Basically great

Hi there! Hope you’ve had as much glorious sun wherever you are today as we have; it suddenly seems to be spring!

I wanted to share an extremely plain make with you today; unusually for me, I made a wardrobe basic which will probably get loads of wear!

A couple of weeks ago, I went on an overlocker course.  As part of the day you needed to bring a pattern with you already cut out and marked up.  Because the course instructions mentioned it, I went off and bought New Look 6315, cut out (not traced! 😱) the cardigan and cut into this rather gorgeous navy ponte, bought from Girl Charlee when they first opened in the U.K.

I wasn’t totally happy with it because I really wanted to learn to do a jersey neckband on the overlocker and this pattern clearly doesn’t have one. Thankfully, someone else who’d been on the course commented on my IG photo and said what they’d made, so I very quickly cut out the Briar t shirt in some very cheap, stripy, floaty jersey (hey, if you’re going on a course, make it as tough as possible whilst you have support available!)

I made the Briar on the day, learned the skills, wasn’t thrilled with the fit (hence you haven’t seen it here) or the cheapy fabric but marked it down to experience.

But I came home with this lovely, expensive ponte all cut out and ready to go so I decided I’d give it a go on the overlocker and make sure I could actually do it.

And I managed it! There was some sewing machine use, largely for top stitching and a fiddly bit around the neckline, but the rest was entirely done on the overlocker.

One tip I did pick up on the day and will use again is, where there is a corner point you’re required to snip up to after sewing to allow your fabric to move, instead of double stitching or something for strength, we were told to put a little square of fusible interfacing over the pivot point and it was SO much easier and more stable to work with.

I’m actually surprised by how much I like this cardigan. Yes, it’s not that exciting, it doesn’t have an amazing print or intriguing design details. But it feels gorgeous, and it will work with large portions of my spring/summer wardrobe, meaning I can wear them to work in an office which is either tropical or freezing but never anywhere in between and know I will be comfortable.  And it’s just that bit more stylish than the usual long cardi.

So there you have it; I feel to have mastered the overlocker and, instead of just having made something that demonstrates the techniques but is never going to see the light of day again, I’ve got a good wardrobe basic.

Everyone’s a winner!

(Btw, all photos today are courtesy of my 6 year old; apparently I look quite tall from her angle, but possibly with more chins 😳)

Becca x