My Image magazine Winter 2010/11 M1003

Have you ever gotten to the end of a project and felt like there had to be more to do? I've been doing so many relatively complex things lately, that when I hemmed this cardigan, it was almost a let down. Really, that was all? But I want to sew more!

The pattern for the cardi is from My Image magazine, the Winter 2010/11 issue, which was their first issue. I'm also wearing my Simplicity 3536 top, New Look 6816 silk pants, and my recently completed Escargot cloche.
This is the wearable muslin of my tie waist topper for the Wardrobe Basics SAL. I have some leopard print sweater knit for the final version, but since this is my first time sewing a My Image pattern, I wanted to make sure that the draft was good before I cut my precious leopard sweater knit.

This is the M1003 cardigan from the aformentioned magazine. It is pretty basic, but has some nice touches. My favorite thing about this is the shaped front band. Instead of just a straight cut front, the band forms a V neck, which I find flattering. The sleeves are banded rather than hemmed, and I particularly like the length, which comes to the top of my knees. The drafting of the pattern is very good, and the sizing seems to be typical for the European patterns in that there isn't a ridiculous amount of ease. By my high bust, I am between a 36 and a 38, but my waist and hip both fall into the 38, so I cut the 38, blending out to a 40 in front at the bustline. This worked well for this relatively unfitted garment.

Here is a closer shot of the neckline. You can see the way that the band curves to fit the V neck. In this slippery ITY it was a bit of a bear to sew, but it shouldn't be any trouble in a firmer knit, which is what this pattern is designed for. My major complaint with this pattern was the instructions. I've become accustomed to Burda's weird and wacky instructions, so my expectations aren't high, but these were incomprehensible. I'm hoping that they have hired a better translator since this was published. It was abysmal. This is a simple garment, so I was able to puzzle out what they were talking about, but mostly I just winged it and used the pictures in the magazine to figure it out. I'm pretty sure I did the front bands my own way. Fortunately, the magazine has several images of each garment made up in different fabrics, so you can see how they are constructed.

I am reasonably pleased with how it came out. I think the floral print skews Asian, and gives it an almost kimono-like look, although I also think it is a little bathrobe like. For the leopard print, I think I will need to shorten it to a hip length. Knee length leopard may be a bit much - even for me.