Cocoon Cardigan

I have had the Cocoon Cardigan pattern from Patterns for Pirates (aka P4P) for over two years, but I recently just got around to making it (two days ago).  Here's the link to the pattern.

I made the cropped (short) version, with bands instead of sleeves. I carefully traced my size onto Pellon Easy Pattern (once known as Pattern Ease), and cut out the pattern pieces.

Because I knew I would be using a striped fabric, I traced the front twice.

I originally wanted to use a light sweater knit from Joann's, with a metallic stripe, but in my haste, I cut four fronts. This did not leave enough for me to cut the back:

So, I pulled out a different thin, sweater knit, also from Joann's:

This fabric curled so badly that I had to try to tame it:

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I was desperate to tame it, so I sprayed some liquid starch on it, and let it dry.

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I cut the bands first, since they used the entire width of the fabric. I did not want to cut the body and find later that I didn't have enough fabric width to cut the bands.

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The pattern calls for the narrow bands to be cut at 5". Because my stripes were approximately 1", I realized that I could cut blue/white/blue/white/blue, followed by white/blue/white/blue/white, making them impossible to match. Another method would be to waste some fabric by skipping a row. My final alternative was to cut them at 6" wide, which is what I did.

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I laid out the pattern pieces, being careful to line the stripes on the sides:

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I carefully lined up the pieces, right sides together, at the shoulders and side seams. I used mini clips to hold the pieces together:

After stitching these seams, I hung it up while I worked on the bands:

The fabric, being so thin and fuzzy, seemed to have a life of its own. The starch did not keep it from sticking to itself, and it was difficult to make it fold the way I wanted it. This shows the start of placing the bands wrong sides together:

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I worked carefully and tediously to get the bands to behave. I used clips to hold them together:

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I decided which part of the striped bands would face out, and kept in mind to always place that side on the right side of the bodice.

I attached the arm bands first, just to get the pieces out of the way.

I clipped the large band on the bodice, starting at the bottom and working my way up each side:

Because I used my serger, that was the last step:

Here I am, wearing my Cocoon Cardigan: