A cropped Renfrew Cardigan

I have a lot of high-waist dresses and skirts, but only a handful of knitted cardigans that I can wear with them. I just can't knit that fast, pity. Thus I thought I would sew a cropped cardigan. But I couldn't find a pattern that I liked. I wanted a cropped and tight fitting cardigan. Something that goes with the style of my dresses and skirts.

 

I then accidentally found a post by Andrea from FourSquareWalls. A post where she showed her newest Renfrew mod - a cardigan. An idea was born! I had that pattern but never came around to make it. So I made a normal test Renfrew first (which you will see soon) to asses the fit. The shirt was a bit big on me in my back. Thus I decided to combine the Renfrew and Ladyskater pattern.

The Ladyskater is super fitted on the waist - the style I was opting for. Thus I traced the Ladyskater pattern from waist to under armhole and the part above the armhole is the Renfrew. Sleeves are Renfrew as well. I the shortened the Renfrew waistband a bit - I made it 1" shorter than my waist seam would be and then followed Andreas constructions.

To make the button band I just added 5/8" to the seam allowance of the front bodice paper pattern and on the actual cardigan I just folded it back and topstitched it down. I then attached the neck and waist band. To get neat corners at the waistband and neckband, I sewed the corners together first (right sides together). Then turned the right side out and topstitched the seam allowances down.

 

What do you guess was the most difficult part? The button holes! I really dreaded them because I knew they would either make my cardigan beautiful or super ugly. I guess I hit the middle. I can only recommend to stabilise the button band and parts of the neck and waist band where the buttons go. I didn't and my fabric was stretching. I would also recommend to sew the buttonholes before you sew the neck and waist band to the bodice. Because my sewing machine just didn't want to sew over that seam. It was a really messy job that you luckily can't see because of my big buttons and dark fabric.

I love how the cardigan turned out! He is not perfect yet. I think the sleeves are a bit big and I will make them a bit slimmer for my next version. The length I like :) I like to pull up sleeves so that they cover my nuckles - I always have cold hands.

I've bought already some jersey snaps to try on my next version :) hope they will be easier to put in than the button holes!

I'm almost at the end and I haven't told you about the fabric yet! It is a romaknit fabric that I bought from myfabrics.co.uk It does not have much stretch and is a bit thicker. And just perfect for a tight cardigan. I'm a bit disappointed though because it has started to pile already at my shoulders. At the spot where the strap of a handbag runs over the shoulder. I have worn the cardigan maybe 10 times and would have expected it to last a bit longer. Nonetheless, the piling will not stop me to make another one from the same fabric but in dark grey. I need more basics in my wardrobe.

I'm the proud owner of a cropped cardigan :)

Spring Lady Skater Dress (No 3)

I am back from Kiev and despite the unrest happening all over Ukraine, we had an amazing holiday which involved loads of food (I gained 3 kg, buh), fishing, reading, sauna and fabric shopping. Before leaving for Kiev, I managed to sew two further Lady Skater dresses and finish knitting my Agatha cardigan.

Me getting water from the well - I think we were watering around 30 fruit trees
 and needed loads of water!

Pattern: Today, I am showing you my Lady Skater No 3, which has short sleeves.

First I was not sure if I like this print on me, but having worn the dress a few times,
I feel more happy with the busy print.

Adjustment: After the rather tight fitting bodice of my Lady Skater No 2, I made a few adjustments to it. Essentially, I took one of my much-loved Fat Face jersey dresses (that's what I mainly wear, when not wearing hand-made clothes) and traced the bodice. I then overlayed this bodice with the Lady Skater bodice. The difference between both patterns was mostly apparent at the bust and armholes, which were a bit bigger in the Fat Face bodice. So, I transferred these changes to the Lady Skater and that was it :) Later I found out that I had actually done a cheater full bust adjustment as described here by Amanda from Kitschy Coo.

Still a few wrinkles at the back.

Fabric: A really thin jersey that I bought in Goldhawk Road. Usually I wouldn't go for such a print but it just spoke to me because of all the pink in it! Luckily, my stash diet does not restrict me buying jersey! But otherwise, jersey is not really part of my stash as I use it almost immediately :)

Do I like it? I do, although I am still not 100% happy with the fit. There is a massive fabric fold under my arms and having a look on the Kitschy Coo website, I think that is because the upper chest/armhole is too long. But that can easily be resolved by just pinching out the fabric, measuring the pinched amount and shorten the pattern pieces by this amount (Amanda describes it here as well).

Here you can see the wrinkles under the arms and my top-stitched neckline.

Have I worn it yet? Yes I did in Kiev! As you can see on the photos it was an amazing warm day and the thin dress turned out to be perfect. Please excuse my footwear, but we were gardening and walking on the river that day and I had no shoes with me to change.

You will see these shoes a few more times, ups.

Also thanks so much for your comments about my latest Simplicity dress. They really motivate me to get started with the next dress, especially because I have everything I need in my stash.

Have a lovely weekend everybody!

Ladyskater No2 - Do I like it? I am not so sure...

I couldn't decide if I want to show you this dress, because I am not really happy with how it turned out. Especially after I made a Ladyskater before. But then, I like to show all the garments I have ever made on my blog. I actually love to scroll down my "Made by Me" page and see what I have made so far! It keeps me motivated to do more and gives me the feeling that I have accomplished something :) Anybody else has similar feelings when looking at your makes (blog, Flickr, wardrobe)?

But back to the dress in question! It gave me a big reminder that my learning curve in sewing and especially sewing with knits is still steep!

Fabric: I used a stable knit. It is a lovely knit I bought in Goldhawk Road and it was only £3.50/meter (or £4.50/m - I can't remember, but I found it really cheap for a print). I knew immediately it would be the perfect Ladyskater dress. It would have been, if I would have gone up one size at the bust and sleeves, because that's the areas where the dress is too tight!

More wrinkles at the back.

Unresolved fitting problems: You see the wrinkles under my armpits? Thea pointed out that these might be because my armhole is too tight. Actually I noticed that I have that problem on several knits, so I will scoop the armpits a bit out next time (yeah there will be a next time).

I also have to change the sleeves slightly - I am not a fan of these drag lines!

To make my whole sewing experience more difficult, I also forgot that the pattern has only a 3/8" seam allowance. Luckily, I realised that before starting to sew the dress together. But when I marked the notches on my dress, I accidentally cut to deep and as you can imagine this became a problem at the sleeve/shoulder seam! So, I had to sew the curve like 2/8" deeper. (Are you thinking now: no wonder that it doesn't fit you there?)

I am always amazed by the seamstresses that finish a garment in one day. And because I had made the dress before, I told myself I should be able to do this as well. So, when I realised that I didn't have enough clear elastic to stabilise my shoulder and waist seams, I just took out some cotton twill tape. This might have been working for the shoulders, but not for the waist seams. I had enough elastic for the shoulders and for the front waist seam. So, I put the twill tape at the back waist seam. (It was not my best idea.) The seam is stable, but not stretchy at all. Luckily, the front is stretchy enough so that I can get the dress on and off!!

Are you still with me? Or have you left because of all this silliness (I don't want to say stupidity)?

Do I like the dress? I do love the print! And I have worn the dress several times - you might have actually seen me wearing it during my shoemaking class. :) So if you had the feeling, you have seen the dress before - you are right! The dress is really warm, so perfect for winter weather.

Will I make it again? I will and I have already the jersey in my stash! It is much thinner, has more stretch and is pink. So it will be a lovely summer dress with short sleeves! I might change the neckline of the dress a bit, because I have been totally inspired by Charlies lovely boat neck version! Her dress has puff-sleeves as well!!!

What did I learn?
- Take your time when sewing and don't put yourself under pressure! Enjoy the experience!
- Even if you have made a pattern before, take the time and check the instructions.
- Don't make you notches to deep!
- If working with a jersey, test the stretch before cutting. If in doubt, go one size up!
- Gather your notions before starting the project!
Have I forgotten anything?

So, now I am back to finishing up my thesis - one week to go!!! And after handing-in, I am hopefully going to Ukraine for a lovely and much needed Easter break!