Driftless Cardigan

Just a quick post today. I wanted to show you the Driftless cardigan I made this week. The pattern is by Grainline Studio and it gets a big thumbs up from me.  I love the design and it came together really quickly on the overlocker.

The pattern calls for a medium weight knit and I wasn’t sure if this really soft and stretchy hacci sweater knit fabric from Girl Charlee UK would suit the pattern, but I think it worked. The fabric drapes beautifully and I feel effortlessly chic in this cardigan.

I actually made no alterations to the pattern for my height and it fits really well. I think if I make this again in a sturdier knit, I will add a bit of length to the bodice and sleeves, as I’m guessing the stretchiness of the fabric is having an effect on the fit.

I’ve already ordered more fabric to make more of these, so keep an eye out for more versions coming soon.

Driftless Cardigan Front

Driftless Cardigan Side

Driftless Cardigan Front

Driftless Cardigan Back

Teal Hudson Pants

First post of 2016 and this make may be one of my all time favourites…

I bought the pattern, Hudson Pant by True Bias, a while ago with the intention of sewing myself a few pairs of comfy house trousers.

Sadly, my sewing machine  had been playing up when sewing with knit fabric, skipping stitches etc, and so it took me a while to get round to sewing these up.

I am so glad I did, as I LOVE this pattern. The shape is so flattering, which is hard to achieve with jogging bottoms. I previously owned some RTW ones of a similar style and they were so saggy around the bottom, they made me look like I was wearing old man style PJs…. which wasn’t a great look.

These on the other hand, make me feel awesome and have been immediately upgraded from “house trousers” to day wear!

The fabric I used was a beautifully soft teal ponte from Sew Over It. I was planning a black pair, but I am glad I was a bit more adventurous with the colour as I love them.

Construction wise, I cut out the size that best fit my hip measurement, it was too big in the waist, but that isn’t a problem as when you  insert the elastic into the waistband you can adjust the waist size as you need. I am 5’11” so I added 3 inches to the length of the trousers, as they were drafted for a person of average height.

I followed the instructions and used my overlocker for most of the seams, I think I used my standard sewing machine for attaching the pockets and the ankle bands, but the rest was on the overlocker.

When it came to the waistband I went a bit rogue and decided against sewing the channels for a drawstring. I wanted this first pair to be versatile and wasn’t really going for a “sporty” look. I was worried they would fall down without the drawstring, but I pulled the elastic quite tight, to avoid this. The other problem with missing out the drawstring is that the elastic is prone to twist and fold inside the waistband channel, so I did hand stitch it to the inner side of the waistband to prevent this. The stitches are practically invisible as I got such a good thread colour match, but I am not sure how it will hold up, so I may still zig zag around the waistband as advised later.

This pattern will no doubt be getting a lot more use as I’ve already had requests from family members for pairs and my boyfriend is keen for me to buy the men’s version of the pattern so he can have a pair too. So clearly a big hit.

Teal Hudson Pants (attieanddora.com) sewing shetland