Made this wool pullover super quick yesterday. I need a new wool sweater since my old hand me down pretty much fell apart earlier this winter. But this one won’t make the cut as a new wardrobe staple, mostly due to the fabric. I ordered the wool rib knit from Denver fabrics (Fashion fabric club) and it was a mess to work with. It has zero stability, stretches like crazy the minute you touch it. You can see some of the waviness in the hem in the first photo. Sometimes I wonder why they bother making these kinds of fabrics, as they are pretty much useless, both to wear and to sew. Maybe this was a failed factory sample that Denver got hold off? I’ve ordered a few things from them lately and I have to say it has been mostly duds and the descriptions are so sparse and not entirely accurate either which makes purchasing a gamble. I much prefer shopping from vendors like Emma one sock and Gorgeous fabrics, the quality is higher and they really take the time when working on descriptions, which is invaluable when you can’t touch the fabrics.
However I’m happy with the style as such and I think it looks okay in the photos. I used Wendy Mullen’s raglan pattern from the book Sew U Home stretch and it went together very well. I drafted the turtle neck myself. So I will buy a better sweater knit and do this pattern again in time for next winter.
5 Comments
BeccaA
February 25, 2011 at 5:44 pmYou did a beautiful job matching the stripes. What a shame that the fabric is a disappointment. I agree about Emma One Sock and Gorgeous Fabrics. You get the quality you pay for, and their descriptions and quality are quite good.
sdBev-NL6538
February 25, 2011 at 5:51 pmNot quite right? Well it's not showing up in the pics. It looks great. However, I do understand what you mean about fabric descriptions. It's always a gamble. But for most of us in the US on-line with all the limitations is fast becoming our only access to fabric.
Johanna
February 25, 2011 at 9:24 pmBecca and Sdbev: Thank you for the comments! I am actually prowling EOS and GF now to see if I can find something better. The selection of sweater knits in Sweden is very limited unfortunatly. And Sdbev, ditto about fabric stores, I too have to buy more and more online
Marie-Christine
February 26, 2011 at 10:10 amIt is sad when we're driven to buy fabric online (no wool in Sweden? Sheesh!). I totally agree with you that not just good pictures but accurate descriptions are essential then, and that sites that don't bother should be avoided. Years ago I'd post Pantone colors with my yarns, which I thought was really necessary, I'm surprised it hasn't caught on because that's such an easy way to avoid color surprises, but whatever.
The ribs may be the tricky part for too much stretchiness? Anyway, as the others I think this looks just fine in the photo :-), so maybe you can at least wear it a bit, enough to keep warm till spring.
Angel
March 2, 2011 at 11:08 amIt's really a nice sweater, very casual and easy to wear. Ireally love it.