how to make a grandpa cardigan

Transcription

1 Notes: Grey denotes the wrong side of fabric, white denotes the right side of fabric, and red denotes stitches. This tutorial is based on: o A loose style grandpa cardigan (there s a good couple of inches of ease), for my measurements B=36, W=30. Approx finished measurements of this cardi are B/W~38, L~25, Sleeves~25. If you prefer a closer fit then take some bulk out of the side seams, and obviously if you require a larger cardigan add on to the side seams o Using a low stretch knit fabric. If you are using a very stretchy jersey (like a 4 way stretch), then make the cardigan a little smaller to account for the extra stretch, otherwise you ll look like baggy town! o Using an overlocker/serger for all sewing. If you don t have one, then you can use the zig zag stitch on your machine instead, no sweat! If you would like a more classic cardigan, then I would take some ease out of the sides (ie instead of cutting the front & back out of 28 x 10 rectangles, maybe use 28 x 9 or 8 rectangles), and instead of cutting a v for the front, cut a higher rounded neckline. Of course if you do this, you will have to make different binding strips. Steps: 1. Cut out your cardigan pieces: In the below pictures you would cut out the pink sections. If you have a French curve, then use it for the curved sections, otherwise you can just eyeball it, knit fabric is very forgiving! a. Front (x2) b. Back, cut on the fold c. Sleeve, cut on the fold d. Neckline bindings, 2x small rectangle, 1 x large rectangle with triangle ends (ordinarily I would say to cut your bindings on the bias, but since we are using stretchy fabric, you can get away with cutting them across grain) Page 1 of 6

2 2. Place the front & back pieces together, seams lined up & right sides together. Sew the side & shoulder seams together 3. fold the sleeves in half (right sides together) and sew the seam up 4. Attach the sleeves to the cardigan. I find the easiest way is to turn the sleeves right way round and put them inside the cardigan, so that the raw edges are free to sew, and the cardigan body & sleeves are right sides together Page 2 of 6

3 5. with the sleeve still inside out, fold 3 inches over, then fold that section inwards, so that you have a folded edge and a raw edge. Sew along the edge 6. Do the same with the bottom of the body pieces. Fold 3 inches over onto the wrong side, then fold the doubled over section onto the right side, so that you have a raw edge and a folded edge to sew. Sew along that edge. Page 3 of 6

4 7. Sew the 3 neck binding pieces together. Take on 6 strip & place it right sides together on the 38 strip. Note, the 6 strip has a flat edge and the 38 strip has a triangular edge, so you will need to sew half of the 6 strip edge to one side of the triangle, and half to the other side of the triangle, as so: 8. Now fold the neckline binding in half with wrong sides together It should look a little like this Page 4 of 6

5 9. Then place the binding on the cardi right sides together, matching the neckline edge with the 2 raw edges of the binding. & sew. Note: match up the seamlines of the binding with the corner edge of the neckline. Also you will need to stretch the binding a little as you sew to get it to match up with the neckline, this is okay as it ensures that the binding won t be baggy and will conform to the right shape. 10. Now it s time for closures! I did buttons with button holes, but you could of course use snaps, or if you are planning to wear it open all the time, I guess you could really skip the closures. Page 5 of 6

6 11. Optional extra You could also add some pockets to your cardi. If you wanted to you would need to cut out pocket pieces in step 1, then fold over 1 inch (so that wrong sides are facing) and stitch, and then top stitch onto the cardigan with raw edges enclosed. You really need to be careful with this as it can be hard to top stitch a very stretchy knit, so it might be a good idea to practice first. But I normally find that it goes quite well if you stretch the fabric a little as you sew. Page 6 of 6