La Maison Victor Charlene sweatshirt

 SURPRISE win!!

I wasn't going to blog about this because it's just a sweatshirt.  But I think that La Maison Victor doesn't get that much press because of being a magazine.  And this pattern is stellar.  I borrowed the magazine from a knitting friend over a year ago and traced everything I thought I might like.  The actual plan was regarding a different shirt entirely, but I liked the look of this and have a scrap of velour that would be neat as a sweatshirt - sadly I can't find ribbing that suits it and it must be done with ribbing, not self fabric bindings.  Because of that, I didn't sew up the pattern at the time.  I added my seam allowance and everything.  It's size 34.

My friend Tessa is obsessed with sweatshirts right now and that's what inspired me to pull this out.  She wanted it so I traced it for her.  I have followed her obsession and acquired a bunch of sweatshirting and ribbing, which has been a bit of a learning curve - I'm not used to the stretchy characteristics of ribbing! 

 

So I made this from very bright yellow sweatshirting. I decided it was just too safety-uniform-yellow and gave it to Tessa. The waist ribbing is really tight, I plan to cut it a bit looser next time, and I can of course shorten the top a bit, no surprise. The surprise is the elegance of the neckline cut, just a bit boatneck, and the sleeves which are wide but the fantastic cuffs control them. It seemed totally ridiculous to gather the cuff end of the sleeve when you add the cuff but it totally works, like magic.  I loved this fit!  I immediately cut out my precious Japanese wool...hm, what is this stuff?  wooly sort of sweater knit, kind of.  Not much recoil in it and there are a few holes which either are from washing or were in the fabric to begin with, but make me think it's a bit fragile.  I had to wait for my bindings to arrive because I ordered two colours to choose between.  

I shortened by about 1" and did lengthen the waist binding, but I still think it's a tiny bit tight at the hem and too blousy for my taste, I suppose I'll need to keep working on that.  I'm tempted next to make it in a lighter weight fabric, and extend the size of the bottom binding even more.  Autumn is the time to make all the long sleeved shirts but I can never tell until the middle of winter which ones have become winners.  

I can say about this - because it is roomy through the shoulders and easy to pull on, it's really perfect for sweatshirting and sweater knits that are very warm and don't breathe much.  It gives you a little air circulation space while still being warm!