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?

McCalls 6168 - Oh How I Love Thee!

These cardigans are from McCalls 6168 and I used view B, a straight size 24 with no alterations.  I probably could use a centre back seam and make an adjustment for my rounded upper back, but hey, sometimes you can get lazy and it pays off!  Both the cream and magenta fabric are rayon mix Ponte de Roma from Fabricland.  The fabric has a great drape, is lovely and soft, but does tend to pill a little after (ok, ok, quite a few wears!), so I will need to watch out for this.  I have purchased the buttons for these two and will get the buttonholes put on in the next few days.

Firstly, here is a 'winter white' version:

I also made a magenta pink version, same fabric:

It looks a little tight across my shoulders here, but it really is a pretty good fit.  I think it looks stretched as I had me arms forward, fiddling with the remote for the camera!

The skirts are all from my previous post.

The trousers are McCalls 5239, and look a little baggy here - I'll have to take the legs in a bit on the next version.  I plan making some up in wool as winter is about to descend upon us in Southern Alberta!

I am particularly pleased with the pink cardigan - I think the color suits me rather well, and it goes with an awful lot of other garments in my wardrobe - probably because I have many black and grey separates!

How much do I love these cardis?  Well, I have another three cut out, a black Ponte, a dirty green Ponte (the colour looks surprisingly good against my face) and some brick-red, rib-pattern, cotton jersey.  Photos coming soon!  And of course . . . .they all work well with my Birch Tree Collection!