Luscious. I LOVE this sweater knit. Both sides. It just feels so soft and warm. Once I put it on, I don't want to take it off. The fabric looks, and feels gorgeous.
A rare moment here in Seattle autumn early winter. It suddenly dried up, so I dashed outside for a photo opp.
I took my usual 2" petite length adjustment at the waist. Still, debated on the final hem length. I decided not to shorten any further. I'm very happy with how it turned out. It's like a cardigan/jacket hybrid to me.
Well, lucky me. This fabric came to me as a gift. This French wool blend sweater knit came from Britex Fabrics, which requires no introduction to us sewists, a fantastic fabric store in San Francisco. It's absolutely gorgeous.
This fabric was a gift from a friend. She was an avid sewist. She
lovingly collected lots and lots of beautiful fabrics over the years. (you know
how that goes, we all have a stash!) Very sadly, she became unable to
sew anymore due to a medical condition. The family recently
decided to release her huge collection of fabrics, patterns, and sewing
notions. I am so fortunate to have received some beautiful fabrics and patterns. She has some darn good taste!
I've had my eye on Style Arc's Laura Cardi for some time. I've just been looking for the right fabric to make it. When I saw this beautiful sweater knit, I knew it was the one. The bolt had about 3 yards. Plenty for this cardi jacket. Perfect. I'm so grateful.
Just a tiny bit bulky at the back of shawl collar/hood, but it is cozy and I love it.
The shawl collar turns into a hood. Even cozier with the hood on.
It has only been 10 minutes outside and the sun has already disappeared, and it's starting to get a little windy. Oh, hey, my cardi jacket hood comes in handy!
By the way, I'm wearing one of my M 6841 tops inside. The perfect color to coordinate with this cardi.
I think I can perhaps call this reversible. The pattern suggests that
all the seams be serged or finished with overlock stitch.
I think I can also wear it like this with a belt.
This project came together very quickly and easily. Possibly the fastest project I've ever sewn. However, I sat on it for a few days after I put the pieces together, trying to decide how I would want to finish all the seams. I did a bunch of test sewing on scraps over two days until I decided on the #9 overlock stitch on my machine. (By the way, I can't tell you how amazing Bernina presser foot #2 is for overlock hem finishing. So smooth and so easy.) I tested a few different serged finishes, too, but felt that it would add a bit more bulk and weight than I wanted.
I love the wavy shawl collar edge created by the overlock stitch. This was the effect I was hoping for, and I got it. So happy.
Here is the sleeve edge.
I'm satisfied with this. I didn't change the sleeve length. It's a little on the long side, but for a cardi, I like it this way.
It goes very well with the brick siding backdrop! Haha.
I am really, really loving this cardi jacket. So far, every time I sewed up a Style Arc, I remind myself that I should use Style Arc patterns more often. It is definitely my favorite pattern company right now. Its designs are clean and simple, I like its fitted style, I don't need to adjust anything (except for the length - as I'm 5'1"). I used size 8 on this pattern, although I've used size 6 in my previous Style Arc patterns. On a couple of size 6 tops I sewed before, I felt that I wanted just a little bit more ease especially around armscye. It was a good idea to order size 8 for this cardi. I love the fit. Very comfortable. In RTW, I usually wear 4 or 6 for tops.
15 minutes of dry weather was all we could get. It's starting to sprinkle a little.
What a season appropriate first project of the month of November. I gratefully receive this beautiful fabric. I am very happy being wrapped in, and hugged by this fabric -- sweetly warm and cozy.
Happy sewing in this month of gratitude!
