Sew House 7 Toaster sweater number 1: wangling minky and other adventures

Not long after this fabric arrived I allocated it to this pattern.  It's a rather small piece of minky and I loved the design, which is why I bought it from Blended Thread along with some other pieces. The fabric itself feels very soft and is very floppy, it's quite cozy.  And of course, it has nap. 

It's been a long time since I made this pattern (here.)  So long that I lost my pattern pieces, which is rare for me. I really loved the fit the first time around but I still found it oddly useless in my wardrobe and it didn't stay around.  

So, reprinting etc later. I was really committed to this fabric for this pattern despite knowing it would be a serious tetris game.  I didn't really know how the minky would sew up either. The new modified pattern has new, modified sizing, and I went with a size 2, as the bust is correct and I thought the waist measurement would be a bit irrelevant.  

It was a serious tetris game, and I lost - I decided to just use the rainbow selvedge edge on the hem, which a friend of mine has done on a different project recently.  I wasn't sure I like it as a design feature, but you know, live and learn. 

The real story here is that minky is horrible to sew.  It's like velvet but with higher pile.  Simply sewing two pieces together, they try to shear away from each other, as velvet does, but the real tragedy came when sewing the folded over pieces like the neckband, cuffs and hem.  The pile doesn't like being folded in half and so it would squirrel away from itself.  On the hem I had learned, and basted the hem together.  The cuffs were a pain.  This is a problem that continues post sewing: the neckband and hem don't want to be folded, so they kind of mush up and slide around.  

I ended up really not liking this fit for this fabric.  I debated cropping the top, as when it was shorter it hung more loosely and that was both more flattering and suited the fabric more, but because of the annoying shiftiness of the bands, I decided to give it to a friend along with a shipment of winter clothing, so hopefully she will like it as is!  Her hips are a touch narrower than mine too so overall it will hang more nicely on her.   

I have had mixed feelings about my Blended Threads fabrics - none of them have been quality I would buy again, and this is also the case here.  I didn't find the minky fun to work with and it's polyester feel makes me think it wouldn't be nice in most clothing other than maybe vests or jackets.  I have not seen much fading of the prints on the Blended thread fabrics, but the best of the lot was the bamboo spandex.

Linnea sweatshirt review, by Sinclair Patterns

 This pattern was free for a short period and I jumped at the chance.  I haven't made Sinclair patterns before, but they are often represented on the Blended Threads website, and I was very curious to try a pieced and colourblocked sweatshirt.  It didn't seem to matter which one exactly.  

I made a size 4 petite.  It was very nice to have petite options, however, I didn't feel like it was particularly petite so this must be a very long sweatshirt in the normal option.  The instructions were nicely written.  Size 4 was correct for my measurements.

I found that my pocket binding, in rib, led to the pockets not matching up with the side seams at all.  They were canted at an angle.  To determine if it was safe to just cut off those extra triangles, I sewed the sleeves so I could approximate the side seams before I did any basting of the pockets.  (It was safe to cut those bits off.)  I'm not sure if my rib being long made the pocket angle change. 

My huge beef with this pattern was regarding the labelling and expectations of the different coloured pieces.  I mentioned this on instagram because I was so peeved and my resulting sweatshirt angers me and I had to find a way to give it away immediately (a friend took me up on the offer.)  

The front pieces are labeled F1-F2-F3.  The back pieces are labelled B1-B2, then you have the option to piece the back in 2 pieces as well.  However, B2 lines up with F3, so technically it should be B1-B3.  As you can see, the colourblocking effect of my pieces doesn't match up at the underarms.   Second issue, which is obvious and I should have just changed this: the colourblocking in the only photos online is of the children's sweatshirt, where the colour change is about the level of the elbow.  In the adult version it's a tiny strip near the wrist.  I should obviously have ignored that cut line and made it near the elbow for a more balanced result.  

This top was a nice learning event in terms of what works where.  I will try the Itch to Stitch Lamma hoodie next winter, because I have some of the birds and associated terry cloths left (they are, by the way, from Ansje Handmade, I need to stop binging on european fabrics...) but I am not particularly tempted to have another go at this pattern.  However my recommendations are: obviously match B2 to F3.  Top of the sleeves in pattern, not in colourblock, to make it look less busy, and then with the lower half of the sleeves in colourblock.  If I did make this again I would probably shorten it 2".

The pockets are nice!

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!

Sew House Seven Toaster sweater in double faced merino

This is one of the final projects that I made last winter before going off to Nepal.  It hasn't been worn much yet but it was an easy make and I really like it, so I expect it will eventually gets lots of wear.

The fabric is double faced merino from the outlet fabric shops in Auckland.  It's dark olive on the outside and a more subtle dusty aqua on the inside.  I went with version 1, and size S.  I loved the inside colour but I couldn't think of any nice way to use it as accents, as the olive is very clearly an exterior sort of fabric - it won't catch on anything, but it's also not as nice against the skin, whereas the texture of the aqua inner is more like usual merino.

A raglan sleeved sweatshirt is pretty simple as sews go.  The fit is good, and I'm glad I didn't bow to temptation to make an XS.  I wouldn't make any changes to this pattern for fit. 

Cowl neck Geodesic sweatshirt, by Blueprints for Sewing

I had a lot of Geodesics planned in my head, mostly involving various colours of merino.  For some reason I couldn't get inspired by the colours available. I concluded at some point that if I did the version with pockets it would be too long.  I also fell in love with this Frank & Eileen tee lab sweatshirt, which uses rib knit for the arms to make them tighter.  The Fabric Store provided, with matching terry jersey and binding.

This is still size C/D although I think I was having body image issues in Ukraine when I traced the pattern, and should have gone a size smaller.  Many of the patterns I prepped in Ukraine were sizes too big!

So I used the binding for the sleeves as well as bindings, and I lengthened the bottom binding double its initial length.  I wasn't sure it would create the same effect because the binding is still very loose.  Also, with the loose fit to start it was a challenge.  I cut off quite a bit at the side seam through the armpit but didn't want to overdo it because then you cut into the geometry of the armpit itself - was I overthinking?

I added the cowl from the Halifax Hoody pattern, with no changes.  I found it weird that it wasn't doubled over.  You just fold over the top after making two button holes and that is the track for the string, and it's not got a clean finish or anything.  I guess in the end if you had a double layer it might be too heavy.  But I don't really like that edge being so obvious.  I think if I used this technique again I would cut two so there's a clean finish throughout.

I will comment that I'm a bit grubby in the pictures because I didn't have the best week.  It involved staples to the forehead.  I jumped at the chance to have a photographer and a nice backdrop so just overlook the hair and the melancholy poses...

Although I'm really happy how this Geodesic hack came out, I wasn't super inspired by the loose fit.  My friend Nicole took my pictures in Taupo and she was inspired so I gave it to her.  Old habits...but now I'm on a tshirt making binge and I'll keep all those cause I need them desperately. 

DP Studio 504 sweatshirt

Ever since Sophie of @adaspragg changed our world on Instagram with a post about DP Studio, people have been pinning and tagging and generally lusting over these patterns.  French pattern companies have something that we all want these days.  These patterns are available directly from the studio and they have instructions in English.  I had some issues with my order and was in contact by email with the studio, who were friendly and helpful the whole way through.  I know that Stitch56 in Australia also has them in stock, but not sure of other stockists yet. 

Upon moving to New Zealand, as always, my luggage was a mess and most of my stuff was left behind.  Although this is tragic, it does give me a free canvas of things to sew because I actually need stuff!  That plus my new sewing machine plus overall overwhelm led me to choose this sweatshirt as my first sew.  To simplify the crazy options I picked a doublefaced merino blend from The Fabric Store.  I used the lighter pink face as the exterior and the bright side as all the details.

You can go really crazy with details for this - the sleeve stripes on the pattern are one contrast fabric, with a second contrast fabric/ribbon sewn over the top.  

Although I knew it would be roomy I went with the size 38 as my first pattern by this company.  The pattern pieces were all clear and I just cut it out.  Using the same fabric for the bindings meant I had to pull really hard to get the front waistpiece in, and that adds to the gathered look of the front.  This was overall a pretty easy sew.  However I got to the neck and had some thoughts - I decided first to skip the neck zip.  The neck is actually a tight high neck and so without the zip, I had to make it bigger.  I went through a few tries to get a size I liked and it did end up wonky because of all the cutting by eye.  If you use the neck as designed you really must have the zip in, no matter how stretchy your fabric.  Also I found the band would have been too short for the neck as designed, but again my merino doesn't have as much stretch as some knits.

Other changes & notes:

-The sleeves were ridiculously long.  I cut off 2" or more from each arm.
-There is a little facing for the corner where the bottom tie comes out.  I found it hard to understand exactly where and how I was supposed to sew this so I sewed it on the front edge which is genius, as it creates a clean hem for the drawstring but I left the top free since it didn't seem to matter.  It's not beautiful on the inside but my fabric doesn't unravel.

The front is actually pretty short.  It hits just below my belly button and I'm very short waisted.  The back is of course very long, it covers my butt, but once the drawstring is in I pulled it quite tight so it curls inward. 

I used a silk cord from The Fabric Store as my drawstring.  This stuff is beautiful, it's really strong and has an amazing sheen.  I'll be using more of it!  I went with grey to balance all the pinks as the pink would have been too much.  Also I only had one of those little clip things for the end of the drawstring so I stuck it on and tied a knot on the other side, but I will eventually get more clips, maybe even silver ones to match better.

I've been wearing my sweatshirt all the time since I made it.  I think if I made it again I would change the hem to go straight around the back rather than dropping down over my butt, and I would be more careful with how I changed the neck.  I doubt I'll ever do the high neck as designed.  It would be tempting to take some fabric out from under the arms for a more fitted look...but for now I'm really happy.