Cardi McCall's 6844, V. 3

It's McCall's 6844 again. Third time I made this pattern. The version 1 I made was a light weight sweater knit, and I wear it quite often.  This one is a light weight silk blend sweater knit.

The length is between A and B on the pattern.  I took the usual 2" waist petite adjustment, and cut the hem on the line for B, then shortened it to my liking.  I omitted the interfacing on the collar this time.

I made it to go with my M6559 dress.  Since it's a silk blend, it's perfect for cool evening breeze of the Pacific Northwest summer and early fall days. 

Turn the collar inside for a bit different look.

In retrospect, I think it looks better with a t-shirt and jeans. Like my other versions (there is actually an unblogged V. 2), this one is going to get a lot of wear. Love the feel of the silk blend in the fabric, and how it hangs casually.

Think it's perfect with this RTW top. 

Happy sewing. 

Style Arc Laura Cardi in Sweet Sweater Knit

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!

Many Ways To Wear : McCall's 6844, Done.

Now I understand what all the hype was about.  I admit, the photo on the envelop looks very cute. But it wasn't just the photo. This pattern is excellent in many ways.

By the way, I made View A with the length somewhere between View A and B. I took the Petite length adjustment. The final hem length ended up about 4 inches shorter than regular View B length. I didn't make the peplum option as I didn't think it would look good on me, but it sure looks fun if you like peplum.

First of all, do you see those PINK dots?! "EASY", "PETITE".  To me, these are the two sexiest words they could put on the pattern envelopes. I'm sold. A great marketing ploy. I fall for it every time!

Alright, the pattern is great.  But I'm so proud of the type of fabric I chose this time. It was an excellent choice. Very light weight sweater knit. Cotton/poly with a little lycra.  White/blue with silver lame thread running through.  (Now, it's lamé, and not l-ay-me lame!)

 

Mmm, kinda hard to see.  Here is right/wrong sides shown together. The fabric came from one of the big chain fabric stores.  Surprise, surprise. I was there just to purchase some patterns. I never find anything that I want to use for making clothes there.  BUT, I learned a trick.  

For some strange reason, the good ones (for making garments) are all on the "Clearance" pile.  I actually found a few things I could use for unbelievably cheap. I found this fabric actually several months ago, but ever since, when I go there I check the clearance pile, and there usually is something I can use. If I go to the regular shelves, I find nothing.  Fine by me~.

 

Some patterns are drafted very well, and I think this is one of them.  It just works, if you know what I mean.

 

For the collar band interfacing, I used this expensive stretchy knit interfacing. This cost almost as much as this clearance sweater knit! The fabric is VERY stretchy. 

 Hey, this photo shows the actual fabric color the best. It's more blue like this.

The result was a beautiful neck/collar line.  It was worth the price. The collar feels soft and stretches nicely with the fabric.

As I was finishing, I was thinking that maybe I didn't want to put the interfacing. Maybe  wanted the collar to be floppy, real floppy.  Maybe next time I'll make one without interfacing.  So, I was fiddling with the collar to see if I could make it look not so stiff.  It isn't stiff at all, but it looks "structured" against the rest of the garment.

Then I realized.  This garment can be worn many different ways~!

You're going to have to see this pic again. As the pattern design intended. This way, with the collar band running all the way down.

Or like this.

Add a belt or scarf tie, to make it an instant sweater jacket.

Fold the collar band completely inside, and it looks more like a regular cardigan. I think you can even put buttons on it.

Narrower collar band showing, and add a broach.

The same idea, but even narrower collar up at the top only. It looks more like a tunic, or a half coat.

Wear a scarf under the collar.

Around the neck.

As if that wasn't enough photos, now you get to see me wear it.

Uh. Sorry, bad lighting day, today.

The back view.  Soft and flowy.

Ok, I'm going to play with the collar now.

See? Like this.

It does look like I'm wearing an A-line tunic.

Now, the collar isn't folded.  Just all the way out.

I like this no collar folding business.  It feels more like a real cardigan.

Then, this.  Another tunic-y look.

Or maybe a jacket-y look.

Now the collar is folded inside. Seriously, I may skip the collar, but use half width collar band pattern just to create button bands and put some pretty buttons on.

You like this?

I decided this look isn't for me. It feels like I'm wearing a smoking jacket, or an extremely short bathrobe!!

And the scarf look.  Ok.

Oh, so focusing on the cardigan, I forgot to report that I made another Style Arc Linda Stretch Pants. Here~!

These are so comfy.

Ok, you can see how happy I am with both the cardigan and the pants, but especially the cardigan.  It was easy to put together, very straight-forward and simple. I like the flattering design. I did the petite adjustment as shown on the pattern, and it set the waist right where it needs to be. (Doesn't always happen) Versatile garment, as you can see.

This one really worked. I can see me making v. 2 soon.