I needed to make some new sweatshirts or sweatshirts to wear around the house. After thinking about a number of different cardigan as well as sweatshirt patterns, I chose on the prominent Helen’s wardrobe Blackwood Cardigan pattern. This pattern had the features I wanted, however I likewise selected it since I’m a fan of the like to sew podcast, which Helen co-hosts with Caroline of Blackbird Fabrics, so I like to do what I can to support the hosts’ businesses.
When I very first saw the Blackwood cardigan pattern, I dismissed it as something I would never wear, because I mainly saw people making the long version. I’m 5’2″ tall so, a long cardigan would be overwhelming on me. I likewise don’t like a great deal of weight hanging off my shoulders. I had looked at the shorter view, however I believed it looked as well boxy.
However, I lastly tried the short version anyway, as well as when I saw the completed garment on myself, I don’t believe it looks boxy. I likewise wasn’t sure that a cardigan used open would keep me warm, however I discovered that it does keep me warm enough, as well as I like exactly how it shows off the top you have on underneath. So I’ve been a bit sluggish to join the Blackwood fan club, however now I’m a convert.
I chose to online dangerously, as well as I made my very first Blackwood out of some navy blue wool French terry that had somewhat less than the suggested amount of stretch. I started with one size up from what my measurements called for, did a full bust adjustment**, a full butt adjustment, my typical amount of shortening, as well as corrected the alignment of the sleeve seam to provide me a bit much more elbow room. I likewise made some pattern corrections to the armholes as well as sleeves, which I explain later in this post.
**Helen includes a copy of her guide to FBA’s on knits with the pattern. I selected to integrate two of the techniques (the two shown in this blog post) which worked rather well. I converted half of the bust dart to simplicity at the side seam, as well as then utilized the technique that curves the lower hem to get rid of the rest of the bust dart.
You can’t see much of my navy cardigan, because it’s such a dark color, however right here it is. The bottom edge hits me just below hip level, which is longer than I was anticipating, however I assumption longer keeps me warmer, right?
I was rather delighted with my very first Blackwood, however I don’t like to wear wool sweatshirts except on truly chilly days (they make me break out in a chilly sweat, as well as then there’s the scratchiness) so I made two much more in cotton fabrics. For the next two, I went a size narrower at the shoulders, which I believe looks much better on me. plus I utilized material with much more stretch, which made them much more comfortable.
Links in this publish determined by an asterisk (*) are affiliate links. If you click on these links as well as purchase something, I will make a little commission.
For the second cardigan, I integrated three different scraps of unbleached cotton. The body of the sweatshirt is made of some thick, comfortable fleece, the sleeves from a waffle knit, as well as the bands are made of 2×2 ribbing from organic Cotton Plus*.
Here’s a close-up of the three different materials I used. This cardigan is so softy as well as comfortable I want to wear it every day.
For my third Blackwood I utilized some pink cotton velour. I shortened this to hit me above the hip, as well as likewise shortened the lower band. this is adorable as well as would look good over a dress.
Sewing velour is quite frustrating, however it’s worth it in the end. I had to glue baste with washable glue stick in a number of places, as well as I had to hand baste the sleeve bands, since I couldn’t get the material to stay in location with pins or question clips. even though stitching velour is a pain, I kind of want to make a cotton velour Blackwood in every color.
Hmm . . . as well as now I’m wondering exactly how a three-quarter length sleeve or short sleeve version would look. just a bit something to wear over a sleeveless summertime dress. I’ll have to re-visit that concept in a few months when the weather condition warms up.
I felt a bit guilty making my cardigan out of this velour, because I originally meant to utilize it to make a gown for my daughter, however I did handle to capture a tee shirts for her out of the scraps.
There is this strange nicey-nice culture around stitching blogs, where people tend to gloss over pattern problems as well as glowingly praise every pattern, no matter exactly how poorly drafted it is. Frankly, the pattern drafting on many house stitching patterns, whether they are huge 4 or indie patterns, isn’t that great.
I’ve discovered myself not composing blog messages about some things I’ve sewn, because I had so numerous issues with them, as well as I hesitated to stateanything unfavorable here, since I don’t like reading unfavorable stuff, as well as I’m guessing you don’t either. I’ve chose that from right here on I’m going to honestly as well as frankly point out the issues I run into with patterns, as well as if I can, show you exactly how to repair them.
I’m not doing it to be mean, however to assist people. If you ask me, it is imply as well as hurtful to NOT point out issues you discover in a pattern, since you may lead a beginning sewer to try a pattern that needs considerable pattern corrections to even sew together. Plus, you never know, the pattern designer may checked out your evaluation as well as do a much better task on their next pattern.
Since discovering to draft stitching patterns, I always inspect the sleeves as well as armholes on industrial stitching patterns. There is practically always something wrong with them. Luckily, with this pattern, the shape of the armhole as well as sleeve cap are extremely good (probably the very best I’ve seen on a pattern for a knit top, actually), however there are some things that requirement to be corrected. The sleeve is twisted, the front armhole is as well large, as well as the front armhole notch is in the wrong place. I inspected this on size 10 as well as on size 20, as well as I discovered the exact same issues on both sizes, so there’s a great possibility that all sizes have these problems.
Helen, the pattern designer, just recently re-released this pattern with a larger size range. She discussed eliminating some excess material width in the front armhole area, as well as this should have been a last minute alteration, since she obviously did not make alterations to the notches, etc. after doing this, which I am guessing triggered a few of the issues with the sleeves as well as armholes. These are fairly minor problems, however I believe they are worth correcting, particularly the front armhole notch issue.
I ought to add that I am not particularly choosing on this pattern designer. Overall, this pattern is drafted much better than many house stitching patterns I’ve tried. I’ve just chose I’m exhausted of all the dishonest praise fangirls publish on their stitching blogs, as well as I’m going to begin pointing out the problems I discover on every pattern that I review, even those I truly like.
Here’s exactly how to appropriate the problems I discovered with this pattern. Ideally, you ought to make these corrections before you make any type of other in shape alterations to the pattern, however they can likewise be made later if you’ve already modified your pattern.
Note: I printed out half scale versions of the pattern to save paper as well as to make photography easier.
Draw in the seam allowances accurately around the front as well as back armholes as well as the sleeve cap.
Here’s exactly how to appropriate the sleeve twist.
First, lengthen or shorten the sleeve if you requirement to. If you altered the sleeve length, draw in a smooth line for the front sleeve seam, however don’t concern about the back seam yet. If you want a somewhat looser sleeve, like I did, draw the sleeve seam as a directly line from the underarm to the wrist.
Partially cut out the sleeve along the front inner arm seam as well as the front half of the sleeve cap.
Fold the pattern in half lengthwise, matching the sleeve seams the very best you can, however without twisting or wrinkling up your paper. The underarm as well as wrist points do not line up, indicating the sleeve has some twist in it. This implies that if you sew it up as is, you will get diagonal wrinkles on the underside of your sleeve. obviously this is a typical problem with sleeve patterns, since I saw this adjustment discussed in a Craftsy class.
I discovered that the front underarm point was a bit higher than the back. If the difference is small, you can either trim off the additional length on the front, as shown below, or raise the back to match the front. If you have a considerable difference, trim off half the difference on the front sleeve cap seam at the underarm, as well as boost the height of the back at the underarm to match. Smoothly blend into the existing curve.
At the wrist, utilize a square to draw a new wrist line perpendicular to the fold.
Trace the front sleeve seam onto the back.
Before unfolding the pattern, cut along the wrist line.
Open up the sleeve pattern as well as draw in a new grainline on your fold line. cross out the original grainline, then surface cutting out the sleeve pattern along the new lines you marked.
Now cut out the notches on the sleeve cap. walk the sleeve around the front armhole, utilizing an awl or pin as a pivot point along the seam line. Here’s exactly how to walk the seam, in situation you haven’t done it before (or if you’ve only seen the grossly inaccurate techniques demonstrated in specific Craftsy classes): begin by matching up the take on points, with the awl at the take on point best on the seam line, not the edge of the pattern. Pivot the sleeve pattern slightly, as well as re-position your awl a bit even more down the seam, making sure to location your awl best on the stitching line each time you relocation it. Repeat this up until you get to the notch.
Mark the notch place on the sleeve onto the armhole (the original notches don’t match up).
Continue to walk the rest of the sleeve cap seam. You will see that the armhole is larger than the sleeve, which is the opposite of what you are utilized to on a woven garment. On a knit garment the sleeve cap as well as armhole seams ought to typically be the exact same length.
My tip is to just simplicity the additional armhole length into the sleeve between the notch as well as the underarm point. since the knit material is on the crossgrain or bias in this area, it will simplicity so well you will barely notice it as you sew. There’s no requirement to even sew simplicity stitches—just stretch the sleeve to match the armhole as you sew.
The armhole simplicity is essentially acting like a replacement for a little dart, providing you a bit additional space in the bust area. I really did this exact same thing on function as part of a full bust modification on my Lark tees, as well as it worked great. The simplicity at the lower front armhole is not visible on the completed garment.
Alternatively, if you are little busted, you might trim this additional armhole length off of the front side seam, blending to nothing at the waist.
Now you ought to likewise walk the back sleeve cap/armhole seam. I didn’t discover any type of issues with the back armhole on size 10, however I didn’t inspect any type of of the other sizes.
With these changes, you can make this remarkable pattern even better. Yay!
* links in this publish determined by an asterisk (*) are affiliate links. If you click on these links as well as purchase something, I will make a little commission.
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