Houndstooth Sweater in Progress

Inspired by the houndstooth I'm seeing everywhere this season, I decided to cut and sew a sweater for myself.
The houndstooth is a double knit jacquard, -- no floats on the inside.
The fabric is warm with a nice sweater weight, thinner and much easier to work with than the rippled jacquard I used for the Zipper Ripple Jacket. Whew! There'll be no zipper in this one.

I've used one of the techniques from Zipper Ripple, however. I made the shoulders super stable so that the weight of the fabric won't stretch the shoulders.

Here's how I did the shoulders: I fused a strip of interfacing to the wrong side of the front shoulder seam in lieu of any stay tape or transparent elastic. This first step is the same as the Hip to Be Square sweater. I find fusible interfacing amazingly easy to use, and I love its availability in many weights. The next step was to stitch the shoulder seam (I used my serger.) right sides together, and press the seam toward the back of the sweater. I then turned the shoulder to the right side and  top stitched, holding down the seam allowance.
A very stable shoulder seam
That's a 3x3 rib I'm using as a neck binding. The sweater bottom and sleeves will have a different finish, but you'll have to wait and see what it is!

Wool double knit houndstooth is available in the shop. If the color combo you want is not shown, you may place a special order without extra charge.

O!

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Last update 27May2016

Off Topic: Crafting Electronic

Although one might predict from my past in electronic art music as a member of a group known for building/designing/performing with original music synthesizers, that I'd be an eager participant in the current wave of electronic textiles, fashion, and wearable technology, I am not. When my Klout perks earned me tickets for two to attend Engadget Expand NY, however, I marked my calendar and timed my visit so I could attend the "Wearables Workshop" with Spark Fun Electronics.

With all there was to see and do at the Expand NY event, I actually arrived at the workshop two minutes late and there were no more empty seats. Fortunately, there were still kits available and so dh, the other stragglers, and I found comfortable spots in the corner on the floor or stage to complete our mystery (to me) project. Yup, either due to my tardiness or my insistence on Instagramming while only sort of listening to instructions, I didn't even really know what I was making. Turns out all I had to do was read the tag on the kit.
I was making a (wearable?) Firefly Jar!
Our workshop leader was entertaining, and she projected onto a big screen, for all to see, easy to follow diagrams for each step. Both our leader and her assistant were always available to answer questions.

This is where my sewing skills came in handy. Dh, having built the aforementioned amazingly awesome music synthesizers with his crafting skills (including photo-resistive etching, soldering, wiring, and fabricating with lucite) was not able to complete his Firefly Jar in the workshop's allotted time. I was. You see, we were required to connect all our components by attaching them to felt fabric "jars" with conductive thread. That is, we sewed them together. Apparently, all the hand basting I did while making the Zipper Ripple Jacket gave me a big advantage. Not that this was a competition. But hey, I even had time to redo my sloppy "negative bus". (O, I do love tossing those terms around!)
My hand sewing on the back side of the jar

In the end, however, dh was the real winner. He finished assembling his Firefly Jar when we got home, completing his running stitches with no help from me. He made the artistic decision to pierce tiny holes into the over layer of felt directly above his LEDs. This way, when his fireflies flashed, they would be sharp and bright, not like the "lame diffuse light" (his words) emanating from my fireflies. I must admit his was an artistic triumph.


I know what you're thinking now. You're thinking, but I thought this was a Wearables Workshop. Yes, I was confused too. Perhaps this part was explained in the first two minutes that I missed, but I'm thinking we could velcro the jars onto a t-shirt or something. What's really important is that I learned basic skills that would allow me to incorporate simple wearable electronics into something I designed. Will I do it? I really don't know.

Truth be told: dh is no stranger to electronic wearables. I think he's a pioneer. Below are some old skool e-wearables.
Top left: Flashing Necklace by dh, early 1980s
Bottom left: Flashing Armband by dh, early 1980s
Right: Belt by unknown artist, purchased at Patricia Field, NYC, mid 1980s
If you'd like to see some work from people currently working in electronic textiles and wearables, check these folks below:


O!
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Updated 19Nov2013

Further Notes on the Zipper Ripple Jacket

Last week's post on the Zipper Ripple Jacket was mostly pictures. There were a few challenges making the jacket, however. I documented one of them, Inserting a Separating Zipper in Thick Squishy Sweater Knit, before I actually finished the project. Below are a couple other special "situations" that came up that I'm making note of for future reference. No more "now how did I do that last time?"

Seams Open or to One Side?

Generally, when fabric is as thick as this fabric is, it's best to press or steam seam allowances open after sewing the seam. This rippled double jacquard was much too springy to stay open or to one side. The thick fabric is full of air and squishes quite easily under a presser foot. The serger's overlock stitch compressed the edges. I then used top stitching to hold the seam allowances to one side. 
You can see the top stitching on the bodice around the armhole. It's less visible on the sleeve where the black panel connects to the main fabric.


Seam Finishes

A simple serged seam (or serged seam with top stitching) is fine for a pullover. No one sees the inside. But since I'll actually remove my jacket on occasion, the inside could become quite public, and I'd like it to look nice. If I'd been thinking ahead a little more, I probably would have bound the seams before top stitching. Either one of these finishing techniques would have worked. I'll definitely use one of them next time.

Since I've already top stitched, it's too late for any seam binding method now, so this time I'm covering the seams with a thin rayon (factory knit) jersey fabric cut into strips.
You can see in this closeup that the seams get a  little fuzzy and messy after washing.
I pressed the edges of the rayon jersey strip under and used a slipstitch to hold the it in place over the seam.


Each project is a very real learning experience for me. I think that's what keeps the cutting and sewing challenging and fun!


O!

Zipper Ripple Jacket

The Zipper Ripple Jacket is finished. Mostly. More on what's left to do later. Here are some pics.


Here are a couple of close ups.


Now for the reason I say it's "mostly" finished. The picture below is the inside hem where it meets a black side panel.

As I've mentioned previously, though I used my own pattern block, the jacket was inspired by this BurdaStyle pattern. I tried to plan all my variations ahead of time, but I forgot that I might want to finish my inside seams -- more than just serging and top stitching. After all, the inside of a jacket does show from time to time. At some point I'll hand sew a narrow binding to cover the seams, not quite the technique I would have used had I planned this a little better. I won't use my fabric as I did with the hem binding. I'll most likely make the binding out of the black (factory knitted) rayon I have stashed.

I'm always thrilled when the finished garment ends up the way I imagined. And I don't care that it may have just gotten too cold to wear it outside without a coat. I'm wearing it anyway!

O!
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See related posts about this sweater:
A Separating Zipper, a Facing, and a Sweater
Further Notes on the Zipper Ripple Jacket

Updated 21Nov2013