Gibson Cardigan

 

I am finally able to show you a finished knitted garment - The Gibson Cardigan by Angela Hahn. Gibson is a free pattern, published by Knitty magazine, First Fall edition of 2018. The pattern calls for heavy weight cotton yarn, but lately I find that I prefer knitting with wool, even for summer. So I opted to knit it in an Italian bobbin tweed yarn I had around - Filpucci Tweedeco, 70% merino, 30% poly-amide, 450 m per 100 g.

Gibson is a top-down raglan cardigan with lace sleeves and a wide collar, which is knitted sideways. My first modification - as my yarn was thinner and my gauge smaller, I cast on the second size (S), aiming at achieving an XS and I had to recalculate the rows to add additional depth, as my rows gauge was also smaller.

 When I divided for the body and reached the high hip, I decided that I wanted the cardigan longer, so I continued knitting until the body under the arms measured 40 cm. However the long cardigan was rather narrow to cover my hips, even with the added collar. So I decided to add two lace triangles to the fronts. I chose a place above the bust to start the lace triangle and grafted it to the stockinette body as I went knitting it top-down.

 

I did not want ribbing which would pull in the end of the cardigan, so I finished the hems with broken rib and for consistency I decided to make the collar of the cardigan in the same style.

 

And finally - I decided to leave the cardigan open,  without buttons or other closure, as it is intended as a light cover during the summer nights or warmer spring and autumn days.

Although I had my doubts and hesitations, I am pretty happy with the end result - the cardigan is light, only 230 g, airy, yet very warm and comfy. The yarn is supersoft and pleasant to the skin.

 

 

Pattern: Gibson by Angela Hahn

Yarn: Filpucci Tweedeco, 230 g

Needle: 4 mm body, 3.5 mm hems and collar

Time to knit: 2 months

Think Pink Cosy Cardigan and Bailen Top

Two of my most favorite free patterns lately, which I've sewn multiple times - the Think Pink Cosy Cardigan and the Bailen Dress & Top. I'm a big fan of Alisa Shay's video channel Thoughtful Creativity, where she often presents free sewing patterns she's sewn or checked and these two are among her favourites. Back in February I sewed my first Think Pink Cosy Cardigan, but I messed the sizing and it came a bit too snug. I still wore it a lot at home over my Laundry Day Tunic, so it was not a complete failure. Soon after I finished the first cardigan, I cut my second one in this very thin and drapy polyester knit. This time I made size S, without shortening it and it turned exactly the cardigan I needed - light, long and with pockets.

I've worn it and wear it a lot and sometimes lend it to Gaby too :), over a top, for an evening walk. I find it very comfortable with these big pockets, in which I can put my phone, when I go for my daily walk in the park, listening to some music (lately I'm crazy about Angus and Julia Stone).

The second precious free pattern is this french cami, Bailen Top & Dress by Pauline Alice. The pattern is a free pdf download, comes in 8 sizes and with instructions in three languages - English, French and Spanish.
I've already made four out of fabric remnants, as it takes so little fabric! This one came from the remnants of the woven viscose for my first Rhapsody . I had enough, so it was cut on the bias, as per the pattern, with a small modification - I made the size 34 for Gaby and a also reduced the width of the cami under the arms by 1 cm on each pattern piece, a total of 4 cm, as it was a bit gaping, by simply straitening the curve of the side seam.

I made all of my seams french seams, the hem is narrow hem as shown in the instructions and the straps are made with bias tape. With six Rhapsody style blouses and four camis, all with bias tape straps, I feel like I've been making bias tape all spring long :)

The weather this year is very warm for spring and Gaby has been wearing her cami quite a lot, both at home and outside. And though I made already four, I'm keeping the pattern on top of my sewing table, it is a great stash buster, easy to sew and so comfortable and flattering to wear. And I think a Bailen Dress would be something to consider for the hot summer days too.

Flutter Sleeve Rhapsody Blouse

Last week I found a fabric remnant from Stoff & Stil and I grabbed it immediately for another Rhapsody blouse for Gaby. The fabric is woven viscose, only 85 cm but it was big enough for a blouse. I had been curious to try the flutter sleeve and this romantic print was just the perfect opportunity.

I made the usual modifications for Gaby - shortened the body 2 cm above the waist and 4 cm below the waist and this time I also raised the neckline by 1.5 cm, as the previous blouse was a bit gaping around her neck.

I had enough fabric for both yokes and as usual, I french seamed the blouse and burritoed the yoke.

The most difficult part of the sewing were probably the narrow hems on the sleeves, done without a narrow hem foot. The more I sew, the more I see the necessity of different feet for my machine, so I'll be placing an order for a set of feet soon.

The red cardigan in active use. The weather is perfect for it lately and Gaby has been wearing it a lot. It does have some fuzz though, especially around the midriff area. I tried cleaning it with a simple razor as per internet instructions, with no success, so maybe I need a gleener too? I cleaned it a bit by hand, but it is nowhere as smooth and fuzzless as it was three years ago.

And Sew On

My finished sewed items are piling up, and though I still hope to be able to photograph them modeled, a few still pictures:

: The latest, finished only this morning - a skirt for Gaby. The pattern is # 112 from BurdaStyle 05 / 2019. I already made this skirt for myself, but was not happy with the fit. Based on my skirt, I narrowed and shortened the pattern pieces and the new checkered skirt fits Gaby just perfectly. It turned out the pattern is designed for banana shaped bodies, like Gaby's (less difference between the waist and hip circumference), while I'm the more mass distributed pear shape and will have to play with the design to make one for myself as well.

The inside of the skirt - I used cotton shirting remnants to make the lined yoke. Hand stitched hem.

Invisible zipper. Amazingly I had just the right color and size invisible zipper for this skirt!

I also made two blouses out of pattern # 101 by Burdastyle 03 / 2020. The pattern calls for lightweight knit, but I made mine out of lightweight wovens.

The toile is out of some lightweight cotton, I made it size 34 for Gaby, but she did not like the color and it will go into the donation bins.

The second blouse is size 36 for me, made out of lightweight linen gauze. I love the fabric and the color, but as it is very, very loosely woven, I made all the seams enclosed french seams, including the sleeves.

It turned out a nice wearable blouse, my only gripe is with the front neck, which is supposed to be boat neck, but is a bit wide on me, so I inserted an elastic thread to gather it a bit. If we are at all able to go out this spring, I hope I'll get to wear it :)

I also made a second version of the Think Pink Cardigan. This one is size S and fits me much better than the lavender one (which I still wear a lot at home). I do not like the fabric, which is thin polyester (or polycotton) knit. When I bought it I thought it was cotton, but it has definitely a lot of polyester, the cotton is debatable. I plan to make another one of these cardigans in a thick cotton knit, but I'm still hesitating whether to stick to the S size or to go up to the M (this cardigan really runs tight and small, and I'm a small person and rarely have that problem).

And the last of my finished makes - dress #105 of Burdastyle 01 / 2020. I made size 18 and ran into my frequent problem with Burda patterns - if the skirt fits my hips, it's too wide at the waist :( I narrowed the waist by 4 cm and it is still shapeless. A narrow belt could work, if I had the figure for belts, but I'm short waisted and belts simply do not fit my figure type, as they shorten me additionally. I'm planning on adding an elastic to the inside of the waist to see if this would fix the fit. The fabric is natural viscose, all the seams are french seams and I inserted an invisible zipper at the back.

Beautiful Misfits

Two of my latest sewing makes, which turned the wrong fit. First the cardigan. This is Think Pink Cosy Cardigan, a free pattern by Love Sewing magazine. I've been hearing a lot about this cardigan from Alisa Shay at Thoughtful Creativity, who's made a couple or more of these knit fabric cardigans. I came upon a beautiful cotton knit with almost no stretch in either direction and I decided it was the perfect fabric for this pattern - and it is. However I messed the sizing.

It is hard to believe, but I spent at least three hours measuring myself, the pattern, watching Alisa's videos, printing, cutting, glueing, shortening and calculating. And in the end I reckoned wrong :( I made the xs size based on my small bust and narrow shoulder measurements, only to find that the cardigan runs small and is tight even on my definitely xs sized daughter. On me it is not un-wearable, but the tightness around the shoulder blades is uncomfortable.I already made a second version of the cardigan, without any shortenings and a size s and it fits much much better. Unfortunately, I don't like its fabric that much, but I'll have to take a few pictures of it and show it some other day.

My second make is the skirt - pattern 112 from BurdaStyle 05 / 2019. This time I was cautious enough to make a sort of a toile - I cut the main pieces of the new skirt from an old gabardine skirt and the pockets and the lining are from an unfinished and abandoned decades ago cotton dress. It was a happy coincidence, that I didn't have enough gabardine for the entire skirt and used a thinner fabric for the pockets and lining and I would replicate that in a future skirt, if I can figure out how to fix the fit.

Here I'm trying to show, that the yoke of the skirt is about 6 cm or more wider at the waist, but it is perfect at the hips and I wouldn't go down a size there. However, as it is, the skirt is almost unwearable, as it slips down and rotates around my waist quite unflattering.

Still, I like the pattern and I think I need more skirts in my life, I just need to fix the fit, maybe shorten it a couple of cm and straighten a tiny bit the A form.

 

The amazing part is that all of these misfitting makes still haven't killed my sewing mojo - I've bought and downloaded a number of patterns, bought the new Burdastyle magazine plus a couple of older issues and my fabric stash is growing with an alarming speed. I need to visit the donations bins soon, to make room for my new makes :)

 

Denim Joy

Almost two months ago I knitted another Kim Hargreaves's cardigan - Joy. It is one of my most favourite patterns and knitting it with this delicious Drops Muscat 100% cotton was truly joy. The cardigan is a surprise present, which is the reason I'm posting about it so late.

Two months later I have almost forgotten the modifications I made. I knitted the body seamlessly and elongated it a bit, my gauge was different from the pattern, so I made my own calculations - and I made the button holes much smaller than the described in the pattern. And did I mention that this is my third Joy and I still don't have one for myself :)

Pattern: Joy by Kim Heargreaves
Yarn: Garnstudio Drops Muskat  100% cotton, 450 g
Needle: 3.5 mm, 4 mm
Time to knit: one month

This must be one of my most favourite photosessions ever! We were hiking in Rila today and I had brought the cardigan with the dress and the shoes in the car for an eventual photosession. And then on our way back I noticed this field with rolls of hay. What a perfect scenery!

Rila in the background, rolls of hay in front, love it!