Monday 6 April 2015

Purple Drapey Cardi

Hi everyone! I hope you all had a lovely Easter. My daily outfits usually consist around a top, skirt, cardigan and blazer. For a long while I only had a cropped black cardigan which to be frank, is incredibly boring. I like my cardigans to be cropped, because I usually wear dresses or skirts that sit on my waist, but cropped cardigans are nowhere to be found on the high street. So, I decided to make cardigans in a rainbow of different colours to make my wardrobe slightly more interesting. I've already talked about my green one, this purple one has just been finished and I've got some burgundy knit waiting ready to go.

To mix things up a bit from my other cardigans I decided to have a go at Megan Nielsen's tutorial for a draped cardigan, cutting it as specified in the tutorial and then trimming the offhanging bits to make it cropped. I used the basic top pattern from Sew U Home Stretch for the back and sleeves and the armscythe and side seams of the front piece. After making my green cardi, the back was cut in two pieces and taken in, in that seam to make the back more fitted.

The fabric is a wool/polyester/elastane knit bought from a fabric shop on the way home from my university interview. One side is a bit scratchy, so I took care to have that be the 'right side' so the softer side would be against my skin.

The sleeves were also quite baggy in my previous cardi, so these were narrowed down. I decided last minute to make them 3/4 sleeves with a cuff just to add another design detail. I think it works well with the length of the cardigan.
The colour of the knit goes perfectly with the purple in my Joesph skirt! Upon reflection, I might have made it a tad too cropped. If it bugs me, I'll just add a hem band at a later date. Another design detail, right? ;)

Apparently in this photo it was time for stuck in the mud...
Anyway, thank you so much for reading and to Edward for dragging his camera kit around on our annual 'Easter walk'. 
Lauren xx