The Late Night Sewist

Hi!

It doesn´t show I guess, but I am doing something sewing related every day, if I can´t literally stitch, at least I can tape patterns or do some other preparatory work. And I have been sewing like mad recently as well, great fabrics are waiting and my head is full of ideas. However, life with two little kids has its own plans sometimes and some things take more time than they should. These three Lisbon cardis could have been made in a week, but it took me maybe four? Among other things of course!

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When I noticed this Itch to Stitch cardigan pattern, I knew that there will be more than one of these in my wardrobe. Why? Because you can make them in basically any fabric combination you can imagine, but what immediately came to my mind was that I could achieve a rather pulled together look with the comfort of a hoodie.

For the first one, I had fabric in my stash, for the last two, I shopped already with Lisbon on my mind. All of the black details are made of the same fabric, a remnant of leather-look ponte that I had in my stash. For the first two cardigans I used the wrong, simply black side of it but for the last one, I decided to go with the leathery effect.

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Because taking the photos can be a problem if you have to line up a sleeping baby, the brief sunlight of the winter and your own looks of the day (some days whatever I do, I don´t like myself on any of the photos) so I did not have the time to play around with various other garments in my wardrobe that can be paired with the cardigans, so just my Jalie Vanessa pants (another beloved pattern sewn x3) this time. However, after I completed the first version, I did take some pics combining the Lisbon with a pleather skirt:

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I made all three versions slightly different (in addition to the fabric choice, obviously!). The first one has five big buttons, the second has none and the final version has seven smaller buttons. By playing around with the pattern, I can also visualise it looking nice with a statement zipper….

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Just by a lucky chance, I was able to find perfect buttons for the pepita print version – the buttons have the same print embossed! This makes them look a bit leathery, again matching the leather look ponte that I used for the black details.

For a while already, I have been emptying my wardrobe of the ready-to-wear clothes that I don´t wear anymore and my secret goal has been to get to the point where the majority of what I wear is made by me. This will exclude sportswear, underwear, socks and knitwear since all of the years that I have been sewing, I have never felt the pull to make any of these things.

These cardigans take me closer to the goal in terms of having something easy and comfortable to wear in addition to all the dresses that I have made and will make more, but that are not always the most practical for my lifestyle.

In other news, I recently won a year of Burdastyle subscription! I can´t believe my luck, since as a rule, I never win anything, either the lottery (ok, I almost never play either) or any social media draws. However, I hit the nail this time! This generous prize was put out by Kadri, who is the administrator of the biggest online Estonian sewing community as well as one of the admins of Itch to Stitch Facebook support group. You should go and check out her sewing blog Kadristik!

Happy sewing!