An experimental White Russian

Thanks for all of your comments on my last post. It seems that many of you have one or two sewing projects on the go at any one time, or have a knitting project alongside a sewing project. This seems much more manageable and reasonable to me and I’m glad that I have cleared most of my projects now – just four more to finish and three of them are very nearly at the end.

Moving on, here is another of my recent makes. There was a gaping hole in my winter wardrobe – a cosy sweatshirt for those cold days when all you want is something casual. I also completed a 5k which meant I got to buy a few patterns, including the White Russian from Capital Chic.

The fabric is bright aqua green sweatshirt which I got in a fabric swap in Leeds. Amy brought so much of it that I went halves with Ruth. I just cannot resist this colour – it is practically the same as my fitted winter fleece. It’s such a happy colour for mid winter. I couldn’t be bothered decided not to try and find ribbing that matched so went with the self fabric option for the cuffs, waist band and neckline. I had to squeeze all of the pieces out – reducing the seam allowance to 5mm in most pieces. I was slightly surprised how small these patterns are – I’m hitting right at the higher end of the sizing rather than my normal middling sizes. It isn’t a problem, just sometime to be aware of if you use these patterns.

I don’t have a lot to say on the construction as it is a simple and quick make. If you can get the tension right on your overlocker, I’m sure you could whip this up in an afternoon or less from start to finish. I struggled to get the tension right and it took a little longer than an afternoon. I used my twin needle on my machine for the first time on the neckline and waistband to hold the seam allowance in place although in the pictures it is only on the waistband for reasons that will become clearer later.

I wanted to keep the sweatshirt fairly simple with just a touch of detail. So what did I add? A turtle, of course! I used carbon paper to trace a copy of the turtle in my banner that my brother drew for me and then used a very narrow zigzag stitch. It is a long way from perfect but you can definitely see what it is meant to be!

This version is definitely a wearable toile. I wore the finished item for a full day travelling up to Sheffield and wandering around the city. It was a good test for the fit and I found a couple of things I didn’t like. First, it was way too big at the bottom and instead of staying warm I got rather cold at times. I also hated the neckband. The width of it is just too big for me and felt like it was creeping too far up my neck. I unpicked it, reduced the width by half and it feels much better to wear. I also took in the side seams by 2-3cm on each side to solve the shock of cold draughts. It has worked very well and the change in warmth was immediately noticeable. I'm also a lot happier with the neckline and don't notice it at all. I will stitch the neckband with my twin needle but that will need to wait while my machine is serviced (I'm missing it already and it has only been 24 hours!) 

So, not one of my best makes but it is a useful addition to my wardrobe and I think it will get a reasonable amount of wear, especially in the evenings when you want to change in your pjs as soon as you get home. I’m now on the lookout for more fabric to make another version. Any fabric suggestions?