Hello again! I’m back with my entries for the Sweater Contest over at PatternReview. I don’t expect to win, I simply wanted to join in on the fun and try my hand at drafting my own pattern.
I have a sweater that I love; it has been worn, washed and dried a zillion times. It’s even taken on black dye from stupidly washing it with some black silk twill fabric which created a really cool gray coloration. Unfortunately it only lasted for 4 more washes. The sweater is 100% cotton and can has withstood a lot of abuse….thankfully. So it was my inspiration.
I began by laying it out flat on my cutting table and tracing each seam-line, the sleeve and half of the front and back.

Then I used my trusty French curve to true each line and added a 3/8″ seam allowance. Each seam was walked to make sure they would sew together evenly. I love this process of technical thinking. One of the coolest new tools I have is a Curve Runner that is for measuring curves! It makes it so much easier to be accurate. This proved to be essential for measuring the neckline and Raglan sleeve seam-lines.

Drafting a Raglan-sleeve top is pretty basic and IMO is much more forgiving as far as fit goes. We all expect some extra fabric in the armhole…its the nature of the style. I decided to draft the waistband, sleeve cuffs and neckline pieces at 7/8 the length of the seam. This is something that can and will change based on the amount of stretch of the binding fabric. I made a total of 3 versions, thus the name Sweater No. 3.

I ended up making four in total before I reached my final version. What was really great, is that I ended up with liking all of them. Each is made from different fabrics which undoubtedly changes how the top fits, but I was really looking for a loose-fitting top like in my cream-colored version. I don’t have a picture of my 3rd one yet, but will add it when I get around to another photo shoot.

Version #2 …this link will take you to my PR review where i explain the fabric and other deets.
Version #4…this link will take you to my PR review where i explain the fabric and other deets.
Fabric Used:
- Version #1 is a swirly textured polyester blend sweater knit purchased from SilhouettePatterns.com
- Version #2 is a polyester rib-knit from Fabric.com
- Version #3 (not pictured) is a french terry cotton
- Version #4 is a textured sweater knit with matching ribbing from O’Jolly.com
I really enjoyed this whole process and it only took a day and a half from start to finish. I want to make more patterns and learn how to draft (and grade) in Adobe so I can make PDFs. Then…if anyone wanted one, I could offer pattern downloads. All in good time!
Disclaimer: none of the links in this post are affiliate nor do I get anything for linking. I simply want to share in case it may help a future sewing friend!
Thanks for getting all the way to the end. Have you self drafted any of your makes?
I would love to hear what you think, so drop a comment below so we can meet or better yet, link your blog if you have one!
It is so fun to draft your own patterns. It gets a bit more tedious when you digitize it (IMO) but I would sew this up! It looks great! You can wear it with all your cute handmade jeans!
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Yes, pencil and paper is what i love to do…i love the technical numbers and lines. However, to get up to the speed of other indie’s I must learn to digitize….thus taking the pattern workshop with Lauren of Baste+Gather. Have you seen that course? It is pretty good so far…although i still haven’t committed to illustrator yet. Its such a financial commitment!
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Nice work. I haven’t drafted my own patterns since I was a beginner sewist (they were pretty bad). I usually have a pattern already that I can hack to make what I want.
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Hacking works too! I’ve done a tiny bit of hacking, but it usually ends up being totally redrafted…so I claim it as mine :).
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Great Job, Baby. I’m Very PROUD of YOU! Love You Work Hard, Do Your Best, Keep Your Word, Never get too big for Your Britches, Trust in God, Have No Fear, and Never forget a Friend. ~Harry S. Truman
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Geni Arthur “Live the life you love, Love the life you live” ~Geni
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