The Finished Front

When my friend Caroline was visiting in June, she left a few things in the guest bedroom. Yesterday, her husband was in town and dropped by to pick them up. His mother used to live in another unit in this complex so he was interested in seeing the changes we'd made to our condo. When he saw my newest - and I will post pictures asap - studio, he said this is sure a come down from your last place. On the surface that may be true but it's amazing how productive I am in this space. It's REALLY working for me. I'm so glad I made the move instead of trying to make the last choice work.

The picture above was on  Pintrest and I couldn't figure out the original source. It had the feel I was going for with the t-shirt refashion although they're vastly different in the end. I could use this image as an inspiration for numerous projects I'm sure.

The fringe was made by layering a strip of the knit fabric with the raw edge out, some gathered organza I pulled off a second hand sweater, and a trim I bought at Pacific Fabrics in Everett while on holiday. The trim is elastic and needed to be basted in place in order to secure it evenly.

The buttons and button holes were finished before the bands were sewn on. Along the inside edge is a strip of organza. On the finished sweater, it forms a narrow flange that connects the design elements. The shell buttons are another souvenir of my trip. They were bought at the Fabric Depot in Portland. I bought twelve and used nine.

In the comments yesterday, Xtine Hutch suggested decorative buttons instead of the tie for the back. For now, I've tied a square knot instead of a bow however it's a thought for the other three buttons except that there are two button holes, one each side of center, and placing buttons over the holes wouldn't work for spacing. I'll see if I wear the cardigan as is with the tie before making any more changes. I'm also considering shortening the full length sleeves to three quarters but want to wait and see what top I sew to go with.

Note - I wrote this posting yesterday around noon and then Kathie wrote with her suggestion and LinB with hers. Great minds think alike. I'll check out other knot tying possibilities as well.

The edges of the button band and the organza ribbon were basted together. I used red thread in the bobbin and then stitched 1/8" away. This created an even flange from the wrong side with little difficulty. The edge of the button band was serged for a clean finish.

To prevent the neckline from gaping, I re-cut the line at center front angling it 3/8" outward to make the neckline smaller. I don't think that was too much because the neckline sits smoothly against the body but the upper button appears to pull slightly - probably more to do with the nature of knit even though the band is stabilized with interfacing. I may move the button over a bit. It's another one of those possibilities that depends on whether it bugs me and if I actually do up the buttons.

I pondered where the bottom of the band should finish and tried both full length and even with the top of the check trim. Full length looked more intentional.

Above is the before image. Below is the finished front. I think it's a vast improvement and hopefully more flattering on me as it is on Millicent. Either way, it was fun to do.

YEARS ago, I proposed a book to my publishers called Take Two: Original Designs From Bargain Basement Finds. They turned me down. It's interesting that what was too far over the edge then would be right on trend now. I'm not sure I'd want to write that book now or if I did, it would certainly follow a different format but I'm thrilled that one of the big take-aways from the workshop was realizing how much I enjoy this type of free-form work and seeing in Diane's methods a way of moving forward. Now that the cardigan is finished, it is - finally - time to continue with the workshop skirt.

Talk soon - Myrna

Grateful - payday and two weeks of successfully developing new habits