Finished red knit cardigan

It's finished!

I love it, it's beyond expectation:
Just the colour I wanted
It's very versatile and can look incredibly smart or smart casual depending on what it is teamed with.
A great style for my body shape
and also well made (compared to many bought ones!) and unique

... and now I've worn this one in public total strangers have asked me where I've bought it from - fantastic.
Now to order teal yarn from Yeoman's for another one of this third stage design. But my next planned knitting project is a Fair Isle jumper for my DH - much planning needed for this.

Construction of the red fine knit cardigan

Knit all 5 pieces
Steam each to final shape and size - this is very time consuming! It fits another of my working 'rules' - spend as long on pressing as on stitching. It is the attention to details like this that give the professional couture finish that I am aiming for.
sleeve as knitted

sleeve pinned

This is what the sleeve looks like once it has been steamed! Finally I stitch the pieces together using a sewing machine (Janome)

Planning the red cardigan

One of my ‘obsessions’ for want of a better word is planning. I believe that time and effort spent in planning is always rewarded.
Stages in planning this project:
Try on my current cardigans of the same pattern
Pin the sides to the new position
Try on
Place on body duplicate as another check, I can see the back that way!
Knit tension square and treat fabric as it will be treated in the ‘real’ garment
Set machine settings … ready to knit now!

Red Fine Knit Cardigan

What do you do when you would like /’need’ a cardigan in a preferred style and colour ? Well in my case it's not to walk round the shops in hope. Online shopping definitely has it’s advantages for some things but not when you want to ensure a good fit; for clothes it is important to feel for the quality too.
This is where being a ‘textile maker’ is so useful. The design I’m going to use is one that I have used before and I have made make a cream and then grey one previously.
Some of their plus points:
Both are easy to wear & weigh little.
They wash well and once rolled on a towel are nearly ready to wear again.
Each gets lots of positive comments when worn.

Each time I have tweaked my master pattern and plan to do the same with the red one by narrowing the horizontal width at the bottom to make the cardigan less flowing. This will give a less casual and more tailored look.

Materials : Hobby yarn from Metropolitan in Cheshire.
Technique: Machine Knit

Flower dress stage 5: The completed dress

So, here I am wearing the completed dress – the difference a belt makes!
(You will notice some wounds, nose and right little finger – both longer stories!)

Why I love this dress:
I enjoyed making it
I know I will not meet anyone else wearing this dress
The construction is the best I could achieve – and I am a bit of a perfectionist!
It fits ME
The pattern design is placed where I wanted it, as I took considerable effort to plan this
The pattern design allowed for the top to be cut on the cross to works cut on the cross – even though the pattern is predominately ‘vertical’
The material ( silk jersey) does not crease – so great for sitting down in and packing
It is very versatile and I can wear red, green or black belts to give quite different looks.
The style (& colour) is good for me (I feel taller wearing it! )
I have had LOADS of great comments about it (which is always encouraging!)

Flower dress stage 4 ; the construction

The stitching of the dress went to plan; the hem was a challenge, to make it not too stretchy or too tight. In the end I decided on hand stitching.

Particular things that were helpful:
My amazing body duplicate model that makes fitting a dress a dream, I wouldn’t be without it. Every time I see a manikin for sale I want to go and put a little not on it and say don’t buy one – unless you are that identical shape- and who is? I have not yet met anyone….

Putting in a sleeve head, this makes such a difference to the hang of any sleeve. The ones in this dress I made from a thin piece of padding that I teased out to what I judged to be the right thickness.I then covered each with dress material (the cream background) allowing this to hang over the filling.
Inside the sleeve head

I then hand stitched these in.

This is the finished dress, but it is missing something!

The next and last posting about this will be a photo of me in the dress and why I love it so…

Flower Dress Stage 3 : Planning the Construction

I have found that time spent planning before jumping in to get stitching always pays dividends. These are particular techniques I employed in stitching this pattern and this fabric, perhaps they will help you work with a similar style and fabric.
I have altered the pattern (see previous) for fewer seams and cut each pattern piece so it can be placed on the pattern – by this I mean I have opened up the front and made a whole front rather than putting it to the fold. I use Fabribaste for this and hand stitch it to the original pattern piece.

I use fine thread in both the sewing machine and overlocker – industrial rather than commercial as I find the commercial yarn does not allow such a good seam, it increases the tendency to pucker! I also use a super stretch needle in the sewing machine.
Seams – use the Elna Overlocker set for stretch knit stitch ( a safety 4 thread making use of the differential feed and stitch length settings)
Darts , waist seam etc stitch – stitch with my Janome sewing machine- stitch 5 (zigzag) with 0.5 width & 2.2 length
When stitching use Fabribaste at the start & end of seam. I stitch this on by hand securely before I start to stitch on the machine so I can pull and get straight seams
Skim the outer edge of the front & back neck facings – to prevent laddering. I use the overlocker for this.
I will use one of my own finger pincushions – which will go on any finger or thumb – so versatile!

Make a mental note to press for as long as I stitch!
Now I am ready to start!
(My Elna Overlocker is a much loved machine – Model 945 Computer – which gives me automatic settings for loads of stitches, the sewing machine is also much loved – a Janome Memory Craft 4800)