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:

New Pillowcase Tutorials

Look on my tutorials page for these new additions:

I have added the tutorials to show how to make these pillowcases.  This tutorial is to make king-sized pillowcases and uses a serger and a sewing machine:

This tutorial is to make standard sized pillowcases, and uses a serger and a sewing machine:

Also look in the tutorials for how to dress a pillow so the pillowcase will not fall off:

I Interrupt this Dress with Pillowcases!

Yes, I needed a change of pace - a quick-er pick-er up-per.

I had already bought these fabrics just for making pillowcases - except for the fabric left over from my dress (upper left fabric):

So far, I have finished the white pillowcase liners, shown underneath at the right, and the red print pillowcases.  Since this fabric has printing along one edge, I sewed the pillowcases with the printing at the opposite end from the hem so I could cut off the words:

This is my quick version of pillowcases.  I use the full width of the fabric, preferably in the 42- to 45-inch range.  I always buy 1-1/4 yards of woven cotton fabric for each pillowcase and prewash (washer and dryer) three times before cutting it out.  I cut across one end to even the fabric. The liner fabric is shown here with the big ruler ready for the cut:

First I measure 21" from the trimmed edge:

Then I roll up the fabric, skootch it across the cutting mat, and cut another 21" beyond that, for a total length of 42".

Note: When making pillowcase liners, the second cut is 20" for a total length of 41". This tutorial was originally written before I started to make the outer pillowcases bigger.

Here are all my printed fabrics on the ironing board, ready for the next step:

I used a selvage for the hems of the printed fabrics, but the white fabric had two unfinished selvages.  I serge-finished one edge of the liners for the hem.

The fabrics were folded crossways, which folded each selvage in half.  A pin was placed three inches from the selvage at the cut edge ...

... and at the folded edge:

I used the pins to fold the hem down:

I pinned all along the cut edge:

Here is a pile of pillowcases ready to be stitched:

I stitched them together on the serger, making it a quick project.  I started at the hem, leaving a thread tail:

I stitched down the length of the pillowcase, angled in a bit at the end, and stitched off the fabric.  I then stitched across the end of the pillowcase, crossing the previous stitching at the side, and tapering in at both ends of that stitching.  This tapers in the corners just a little bit.  This is when the printed selvages were cut off:

I used a double-eyed needle to tuck in the thread tails.  At the hem, I weave the needle between the hem and the pillowcase, pointing it towards the fold of the hem, and then out:

Once the needle is in place, I thread the tails into the needle and pull it back out.

When the thread tails are too long, I trim them.

Next, I steam press all the stitching, and then I pin and press the three-inch hem in place:

I stitched the hems in place along the selvage edges using my sewing machine:

Here is the end result: