Wow!  Hard to believe it’s been a month since my last post.  It is my goal to post at least once a week, if not more.  Hmmmm, I fell a bit short of that goal in August.  Okay, enough guilt, let’s move on.  It’s a new month, new beginning.  Here’s my completed cardigan that I previewed in my one and only August post (so maybe I’m not past the postless guilt syndrome yet!):

In case it’s not obvious, that’s not me modeling the cardigan.  Until I’ve completed the entire outfit, I chose to simply show it on the headless woman who shares my sewing room studio.  I plan to sew a skirt and blouse to make a complete ensemble.

Here’s  a close up of the buttons and buttonholes. 

Buttonholes are not my favorite closure to sew, but I sucked it up and forged ahead.  Don’t get me wrong, my Bernina sews the most beautiful, perfect buttonholes I’ve ever seen.  It’s the simple act of cutting the slit in the buttonhole that rattles my nerves.  Once the initial cut is made, there’s no turning back – this is not a task for those afraid of commitment!  Four of the six buttonholes were a “clean” cut and I only clipped a few threads on the other two buttonholes when I cut the slit in them.  That’s success in my book.  I simply went back and sewed a new zig zag over the clipped threads.  This is a picture of one of the buttonholes that I “repaired”:

I’ve not fully commited yet to which pattern I will use for the complementary skirt and blouse, so until then, I’ve gone a whole different direction.  I have an almost-completed home dec project that I will share with you later this week.  Have a terrific Labor Day.

This is the pattern I’m currently using:

I just adore the look of classic pieces. The pillbox hat, although not included in the pattern, really intrigues me. I’ve always wished hats for women would come into fashion once again. Until then, I will wistfully admire them from a distance.

The cardigan is complete, sans the buttons and buttonholes.  I’m having a difficult time finding just the perfect buttons.  Therefore, until it is completely complete (?) I will just post a couple of detail photos.  The first one is the shoulder seam.  Ordinarily a piece of stay tape or stabilizer would be used here, but I opted for some ribbon from my scrapbook ribbon stash.  I really like the ribbon and it matches perfectly with the color of the knit fabric.  It’s a fun little detail that nobody will see but me, but it brings a smile to my face when I see it.  The second photo is simply to show that I used a 4.0 mm double needle to stitch down the sleeve and body hems.

Shoulder seam

Double stitched hem

My plan is to make a complete ensemble for fall.  I’ll sew the blouse from this pattern also.  I’m not sure which skirt pattern I will use.  The jury is still out on that one.  I also have an outwear garment targeted on the horizon.  Yes, my brain plans faster than my fingers sew!