I made myself a cardigan; a quick fix project out of some stash fabric… and put together a little tutorial. I did another cardigan tutorial back here, but this one is a leeetle different, although using the same pattern…
The fabric I am using is a thin but closely knit, slightly fluffy leopard print stretch jersey, and I have planned a simple single thickness cardigan. I’m using grosgrain ribbon tape to strengthen and stabilise some seams, and have got five tiny pearl buttons to finish.
First I turned to my standby basic cardigan pattern; this I drafted using an old favourite cardigan as a basis. I just laid down the cardigan as flat and as straight as possible and drew around all its edges… then once I had cut out the paper pattern I re-checked it against the original fabric cardigan to see it was close enough to the right dimensions. This is a style and shape that has proven to fit me and (I think) to flatter me, so I’ve used it several times… The back piece is laid on the fabric fold at right, the front is in the middle and the sleeve is laid out left hand side of the fabric. btw, this is a half sleeve, and has to be flipped over halfway through cutting to get the whole sleeve, er… now you can see how slapdash a cutter I can be…! lol. Even though it looks a bit makeshift, and why don’t I get serious and just cut out a whole sleeve paper pattern piece; it has actually worked very well for me like this every time, so I haven’t bothered. Lazy, I know… Oh, and I cut the body and the sleeves longer than these pieces since I had enough fabric to do so.
I sew the shoulder seams first, then fit the sleeve cap into the arm scye and sew these seams next…
Then sew the underarm seam in one go, from the bottom hem edge right up the sides of the cardigan and on under the sleeve to the wrist edge, making sure to match up those sleeve-to-body seams to each other.
Use a short strip of grosgrain ribbon, sew it on over the shoulder seam and catching it under. This will stabilise this seam and prevent it from stretching through wear…
Pin the grosgrain ribbon, right sides together, all around the front and neck edge…
Sew the grosgrain ribbon to the edge, as close as possible to the ridge of the ribbon edge…
Turn the ribbon to the inside of the cardigan and invisibly hand-sew the edge of the ribbon on the inside… Make sure the edge of the ribbon is cut off evenly on both fronts of the cardigan, and level with where you want the bottom edge to be…
Turn up the lower edge of the cardigan twice, press and invisibly hand-stitch hem in place, also the wrist hems…
Measure where buttons and buttonholes are to be, and sew them in position. Using a grosgrain ribbon to line the neck-edge enables you to machine sew buttonholes straight onto delicate knit fabrics easily, and also to stitch buttons on securely through the two layers without risk of light knit fabrics pulling out of shape; which they would without a strong backing…
Et voila, a very simple cardigan to provide an extra layer of colour to your ensemble, if not some warmth!
This is great!! I've been wanting to make myself a new cardigan for a while now, but was always a little daunted. You make it seem so easy 🙂
Btw, first time commenting, I just wanted to say I think your blog is great 🙂
Fantastic cardi Carolyn! Thanks for the idea. A couple of these would be very handy for my upcoming trip to Saskatchewan.
Fabulous! I love the print!
Ooooh, love it. Awesome print.
Trudy
http://www.sewingwithtrudy.blogspot.com
Fantastic tute! Can't wait to try it!
That's going to be cute with SO many things you own! M'row!
What a great tutorial. Thanks for the easy how-to. Ribbon for the front, why didn't I think of that? Now to find the time to do something so clever…
oh, I like the grosgrain ribbon for stabilization – what a good idea. The finished product looks really fun to wear. I haven't ventured into cardigan making myself yet but would like to, now two of your tutorials will be bookmarked for inspiration / how-to when I get to it!
Gorgeous cardigan!
Gorgeous cardigan!
Great post Carolyn. Is this the Burda cardigan or self drafted?
Oooh thanks for the tip about the ribbon! I'm almost at that point for my cardi I've been sewing for months…. slack i know.
http://www.modelmumma.blogspot.com
This is so cute! I will be making this!
Glad I found your blog! Been looking for a simple, elegant cardigan idea…love the style, classic! Thanks for posting it.
Gorgeous cardigan!
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