The Madison Cardigan 

or how I dusted off my Sewing for Grownups skills

 

 

It's been a while since I posted, mostly because in the interim I've not sewn anything for myself, preferring to make baby/toddler/preschool clothes for our two little grandgirls. While that's sewing, it's not particularly blog-worthy sewing (for me, at least). The gratification comes from seeing those two little cuties dash around in their grandmama-made duds.

But lately I had been sort of hankering to sew something with a dart in it. 😉 Grownup sewing.

Serendipitously, as I was lurking through Patternreview one day, I saw an ad for  Style Sew Me's Madison Cardigan pattern and was hooked. I loved the drama of the long cardigan look.

Sewing from this new-to-me pattern line was a nice break from the kids pattern lines Brindille and Twig, Simple Life, and Violette Fields Threads that I've been using for the past few years.

Pattern Company Photos:

 
 

So I dusted off my rusty Grownup Sewing Skills and altered the pattern, chose the fabric, and made the cardigan.

 The Alterations:

Oh where do I start. You know how you always want to just cut a pattern and sew it up and have it fit perfectly? Well, this wasn't one of those for me.

I cut out a size Small in the shoulders tapering out to a Medium in the bust.

Whenever working with a new pattern, the first thing I do is the line up the front and back pattern pieces, overlap the center front and center back lines, and slide the pattern up to see if the shoulder angles are the same. They weren't.  So I fixed that.

Then I cut out a muslin out of Pattern Ease and tried it on. Ugh. Terrible fit for me through the shoulders and bust. With scrutiny, patience, and my trusty copy of Fitting and Pattern Alterations: A Multi-Method Approach to the Art of Style Selection, Fitting, and Alteration by Elizabeth Liechty, Judith Rasband, and Della Pottberg-Steineckert, I altered the pattern to fit perfectly and happily moved on to choose the fabric.

My biggest alteration changes were in the sleeve and upper bodice:

• Changed the sleeve to a one-piece sleeve because it was easier to work with from an alteration standpoint.
  
• Narrowed the upper bodice width on both the front and back in the area of the armholes so that the sleeve set squarely where it should and the shoulder seams aligned with my shoulders
• Adjusted the lower armhole/bust area for a smooth fit with no wrinkles or pulls. 

It was more work than I thought I had signed up for with such a simple pattern, but the end result made it worth the effort.

The Fabric:

 Oh how I love pawing through the shelves in my Fabric Emporium, (as my Stitcher's Guild sewing friend Kim (sewsy) calls hers). So many fabrics, so many memories of where I purchased them and whom I was with, the excitement of creating a garment in my head as the salesclerk rang up the purchases--or the thrill of the online chase of the flash sale or hoping to get the same fabric that my monitor was showing!

The fabric for this pattern had to be flowy, the same on both sides since the inside shows, and, according to the pattern recommendations, a knit. Well, I settled for two out of three. I made it from a woven.

It was a black and white tweed see-through mesh fabric, light, flowy, and perfect.

This particular fabric has been in my Emporium so for so long that I can't remember where it came from or what the fiber content is. All I know is that it was just the thing for this pattern.  And I had yards and yards of it!  I think I originally purchased it for an Issey Miyake pattern that took something like 12 yards.

Bye-bye Issey, hello Madison Cardigan.

The Sewing:

The sewing instructions that come with the pattern are pretty minimal. Fortunately, there is Patternreview, where I could study how other people made the garment and whether their techniques and results fit my needs. 

Folding those findings into the making of test samples, I came up with the following changes to the pattern sewing instructions:

1. Serge and topstitch all the long seams. French seams were too stiff for this flowy fabric. Hong Kong-finished seams were too visible. 
2. Serge all of the open edges from neckline to and through the hem, fold to make a 3/8 inch wide hem, then fold again to hide the serging and slip stitch the entire open edge by hand. Hand-finishing on garments can be so relaxing. 

The Results: 

 

Saying that I love this long cardigan is an understatement. I pair it with a fitted black sweater and leggings with high heeled black boots. Now that warmer weather is here, I'll change that out for a sleeveless top and either a pencil skirt or leggings and high heeled or wedge sandals.

 

Since I'm 5'2", the heels are necessary to pull off the nice hem-swish that the designers surely intended. I mean, look at those pattern photos. It's no mistake that they highlighted the one with the model in a confident mid-stride. Very cool. 😊 

 

Here are more photos, closing with one of a partial view of my sewing lair.

 

Repeat of the one at the beginning of the post.

Front and back views. (Back view in the mirror.) 

The princess seams in the back make the fit so flattering.

  

 

 Upper Front Closeup.

 

 

 Lower Front Closeup.

 

Partial view of my sewing lair. Not shown are my 4-shaft loom, standard gauge knitting machine, computer desk and printer/file storage cabinet, other sewing, embroidery, and coverstitch machines, sergers, and vacuum ironing board with gravity-feed iron. There's a lot of stuff crammed into my lair, and I love every inch of it.

It's been a lot of fun sewing for myself again. I need no new clothes, truth be told, but sometimes it's a good thing just to sew a lovely garment for the pure pleasure of it.