Made by a Fabricista: Talvikki Sweaters and Wool Coats

I had been thinking about making some new turtleneck sweaters, when I saw the Talvikki Sweater pattern in the Fabric Mart's Indie pattern section. It had some really interesting shaping darts at the neckline, and I liked how boxy it was. So, I decided that it would be a fun take on a turtleneck and gave it a try- actually three tries!

The pattern has been discontinued on the Fabric Mart site, but you can get it directly from the Named website. It doesn't require a knit with a lot of stretch, so I used two different ponte knits and sweatshirt fleece for my versions. I styled all of my Talvikki sweaters with wool coats that I've made over the years with wool bought from Fabric Mart. If you've been a customer for a number of years like me, perhaps you will recognize some of the fabrics! Even though these particular wools aren't available now, hopefully they will give you some inspiration for your own coat ideas.


This first sweater was made using a metallic black ponte knit. It had more of a foil look to it when I bought it, but when I preshrunk the fabric, a lot of the sparkles washed away. That actually was fine by me- I like the more subtle glitter effect. My husband called it my "disco top"! Here you can see the darted neckline up-close.


In the side view, you can see that the back is considerably longer than the front. I did find that the vent went up a little too high for me, so I lowered it about 1-1/2". I also didn't want to roll up the sleeves, so I just shortened my sleeve about 1-1/2".


I made this light blue bell shaped coat from a gorgeous boiled wool about 5 years ago. The pattern was Burda Style magazine 11/2013, #116. I originally didn't like it- thought it looked to "old lady", but I actually really love it now! Sometimes you just have to let things grow on you.


For this Talvikki, I used a very firm sweatshirt fleece. I was a little worried that it would be hard to get over my neck with so little stretch, but it was totally fine. I made the 44/46 size, so your mileage may vary if you make a smaller size.


I like how it works with my "caponcho", a cross between a cape and poncho that I made 2 years ago with Vogue 8344. This was another really unusual wool fabric from Fabric Mart that I just couldn't pass up!


In case you are wondering, this is what the darts look like from the inside. I used a tracing wheel and tracing paper to mark mine. The darts are definitely a little tricky to make, but overall, this is a very quick project- I timed myself on the last one, and I finished it in about one hour (excluding cutting time, and considering that since this was the third time that I'd made it, I had figured out what I was doing!)


This one is made using the Carolina Blue ponte knit which is still available! You can see the back also has some neckline dart shaping- they are just shorter darts.


This coat was made 3 years ago using an Isaac Mizrahi stadium coat design in Vogue 1479. Working with a plaid design is always challenging. But, I really love making coats that aren't run of the mill, and often make at least 1 a year- sometimes more. This does however, mean that I have coats all over my house in all of the closets, because I never get rid of any of them!



I'm very happy to have these new Talvikki sweaters in my wardrobe! Did you buy any of the wool fabrics that I used for my coats when they were available? I hope that you have a great holiday season. See you in 2020!