Made By A Fabricista: Sweater Knits Done Two Ways

When it came in, I fell in love with its soft hand and drape. I immediately started to think of vintage men’s knit shirts from the 1950s and 60s. To work on my rendition, I used the Oliver shirt from Sinclair Patterns. This polo/ hoodie pattern gives you a both of options including sleeve lengths and if you want to make it a regular polo or a hoodie with a placket. I decided to go for the long sleeve version with the cuffs as I could see that as something I could easily wear for work or out running errands.

This was my first time working with this type of fabric and I will say it was a fun adventure. I had to keep my nail file at the ready while sewing because the fabric would catch on any unevenness. I even could have used with some tissue paper of my cutting table while I was cutting because it literally stuck to my cutting table due to all the cuts and scratches on the mat. I had to use extra precautions to make sure that all the fabric was caught into the seams as this slippery fabric tended to roll even after pressing. Overall, this was a quick make with nice finishing of the collar and neckline with bias binding tied into the plackets. I decided to keep this polo without buttons as I didn’t want to tempt fate trying to put buttonholes in this fabric because I totally sensed my machine would try to gobble it up even if I stabilized it. The result is a very nice polo that has a good place in my wardrobe with trousers or with jeans. I thought I was done….

But then I was scrolling online….

I don’t know how I came upon this pattern from La Maison Victor but once I saw It, I was thinking I wonder how that would look in a sweater knit to make it a bit more upscale. More than anything I was trying to understand how the pattern worked and since I still had some fabric left, I knew I had to try it! Overall, it’s a basic t-shirt but the front piece is folded in such a way that it adds this flap detail. I quickly cut it out and made sure I marked all the notches, so I knew what went wear. Once I got that down packed it was pretty easy and I put it together like a regular t-shirt on my BERNINA L860 serger. The nature of this fabric is that it is hard to get a good crisp press so I had to do a bit of work to keep that pleat detail strong in the front and it will require a little arranging to make sure that it will lay flat across the neckline, but it was a fun different make! Here I styled it with black denim and red accents and an oversized safety pen as a little accent. I can also see this under a moto jacket with jeans and boots for a bit of interest as I go out in the evenings, and it really transforms a regular t-shirt. It is always fun to try something new because it gives you a chance to explore different silhouettes and styles that are out of the box for yourself!

JULIAN | @juliancreates

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Unfortunately Fabric Mart Fabrics sell out quickly!
You can find similar fabrics by shopping the following category SWEATER KNITS.