Made By A Fabricista: Sew House 7 Toaster Sweaters

 

Here's hoping 2022 is treating you well thus far, sewing friends! I took a short break from sewing over the holidays, a lovely general breather, and I enjoyed planning some projects in the relaxed interim. While the weather remains chilly in California, I'm very happy to plan more temperature-appropriate tops to stay warm. I was poking around in the Patterns section on the site, and wow, has that grown! I generally sew PDF patterns that I print myself, but there is definitely appeal to just opening a pretty envelope and cutting right away. In perusing through the available selection, I realized some fabulous familiar designers are in the mix and I thought I might as well add to my arsenal. 

Off the bat, I will say I already adore Sew House Seven's patterns. I've sewn and tested a few, and they are indeed treasures. Everything fits together so nicely and has beautiful lines, and the instructions and illustrations leave no questions during the process. Nearly every SH7 pattern aligns with what style I want to regularly wear, so I know I'll sew these over and over again. 

I've long-admired the Toaster Sweaters and their wonderful variations as they popped up in the sewing community, and vowed to someday make them mine. With the season still chilly and toastiness on my mind just every waking minute, this moment in time seemed like the right time to finally dive in! 

I chose a pair of fairly different knit fabrics to try my hand at each version of the pattern. Toaster #1 is a rather boxy raglan with a turtleneck and finished with all bands (most excellent for a serger-only project if you're on the hunt). Wide stripes always call to me, and I knew they would look just right paired with this simple style. This version is for thicker, stable fabrics and this particular ponte surprised me, the drape is magnificent and much lovelier and less stiff than I was expecting, so the result neckband doesn't have the ability to stand up as intended. Such is the gamble with online fabric shopping, but this has an easy remedy. I let the neck drop forward like it wanted to, but then I realized that folding it inward would create enough bulk for it to stand up, and this shorter turtle-ish neckline is how I'm choosing to wear it. You could just as easily fold it outward, but since I cut this piece intending for the brown stripe to sit at the neck, I wanted to maintain that color blocking. Similarly, the cuffs look great folded in half to adjust the sleeve length, and the stripe blocking also matches nicely with this method. 

Toaster #2 is a more cropped, slit-style neckline with beautiful uneven side splits at the bodice hem. This one ended up as my favorite, but I didn't anticipate that initially. I love this blue! It's like a dark almost-periwinkle and the shade is really saturated. This interlock is also marvelous to work with; I found the recovery to be quite good, whereas some cotton interlocks just tend to stretch out and grow while you wear them. The hand has enough body to fold and line up the stripes almost effortlessly, and the cotton is still very soft against my skin. 

Of course I ordered matching thread, and if you're not doing this, it's an incredible service you're missing out on! I used my coverstitch to hem all around the slits, and my method is to stop at each corner and pull some slack thread at the needles so that I can lift them and reset them to line up at each 90 degree angle, and then pull the excess thread slack back up toward the spools before continuing to sew the next straight line across the hem. In this way I could continue sewing without cutting threads and realigning every corner while hemming. I also included the optional topstitching on the #1 version at all the shoulder seams, I love a good detail like that and find the extra effort is always worth my time. 

Both of these patterns deserve a spot in your wardrobe! Between the two versions, they accommodate a wide variety of knit fabrics. I will be on the lookout for for something particularly thick and stable to try another Toaster #1, and I can imagine wearing a new Toaster #2 for every season. I hope you're inspired to add some seasonal knits to your own wardrobe. ❤️

Happy sewing!

KATIE  | @kak513

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Unfortunately Fabric Mart Fabrics sell out quickly!
You can find similar fabrics by shopping the following category: PONTE KNITS & INTERLOCK KNITS.
You can also shop our collection of Sew House Seven patterns HERE.