To top it off: Jalie Pleated Vest

To go along with my pants and top that I shared the other day, I wanted to complete the look with a cardigan. I found this striped sweater knit from Simply By Ti and decided to try and make it work! It’s definitely bolder than what I usually would choose for outerwear (I’m a solids kinda gal), but I do love the colors in it.

My initial plan was to make the Jalie 2919 Pleated Cardigan & Vest with sleeves and make a short sleeved top to go under it. However, I failed to fully read the stretch requirement of the pattern before deciding to use it – and it requires 40% 4 way-stretch… and the knit I bought only had about 20% one way mechanical stretch! I don’t know why I didn’t pay attention to this detail before buying it… but I had to make it work!

To compensate for the lack of stretch, I decided to nix the cardigan sleeves and make my top long sleeved instead. I then added extra seam allowance to the side seams.

I decided to lengthen the cardigan to be around knee length. So I measured it, worked out how much extra to add (about 8 inches) and then the following day sat down and cut out the pattern with an extra 19 inches added. *womp womp womp* So, a bit longer than what I had intended, but I think it still works, yes?

I really tossed and turned about which direction to run the print. For a long time, I was going to have the lines running vertically, but in the end I chickened out and went with horizontal. I did do the collar vertically though, and to make sure the color was the same the whole way around, I did not cut the collar on the fold as instructed, and seamed it to some gray cotton lycra instead. To avoid having the collar flap around, I decided to hand stitch it down (I hadn’t quite finished stitching when I took these photos, so you can see some of the under-collar in some of the photos).

Anyway, the pattern itself is quite easy. The fabric is not hard to use but just a little challenging to work out how best to use it. I think it would make a great overlay for a skirt, and it would also be perfect for a lightweight scarf.

Simply By Ti has all sweater knits on sale this week for 25% off! Sign up for the Simply By Ti newsletter and join the Facebook group to get the coupon codes!

 

I’m a Simply By Ti Ambassador and received this fabric complimentary in exchange for review and promotion.

I’m a Jalie Patterns Creative Ambassador and received this Jalie pattern complimentary for purposes of review and promotion.