Simplicity 1668

I love cardigans.  You may have noticed that already!  So when I saw Simplicity 1668, a summer wardrobe pattern , I thought that I would give the cardigan a try.  Now I know you are thinking 'summer wardrobe'?  IN the middle of a Northern Hemisphere Winter.  Seriously?  But it really does make sense.  I work in an office that has pretty good heating, so a cotton cardigan would go down a treat.  Fortunately I had some fabric left over from this previous cardigan:

The fabric is a great cotton jersey with a rib pattern.  Lovely and soft and washes well.  So this is what I made:

I really must check out my clothes before taking pics.  My Sorbetto looks all skew-whiff.  Doh!  

This top has dolman sleeves, and that adds to the bunching up of fabric under the arms, but as it is part of the design, I'm OK with that.

I really like the collar on this, as I have questionable posture in my upper back, and rounded shoulders, I find that this type of neckline/collar covers that up rather nicely.  I also like how the front bands fold back nice and flat.  I used some Palmer Pletsch interfacing and I think it has given just the right amount of support.

This is a really quick sew which only uses three pattern pieces - front, back and collar. Which means that it sews up very quickly indeed.  I should mention that there is a centre back seam which is great if you need to do any adjustments. I have reviewed the top on Pattern Review here. I will probably make more of these as it is so quick and easy, but I do prefer the sleeves from McCalls 6169, so I may morph the two patterns together.

Of course, as this is a cotton top, it feels lovely against the skin and I have already worn it once to work.  Which brings me onto an issue that I have come across with some of the other cardigans I have made that I mentioned above.  I used some lovely Ponte de Roma, the lighter weight version, from my local Fabricland.  The colors are deep and saturated and I bought quite a few colors - red, blue, green, cream etc.,etc.,  Now this was not cheap fabric, about $18/m that I picked up half price (OK, so that makes it quite cheap!) but after only a couple of wears, the garments are pilling.  Urgh.  I am so disappointed.  It is a real shame as the fabric sews up so nicely, but I guessing that the poy/rayon mix just isn't as good as it could be.  So guess what??????  I have purchased some cotton and cotton/lycra jersey to make a couple of new McCalls 6169!  Woohoo!  The fabric is washed and dried and I will be cutting it out this weekend!

Oh, I took the photos in my great room today, rather than the en-suite.  It seems a little strange staring at the bathroom door when I take the photos in the en-suite!  Only issue with the great room is the light streaming in through the windows washed me out a bit so I had to juggle with the brightness a little.

How is your sewing coming along in this second month of this new year?