Purl and Seam

handmade in Lancashire

Top and cardi – Newlook 6838/Simplicity 2560/Newlook 6922 – FOs 8 & 9/2012

April 1, 2012

Happy Sunday!

I hope you’ve had a lovely day.  The sun has been shining here and I managed a little bit of time in the sewing loft today. My main objective to be to carry out a few tweaks to the top and cardigan I made from the silk/viscose jersey I bought in London just before Christmas.

I wore the outfit yesterday with the almost-perfect-trousers and noticed a few things that needed addressing:

First up the sleeves are too long.  Annoyingly so.  I spent the day shoving them up my arms.

Secondly, I stabilised the hems, neck and armholes with Steam-a-Seam.  Unfortunatly this fabric is so lightweight it’s made them go crispy and really affects the way the garments hang.

Today I redid the sleeve and bottom hem on the cardigan, and the hem on the top and they look much better.  I have no makeup on and Sunday hair so I’m not having photos done…you’ll just have to take my word that they are immensly better.

I know that the S-A-S is affecting the way the neck lies too, but if I redo the neck the shoulders will be all hinky, and I can live with the drape.

So, these are the patterns I used.

Newlook 6838..I used the sleeveless version for this top.

I used the front, back and sleeves from the long sleeved cardigan version.

I replaced the origan collar with a front band inspired by this cardigan.

Overall I think this works but I don’t think this will be my go-to, most favorite top combo.  This is mainly down to the fabric.

I knew when I bought it that it wasn’t my first choice.  I really wanted something more stable and with a bit more weight…more forgiving on the old lumps and bumps, you see.  But I couldn’t find anything in a colour to go with the almost-perfect trousers.  So this was really the only option I had.

I have to tell you that it will be a very.very.VERY.long.time.indeed before I sew again with silk/viscose jersey!

It slips and slides and is generally a bear to work with. But on the plus side it’s soft and warm for cooler spring days.  The Husband commented on how nice the colour looks on me, and Ma and Ma SIL were suprised that I’d made it, not bought it.

So I will wear it.  Especially now the hems hang better. 😉  And I’m keen to try the t-shirt pattern again in a more stable knit.  I think with a few more tweaks this could be a good go-to pattern to make up a pile of t-shirts that are sadly missing from the wardrobe.

And the big plus from this project is that I finally mastered the Coverstitch machine…it’s my new favorite toy! Happy days!

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CATEGORIES // Uncategorized

« Little Lemon Lady – upcycled t-shirt and Made By Ma! sweater – FOs 10 & 11/2012
Made by Ma and Little Sweet Peas cardigan – F/O 7/2012 »

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Comments

  1. Jane says

    April 1, 2012 at 7:35 pm

    It’s a lovely outfit, and even more special as you’ve made it

    • PendleStitches says

      April 1, 2012 at 9:34 pm

      Thank you. It’s the first full outfit I’ve made in forever and definitely the way forward.

  2. Chica Andaluza says

    April 1, 2012 at 8:01 pm

    It really does look so good, and yes, it´s a great colour on you!

    • PendleStitches says

      April 1, 2012 at 9:33 pm

      Thank you. Much better than pastels 😉

  3. Liara says

    April 2, 2012 at 9:48 am

    I think it came out beautifully! I really like the color and I like that the pants and tops match. I agree that it looks like something you’d see in a very nice store.

    • PendleStitches says

      April 2, 2012 at 1:07 pm

      Thank you so much. Your comment has made my day!

  4. xtiand says

    April 2, 2012 at 9:59 am

    The colour is lovely and really suits you. Silk/viscose jersey is a nightmare to sew, you have done really well with it…my attempts have usually ended in the bin! Hurrah for the coverstitch machine.

    • PendleStitches says

      April 2, 2012 at 1:08 pm

      Thank you. 🙂 It came very close to ending up in the bin several times, I can tell you. Now that I’ve got the hang of the Coverstitch I’m really looking forward to making more knit garments. It make a lovely finish to the hems.

Evie

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