measure the skirt dimensions directly on the fabric, but if you prefer to have a pattern piece, first draw out the rectangle on your pattern paper. If you choose to create a pattern piece, label with “Versatile Knit Dress—Skirt—Cut 2.”

Pin or use weights to hold the pattern pieces in place. Trace with a marking tool, and cut out.
A note about using striped fabric, which is often my go-to for knits. If you don’t want terribly mismatched stripes, try this method. The easiest way I’ve found to match up stripes is cutting the pieces as a single layer (instead of on the fold), aligning the stripes at underarm sections, corners, bottom edges, etc. so I trace the one half pattern piece, and then flip it around to trace the other half, keeping my eye on stripes placement. This will add a little extra time, but the professional finish, in my opinion, is worth it. This method is applicable to all prints you want to make appear seamless.

You can place all the pattern pieces and measure out the skirt at the same time as the bodice pieces, but I don’t have a large enough surface to do so. I always try to maximize the fabric whenever possible by cutting pieces close together.


– Front bodice
– Back bodice
– Skirt pieces (front and back)
– Binding strips for neck and armhole bands
10. Very Important: Change your sewing machine needle to a ballpoint or stretch needle. You will be happier for it since these needles are specifically designed for knit fabrics. Some people recommend a walking foot, but I’ve never used one and have sewn dozens and dozens of knit projects successfully. There are several stitch style options for knit fabrics (see sewing knits, page 105). A regular straight stitch isn’t ideal because it doesn’t have enough elasticity or stretch, and will break easily.

Feel free to leave the raw edges as is since knit fabrics don’t fray. I usually use an overlocking stitch to finish the raw edges, but this is purely out of habit. Press the seams open, or if you overlocked the edges, press overlocked edges toward the back.








20. To gather the skirt, change your stitch style to a straight stitch, and increase your machine stitch length to the maximum. Without backstitching at the beginning or the end, sew one row about 1/4 inch from the top edge, leaving a tail of about 3 inches at the beginning and the end of the row. Then sew a second row (again without backstitching) about 5/8 inch from the top row (again leaving 3-inch tails on either end). Now pull on the two threads that are on the same side. Leave the threads on the other side alone for now. Pull on the threads to gather the fabric, alternating between the left and right sides to get the gathers going.
21. With the WRONG side of the skirt facing out and the gathers at the top, insert the bodice RIGHT side out and upside down. Pin or clip at the side seams and adjust so the gathers are spaced evenly. Change your stitch back to a knit-appropriate one and sew 3/8 inch from edge. Tip: sew with the gathered side up and use a pin to gently adjust the gathers as you sew.
22. Hem the skirt. My preferred method is to overlock/serge the hem, then fold up 1/2 inch, press, and zigzag stitch close to the edge. However, there are a number of other methods:
– Skip the overlocking step, fold up 1/2 inch, press, and edgestitch.
– Fold once by 1/2 inch and fold again by 1/2 inch, press, and edgestitch (this will shorten the hem by 1 inch).
– Single fold by 1/2 inch and use a double-needle to mimic a professional finish.
Whatever method you choose, once you’ve sewn the hem, you’re all done! Enjoy your new lovely dress!