A Little Knowledge.....Vogue 8819

Two years ago I made up Vogue 8819 while we were renting an adorable little remodeled house in Florida for the month of March.  The weather was spectacular and I was sooooo happy to see old friends and not have the headache of a second home or nasty condo owners that I barely had time to sew.  All of this might explain why I breezed through the first version of this swing-y knit cardigan but never liked the neck and front band.  This summer I decided to revisit this pattern right before we left on our England and Wales trip.  I stitched up a black and white stripe version, black being a travel staple and the white stripes still feeling a little summery.  As I was putting it together I decided to actually look at the directions.  Ha, ha, ha, the joke was on me.  That front band that I found wonky and uncooperative.....not a front band at all, silly girl, but a facing.  Trust me, you do not want to try to turn a facing into a front band no matter how good your skills are.  

Correctly sewn version of Vogue 8819

Now I like this pattern so much that I just made a second one last week.  It is a transitional weather time of year when a light third layer is perfect over a sleeveless top and pants.  Both the stripe version and the bright splashy one are from Fabric Mart and I like how this pattern uses bias and stripes to make something a little more interesting than your standard long knit cardigan pattern.  I made a size S at the shoulders and neck, from the armscye a M, shortened the top section so that the seam would not hit me at my tummy and added an inch to the bicep in the sleeve.  I might consider doing a FBA on future versions.  

Vogue 8819 with chevron

After I made the black and white stripe one for our trip I saw my mistake.  Yes, the stripes are on the bias but they don't chevron across the cardigan front like I wanted them to.  Of course I was in a hurry when I was sewing it and it doesn't scream homemade but I was careful when I cut out the brighter version last week and put arrows all over the pieces and cut them single layered to keep my head clear.  I love color, texture and design but times like that you can understand why high school geometry was such a challenge for me.  

Love the back detail

Making sure those stripes fall where I want them to this time.

Oh, yes, I bet you want to see the wonky one from 2013 so here's the post.   Wrong version of Vogue 8819   Love the rayon knit since it feels like wearing pajamas but it makes me laugh when I see it.  Yes, a little knowledge and experience can be a dangerous thing.  I got caught "assuming" and you know how that ends.....

Look, it's a facing not a front band

One more project to post and I believe that will put me up to date.  I am just starting a fall project for a special event and will post my progress.  Until then I will remind myself to at least look at the directions before I start zooming at the sewing machine.