Trying Simplicity 8143 again, and not begrudging the fact that part of the usable fabric was narrower (and shorter) than even the smallest size of the pattern wanted, and that I would have to cut the ribbing bands significantly shorter than I had in the previous version. These limitations made me remove more than I probably would have on my own, and the resulting item fits much better than the first try.
The bit that need improvisation was completely unrelated.
The parcel of fabric so generously sent for potential doll use also included one yard of a very large lime green leopard print 60" wide knit. I immediately knew I wanted to use it for Simplicity 8951—and, surprisingly quickly, I did
As mentioned in the last post, I recently received a very generous amount of fabric scraps left over from someone's clothing projects. I had quickly sorted the larger pieces into the larger yardage storage when I first got them, and I decided the other day to sort all of my ribbing, more fully integrating the new stuff with what I already had.
This quickly showed me that I now had enough rib knits to make a complete, if pastel, rainbow.
Well, what could I make from this combination? I did a bunch of burn tests and confirmed that all of them were, if not fully synthetic, then at least still blends (except for the yellow—it sparked and flared like a sparkler, and dripped, showing that it's 100% nylon.) That meant I didn't necessarily want it in direct contact with my underarm area, so...cardigan?
I got out Simplicity 8951, for once planning to go with its as-given ¾-length sleeves, since they're the same length as the cardigan body, which meant I wouldn't have to make any length adjustments to the stripes.
I cut the strips for the shoulder area much wider than everything else, because I wasn't sure how much area would be needed to cut the tops of the shoulders and sleeves, and I cut everything else in 3½" strips. I sewed everything together with roughly 3/8" seam allowances, using straight stitch for the assembly and serging the seam allowances. I cut the pattern pieces from those assembled strips, figuring that would be a lot less hassle than trying to cut each strip also in the proper shape before assembly.
I did refer back to the post about making the patchwork cardigan, and that reminded me to put a drop of FrayCheck on each seam end right after it was cut, to hold it together long enough to get sewn into a construction seam.
I had originally planned to cut the neckband, cuffs, and waistband from the pale pink, just because I had so much of it left. Once I realized that I would be most likely to wear the cardigan with my black dresses, I changed the plan to cutting those bits from black.
I was also not super happy with how the seam allowances between the stripes were laying, so I considered top stitching through them to hold everything down. But what color?
I had done the strip assembly and initial body construction in beige, but I didn't really want that visible. Black top stitching would make sense, but I felt it would look rather underwhelming against all of the other colors.
So...what about adding black trims...? And a different one at every seam.
Sure, why not.
After that, black buttons were only logical.
When I was planning to make the loud hoodie and the dissonant cardigan, I showed pictures of the fabric to a friend, who agreed that both of the prints were fantastic. So! I decided to see if I could get what I had left of both of them (well, what was left of the apple print from the first order) into a single ridiculous sweatshirt for this friend.
Task achieved.
Gonna start right off with saying I'm not super thrilled with this, but that's fine.
I used Simplicity 8951 to make another cardigan
I should have gone up a size, and I should have used contrast ribbing for the bands. It's fine.
Everything else about it is great!
This is the last of the planned patchwork projects, meant to use up scraps and free up storage space. This one is a departure from the others, because this one uses knits.
I always worry about popping seams on pull-over knit shirts--and I still don't trust my serger to make a full quarter inch two needle seam without breaking the left needle, plus I wanted the ability to press the seam allowances open--so I decided to make a cardigan instead, using Simplicity 8951 (mostly.)
I cut 182 3"/76mm squares, and I used all of them, plus an uncounted number of partial squares to fill in edges and corners.
Almost every one of these knits has appeared on this blog in a previous project (the one that hasn't is from a project that predates the blog.) That's a lot of projects, and I don't feel like digging up the links right now. They're back there, somewhere.
And here's how they came together
I had a little bit of flocked swiss dot fabric left from this, bits'n'pieces left over from this shirt and tights, the remnant of floral knit from the free bin at the craft thrift store, and more of the fabric than I'd need for the intended project, so I could use a bit of it here, from the same visit to the craft thrift store, and I put them all together to make a silly dress.
