#SewingDares – Cardigan

On By Sharon

It must be the weather, but when I read Gillian’s post  on #SewingDares – Its’ back! I thought why not and it might just be what I need to get my sewing mojo back.

I did wonder what Gillian would come up with for me and I must say I was very happy with the dare that Gillian has given me:

You mentioned needing more layering pieces in your wardrobe, so I dare you to sew a drapey cardigan and/or long-sleeved tee!

The best part of the dare is that there is no time frame but I did want some winter layers/tops so that did make me focus on it a lot quicker.

I do have a drapey cardigan that I sewed back in January and at this stage I don’t need another one, but after seeing all the long cardigans about this year, I thought this would be an excellent alternative.
 
I purchased this fabric back in 2004 at Martin and Savage Textiles during an ASG Industry Day and it has been quietly maturing in my stash.

What I wanted was:

  • Cardigan to be open e.g. no closures
  • Length to fingertips

I then figured out that my TNT t-shirt pattern KS 3740 would be perfect with some length added.

Pattern changes:

  • added 18cm in length
  • full bicep adjustment on sleeves of 1.5cm (eventually)
The rib in this fabric is quite distinctive so I cut it in single layers to make sure they were straight.

I did wonder how I was going to finish the edges as I didn’t want a band as the fabric was too thick for that option.

This fabric looks brown, but when I auditioned various bias tapes, it looked a lot happier with olive.
Now this cardigan was started back in May and was up to the binding, but the sleeves were too tight, as I hadn’t done the Full Bicep Adjustment then 😦 and they were 4 thread overlocked in place, and it has been sitting in the too hard corner since then.
Thankfully I had enough fabric to re-cut the sleeves so that was a relief.
Then last weekend a group of us from Pattern Review got together in Brisbane for a weekend of sewing and this cardigan was one of the items I worked on.
Luckily for me, my sister has much better eyesight and very generously unpicked the 4 thread overlock so I could add my new sleeves.
Then I started to scratch my head about the bindings when Skye, who was sitting next to me, suggested I just turn the edges under and Coverstitch!  Why do I over think things!  
To finish the edges for the Coverstitch I added some interfacing:

  • Neck edge – Formband  colour charcoal
  • Front edges – Edge Tape colour charcoal which I cut into 1cm strips.

I am very happy with the result as this cardigan tends to float about as I walk and the bound edge would have been a lot more noticeable.

I did add some bias for the sleeve hems.

Here is how I wore it to work last Friday.

I think it will be a great layering piece until the weather warms up.

******************
2016 Stash Out: 10.2 m
2016 Stash In: 18 m

12 thoughts on “#SewingDares – Cardigan”

  6. A sewing dare! I hope it helped the mojo. I have been wondering if all is okay with you in your everyday life. Great cardigan – and yes, you have needed to replace the one that had the mishap. Hope you are able to sew more soon.

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  12. Oh it's really lovely and a really useful piece. I love the rib knit too. Reminds me of a jumper I used to love years ago. I hope we gave you good weather for your sewing weekend… this weekend it's been pouring rain!

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