I SEWED!!!

So Thing 2 and I were attending a wedding, as we were going to have to go directly from wedding to hockey rink. I wanted to wear something that was comfortable and would translate well between the two. I have a knit maxi skirt that looks nice and is very comfortable, and I decided to go with a V-neck T-shirt (because Missouri in July!). But a) that's not terribly dressy, and b) no pockets. So....enter the short-sleeved cardigan plan. Which is normally something that makes me ask "Why?" - because it seems weird. Why wear a cardigan if it's short-sleeved? Well, in this case, it's to dress up an outfit and give yourself pockets.

I thought I had black stretch lace, but unfortunately I had merged "hunter green stretch lace" and "black stretch velveteen" in my head and gotten the wrong idea. Hunter green wouldn't go, and velveteen wasn't the look I wanted. Off to JAF I went, where I briefly flirted with a celestial stretch velvet and a a sparkly stretch velvet. (The bride is super sparkly and would have approved of either.) But then I remembered that this was so not me. Instead, I found a black stretch crepe. 

Aside from not using three-quarter sleeves, I made this exactly as I have previous versions. Oh, and I did go down one size. I figured this isn't as drapey as the cotton-Lycra prints I've used, and I wanted it to be a little more figure-hugging. The arms are definitely tight, and I measured the length of the sleeve opening after sewing the shoulder seams, then matched that with the bands. I think it worked out a lot better than using their listed lengths.

 

As previously noted, the pattern does not call for stabilizing the shoulder seams, but I think it's a good idea. This fabric is more stable than my prior versions, so I didn't need to stabilize behind the pocket attachments, but I did stabilize the shoulders. Since there was no chance of the fabric being seen (either colors or just the added thickness) from the outside, I decided to have some fun with colorful scraps.

All in all, I was happy with this make. I will try tracing off a larger size just at the lower armscye next time, though, because the "sleeve" was still pretty tight. A common complaint with this pattern.