Hello Internet friends!
Today I'm sharing with you guys my latest ~comfy yet stylish sweater~ make with this Sunday Everyday Sweater by Ensemble Patterns :D I'm on a bit of sweater kick lately, I don't know if it's the semi-spring weather we've been having that's been making me crave all things 'comfy sweater' like or my new found love for sewing with knits but you can expect a few more sweater type from me in the near future! (one would have expected that I would crave sweaters in the fall.... which I guess I do in a way since I'm usually on a 'all things knitted' bender during the autumn....)
I first fell in 'heart eye emoji' love with this pattern after spying ThreadBear's version on Instagram (Side bar: finding new patterns and pattern markers though Instagram is one my favorite things about the online maker community, there's so much good stuff out there and it's so awesome to find a gem of a pattern through other makers!) This is a pattern stash workhorse! There are so many variations included, from a copped version to a full sweater dress which I'm really tempted to make but I'm worried will make me literally look like a little kid in oversized clothing....This version is the tunic length with the split, high-low hem. I really like this version as it allows you to have the longer length in the back that covers your tush, adding to that comfy feeling, while keeping the front short and more tailored which prevents a frumpy, regular old sweater look. Also guys?? Pockets?? Yes for sweater pockets! they are large enough to hold my phone but the generous sizing of the top means that you don't see a large phone shadow shape. I am having some trouble with getting the pocket bags to stay in the front of the sweater but I think adding a simple thread chain between the pockets will do the trick to fix that.
The pattern was really well written, with clear diagrams which made whipping up this sweater a breeze! I think I finished in within two weekday sewing sessions, even after accidentally tripping the breaker in my sewing room and having to fumble about moving all my yarn from in front of the fuse box. I really appreciated the nice table that outlined the final dimensions of all the variations, it made it really easy for me to figure out what 'short person' alterations I needed to make by simply holding the measuring tape up to myself and figuring out where I wanted the front and back hems to be. I took out about 2" of length out of the body of the sweater and then reshaped the sides of the pattern accordingly, I was a bit worried when I first tried on the finished sweater that I hadn't re-shaped the sides well as it seemed a bit baggy but upon more wear and reflection I think it worked out pretty well :D
The only other alternation I made was to the sleeve length, this is where I think my measurements were really off! According to the final measurements table I should have take out 5" of length which seemed a bit excessive to me...I ended up taking 3" off which was still a bit too much, the final sleeves are about an 1" too short in my opinion although still certainly wearable. I think what I needed was for someone else to help me measure from the back of my neck to my wrist, by trying to do that measurement alone I really messed it up as i had my neck tilted and my other arm holding the end of the tape measure. Live and learn!
Let's talk about the fabric I used :D I got some amazing wool blend double knit from BlackBird Fabrics which is still available at the time of writing. Just like my previous post on my cropped geodesic sweater, I'm having a thing for 'speckle' fabrics at the moment! This is a really nice, heavier weight knit with a ton of structure which is perfect for this sweater pattern. Since it is a wool blend it's nice that that the fabric itself comes with a polyester backing to reduce any scratchiness that the wool content may induce. Since it is a double knit with the slightly slippy backing I highly recommend sewing it with a walking foot just to avoid any potential issues of fabric shifting. The contrast fabric I used for the hems and cuffs have slightly more stretch, being a navy Ponte de Roma Knit also from Blackbird, which gives these areas a bit more stretch.
Since the weather has been warming up but still has its colder moments I've found myself popping this sweater on with either some ginger jeans (pictured here) or tights to take in the warm, spring sun! I still have some of the speckled wool blend left so I'm thinking of squeezing out a cropped version out of what's left with maybe some contrasting sleeves! I also want to try my hand at making a custom vinyl for this additional cropped version so stay tuned for that!
