In Progress: Vogue 8669

I started on View A of Vogue 8669 (the sleeveless version). But I have plenty of fabric & decided that flutter sleeves would be a cute & easy addition.

I was wrong. Sort of. I still maintain that they will/would be a cute addition. But this seemingly simple drafting alteration has left me nearly pulling out my hair. It first went wrong when I slashed & spread clear up to the cutting line. It should have been only to the seam line. No problem-easy fix. So I re-did it. But I'm still not getting the sleeve cap to fit into the armscye. I've never had trouble setting sleeves. But to this rookie, the sleeve cap & armscye look to be two completely different shapes. Hoping that it has something to do with the way the shoulders are gathered, I tore out my basting stitches (I just basted everything to get an idea of fit and construction) and am re-doing it. Also, I gave in & ordered Don McCunn's pattern drafting book and it is on it's way to me now. Maybe it will give me a bit of insight.

V8669 is an incredibly easy pattern by itself. I certainly would have finished it long ago had I skipped the sleeves (or even used the drafted sleeves.) But now it's a matter of pride. I am simply determined to have flutter sleeves. Stay tuned. I'm not sure how this one's going to turn out. :) Worst case scenario, I will be forced to surrender and go sleeveless.

Good News & Bad News...

So, the good news is that I got mroe thread & my cardigan is effectively finished. It still lacks the buttons that I'm not sure it needs & I need to figure out how to do thread carriers for it, but for all intents & purposes, it's wearable.

The bad news is that it's too big. Not just too big...but bordering sloppy.

I do try my garments on as I sew them. In fact, I hacked 2" off the bottom of this before I added the sleeves. I should have taken more off. And, yeah, I noticed it was pretty loose, but I decided to let it play out. You know, in case it just spontaneously fit me when I finished.

It didn't.

When I put it on, it reminded me of my white cardigan, that I've never worn out the house. I was going to, but when I put it on, DH said it looked too casual with my skirt. And another look in the mirror told me he was right. It was too big to wear with a pencil skirt. And now, every time I put it on I feel self-conscious.

Anyway, back to this cardigan.  I took it in an inch at the side seams, using a basting stitch.  And then I did the same to the sleeve. I actually took in both sides, but pulled out the right side so I could get before & after pictures.

Also, the length. I was really unsure about the length--it hits me right in my widest spot. For the pictures, I just pinned the hem up again, taking it up an additional 1 1/2". I'm not sure if that's going to be the final length, though.

So, back to work. This thing will be wearable by the time I'm done. The weather might be too warm to wear it, but it'll fit.

Question: How many yards of thread....

......does it take to sew a knit cardigan?

Image Credit

Answer: Over 220 yards. That's over 660 feet. Longer than 2 football fields lined up end to end. That's a lot.

The good news, I guess, is that my cardigan is almost finished. The bad news is that it won't be finished until I get some more thread.  I got this 220 yard spool from my mother-in-law's stash (Thanks Mom!) back when I first bought this fabric. I anticiapted the possibility of running out since I'm using my serger for the bulk of th sewing on this project, so before my trip to JOann's I took note of the thread number so I could match it. I did not take the spool.

Once I got my new thread home, I realized it was the same number, but it was, without a doubt, a very different shade. My new shade was magenta. Not purple. There could be a number of reasons. The "stash" thread could be "old", hence the different number. The stash thread is also labeled "quilting thread", the new thread is not.

I think I have enough thread to finish the cardigan & belt, but not enough to do the buttonholes. Sigh.

Let that be a lesson to us all....take the spool or a fabric swatch to the store. :)

Project in Progress Sneak Peak

I can't wait to get this put together and see it on my little girl! The first picture is linked to the shop on Etsy that sells this pattern. I've used on of their patterns before (the Harper dress--details to come) and let me just say that their patterns are truly wonderful! I did contact the seller at one point with a question & she was incredibly helpful & responded within minutes. She (Angi) was also kind enough to check in with me a couple days later to see how things were coming together. I will definitely be purchasing from them again. Kylie Dress PatternMichael Miller's Round About in Orchid