Uuuugghhhhh

 This is an easy project that took forever to get through making and even longer to blog about

I started with Simplicity 8951, view B

and extended the sleeves using Kwik Sew 303.  Roughly.

And after a lot of "sew a seam, go do something else for a half or or so...or wait until the next day," I did finish

Whoo.  I mean, this should be a valuable, versatile wardrobe piece, but...yeah.

 The fabric was from the Walmart mill end precut bins, and it feels like it has at least a bit of genuine (itchy) wool content, along with a lot of (oily) synthetic fiber.  There's enough of it left to make something else.  Eventually.

As with the previous version I made of this pattern, I ignored most of the directions because I felt like they'd result in too many exposed seam allowances.

I cut the front band as per the pattern, interfaced it (as not per the pattern), pressed it in half lengthwise, pressed in 5'8" along one edge, then trimmed the other side of the center fold down to 5/8".  That trimmed edge was sewn to the back of the front opening edge, then folded to the front and pressed before edge stitching the previously pressed edge down (followed by all the way around the band edges.)  I've done this with button up shirt front bands, and the previous version of this cardigan, and I also have a mass produced cardigan made the same way.  It cuts down the bulk a little, conceals all seams, and doesn't require the edge stitching/top stitching to line up with anything on the other side of the fabric.  It also makes the front width narrower than it would be if the pattern directions were followed--I could probably correct for that by adding about one inch to the front opening edges, if I wanted/remembered/ever planned to button one of these in the future.

I pressed both the bottom band and neck band in half lengthwise, then pressed one edge inside at 5/8".  I applied the bottom band first, with the pressed edge up so it would be edge stitched from the outside.

This actually went very badly--I thought I could live with its waviness and "oops, sewed off the edge completely, lemme get that with a new line of stitching" because, being at the waist, it wouldn't be in an obvious place.  After sewing the rest of the cardigan, I decided I could not live with that, and picked out the stitching entirely--except for what was intersected by the front bands--and re-sewed it.  I figured out what had made it go so badly before was because I was trying to keep the bulk of the project to the left, outside of the sewing machine.  That meant I was working on aligning things on the left side of the needle, and I'm not very good at that even on well-behaved, thoroughly-pressed wovens.  When I re-did the stitch, I maneuvered things so the bulk of the project was awkwardly inside the sewing machine area, but at least I was working on the better side of the needle.

I applied the neck band the opposite way, with the pressed edge on the inside and pinned so that stitching in the ditch from the outside caught it.  The stitching still wandered, but not annoyingly enough to re-do.

I applied the cuffs in the most basic, exposed seam allowance style.  It's fine.

All remaining exposed seam allowances were serged.

I stabilized the shoulder seams with interfaced fabric cut from the front bands.

Buttonholes: vintage buttonholer; buttons: machine sewn with a needle to space the thread shanks.

 It's entirely possible I might wear this and decide the sleeves are too long, but they'd be easy enough to shorten with some new folded strips of the same fabric if needed.  We'll see.