DIY RIBBED CARDIGAN | Burda Style 10/2014 #102

Guys, it’s official, Autumn is here, so bring one the cosy sewing! Which is exactly what I did last week, with a nice wardrobe staple that’s definitely missing from mine. I think I’m going through a navy phase, as everything I’m sewing lately is in shades and variations of this colour. On the plus side, I am keeping to my colour palette, which I will tell you more about in a future post, which has navy as a main component. On the down side, navy is so difficult to photograph, so I hope these pictures will make sense at all.

I have made this patter nbefore, from the first Burda Magazine I bought in the UK and it’s got a lot of wear and compliments as well. So, this navy ribbed fabric left over from another project (which has been cut, but not sewn yet – go, go instant gratification!!) was just begging to be turned into a quick and easy cardigan. I did contemplate a different pattern, but then just gave in and sewn it in less than half an hour, ready to wear the next day. The pattern does not even have pieces to be cut out, just a diagram and instructions on how to assemble them.

I liked the shape that’s quite different, and the fitted sleeves in the ribbed jersey feel very comfortable to wear. The oversized collar can get a bit annoying, as it tends to fall too low on the shoulder blades and make the cardigan look a bit too slouchy, but id you gather it all at the nape, it will lie nicer on the back.

In any case, it’s a very easy pattern, and can be flexed dependant on preference and amount of fabric. I only had 1m of fabric, so it came out shorter than my previous attempt. Also, the width of the fabric influences the drape on the back, so the wider the fabric, the wider the shawl collar. I prefer less fabric around my neck, I will probably reduce this even further next time.

Not much else to add, other than a few words of finishings. This can easily be left unfinished if your fabric does not unravel. I wore mine unfinished for a weekend, as I couldn’t be bothered to finish it in one go. My previous version unravelled like the Dickens, so I had to overlock the life out of that fabric, so horses for courses.

So here’s the deets:

Pattern: Burda Magazine 10/2014 #102

Fabric: medium weight poly rib knit, bought by weight from Abakhan on a shopping trip with the Bees in August. I used about 1 m at 1.5m wide.

Construction: It was all sewn with the overlocker, and I finished the bottom hem with a chain stitch on my coverhem machine. I didn’t want it too wide, so didn’t use the double needle as recommended.

As I had made it before, there was much less head scratching, but if you try your hand for the first time, I recommend using google translate to figure out the words in German on the drawing. It only clicked when I figured out where was the grain line and where the crossgrain and what came together where. Top tip is that you sew the two halves which eventually join at centre back separately, and then sew them together to get the cardi. You also sew the sleeve and side seams in one go, after having joined the sleeve to the main piece.

Alterations: Reduced length overall, and finished the collar by rolling inside about 2.5 cm, which I hand tacked in place.

Overall, it’s nice and cosy and I’m sure I’ll get a lot of wear out of it this autumn and winter!

It’s downhill from now on to the weekend, so let’s hope they go by quickly!

Alex xxx