I'm happy to say that my handmade gifts were finished before actual Christmas, with minimal amounts of panicked rushing! ...Actually, the last seam was sewn at around 3am on the 25th, but I can still consider that Christmas Eve. And let's not address me foolishly thinking everything would be ready by my original self-imposed deadline of the 15th when I started on the 2nd. Nope.
First up, a wide wale corduroy jacket for my brother using fabric-stores.com's (free!) Paola pattern. It's an easy and relatively quick pattern to sew with some personally favorable details, like patch pockets and flat-felled seams. It took me about 3 days.
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| Flat-felled interior, ignore the raggedy facing. |
I actually bought some thread purely as a color match without realizing it was a heavy-duty outdoor thread, something I would normally avoid using for seams but ended being great for visible topstitching and the buttonholes. The black all-purpose thread I normally use just sank into the pile of the corduroy, so I didn't have to worry about mismatched colors at all.
I was a little worried about cutting the wrong size despite its oversized nature and the boxy, unisex silhouette but it turns out the 4/6 size was almost perfect. The bottom and sleeve hems are exactly correct. The armholes could be slightly wider and the armscye lower but he's not bothered because the material is soft, flexible, and doesn't uncomfortably cut into his armpit like a stiffer corduroy would. It behaves more like a shirt than a jacket but maintains the warmth of light fall/spring outerwear.
My favorite thing is the bronze buttons. They really compliment the jacket's particular shade of brown. I was lucky enough to find them in my existing stash of buttons, which is great because I'm trying to avoid buying more. I don't know how long I can keep it up for, however! Nothing left in the stash is nearly as cool as these wide metal ones. Can't complain, though. Everything in this project worked out through good guesswork and happenstance.
Gift #2 was made for my father and was actually completed last, but I decided to list it here because it’s actually another Paola, modified! It’s made from a plain sweatshirt fleece, intended to be between a hoodie and bomber jacket. Paola’s normal silhouette is so simple that merely adding ribbing around the cuffs, hem, and neck really distinguish it from the original design.
This jacket has a total of 6 pockets, with 2 outer front pockets typically seen on hoodies and 4 hidden patch pockets in the flannel lining. I made sure the lining and outer fleece were the roughly the same shade of black so I could get away with not sewing a facing around the neckline and center-front. Even with a lining, I think this jacket took around the same time as my brother’s jacket.
The sleeves were left unlined to reduce bulk and maintain softness and mobility, which may have been a mistake. I never intended the jacket to be very warm, as I just wanted a lining that was both durable and soft. But, flannel, you know? It’s probably not good that the bodice is almost twice as thick and warm as the sleeves. Yikes on my part. Shortcuts are good and possible, but be judicious about what things are worth cutting short.
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| LONGASS zipper ripped out of an old hoodie that I made for MYSELF. (My dad is 5’8” and I am 5’3”) I think I was going for an athleisure wizard robe look? |
I am pretty proud of the rest of garment, however. I figured out how to bag a coat shell and lining without instruction from a previous project, so it’s nice to revisit the technique now that my skills are sharper. Very pleased with 95% of all seams fully concealed and any/every excuse to avoid using my overlocker.
Finally, the most labor-intensive project of the bunch: a pullover sweater that I hand-knit for my mother over the course of 2 weeks. It's made with a DK weight superwash wool in the colorway Delft Heather from the brand Swish, purchased from knitpicks.com. It was the first time I shopped there. Jury's still out on whether I like the yarn or the website.
Naturally, this means I must have used a good, reliable, positively-reviewed pattern from Ravelry or something. Right? Right???
¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Mostly not. Heh.
I used this raglan sleeve sweater pattern generator from knittingfool.com, which takes your gauge and gives you instructions using basic multiplication and division. Even with this minimal-step, customized pattern, I only somewhat followed along.
I knitted the armscyes near to the armpit because the base pattern features an armscye that lands closer the wearer's ribs. I then had to re-draft the sleeve because it my adjustment made it narrower than what the original pattern would produce.
I think I did alright with the initial sizing, although I had concerns about the garment being too small. I figured I'd just stretch it out slightly when I reached the blocking stage. This was an instance of me being too correct, because I hadn't accounted for the fact that the physical properties of superwash cause any project to grow significantly when it gets wet. Like, how the hell was I supposed to know?!
(The answer is knitting and blocking a swatch before you start and NOT after. Seems obvious in retrospect).
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| Hiss. Hiiiiiisssss. |
The sizing actually isn't terrible when my mother wears it. The part I'm not thrilled about is how the stitches loosened up. Tossing it in the dryer on low tightens the stitches up again, but at the risk of slight felting so that's not ideal. As is, it makes for a somewhat sheer and ventilated garment which is disappointing because I didn't intend for a required t-shirt or camisole underneath. The yarn is soft! The sweater is seamless! It's supposed to be a maximum comfort, maximum warmth garment! Dang!
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| :/ |
On seamlessness: it’s a bothersome way to knit but necessary for wearability, personally. I kind of hate knitting a seamless sweater’s sleeves. While preferable to the magic loop method, double-pointed needles are still a bit of a pain but it's worse when you're knitting with the bulk of the garment heavily hanging at the base. Next time, I might do a provisional cast-on and kitchener stitch the sleeves on later after completing the whole thing. I bought some 9-inch circular miniature needles to combat my annoyance with DPNs, but they seem difficult to hold and I suspect my hands might cramp up. Hm. I may have to accept that knitting narrow tube shapes sucks any and all ways.
Griping aside, I think my family really enjoyed what they got. Even if none of these things get worn they’ll be appreciated. And that’s another gift-giving philosophy I’m proud to have: once I give it away, it’s no longer my business what the recipient does with it and I don’t care about it anymore. Happy holidays! On to the next thing!
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