Print Blocking A Cardigan

Last weekend was a calm sewing weekend.  There was no list, no agenda just me and all of my fabric, patterns and sewing junk keeping me company.  I knew I wanted to repair and remake the black wool crepe pants because I needed them. What I didn't realize is that I would end up working on a cardigan, too.  I started with this fabric...

...but realized that I didn't want an entire cardigan made from the black/white/gray argyle print.  I thought it would be a little overwhelming.  I remembered that I had about a yard of a lighterweight black ponte left in the collection (see that's why I don't like to throw larger scraps out!) so I combined the two for the cardigan. Argyle fronts and sleeves with black ponte binding on the front, for the sleeve hems and for a solid back.

Since I've made this cardigan several hundred times (well not really!) there were no new construction details.  However, I did cut the sleeves about two inches shorter to accommodate the black ponte that I added to the sleeve hems.  Again this was primarily constructed on my serger (have I mentioned lately how much I love my serger and that it no longer scares me! *LOL*) and this time I added no fusible interfacing to the front bands. Just didn't feel like it, there was no real construction reason not to add it.

I live in cardigans and am always looking for a new one to add to the collection...and that's me made as well as RTW.  It's probably one of the few RTW garments that I still purchase. 

So a few more pictures...

Argyle fronts with black ponte bands...

Argyle sleeves with black ponte bands...

...and a solid black ponte back...

The buttons...

Finally a side view...

This will work with all of the black pieces in my wardrobe but will especially provide a fresh take on the reinvigorated pairs of black wool crepe pants. It was a great basic to add to the wardrobe. 

...as always more later!

Shades of Gray Cardigan

This cardigan is made from a wool knit purchased from the Mood NYC store during my trip with Barbara.  The minute I touched the wool I knew it would be used for my tried and true Burda pattern 8869.  

Monday mornings are cold in my office.  I'm sure that's because I sit in front of a big window and the building has no heat all weekend...and don't let it be a three day weekend because then it takes half the morning for my area to warm up.  So I always dress a little warmer on Mondays and this cardigan will fit the bill.

The fabric was bordered in ivory which I cut off and used to make the front bands.  They are a little skinnier than what the pattern calls for but they work in this instance.  

The buttons are from Pacific Trimmings.  Also bought during the trip with Barbara, they were a great find and add a little sparkle to the front of the cardigan.   The hems on the sleeves and the bottom of the cardigan were sewn with a twin needle.

Since it's a tried and true pattern that I've made 30 or 40 times, it was a breeze to sew and is a great addition to my work wardrobe...but most importantly it's warm!

A  few more shots...

Update:
If you like my wool knit, Mood is offering a similar one for 50% off today only online:

It's $7 a yard - a medium weight wool sweater knit from Italy that has a lovely leaf print in metallic silver.  So hurry over and pick up a few yards because at $7 a yard it's a steal!  My wool knit was considerably more than that!  Mmmmm, I might have to get a couple of yards myself!  *LOL* 

...as always more later!

One down...Twelve to go!

I've made this cardigan like a hundred million times!  It is my go-to piece and it's the cornerstone of my "The City in Winter" wardrobe.  I found this fabric during the summer from an online source.  Sorry to say it's now sold out. But at the time, I had to have it! I could see it working with soooooo many fabrics from my fabric collection.

Some stats:

Pattern ~ Burda 8869 (out-of-print)

Fabric ~ wool blend knit

Notions ~ 

6 - 3/4" buttons from the collection

seam tape - used to stabilize the shoulder seams

stitch witchery - used to hem the sleeves & cardigan hem

There are no new construction techniques in this garment.  It was a put the pattern down on the fabric, cut it out, serge it together and wallah!  Cardigan is done.  I don't even have to fit it because it ALWAYS fits.  That's what I love about a good TNT pattern!  

So I'll let the pictures do the talking...

Buttons placed on the placket 

for placement & arrangement

I used a rounded edge buttonhole

Buttons from the stash

work perfectly with the fabric

The sleeve w/stitch witchery in the hems

A back view

The front unbuttoned

My mojo is back and I have several things I want to make and make soon.  Even though it's back, it was slow rolling this past weekend.  No matter that I've started off slowly, I'm confident that there are loads of beautiful garments waiting to come out of my sewing machine...so stay tuned!

...as always more later!

Burda 8869 Again

I love cardigans and I love this cardigan pattern.  I hate that it's out of print because it would be awesome if other sewists could own this pattern too!  There are three made by me cardigans included in The Ten Yard Adventure wardrobe.  Two were previous makes and the final woven version is the new one.


Construction ~
I've made this before using a woven fabric so I knew the cutting and sewing changes to make for this new version.  The difference in this one, however, is that I used ribbon for the front band instead of a self fabric band. I used six 1/2" buttons for the front when normally I use five. I also put 1/2" shoulder pads in since I'm using it as a jacket instead of a cardigan. Finally, the ribbon band stands straight up at the back of the neckline, so I sewed a small dart on either side of the band to allow it to lay flat against my neckline.

Six buttons on the front band

Close up of the ribbon & the buttons

The stitching in the neckband

Notions~
Six 1/2" buttons
A pair of 1/2" shoulder pads
3 yards of 1 1/2" wide ribbon
(all ribbons and pipings used in these garments are from Daytona Trimmings)

Here are a few looks with the woven version of Burda 8869...

The other previous makes are The Flower Power Twinset and the gray/black/white knit cardigan ~ both work really well with these wardrobe pieces.

I hope you haven't minded me stretching out these posts. I do have just one more follow-up post with a few last thoughts on creating this wardrobe...


...as always, more later!

The Cardigan and the Top

Pieces number 5 and 6 are now done.  The cardigan was made from my tried and true Burda pattern 8869 and the top is from Butterick 3124 which is now out of print.

I took several pictures of the process because even though the cardigan pattern is a TNT, the fabric dictated that it get some special consideration. There is a lot of fusible interfacing in this garment to give it structure in all of the important places like the sleeve hems, the hem of the cardigan, and the binding along the neckline.

interfacing at the seam hem

At one point I contemplated adding pockets to the front of the cardigan but discarded that idea after I let it sit overnight.  I didn't like the idea so much in the morning.

Otherwise, it was a pretty straightforward construct with most of it done on the serger.

The top is a good first make and it will be a wearable muslin.  I will make it again because I love the way the neck and the shoulders fit.  Although, I still need to do some work on the body because this one was cut too big and I had to take the side seams in alot.


Here is a picture of the collection so far:

Cardigan, top, pants, jacket

skirt and dress

I will have more about the pieces after I work some more with the tripod.  Because this is the best picture from my first effort.  Now if I can just learn how not to cut my head off, it will be a good thing! *LOL*

The last piece in the collection is the white shirt from Simplicity 2566 which I will work on this weekend...


...as always, more later!

A QVC Knockoff

Yes, that's right I'm knocking off QVC now!  *LOL*  I totally get that you/me/we should be knocking off pricy designers but it was a look that I've wanted for some time and seeing a version of it on Isaac Mizrahi's show made me want one even more.  Here is what inspired me:

I've seen a raglan sleeve version cardigan with the fabric fronts in an older Burda WOF magazine but it was in the regular sizes...and several times I thought about grading it up but just never got around to it.  But when I saw this one last Monday night I knew it was time for me to make one.  The best thing about this one is that everything came from the home collection.  No ordering, no traveling to the store, just pulled it all out and waited for the weekend.

At first I debated whether or not to make this with an accompanying dress, then I realized that I had plenty to work with it in my wardrobe...so even though it's pictured here with a skirt and a pair of pants there are at least two other dresses in my closet that this will go with this cardigan:

with a black linen skirt (made years ago) and RTW tank

with black linen pants (made last summer)

and a RTW tank

Some stats:

Pattern:
Burda 8869 - out of print - this is my go to cardigan pattern, I've made it alot!

Fabrics:
1 yard of polyester fabric from Metro Textiles

1.5 yards of black silk jersey purchased from Fashion Fabrics Club years ago

Notions:
5 buttons from the collection
A strip of the ltwt fusible interfacing from Farmhouse Fabrics (I'm loving this stuff!)

You know I've made this cardigan so many times that I can make it in my sleep.  Usually I construct most of it on my serger, but this time I did sew most of the seams on my sewing machine first and then finished them on the serger (which I'm loving more and more these days since I'm no longer intimidated by it! *LOL*).  And since there are two different fabrics, I did not add stay tape at the shoulder line, I think the polyester fabric will stabilize the knit.

I did add stitch witchery to the sleeve hems and used a twin needle to doublestitch and finish them.  The hem on the cardigan is doubled and hand hemmed. 

Otherwise there is nothing new in the construction techniques. It's just a great new cardigan to add to my collection...and since any type of covering is okay for the JAM (Jacket A Month project on Stitcher's Guild) - this will make my third completed one.  I'm only 4 behind! *LOL*

The Rachel dress is up tomorrow...

...more later!

Flower Power Twinset

I love fabric that comes in and goes out just as quickly.  So here's a look at the Flower Power Twinset:

Fabric:
Rayon/lycra blend border print from Fabric Mart

Patterns:
Cardigan - Burda 8869 (OOP)
Tank - Sewing Workshop Mission Tank (OOP)

Notions:
5 - 20L 2-hole mother of pearl buttons
1/4 yard beige nylon tricot lining

Construction:
First the tank ~ this is a lightweight fabric.  Almost slinky like in fabrication so it needed special attention.  Because of that I wanted to make sure there wouldn't be any sheerness issues so I lined the front of the top with a tricot nylon lining fabric.

Otherwise the construction was very straightforward and basic.  Turned under the hems and stitched them down.  I used this top because it would best showcase the fabric.

The cardigan is autopilot sewing now since I've made it so many times and it is a standard in my wardrobe.  The main concern was making sure that I utilized the border print creatively and matching it up so that the pattern flowed from front to back in a pleasing fashion. (Gigi I thought about you as I was laying it out!)

The back did end up with a little more white space at the bottom than the fronts but hemming solved the problem so that the back and front melded well.  I really like the fact that more of the black flowers flow further up the back of the cardigan...

...versus the front where there are more white spaces at the shoulder line.  I think it just wears better especially with the coordinating tank under the cardigan.

The final touch was to use a thinner white band on the front of the cardigan.  I've noticed that more RTW cardigans have a thinner band and smaller buttons than I've been using, so I've adapted my front band to reflect those changes.  I cut my white band from one of the sections that separated the border prints.  I liked the idea of not having to pick which section of the border print to use for the band and the white band does tie it all together.

I love the finished result.  My daughter thought it was a little loud!  So it will only be worn with black pieces and on days where there are no meetings in the office.  However, I did stop for a minute and consider making up a yellow pencil skirt from a wool crepe in the collection that coordinated with this fabric. *LOL*  But then decided that was just a little too colorful for my office!

Here is the SW Mission Tank under the black suit that I made using S3631 and my TNT 4-gore skirt.  Three years later and that suit is still a workhorse in my wardrobe.

I've started working on finishing up the Simplicity 2958 jacket.  It's been hanging waiting for me for too long!  Especially now that the weather is perfect jacket wearing weather, it needs to be completed so that it can have it's moment in the sun!

...as always, more later!

A Trio of Cardigans

I spend alot of time in manufactured air ~ aka air conditioning...and it's always blowing way colder than I like.  In fact, most women who ride the bus with me either carry a pashima shawl or a lightweight jacket in their totes to cover up with because it is so cold.

So when I saw the silk jerseys at Elliott Berman, they reminded me of the ltwt little cardigans that I've been seeing all over the internet this summer and lusting after...because I always need something on my arms to keep me warm during the summer.

For these I used my TNT cardigan pattern - Burda 8869 - to make two more versions.  Now even though these are basically the same fabrication, adding the dye & printing on the fabric definitely changed the hand of it.  What do I mean?  The bright floral was a stretchier piece of fabric than the black/grey/white version and I didn't realize it until after the pattern pieces had been cut out and I was assembling them.  So I made slight adjustments in how I handled them. 

Otherwise the construction is the same as always.

~stitch on the sewing machine and then finish the seam on the serger
~reinforce the shoulder seam with tape
~insert the sleeves in a flat insertion instead of in the round
~use stitch witchery for the hems and then stitch down

The only modification I made to these were for length...they are a little shorter than the navy blue cotton one.

1.  A floral garden
This one is pictured on Lulu with no buttons.  I have some picked out just haven't decided whether or not I'm going to add them.

2.  Black/white & gray all over
This cardigan is a little tighter fitting because the fabric doesn't seem to have as much stretch

and I added black mother of pearl buttons to the front.

3.  The blue cotton lace cardigan from the SWAP
I noticed in the comments that someone asked about it.  Yes, it was made so quickly during the final days of the SWAP that I didn't blog about it.  I just didn't have time!

For this version, I omitted the bands and added the navy blue piping that appears at the neckline of the beaded dress to tie the two pieces together.  I did not add any additional inches to the front or back piece because I knew that I was going to use the vintage pin as the closure.  So the two front pieces only had to meet, not overlap.

This cardigan has a center back seam where the first two do not.  Sometimes I make it with the center back seam and sometimes I don't.  I purposely didn't with the first two because I didn't want to break up the pattern on the fabric.  Even though it's made from lace it's actually heavier in weight than the first two cardis.

These are the first of the basic pieces that I'm adding to my wardrobe after The Great Closet Clean-Out.  I've pulled the fabric for the black linen pants and for a navy blue straight skirt.  There wasn't enough of the navy blue fabric for pants and I'm not sure its suitable for pants...and right now I just don't want to purchase any more.  I know what you are thinking...but I did say, right now! *LOL*

...as always, more later!

p.s.  Go Celtics!  Go Celtics!  3-2 Wahooooooo!!