Tuesday, 6 December 2016

Marled Grey Boyfriend Cardigan


This one is the real deal and I love it. Not only do I love wearing, but I managed to start it and finish it between work and a late Ultimate Frisbee game, so it took me just under 3 hours. This makes it my cheapest garment yet! (my time is valuable) I got the fabric for 50% off, meaning it cost $15+tax for the 2 metres it took to make it, which is reasonable enough. I really hope this fabric is still around and included when Fabricville has the "buy 1 metre get 2 free" sale, at which point I would buy 6 metres in 3 different colours.


The only differences between this cardigan and the green one are the lack of pattern matching required on this one, and I actually added the pockets. This fabric has some horizontal stretch, but absolutely no vertical stretch, so adding pockets and putting things in them won't stretch it out. I don't have much else to add other than I really recommend this fabric for cardigans (it's this one) because of it's coziness. The girl at Fabricville who cut it for me said she used it for leggings, which might now be on my to do list.


This is my last of the nursery photos, hopefully my next ones will be outside. Thank you once again to Ruth!



PatternLove Notions Boyfriend Cardigan on sale for $5 (USD)
Material: Sweater knit from Fabricville for $7.50/m
Modifications: I added 3 inches to the body and to the sleeves.  I was going to grade out the hips but totally forgot, and since it's open it's not a big deal.
Learning: Nothing new!
Total Cost: $15 +tax for fabric, pattern was factored in for the last one = $17.25

My super awesome photo bomber

Thursday, 1 December 2016

Green Striped Boyfriend Cardigan


When Love Notions had a sale on their Boyfriend Cardigan I decided it was a good time for me to grab the pattern. As someone who is perpetually cold, cozy cardigans are a necessity in my freezing cold office. I was planning to improve my knitting and start knitting myself cardigans and sweaters, but there is no way that is happening on time to get me a wearable sweater for this winter. I contemplated buying one or two to add to my wardrobe, but I find most of them have sleeves that are too short and tight, are too flimsy, or are too heavy for the amount of warmth they provide.


Enter, cardigan sewing! I generally like cardigans with buttons, but decided to risk making an open one this time because I liked everything else about it. I've been wearing it now for a couple of weeks, and I'm extremely happy with it. My fall pinterest board has a lot of sweaters, and this one fits in with the vibe I'm going for.


I found the fabric that I wanted a cardigan out of, a marled grey sweater knit, but at $15/m I was hesitant to use it for my first time making a pattern. I picked it up when it was on sale for 50% off, but I also looked in the sale section with the help of a lovely lady that worked at the fabric store and found this green striped knit for $4/m and bought 3 metres of it for a wearable muslin. I love wearable muslins, and since the pattern was so easy, I'm happy with this one.


This cardigan came together really fast, which is a major bonus considering how many I've decided I need in my wardrobe. There were not gotchas, no missed instructions and almost nothing new to learn. My biggest takeaway about pattern-matching. I was much better at it at the end of the project than at the beginning, and pins didn't really help me - they matched up better when I was just eyeballing it. Overall, the stripes don't match up very well, but it doesn't bother me. It's still cozy, and it fits me the way I want it to.

Look how cozy it looks

Pattern
: Love Notions Boyfriend Cardigan on sale for $5 (USD)
Material: Green knit from Fabricville for $4/m
Modifications: I added 3 inches to the body and to the sleeves.  I was going to grade out the hips but totally forgot, and since it's open it's not a big deal.
Learning: Cardigan sewing is my jam, pattern matching is not.
Total Cost: $8 for fabric, $9.37 for the pattern (conversion rate and tax did a number on that one) = $17.37