DIY Black Striped Sweater – Helen’s Closet Elliot Sweater V2.0

My love for the Helen’s Closet Blackwood cardigan is being extended to her Elliot Sweater pattern too.

I’ll be very honest here. I did not like the Elliot at its launch. As a knitter I couldn’t get my head around a sewn sweater. But it slowly, slowly worked its magic and eventually I decided to try it out.

I’m so glad I did.

You may remember that I made a version in a tricky blue stripe a while back. Despite it’s flaws in both construction (caused by me trying to force the stripes to match) it is in constant rotation now the weather has cooled.

This is also one of the most complemented garments I’ve made in quite some considerable time. So much so that one of my best buddies has requested an exact replica of it for herself. Doesn’t really get better than that!

Undeterred by the experience of sewing the shifty stripes on the blue version, and probably wiser for it, I decided to make a second striped version. This black and white striped poly jersey is a bargain purchase from Minerva that I threw in the basket on impulse.

When the fabric arrived I was a wee bit dubious. It’s very “poly’ and really shifty. I had a bad feeling that it was going to be a pain to sew and not remotely nice to wear.

However, it would be a really good opportunity to practice my stripe matching without much financial investment.

So I cracked on.

I cut this version slightly longer at the back. Maybe aa couple of inches. This gives me full coverage should I wear it with leggings. Also I extended the sleeves to make them full length for the colder weather.

I actually cut the sleeves waaaaaaay to long, which meant that I didn’t have enough fabric to cut the neck in one piece. But with the aid of my new sewing machine (story for another time) and it’s walking foot, the stripe matching on this baby is all but perfect.

That’s also the true colours of the fabric. The other photos are reading a bit blue.

The only place the stripes don’t match is that back raglan sleeve. I forced the stripe match on the blue version. A little research and I found that you simple can’t match a stripe on a curved raglan seam, so I’ve matched where I can and sewn an otherwise perfect seam. Lesson learned.

This fabric is slightly less stable than the blue. There was too much fabric in the upper back and it was very loose. I pinched out about 1cm on the back raglan seam at the neckline, fading out to nothing mid back. This small tweak has resolved the sloppiness in the back and has given me a lovely fit.

Other than these simple changes, this Elliot is again sewn straight off the printer with no fit adjustments.

It’s another pattern added to my TNT pattern library. So much so that I’m awaiting delivery of another length of fabric to make a third version.

And this fabric….it’s lovely to wear. It’s lightweight but cosy with a lovely drape. And despite the poly, it’s not remotely “sweaty”. Worn with these linen Fifi trousers, it’s tag teaming with the blue and getting loads of wear.