I wear a lot of separates. This fact became obvious to me when I rearranged my closet this week to make room for Spring clothes. There’s nothing wrong with a good separate, and we all need them, but OMG. My closet is crammed with mix and match items. It’s a bit overwhelming when it comes time to choose. I might have to rethink my look a bit as we move into Spring…
Nevertheless, I am posting more separates today, both made from Yummy Sweater Knits. As you all know, I am such a fan. And this layered outfit includes two chunky knits, one from cotton, the other from a wool/poly blend. They are so, so comfortable to wear. Honestly, you just can’t go wrong with them.
The white top is a good basic, made from a chunky cotton knit feels so good against my skin.
I used Vogue 8925 for this top.
I cut bias strips of the same cotton knit to embellish the cuffs and neck. To get the gently frayed look, I left the edges unfinished and the raw edge becomes a bit of an embellishment that way.
The black cardi-wrap is cut from eyelash knit, a chunky fabric with a unique furry texture. I’m not sure you can tell this from the photos, but the fabric is as dense as my cat’s fur.
The pattern for this wrap is Butterick 5789 with a few modifications. I used View E but left off the front bands.
To get the wrapped look, I overlapped the fronts, adding three vintage buttons to keep them together. Buttons make the world go round, don’t you think?
Because this black knit is super stretchy, I stabilized the front with a bit of interfacing to support the button holes and buttons. Sweater knits are pretty forgiving, but even the heavier weaves don’t seem to be able to support the weight of a button without a bit of help. I used an overlock stitch for the stretchy seams. I finished the edges by turning the fabric under and stitching. It worked well because this knit is so dense, the stitches just disappeared into it :). The bad news with a knit like this is that a mistake is almost impossible to correct. You’ll lose your mind trying to remove those lovely, buried stitches!
Overall, I’d say this cardi-wrap will be a favorite for me. I’ll be able to throw it on over anything! The downside is that it’s black, a color that doesn’t work well with orange cat fur, but what does?
Have you tried to sew buttons on sweater knits? Any tips to share? Happy sewing and thanks for stopping by.
