Striped Sweater

I finally did it! I made the sweater that I've been imagining for two months now. The fabric is a sweater knit from my stash. I originally bought it from a second hand store because it was so soft and drapey, and, of course, it was a good price. I thought it would make a great cowl neck sweater with the stripe on the bias, but I wasn't sure how to accomplish that. Then, for Christmas, I got Butterick 5760 with it's cardigan pattern. I had to marry them.

Butterick 5760

Lately, I've been watching a lot of Peggy Sagers YouTube videos. Here's the crash course. She says we should measure our best fitting clothing, not our bodies, and choose our pattern sizes based on the finished garment measurements that are always included in your pattern envelope. Then she says to make a muslin and fit it from top to bottom, and in the order of length, circumference, depth. So, that's sort of what I did. Because I don't have a sweater that fits well, I measured me not a favourite sweater. 

Peggy says (this sounds like a kids game doesn't it?... Peggy says touch your toes...) Anyway, Peggy says we shouldn't use the size guide based on our body measurements because not everyone wants their clothing to fit the same way. I know that at 45 years old, I don't want my clothing to be as tight as when I was 20 years old. But I also don't want it to be as loose as an older lady might. My new striped sweater (that I made based on the body measurements size guide) proves it. It fits, but it has MUCH more ease than I would prefer. It's still an awesome sweater, though, soft and drapey and warm. *sigh* I think I'm going to take the side seams in a little so that I don't look quite so matronly. 

Butte rick 5760

So back to our game of Peggy Says... I made up my muslin. The length was good, the circumference was good (at least that's what I thought in my stiffer muslin fabric), the depth required some tweaking. On the front bodice, I needed a bust dart to take away the extra fabric that was gaping at my underarms. Then to make up for shortening the side length by two inches (in the dart), I had to add two inches at the bottom side tapering to nothing at centre front. And on the back, I needed to do a swayback adjustment, removing a dart from just above my waist. I transfered my changes to the tissue, cut my fabric and sewed it together easily. I noticed that the pattern envelope called it "average" skill level, but that must be because of the jacket and pants. The skirt and sweater were both easy to make.

I will definitely make this pattern again! I'll make it in a smaller size and not in a stripe. But this will definitely be my go-to sweater pattern. I'm very happy with it. 

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