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Fall staples – the black cardigan

October 24, 2018

I do tend to fall back on styles that I really like to wear a lot.  Right now I am working from home, so comfort is key!  I am trying to be better about not looking like a total slob, but sometimes the effort is tough.

It is easy when I have comfortable pieces to throw on, though.  I wear A LOT of black, so I obviously needed another cardigan for this fall.  I also saw the #cosycardichallenge on Instagram, so I thought I would make it a priority right now.  Especially now that the weather has turned cold and the leaves are falling from the trees.  We were lucky we got family pictures last Friday, since the fall wind gusts came along and the trees are getting bare now!

This is my pattern that I made about two years ago, and so far this is #5.

I have modified the back on them, as the first one was pretty long.  I have decreased the length, and this is probably the shortest I would go on it.  I didn’t add the arm cuff to it, as I made the arms plenty long on this (I like over-long sleeves on cardigans).

On many of them, I left it unhemmed, but over time the ends start to look a bit ratty, even with them being various types of knits.  On this hem, I did a rolled hem on my serger.  It looks nice, but without the bulk of a folded hem.  It was a bit wavy when it was done, so I pressed it flat.  I am hoping that washing it will not make it wavy again (I won’t throw this in the dryer to keep it from fading too fast and keep the fleece nice on the inside).

The fabric here was a bamboo sweatshirt fleece 2-way stretch knit 300gsm.  It is nice and warm.

I have wanted to make a sleeveless black tunic top to wear with cardigans or with light sweaters.  I like the look of layers, so I used the *Sneha pattern by Wardrobe by Me (affiliate link).  I cut out two fronts and two backs, but with one of them a bit less wide on the bottom.  Once they were cut out, I sewed the shoulders of each pair and then I sewed them together at the neck.  When sewing the neckline, I added clear elastic to it, so it would not stretch out.  This is knit jersey with no spandex, so it doesn’t have great recovery.  Next, I sewed up the side seams, making sure the under layer had the seam on the inside and would not show.  Next, I cut the bottoms so they angled in different directions.  I did not hem, as I wanted the “unfinished look”.  Lastly I added binding to the arms to finish it up.

I also made these leggings from a leggings panel I purchased from 42 Custom Fabrics (UK based).  It took awhile to get the fabric, but I loved the panel that looked like armor.  I did have to add a band to the bottom, since 1 meter is too short for my height.

This is basically my staple fall outfit: cardigan, tunic and leggings.  It is comfortable and warm in the winters here.  I actually have purchased several pairs of fleece lined leggings that I go through all week.  I have lots of boots that I rotate through, too.

As I was going through my closet and moving around my warm weather clothes and cold weather clothes, I realized I really needed more basic tunics to go with my cardigans and sweaters.  I do really like the Sneha for tunics, but really any loose fitting tunic that hits the upper thigh works well for layering in the winter.

More tunics to come!


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    1. I am the same way! I have SO MANY interesting custom prints, but I really only wear the solids for the most part. I struggle to figure out how to make things from them, but I love the prints.

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