Shawl Cardi - Before Cutting the Fabric - Part 2

The old business (part 1) first. I've decided to use the sloppy plaid for the shawl cardigan.

In blog, Twitter, and Facebook comments, the white mohair camp held a slight lead. But the styling suggestions from some of the off-kilter plaid contingent are what swayed me. In the end, I realized, I'd have more opportunity to wear a "statement" jacket; it would fit more easily into wardrobe than the mohair. I'll eventually be using the fluffy fabric for a cardigan, but probably a less classic style -- something with an edge, an asymmetric element maybe, or just an unusual cut.  Creative juices are flowing!

But back to K3916, the free sewing pattern I chose with my McCall's goodie bag coupon -- next up is prepping the fabric. It's wool. Since I'll be hand washing the finished jacket, I've hand washed the material and allowed it to dry flat. Following the instruction sheet with the pattern, you'll see my next steps listed, sort of....

I'll be following all the green checks and changing or ignoring the crossed out instructions.

Right in that section entitled "Cutting", there are steps that will act as my guide, even though I can't follow them exactly. In this post I won't get very far down the list at all! I've said yes to the preshrinking. That's why I hand washed the fabric. *I'm not really pressing the fabric. There are a couple of exceptions, which I'll get to in a later post, but I generally say no to pressing sweater knits. Instead I steam the fabric, as necessary, never quite touching iron to fabric.

I won't be able to use any fabric layout suggested in the pattern instructions for two reasons. One, I'm using fabric that I personally knit on my vintage knitting machine, and this fabric is narrower than any suggested layout offered. And two, I'll be cutting my pattern flat, one piece at a time.

I truly prefer to cut through only a single thickness fabric. I feel more in control. The type of sweater knit I love most is far too stretchy or too heavy for precise cutting through two layers of fabric. There'll be no cutting out two Sleeves at the same time. There'll be no placing the Back pattern piece on a fold. Each Sleeve, each Front, and each Front Band will be cut out separately. (I'm omitting the side seam pockets.) For this particular pattern only the Back is designed for cutting on the fold, and so I'll need to render a full Back paper pattern piece from the tissue pattern (half the back) piece.

There are many ways to create a full paper pattern piece from the tissue paper half piece original. This is where I thought I'd post a link to someone else's tutorial. But I couldn't find one for the method I use! If you've traced off any patterns, making a full piece from a half is probably intuitive. The way I do it uses banner paper, pieces of carbon paper, and a tracing wheel. First, I fold the banner paper as if it were a piece of fabric and place the tissue pattern piece I'll be tracing on top. I fold pieces of carbon paper in half, shiny side out, and slip the carbon paper between the two sides of banner paper, wherever I need to trace a line or notch or other mark. I then trace along the printed pattern lines and marks with the tracing wheel, using a ruler to make the straight lines quickly, going freehand and a bit more slowly around the curves. Last, I cut the banner paper on the cut lines and I'm left with a nice sturdy flat pattern piece.

You can't see the folded carbon paper sandwiched between the two sides of folded banner paper. The tissue pattern is the top layer.

If I thought I wanted to save this pattern to use again, I'd do this for all the pattern pieces, since I'm not fond of working with tissue paper. But here's my big problem with this pattern and many commercial patterns, and I understand that this is a personal problem: I don't like it when the seam allowance is included! I always draft my personal patterns without a seam allowance. I prefer marking the sewing lines, as opposed to marking cutting lines on the fabric. I now use thread tracing so that the seam lines are visible on both sides of the fabric. (Thread tracing also keeps the sweater knit from overstretching at the edges.)

I'm not sure yet how I'll handle this little seam allowance of 1/4 inch (6 mm). I've been working with an added seam allowance of 1/2 inch lately. It's a good starting point for the stretchy Hong Kong finish I'm planning and to keep any fraying (or running) away from the seam.  Maybe I can get away with a 1/4 inch seam allowance because it's a wool double knit jacquard, and I don't think this fabric will fray much. Or I could trace off all the pattern pieces with a double tracing wheel and add an extra 1/4 inch to bring the seam allowance to 1/2 inch. Or better yet, I'll use the double tracing wheel to subtract that 1/4 inch seam allowance of the tissue paper pattern. It will be easier to do thread tracing that way.

I've accepted the fact that I'll be working on this shawl collared cardi sporadically, in between my regular knitting/design work and the building renovations that from time to time intrude directly into my work area and disrupt me. Fortunately, when I have the time, I'm more process driven than project driven, and I'm enjoying working through this sewing pattern in spite of the changes that must be made or maybe because of the changes that I'm making. ;-) Any other process driven sewing enthusiasts out there?

O!
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Shawl Cardi Series

• Shawl Cardi - Choosing the Fabric - Part 1
• Shawl Cardi - Before Cutting the Fabric - Part 2
• Shawl Cardi - Tracing, Tracing, Tracing - Part 3
• Shawl Cardi - Steaming and Seaming - Part 4
• Shawl Cardi - Side Seams and Bulk - Part 5
• Shawl Cardi - Attaching the Front Band - Part 6
• Shawl Cardi - Finishing - Part 7

Last edit 29Sept2014

Shawl Cardi - Choosing the Fabric - Part 1

Last month after a visit to the McCall Patterns office, here in NYC, I wrote about patterns in the McCall Pattern family that might work with sweater knits. Included in the goodie bag we received at the event was a coupon for one free sewing pattern. I decided to choose Kwik Sew K3916, the "Shawl Cardi". Any of the patterns I examined in that  blog post would be a good starting point for a sweater, but all would need to be adapted to really work well, since they seem to have been originally designed and drafted for finer gauged and firmer knit fabrics. K3916 clearly states on the back of the envelope in bold print, "Designed for firm stretch knits."

I've chosen the cardigan, because, well..., I love cardigans! I've been wanting to sew another cardi since I completed this one. Kwik Sew patterns are billed as having "easy-to-follow sewing instructions". Since I'll be adapting anyway, I figured it would be best to work with something that doesn't start off as complicated. Also when working with sweater knits, I think it's always best to use basic shapes, not too many pieces, and allow the fabric to do the talking. (Written like a knit textile designer!)

As I make the cardigan over a few weeks, I'll post the modifications I make to the sewing pattern. I was urged to do a  sweater knit sew-along via an email I received from a reader after the first time I adapted a commercial sewing pattern for sweater knit use. This won't be a sew-along, just my notes, collected and edited. Except for that aforementioned goodie bag, I haven't been compensated in any way and am not under any obligation to use a McCall pattern.

I've read the back of the envelope and the pattern's instruction sheet and already have a good idea of some changes I'll need to make. But first, I have to decide which fabric to use! Sweater knit isn't listed as a suggested fabric, though double knit and jersey are.  A stretch gauge or knit gauge is not included on this pattern envelope. Now stretch gauges can be misleading, because it can be so easy to distort the fabric while (over)stretching it along the gauge. But when coupled with a statement similar to "Use a knit with 25% stretch across the grain," they can be helpful. (Technically, knits don't have a "grain", but a knit's wales are something like a lengthwise grain of a woven fabric, and courses are kind of like the crosswise grain, and that's a whole other post!)

There are hints with K3916 as to how stretchy the knit fabric must be and they're on the envelope and pattern piece.

Since the bust (31 ½ - 32 ½ inches) and hip (32 1⁄4 - 34 inches) measurements from the pattern envelope for the XS size, are at least 5 inches smaller than the measurement of the finished garment, as seen on the pattern piece above, there will be a nice ease to the garment. Stretch of the fabric will not be a huge factor with this cardi and is probably the reason a stretch gauge wasn't included. Again, sweater knits are not listed as a suggested fabric, but I'm going to make the sewing pattern work for one of the following very different fabrics.

My first fabric would produce a cardigan that's similar in look to the envelope pic. The main difference is that my fabric would be a sweater knit jersey, a bulkier gauge with a looser knit. It's a brushed mohair/wool blend, and I'd use the reverse side as the right side. The fabric would be a little heavier than what's on the envelope pic (I think) and definitely fuzzier.

My other choice is what I refer to as my sloppy plaid. You may have seen one version of it in my Fabric as Finished Object post. The colorway I'd use for the cardigan is teal, black, and grey.

This is a double knit, a jacquard with a stitch pattern that I had a lot of fun designing. The fabric is not nearly as thick and ripply as the one used in the Zipper Ripple Jacket, but it definitely has a textured look and feel. I've already tested sewing through three layers of this merino wool -- no problem.

While the white jersey would produce a good basic wardrobe piece, the teal plaid would make a great eye-catching cardigan with its all over unusual pattern. Both fabrics are true sweater knits, stretchy, and not overly unstable. Whichever I chose, I've already decided to use a stretchy Hong Kong finish on all seams, since the inside of cardigan will show when I take it off, and I absolutely love the look of that seam finish.

So what will it be? A wardrobe staple (if a cardigan of fluffy mohair can ever be a staple)? Or an off-kilter plaid statement jacket? Any thoughts on which I should choose will be appreciated.

O!
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Shawl Cardi Series

• Shawl Cardi - Choosing the Fabric - Part 1
• Shawl Cardi - Before Cutting the Fabric - Part 2
• Shawl Cardi - Tracing, Tracing, Tracing - Part 3
• Shawl Cardi - Steaming and Seaming - Part 4
• Shawl Cardi - Side Seams and Bulk - Part 5
• Shawl Cardi - Attaching the Front Band - Part 6
• Shawl Cardi - Finishing - Part 7

More About the Last Minute Fancy Sweater Knit Dress

When I wrote about the last minute dress in August, I had hoped to post a picture soon of me actually wearing the dress. Here it is.

Some of the things I like about this knit dress -- simple to cut, easy to sew. No darts. It's so stretchy and comfortable to wear. I liked using a French binding as an edge finish on this particular dress. There was no need to cut the binding fabric on the bias, since it was already stretchy. Sewing the sweater knit to a sheer fabric was pretty straight forward. I'd never done a rolled hem on this machine, however. I'm glad to report that it was easy to learn on the sheer nylon knit fabric.

Following the directions in the manual for using the rolled hem foot (Janome foot D), I tested stitch size on a scrap. It had a slight lettuce edge (which I liked), but it seemed as if the thread would break, if the edge were stretched more. I decided to try again with a zigzag setting (2 mm wide by 1 mm long) this time, since the slot in the foot seemed wide enough to accommodate a zigzag. Honestly, I probably didn't need to zigzag, but I liked the look more on this fabric for some reason. I assume that easing the pressure on the presser foot one more notch would have eliminated the minor ruffling, but I decided to keep it around.

By the way, I think rolled hem feet are magic. And yes, I will now attempt to show black thread on black fabric.

There'll be another, perhaps not-so-last-minute, fancy sweater knit dress in my future.

On another topic, if you've been following my renovation drama, I'm still not back in my regular workspace. I'll continue to blog when I can. 'Til next time...

O!