FINISHED! The inside out cocoon cardigan

It's a little bit embarrassing to admit that for the second week in a row, I've copied  been inspired by the Project Sewn outfit by Groovy Baby and Mama.  This week it is the Burda Cocoon Cardigan.

It's starting to get cold now as Autumn starts to look to Winter and when I saw the Cocoon cardigan I knew that I needed this snuggly in my wardrobe and I knew exactly the fabric for it.  For a while now I'd been eyeing off a ginormous roll of knitted boucle type fabric at Addicted to Fabric, called Colombine  (Style 70031427: width 145cm 30% polyseter, 65% wool, 5% mohair). It is quite thick but there are some gaps in the weaving which provide little air holes (Have a look at the photo of the insides to see this effect).  It was rolled with the boucle side (left) out but for some reason I always thought that this was the wrong side and that the simple stocking stitch side (right) was the correct side.

I bought and taped up the pattern on Thursday and on Friday raced off and bought 2 metres of the fabric in my lunch hour, only to find from the lovely ladies at A2F that my assumption of what was the right and wrong sides was completely wrong. Never mind, I prefer the wrong side.

I had done a little bit of research on the fit of this jacket, which is gigantic. I was worried about it swamping me and so I read in detail the Ginger Makes post and comments on her cardigan.

I'm 5'2" (at a push) so I made the following adjustments on the 36:

• No hem allowance and removed 20cm through the waist
• No hem allowance on the sleeves, they are overlocked and underturned by about 15cm.  One thing I noticed about a lot of the versions was the length of the sleeves that in my opinion seemed too long. I haven't yet stictched the sleeves down, but I will along the seams. I like the weight that this large underturn provides in the sleeves
• I took a small wedge from under the arms as there was just way too much fabric there. There is still a lot but it is better.

I used the same fabric for the inseam pockets - I wanted them to be snuggly as well and there is already so much bulk with this cardigan that they don't add extra bulk.

I admit to having white line fever with this make and it might not be my best sewing.  I sewed it up on Friday night and got it into my head that I wanted to wear it the next day so sewed beyond where I should have.

 The instructions call for you to bind the seams but I convinced myself with the ladies at the fabric store that I didn't need to do this and just overlocked them.  That was fine until it came to attaching the 'binding' onto the edge of the cardigan which I ended up doing twice. The first time I thought I could attach it like normal binding but 4 layers was just too much and the width of the binding in the pattern was just too small to cope effectively.  I ended up cutting it off and starting again.. with just enough fabric. The second time, I simply folded the binding in half and sewed it on, overlocked the edge then stitched it down.   I used my walking foot for the whole make to help with the thickness.  There are a few wobbly bits but generally it works and the fabric hides everything.

The result? I can see myself often reaching for this when the chill creeps in. It was certainly a stylishly snuggly option yesterday morning at soccer

FINISHED! Asaka Wrap Blouse

I bought 2m of the Asaka A Liberty Print last year from Addicted to Fabric with a voucher I got for my birthday on an impulse. While I love the print and just love the yellow pop of flowers, I rarely wear black and once I got it home couldn't really see the print made up into something that I'd wear. So it sat languishing in my stash until I saw this Burda blouse pop up on Little Betty Sews.  The wheels started to turn and then I saw it pop up again in that fabulous jewelled Liberty print, Alexandra that I made my Kanerva out of and then I saw it on Project Sewn last week. Three strikes and an idea was born.

But first, let's quickly talk about the fabric.  It is Asaka A from the Liberty Art Fabrics Collection SS14, Gallery of Prints collection.

Hina Aoyama collaborated with the Liberty Design Team to create the Asaka fabric design. Incorporating Hina Aoyama’s intricate hand-cut floral motifs, Asaka represents Liberty’s Japanese Print Department.

The Fourth Floor fabric story celebrates Liberty’s interior decoration floor. Each design pays homage to a different area or department, taking taking on the intrinsic mood of each individual space.

I had social sewing with some friends (Amanda, Jen, Myra, Siobhan and Michelle) on Saturday afternoon and didn't feel like taking my slippery Tokyo jacket to work on, so bought this pattern on Thursday and quickly cut out the fabric. I was tired by Saturday afternoon,so only managed to miter the corners and sew up the bust dusts, before calling it a day.

It's not a hard make, although I admit the mitering taxed my brain a bit as the edges don't make a square but are a bit angled.  The mitering provides for such a nice finish so it is worth it.  Sunday I got the best Mother's day present - some sewing hours and finished it off.

I thought I was a bit smarter than the instructions (sometimes I wonder why Burda even bother with an instructions sheet.. it's not like there is much written on them!) and thought I'd hem the blouse after attaching the sides.  Doing it this way means that you have to fold a tiny bit of fabric over to get the nice corner at the side seams but having said that, I'd probably do the same thing again. I prefer the look of the hem enclosing the side seams.

I made up the 36 but found it a little bit too big so used a 5/8 seam rather than the 1cm seam I'd previously used on the sides. It could probably come in a little bit on the shoulders but I quite like the how it hangs and I do love the boxy shape of the top.  The sleeve length is probably a bit long so I have rolled them over once to get more of a 3/4 look.  Next time I'll hem them shorter.

I also hand stitched the neck binding on.  I did this partly because I stupidly cut the binding just a tad too small so it looked a bit wrinkled when sewn on, but mainly, and I thought of this only after I had removed the top stitching of the original binding, that it would allow me to just bind through the bottom layer of the front wrap piece.  Much nicer in my humble opinion.

I really like the design and the 'wrap' adds a simple but effective detail which provides for plenty of coverage - as you can see!  I suspect that there might be a few more of these in my future.

FINISHED! A Kanerva for the Liberty Atrium

It feels good to have a new blouse for the wardrobe. I've had this on the go for a few weeks, interspersed with holidays and my machines being away, but I finally finished it on the weekend. Yes, its another Named pattern Kanerva. It isn't often that I sew the same pattern up more than once, but I am a big fan of this pattern. A big fan. I just love the fit and while a more simple fabric would show the design lines, I do love it in crazy Liberty prints. 

This time I made it up in Liberty Atrium C, which is from the Liberty Art Fabrics SS 14, Gallery of Prints collection.

Based on an illustrative design from 1972 with a 1920s feel, The Atrium fabric print represents Liberty’s iconic Central Atrium space on the Ground Floor.

The Street Level fabric story celebrates Liberty’s eclectic ground floor accessories. Each design pays homage to a different area or department, taking on the intrinsic mood of each individual space.

I love the 1920s feel of this design and bought this fabric in the blue colourway as well as I wasn't sure from the internet photos which one I would like.  I found the blue to be way too washed out for me but I love the autumn colours of this one.  

The only change I made from the last one, was to interface the button plackets with a heavier interfacing as I found the lighter weight one on my other Kanerva is a bit too light and there is a tendency for the plucket to go a bit out of shape during/after a wear. 

So, a new blouse to add to the Me Made May rotation! Sadly, I've fallen off the wagon a bit in terms of documentation as I spent last week at FashFest covering the fashions for The Canberran, but I have been wearing me mades every day and keen to catchup and dive into the flickr pool.