Sunday, December 18, 2011

It’s not a wadder but

It’s not really wearable either. I made McCall’s 6408 out of the lovely purple mohair/wool material I got in Idaho. Before cutting out the pattern, I read the reviews on Pattern Review, which I like to do for new patterns so I can avoid known problems. The reviewers uniformly said the pattern ran big so I cut a size smaller than I normally would. I should have cut two sizes smaller because the sweater is too big, and not by a little.

You can see in this picture that the arm seam is well below my shoulder. This pattern isn't supposed to have a dropped shoulder, though. If you look closely in front where my arm pit is, you can also see the material bunching up there. It’s also too big across my back.

To be honest, I’m not sure how to fix this. I don’t want to just start whacking away because I’m afraid I’d end up ruining the sweater. Other than being too big, it’s great. The mohair/wool combo means it’s warm, the color works well for me, and it’s something that could be dressed up or down because of the fabric. As it stands right now, I can wear it around the house and that’s really about it.

After Christmas, I will haul it into the fabric store I go to here and ask their advice. Other than that, I got nothing.

5 comments:

Judith said...

Well, poo indeed. If you ultimately decide not to use that fabric, would you please send it to me? My Woolgathers group would find great uses for it.

Diane Russell said...

You don't, by any chance, have enough to just recut the sleeves, do you? Or even just enough to add a panel at the seam of the sleeve?

Could you remove the sleeve, adjust the back and front at the side, and armholes, and then sew in a new sleeve? I guess that might make the sleeves a bit too big, eh?

That's absolutely beautiful fabric!

edj3 said...

I have nothing left except tiny scraps. This was the fabric I mentioned where I didn't really have enough to begin with--little did I know how big this pattern really runs.

I am considering cutting out the seam allowances and resewing the entire sweater--do you think that might work? If it doesn't, I guess I'm not any worse off than I am right now.

Diane Russell said...

I'm not really good at this kind of thing, but, if you can muster the patience to take out the seams, it would be worth a try.

edj3 said...

Not possible; I used a tiny zig-zag and between the tiny stitches and the wool knit itself, I would ruin the sweater taking it apart that way. Also I tried and stopped after one (ruined) stitch removal.