Skip to main content

Made by a Fabricista: Stripes for All

Image
By
Twinning!


My husband was appalled when he realized that I had made the two of us garments from the same fabric, and not for the first time.



But he can rest easy, because I will do my best to never wear clothes that match his. I'll have to be strategic and only wear my cardigan the day after Tim wears his t-shirt, to guarantee no mortifying overlap!


So, these two projects: I picked this sweater knit fabric from Fabric Mart with no plans, initially, and let the fabric tell me what it wanted to be.

The sweater knit fabric is a navy and white striped poly/cotton designer fabric, which is sadly sold out (but Fabric Mart has a ton of other sweater knits to choose from!). 

The sweater knit doesn't have much stretch, but so much texture and a nice drape! It unraveled a bit when cut (particularly the raised white stripes, which are kind of couched onto the navy knit fabric), so less handling was better.

I decided I needed to make myself a cardigan with the sweater knit... Because it wasn't particularly stretchy, I opted for the Seamwork Oslo cardigan, which is a drop-shoulder, shawl collar, loose-fit cardigan. I'd made it before and knew it has positive ease and doesn't require a stretchy knit. 


For my husband, I chose along-sleeved Liesl + Co Metro T-shirt, which I'd successfully made him in stripes, previously.

My Oslo is a size large, just like my first one, no fitting changes. But a minor construction change: I hemmed the cardigan after sewing the collar on, so the hem folded neatly up and over the seam.


Tim's Metro T-shirt is a size XL with long sleeves, same as last time. The only change I made was to slightly narrow the neckband.


Can we discuss my stripe matching across that front cardigan seam? Pretty happy with that!


I love how these both turned out! Both patterns work well with the drapey sweater knit and will surely be wardrobe staples for the two of us. But you'll never see us wearing them at the same time!


Comments

Post a Comment

Thanks for leaving a comment! All comments are reviewed before posting to help us eliminate spam. Your comment will be posted within 24 hours.

Recent Posts You Might Like

Return to work wardrobe in ITY – which is your favorite?

By
In June of this year, after spending nearly 11 years at my place of employment and after restructuring and cost cutting, I took a separation package. I was so fortunate to be able to take a few months off, and also to very quickly find a position with a new company. I start my new job on September 14th and I’m super excited!  This new position is also different for me in that it is local to my area (whereas before I worked remotely and traveled to the office every few weeks) – so I’ll be going into the office three times a week. So of course I needed to sew up some new outfits! I’m a huge fan of ITY knit fabric ; ITY stands for interlock twist yarn, which describes the way the yarn is knitted together. I love it for tops, dresses, skirts, and even pants: it’s comfortable, easy care, low wrinkle, and comes in so many beautiful prints. I sewed up three new outfits over the last two weeks and I’m excited to share them with you today! Oh, and also – I need help choosing what to wear fi...
18 comments
Continue Reading »

Sewing With Intention: New Look 6106 and a More Coordinated Wardrobe

By
Sometimes a sewing project begins with a beautiful piece of fabric or a pattern you just have to make. This one began with my closet. Recently, I did a major closet purge. I took a good look at what I actually wear, what I kept reaching for, and—maybe more importantly—what was missing. Once the pieces I no longer loved or wore were gone, something became very clear: I want to be more intentional about what I sew next. Instead of sewing individual pieces that I love but don't necessarily wear together, I want to build a wardrobe where my handmade garments coordinate with the clothes I already own—and with the pieces I'm planning to sew next. For this month's Fabricista project, this beautiful lightweight shirting from Fabric Mart turned out to be a wonderful place to start. The Fabric That Started It All Fabric Mart provided this beautiful oatmeal and black heathered shirting , along with the matching thread for my project. One of the things I love most about this fabric is ...
9 comments
Continue Reading »

Sometimes The Fabric Chooses The Pattern

By
Have you ever fallen in love with a fabric and immediately envisioned exactly what you wanted to make, only to realize halfway through the planning process that the fabric had other ideas? That’s exactly what happened with this project. I used Fabric Mart’s Black/Dark Cobalt/Smoky White Poly Foliage Print Chiffon , and while I initially had plans for a detailed dress, the fabric ultimately led me in a completely different direction—and I’m so glad it did. When I first saw this gorgeous chiffon print, I was immediately drawn to the rich color palette and beautiful movement. The dark background paired with the cobalt and smoky white foliage creates a striking look that feels both dramatic and versatile. My original plan was to make a dress with princess seams, buttons, and more structured design elements. However, after spending time with the fabric, I realized that all of those seam lines and construction details would compete with what makes this chiffon so beautiful: its drape, moveme...
6 comments
Continue Reading »

The Perfect Plan for this Linen Blend! Until I Changed My Mind.

By
Hello Sewing Friends!  It’s Sharon from Sharon Sews with another Fabricista make.  When I saw this linen blend designer fabric on the Fabric Mart Fabrics website, I was intrigued.  After all, I, like many of you, love to find designer fabrics at an affordable price. It is a linen/nylon/rayon/Lycra blend, and I wondered what the designer had created with the fabric as I wasn’t familiar with that combination of fibers.  Surprisingly, I discovered a sleeveless, lined, mid-length vest in the same color with an almost identical fabric composition. Perfect! I’ve been wanting to sew a longer vest with matching pants, and that discovery confirmed this fabric would work beautifully for the look I had in mind.  The vest I’m wearing, from the June 2026 Burda Style magazine, it is not what I was originally going to make.  You see when I found the designer’s vest, I remembered seeing a Butterick pattern that was almost identical.  I ordered the pattern excited to...
4 comments
Continue Reading »