I’m calling this my self-drafted cotton rib sweater, but in this case, I’m using the term self-drafted very loosely indeed. I would say, more like ‘make it up as you go and just keep pinning and adjusting until you get something you like’. But then that would just make the title of this post way too long, hehe!
Anyhoo, let me talk you through this as best I can. First off is the fabric. I bought it from Lulou Designs about 2 years ago. It’s a substantial cotton ribbing in a 2×2 rib, and it was sold as a tube of 70cm wide. The lovely coral shade really appealed to me, and then when I received it, I didn’t have an immediate plan for it, so it sat in my stash until now.
A couple of weeks ago, on a whim, I pulled the fabric from my stash and decided to make a short sweater for the cooler days that can often occur during a British Summer. The plan was to have the rib run vertically on the body and horizontally on the sleeve for a bit of juxtaposition.
As I said at the beginning of this post, I had no pattern to work with and made the sweater by free-cutting. I made some rough measurements and cut the back and front pieces with a very basic dropped shoulder and a neckline that went straight across (to be shaped once I had the body sorted out). Next, I measured my arm length from below the shoulder and estimated the width at the top of the sleeve; then I cut a simple dropped-sleeve shape. At this point, I did multiple try-ons after pinning the pieces together and checking measurements while fine-tuning the fit and shape. Once I was happy with everything, I overlocked the main seams, which resulted in the basic sweater shape.
Next, I had to figure out the best way to hem the sweater and finish the neckline, so I played around with some techniques on scraps and came up with a plan. As luck would have it, I had some cotton jersey in my lingerie-making stash that just happened to be a near-perfect match in colour to the ribbing fabric.
I started the hem process by using strips of the cotton jersey and hand-sewing it right on the edge of the ribbing fabric. The reason for sewing by hand was for accuracy, and I discovered that it was easier to maintain the stretch and recovery nature of the rib if I did it this way. Finally, I pressed the ribbing to the inside and hand-sewed the folded edge of the cotton jersey in place with a slipstitch. I think the resulting hem is nice and clean-looking without any waviness.
For the neckline, I used the same hemming technique after I’d folded down the edge to create a gently curving bateau shape. Here are a couple of photos where you can see the hemming treatment:
I’m pleasantly surprised at how this all turned out, and I really like the shape of this sweater. Something about the way it holds its structure and those ribs that look a bit like little pleats is giving me slight Issy Miyake vibes (or am I just in the realms of fantasy here?) Either way, I know I’ll enjoy wearing this as the shorter length and fairly fitted body will go with so many of my jeans and trousers, and it didn’t take me very long to sew either. I call that a win 🙂
Thanks for stopping by for a read; see you soon!
