I know what you’re thinking — another pattern test? Yes, and this is the third in the group, but I promise it’s just as good as the last two. Pattern Emporium decided to launch 3 patterns at once. They’re based in Australia so sometimes they’ll do that so they can hit the summer and winter seasons at the same time since over here in the US we’re in summer, but down there it’s winter. This one is the Grab A Cuppa Cardi and it’s being released this Thursday.
This one is a size 6 in the hip length with no adjustments other than adding pockets. The fabric is a cotton spandex that I got years ago, possibly a decade ago. I’ve had various projects in mind for it over the years, but never got to them and I’m (finally) getting to the point where I’m ready to just use the good fabric. It’s a great summer weight fabric when you want something to keep the breeze off but not make you sweat. And the floral pattern is feminine without being overly girly.
Interestingly, cotton spandex isn’t one of their recommended fabrics for this pattern. They recommend fabrics with a bit more elasticity so that it bounces back better, particularly for the neckline. However, this fabric actually had pretty good recovery so I decided to go for it and I’m quite happy with the result.
On sizing, it should be noted that I measure at a size 8 but I made a size 6 knowing that this is an oversized cardigan and I prefer my fit a little closer.
It’s a very straight forward pattern and I’ve already made a second (posting later this week). Especially if you don’t add any of the extras like buttons (I didn’t for this one) or pockets (I did for this one), it’s definitely something you can bang out in an afternoon so you could have one for every outfit. Okay, that might be a bit much, but you get my point.
Even though this is a knit, I actually used my straight stitch for the pockets and top stitching. I put in some interfacing at the shoulder seam for stability (per the pattern suggestion) and then topstitched on it to get the serged seams to lay flat. I also topstitched around the neckband and hem. Optional, as this fabric is thin enough that the seams could be pressed flat, but I thought it looked nice.
I’ll post another version of this soon so you can see some differences in sizing and fabric selection, but overall, another winner from Pattern Emporium.
