My Image Winter 2010/11 M1003

I finally got my act together and put the buttons and buttonholes on my leopard cardigan.

The original pattern, which is from the Winter 2010/2011 issue of My Image magazine, is for a duster length cardigan, which I made full length here. I like that one, but I don't wear it often, partly because of the length. I thought I'd get more wear out of a high hip length cardi, so I cut off 12 inches (!!) of length, but otherwise made no alterations to the pattern.

The fabric is a printed sweater knit from Fabric Mart. It is a cotton-lycra blend, and so soft! I've been hanging on to it a while, waiting for the "perfect project" to come along. I don't know if this is perfect, but I sure like it a lot better in my closet than in my stash.

The other change I made from the first version was to interface the bands with a non-stretch interfacing (Pro-Weft, which is my favorite general use interfacing). I knew I would be putting buttons and proper buttonholes on this one, so I wanted the bands to be stable. I also noticed that on my first version the bands tended to ripple a little, and the firmer interfacing prevented this.

I wore it with my cropped ponte knit pants and my black turtleneck, both of which are pieces from the Wardrobe Basics SAL! I only have 2 more pieces to complete for the SAL (assuming that I have given up on the trench for now), which are the khaki skirt and the LBD. I found the perfect base pattern for the khaki McQueen skirt I intend to knock off, and I'm in the pattern tweaking process. The LBD is percolating in my brain, although I have the fabric for my vision. I just need to decide on a pattern or two.

For those who celebrate, I hope you have a wonderful Easter!

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.