Made By A Fabricista: Which comes first – the fabric or the pattern?

Ah, the age old question garment sewers are often asked – do you choose the pattern first and then look for fabric, or do you buy fabric and then later decide what it will be when it grows up? If you are a sewist with a large fabric stash (like myself), then perhaps you are on Team Fabric. I would say I definitely lean that way, but there are also times when I land somewhere in the middle – I see a fabric and I think, I’ve just seen a pattern and these two would be perfect together!

And that’s how gorgeous dusty rose stretch velvet and a recently released cardigan pattern came together to create the newest addition to my wardrobe. And had me improvising a few things along the way.

First. I have to admit - I have a stretch velvet problem. I see it pop up on the website and I almost always grab it, especially if I see a sale. It’s not the easiest fabric to sew (it’s slippery as heck!), but I love it so much and I especially love using it in non-traditional ways. In my last blog post, I used a pink stretch velvet to sew up a classic sweater pattern. I’ve also sewn velvet tee shirts, and even velvet joggers! You can pair this fabric with the most basic of patterns and create something that works just as well at a holiday party as it does with jeans. Here is a picture of my problem (ie, the velvet shelves in the stash!)

Next, can we just hold hands and DROOL together over this fabric. The color is stunning – so vibrant and I love the way it catches the light. If there is any more left on the site, grab it! I have about a yard left which I plan to use for a short sleeve tee or top. Here’s a pic of the fabric:

And when I saw this fabric, the first pattern that came to mind was a recently released pattern from Ellie & Mac – the Brielle Boxy Cardigan. It’s a loose fitting design with multiple sleeve options and two lengths. And also two fits – relaxed and oversized. I chose oversized but then also sized down to avoid it being huge on me. Here’s the final result!

But I made a few modifications along the way – one out of necessity and one for preference. 

First, when I attached the neckband, which is three pieces sewn together and wraps all along the outside, I wasn’t paying close enough attention or I would have noticed that I didn’t line up the pieces correctly per the markings…and I ended up with some major gaping around the back of my neck. It looked terrible on me – I was so bummed out. And I had serged the band on, so removing it and repositioning it would have been a nightmare. So – I cut two small holes in the band on the inside and ran a small length of elastic from one side to the other to create some gathers, then handstitched it to the internal band layer. And it worked! Whew!

And my second modification was more personal preference. I really don’t love cuffs or overly long sleeves. My favorite sleeve is a three quarter length all year long (except for maybe July and August). I cut the bishop sleeve option (so sleeves that are very wide at the wrist and meant to be gathered to fit into the cuff), but instead of doing the gathering and cuff, I created a channel and inserted narrow elastic to gather the sleeve without the cuff. Here’s the result:

And finally, instead of sewing functional buttons and buttonholes, I just overlapped the neckband sides and sewed buttons directly onto the band. Before I did that, I did test to make sure I could easily pull the cardigan on and off without opening it. Plenty of room, so I went the easier route, plus style-wise, I probably wouldn’t have worn it open very often.

I love my new top / cardigan! I paired it with jeans here but I plan to wear this to the office with black pants and flats, or possibly a longer skirt and boots. And I see another version of this in my future.

Are you Team Fabric or Team Pattern? And if you’re not on Team Velvet yet, you HAVE to come join me!

Happy Sewing!

Andrea  |  @happy.things.here