I finally found a cut and sew knit to use! I’ve been wanting to make the Esther cardigan since early fall. I found this beautiful 100% wool earthy red-orange rib knit with specks of brown and yellow at VogueFabricStore.com. The fabric was surprising stable for a knit and it’s cuddly soft and cozy, especially on the inside.
Esther is a great pattern. It was easy to sew, went very quickly, and the fit is true. I hardly ever finish a project in one day because of all the child-related interruptions. I spent an hour and a half cutting out the fabric in the morning then had to put it away to do other stuff. I started sewing after supper at 6:00pm and finished at around 11:00pm.
The only alteration I made was adding 2 inches to the sleeve length. This made the pattern go right to the edge of the 60 inch wide fabric. If you need to add more than 2 inches, add the rest to the sleeve band. I think any other alterations would be difficult since there are no lengthen/shorten lines on the pattern. Maybe its a flexible enough shape that it would fit most torso lengths.
100% wool rib knit
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Sep 28, 2011, 01.47 AMby nancyzl
Just saw your cardigan, soo nice ! I have similar 45 inch wide fabric… would that width work for the pattern ? thanks, nancy in NJ
1 Reply
Oct 9, 2011, 11.02 PMby dcollins45
The pattern instructions say you need 59" wide fabric. The way the sleeves are one piece with the body of the sweater is the reason you need the wide fabric, So I don’t think the 45" fabric would work.
You could print the pattern and lay it out on the fabric to see how much you would have to shorten the sleeves. I’ll bet it would be cute with a 3/4 or elbow length sleeve, too!
Feb 24, 2011, 05.18 PMby smallone
oh, lovely work!
1 Reply
Feb 25, 2011, 09.58 PMby dcollins45
Thank you!