Say Grr Sewing: Cowl Neck Sweater and Brown Knit Skirt

In an attempt to 'catch up' slightly on blogging, here are two garments I made last year!

The first is a lightweight French Terry sweater with a cowl:

I used my (very modified) version of the Lane Raglan pattern for this and added an almost-rectangle (just slashed and spread a teeny bit to get some drape) for the cowl.

I didn't want to end up with a shawl-type collar like I accidentally did on this sweater, so I was very, very conservative when adding width- I think something between the two would be even better, but I do like how this worked.

Recalling how tight this sweater was, I initially added width along the side and sleeve seams, but I ended up serging off everything I'd added to the side seams. (And then I tried that hoodie on again, and found that it fit! Aside from the sleeves still being a bit too slim.)

I thought I'd switch things up and band the hem this time around, but I wish I'd stuck with hemming it... I really prefer the way the curve of the hem looks on me! I may attempt a looser, curved band at some point though.

The sleeves have cuffs rather than hems too:

I added a pocket- I took the pattern piece for this from the Finlayson Sweater, since I had it out from making a sweater for my brother-in-law and it looked like a comfortable size for my hands. The pocket is my favorite part!

I twin-needled it on, and connected the bottom edge when I sewed on the hem band.

This was a polyester/rayon/spandex blend French Terry from Girl Charlee- it was thinner and had more drape than I anticipated, but still worked for this.

I don't think I'd use it for anything with a zipper or structure though. I actually managed to wash the fabric and sew it into this a mere day after it arrived! That was definitely a first for me!

Now for this skirt- this has been worn so much! And the photos I took of it weren't all that great, but it's worn frequently enough that it's always dirty when I think of re-taking them, so this is what I'm going with!

I realized last fall that I could really use a skirt shorter than ankle-length for exercising in- plus I have chunky thighs and need some sort of legging or shorts to stay comfortable. So I put those requirements together and made a 'skegging'!

I used the free Mountain Pose pattern from Hey June Handmade for the legging portion, shortened to Capri-length. While the pattern isn't ideal, these still fit better than any leggings I've found in stores, when combined with this waistband. The skirt and waistband are from the Syrah pattern- I cut the skirt between the knee and maxi length for this, and slightly tipped the hem to make it more level back-to-front when worn. I unfortunately didn't measure myself, and used the same size as when I first sewed this pattern a couple of years back, so it's a little tight.

I added a pocket to this too!

I used power-mesh instead of swim lining inside the waistband for these, and to make the pocket opening I sewed it in a narrow rectangle right-sides together with the outer fabric, about an inch below the fold-line of the back waistband. Then, I cut the rectangle open as for a welt pocket before flipping the power-mesh inside, top-stitching a zipper in place underneath, and sewing the rest of the waistband. Finally, I stitched a straight line to either side of the zipper from top to bottom of the waistband to keep any pocket contents from shifting. This is where I really wish I had a better photo!

The power-mesh was a bit too strong of a fabric to use as a waistband lining here without sizing up a bit, especially since it ends up double-layered. And of course the skirt being a size too small to begin with exacerbated that problem.

The waistband is definitely on the tight/structured side! In addition, the power-mesh was a different color than my main fabric, so it shows a bit around the pocket opening, but overall I'm pleased with how the pocket addition worked out.

The brown knit was a 12-oz cotton spandex from Nick of Time Textiles. I really love the structure of it for this! It's thick enough that I didn't include a skirt lining for this one.