Coral and Stripes Fulton Sweater Blazer

It finally feels like spring here in the Finger Lakes! When I was thinking about the predicted 60 degree weather today, the coral pink of my Fulton Sweater Blazer was irresistible. 

I made this weeks ago, as the first challenge of the Patternreview Sewing Bee. The challenge was to sew an open front cardigan that used Pantone's "Living Coral" color either literally or figuratively. This color was so jarringly outside of my usual dark-neutrals winter color scheme that I decided to go for it!

I knew right away that I wanted to sew the Alina and Co. Fulton Sweater Blazer. I've made dozens of cardigans, but the crisp collar of the Fulton is just so chic, and I thought it would elevate a simple knit cardigan.

I bought this fabric on Amazon! I've never in my life bought fabric on amazon before, but who else in the fabric world will guarantee 2-day shipping on a cut of fabric? It was just the right color, and a stable knit ponte was perfect for the pattern. It does have higher poly content than I usually would prefer, but it was a lovely weight and very soft when it arrived. FYI, I made a sweater for my daughter with the extras and it has pilled quite a bit, but kids clothes do take a beating.

Speaking of leftover fabric... I think the fabric requirements of this pattern must be generous, because I had A LOT of leftover fabric. It calls for 2.75, and of course that means you have to buy 3 at most online fabric stores. I'm pretty sure I used less than 2.

Anyhow, I did a quick muslin, and it fit beautifully, so I jumped right into cutting and sewing.

The pattern is totally straightforward if you have sewn a cardigan before... except for the collar. However, the instructions really walked you through it step-by-step, including helpful tips like marking and which side of the fabric to sew on. The illustrations were spot-on and did not involve any head scratching to figure out.

I also love the cuff detail, and I chose to highlight the roll up cuff option with a contrasting stripe knit that I had in stash. I used the stripes to do a hong-kong seam finish for a beautiful interior. I also love all of the other little details of this pattern like the neck facing, deep hem and generous pockets.

I love this cardigan! I might, however, add just 1/4-1/2 to the shoulder seams and upper arms next time to give a bit more room to layer over the slightly oversize shirts that I tend to prefer. You can see it pulling a bit in the pics. Actually when I put it on today it seemed to fit better, even over a long sleeve shirt. So go figure.

Quite honestly I have only worn this once since I made it... but today it was just the thing to highlight one of the first spring-y days of spring!

Happy Spring!

Lisbon Cardigan in a Drapey Jersey with Sequin Print Trim

To be truthful, this was my first Lisbon cardigan!

I was a pattern tester for this pattern, and I hadn't sewed an Itch to Stitch pattern before, so I decided to make up my first version in a black jersey that I had lots of so that I would not be sad to lose a precious fabric if changes had to be made.

I needn't have worried... the fit was spot on. After trying it on and realizing it was going to be a keeper, I decided I would jazz it up with a bit of sequin print trim. I've been hoarding this lovely sequin print jersey, but I figured I could spare just a bit for this purpose. From a distance, I think it is quite effective.

This is the 3/4 length sleeve which is an option on the pattern, and I believe shortening the 3/4 sleeve is the one change that Kennis made before releasing the pattern. Just so you know. It makes sense, since these sleeves on my version are sort of awkwardly in between a 3/4 and full length sleeve. It doesn't really bother me though.

In order to take best advantage of the drapey effect, I decided not to put buttons down the entire front. Quite honestly, I was also worried that the buttons would just look sort of saggy and sad since the front bands are quite soft, even with interfacing. Besides, I rarely ever button the front of my cardigans, and it was especially unlikely with such a think knit.

But I did want some sort of closure on the neckline. I thought a button would spoil the trompe l'oeil that I had created with the sequins, so I salvaged some sew-on snaps from an old sweater.

I pretty much followed the directions to the letter-- and they are very well written! I did make one change though-- when I sewed the front bands to the sweater, I sewed them on like you would sew a waistband onto a pair of pants, so that all of the seams are enclosed. I pretty much do this on all of my sewn cardigans, since I can't stand seams showing when the wind flips my sweater open. You basically sew the front side of the front band to the cardigan right sides together. To sew the back of the front band, you fold the seam allowance in and secure it with a lot of pressing and pins and/or wash away tape, then top stitch it from the right side, catching the fold.

I think I'll get a lot of wear out of this cardigan. Black with gray-toned trim goes with just about everything! Also, the sequin print trim makes it a little more dressy... but the fact that it is actually jersey means I can also wear it during the day.

Lisbon Cardigan by Itch to Stitch: A Pattern Review

This beauty is the Lisbon Cardigan by Itch to Stitch. Isn't she gorgeous?

When Kennis asked for pattern testers, I jumped on this. What a beautiful, classic design... I've actually searched for something similar, and been disappointed with what I've found. If you are a prolific knitter, your wardrobe is probably full of nice cardigans, but as slow and plodding knitter, this is a definite gap for me.

This version is made with doubleknit and ponte fabrics. The black is a wool doubleknit from Mood that has been in my stash for years. I fell in love with it and bought a ridiculous quantity. This was probably a mistake in how much space it takes up in my limited fabric storage area... but for something like this, it is the perfect fabric-- warm, durable, and with just a bit of stretch- 25 percent or so. 

The magenta striped fabric is a rayon ponte from Marcy Tilton (who has the most amazing collection of stripes). It is a 2 way stretch, which was a bit worrisome for this pattern since I had my heart set on vertical striping and the stretch goes with the stripes. So I got away with making the cuffs and bottom bands with very little stretch... there is enough ease that this worked for me. 

The neckline, however, was a bit of a disaster without stretch-- it is basically a rectangle and the shaping of the neckline comes from stretching it to fit the body of the sweater. After a total fail, I re-cut the neckline horizontally, with the stretch. In retrospect, I really like it this way.

The fit is perfect for me. I made a size 10 with no adjustments at all. I'm a 38 bust, 35 waist, and 41 hip, and 5'4".  Technically my waist would be a size 12, but the fit is boxy so I just ignored that fact. I have slightly larger than average biceps and sometimes feel the need to do a large biceps adjustment, but I didn't need to on this pattern (some testers narrowed the sleeves a bit). The sleeves might be just a tad long for me, but it doesn't bother me because the cuffs keep them in place. 

I know this sounds crazy, looking at this sweater now... but it totally didn't occur to me that I needed to pattern-match the two front bands (where the buttons and the buttonholes are). Thank goodness I ended up pattern-matching by accident, just by virtue of the fact that I was using the stripes as a cutting guide when I cut the pieces. I sort of thought they would totally overlap and you wouldn't see the bottom band, but looking at it now, it makes sense that it would peek out. It would have looked dorky if I hadn't managed to match it!

This is my first Itch to Stitch pattern, and I was impressed with Kennis's professional drafting and instructions. The seam allowances aren't shaped, so you do need to make sure you are matching the stitching lines, but this is pretty standard sewing technique. Her instructions are very well thought out and concise, there are no extra steps or fussiness, she just tells you what you need to do in a logical order. You don't need a serger, but she indicates where you can use one, and the seam allowances are 1/4 inch so there isn't a lot of wasted fabric.

The PDF is layered so that you can print out just the version you need, instead of all of the sizes, and she includes instructions on how to print out just the layers you need. FYI, if you are PDF challenged and ignore the instructions and print off all of the layers at once, that works too. As me how I know ;). The one piece I had to reprint with unnecessary layers turned off was the front band showing the buttonhole placement, but this was just 3 pages. 

I did made one significant change in construction. When sewing the front bands, she has you sew the band on and tack the seam allowances. This is a very reasonable, reliable way to sew the front bands on... but I like an enclosed front band on my cardigans since I tend to wear them unbuttoned. So I sewed the front band on like you would sew a waistband. I just finished a pair of Ginger Jeans by Closet Case Files, and Heather explains the technique very well in her sewalong. I'll do a tutorial for this when I sew my next Lisbon, but I basically treated the front band of the cardigan like the waistband of a pair of pants, using the topstitching to catch the seam allowance of the underside of the band. Since you are basically sewing blind, it helps to use wonder tape (double sided water soluable tape!). If you don't have wonder tape, use lots of pins. It is a little trickier to sew the front bands in this manner, but I love the result... if the wind catches my cardigan and flips it open, the inside is almost as beautiful as the outside.

Speaking of beautiful insides, Kennis includes instructions for a "hong kong" seam finish for knits. I think this is a super cool idea! I just serged this cardigan, but if I'm working with something super special in the future, it would be lovely to have a beautiful color or print enclosing the seams. You could also just use this technique on super obvious seams, such as the front band seam, if you aren't doing the "waistband" method of enclosing the seams. 

One other detail I added was underlining for the arms. I know from experience that I find this wool doubleknit a bit scratchy to have in direct contact with my skin, and I wanted to be able to wear this cardigan with sleeveless tops. So I underlined the sleeves with some Venezia knit lining from Emmaonesock. I love this stuff... super light, slightly slippery, and stretchy. I used the sleeve pattern pieces to cut out the lining, and basted the lining to the sleeve, wrong sides together. I then treated the sleeve and lining as a single piece for the rest of the construction of the cardigan. 

Let's just talk for one minute about the elephant in the room: buttonholes! For the full length version of this cardigan there are SEVEN of them. Ack. I was hoping for miracles when I bought my Janome 8077 last year, but I have to say, the automatic buttonhole feature is miles better than my old machine (which was scoring a ZERO, so that isn't saying much) but still rather finicky. If the buttonhole situation is PERFECT-- totally flat, even thickness of fabric, not too thick, not too thin, normal Gutterman thread (mara 100), perfectly stabilized (preferrably, woven), no seams in the vicinity-- the buttonhole function will still sometimes stop with inscrutable codes for no reason at all. 

After about 15 minutes or so of failures on test fabric, my machine and I came to a truce on these buttonholes. No fancy buttonhole thread-- just regular old Gutterman thread with the stretch needle that I had used for construction. No funny stuff, like going around twice. Tissue paper under the fabric. Then I pulled off 7 buttonholes in a row, and breathed a huge sigh of relief. 

One little hint... if you are using an automatic buttonholer where you put a button in the slot to get the right size buttonhole, you might want to trick it into making slightly smaller buttonholes for your knit fabric. I took out the button and clamped the little lever down another 1/8 inch.

The buttons are vintage buttons from my best friend's grandmother's button collection. They are basic black buttons, and I'm not sure what they are made of, but they have a bit more weight and a slightly cool touch. They feel nice to the touch. I machine sewed them, which went pretty smoothly on my Janome-- no broken needles and faster than hand sewing. 

Oh, and one more detail I added: topstitching. I was having trouble getting things to lie flat... these knits just didn't hold a press in a very satisfying way. So I added two lines of topstitching, at the top and bottom of the striped portion of the waistband, which served to add a bit of definition and hold the seam allowances in place. I also topstitched the neckline, on the black doubleknit just under the neckband, once again to hold the seam allowances in place and help everything lie nice and flat. 

This was actually my second Lisbon, and I sewed it up in one evening, minus the buttonholes and buttons. Kennis is totally right that you are going to want to make TONS of these, it is such a versatile wardrobe piece, and very fun in all sorts of fabrics. I'll blog my other Lisbon soon-- I used a drapey knit, and it has a totally different feel. I can't wait to sew another one!

Kennis is having a new release sale right now, so head over to her shop if you want to make your own Lisbon Cardigan. No code required to get 20% off. 

Upcycled Cashmere Seamwork Oslo Cardigan

One of the great joys of winter is cuddling up in cozy sweaters! 

When the Oslo, from Seamwork Magazine, first appeared, I wasn't convinced. I generally don't go for the grandpa-cardigan look. But as the chill of winter started to sink in, an oversized cardigan sounded really good!

In a particularly amazing thrift store run, I came up with three black cashmere cardigans. None were really wearable... one had some holes in random spots, another was quite felted. But after a good steaming in the dryer (which I'm really, really hoping does a number on any remaining unwanted fauna), I deconstructed them and managed to piece together most of the pieces of the Oslo. In the picture below, you can see some of the extra seaming. Mostly, I think it looks acceptably intentional. The seams are just a bit more puckery than I would like, but the best I could do under the circumstances. This was all pre-serger (I made this in December), so I seamed together pieces with my sewing machine, using the walking foot to help minimize stretching. I then did a faux-coverstitch by zig-zagging over the seams with a very wide zig zag stitch.

I had to resort to another piece of wool in my stash to do the outside collar, but the rest of the sweater is 100% cashmere. I cut the cuffs and the inside collar (the cozy part against the neck) out of the fluffy felted black sweater. That is by far my favorite part of this sweater... I just love those fluffy cashmere cuffs and collar against my neck and wrists.

This still is not the world's most flattering sweater, but it is soooooo cozy!

I'm a tiny bit foggy on the details, but I believe I sewed a Medium, even though I'm technically a large (40 inch bust). This was based on the experiences of other bloggers... I wanted comfy, but not humongous! I also slightly reduced the width of the collar, due to the width of the sweaters I was using. 

This is a very fabric-hungry design... I have only tiny scraps left over. Definitely a decadent project to do in cashmere.

I actually really did want to do the button closure, but after a quick test on a sample, it was totally clear that buttonholes through this stretchy, thick fabric just weren't going to happen. Bound buttonholes would be lovely, but too much of an investment of time, too late in the process! So perhaps I'll seek some sew-on snaps or something... or maybe magnet closures? Ideas anyone? 

The other thing about black cashmere-- it is a pilling, lint collecting mess! I am willing to overlook such minor aesthetic faux pas in favor of incredible coziness, but I admit that I mostly wear this sweater when I know I'll be spending the afternoon alone in my studio or on weekends at home.