Hot cocoa. Twinkling lights. Thick fuzzy socks. Cozy cardigans.

Winter is a wonderful time to hunker down with a good movie or book and get all snuggled up on the couch. It’s also a wonderful time to make and show off those cold-weather sewing projects!

I have a couple of RTW (ready-to-wear) cardigans I use at work, but they’re so thin and boring. Sigh. I have always been on the hunt for a cardigan that wasn’t quite so basic, but was also cozy yet flattering.

HELLO, OSLO.

I’ve had this Seamwork pattern downloaded and printed for what seems like forever. I just didn’t have the right fabric for it. That is, until I spotted this teal slubbed midweight sweater knit! (Whew, that was a mouthful.)

Just look at that texture!

At first, I was a little worried about how this fabric would sew up. I ran the raw edges through my serger before I pre-washed it and things got a little crazy. It was slipping and sliding and stretching everywhere. I thought this would end up being a difficult sew!

But once I had the pattern pieces cut out, I pinned the pieces together, drew in a deep breath, and eased it through my serger.

…and…

It went through with no problem! Whew! I have no idea what the big difference was, but the fabric decided to behave itself once it was game time.

Now be aware that the little knit loops in the fabric get EVERYWHERE once cut. It was snowing teal sweater bits in my sewing room as I was making the Oslo. But a quick vacuum job did the trick. 🙂

I followed the washing instructions on the Cali Fabrics website and hung the fabric to dry on my laundry rack. I’m curious to see how this would do in the dryer but I love this fabric too much to potentially mess it up.

As far as the pattern goes, I sewed a size medium all around. I think I could have gotten away with sewing a small on top and grading to a medium at the waist and hips.

I also forewent the buttons on this one. The fabric is a medium weight so I could have easily installed buttons on this, but like most of my cardigans I will wear this one open.

For the cuffs, I sewed option 1 (cuffed option) which has the raw seam on the outside so your cuff covers it. The cuffs do move around as you flail your arms (I know I’m not the only one who does this…) so you end up getting a peek at that raw seam. Me no likey. I’ll tack down the cuffs so this won’t be a problem but I know for my next Oslo, I’ll definitely be making the option 2 cuffs (raw seam on the inside) but I’ll still end up cuffing them, I’m sure.

I was surprised at how fast this was to sew. I cut my fabric one day, then ended up finishing all of the sewing in 2 evenings following work (meaning I only dedicated about 1-2 hours per night). I used my serger for all seams except the hem – I used a simple zig-zag stitch with my walking foot.

I love my new cozy cardigan! I’ll keep my eyes peeled for a thick wool fabric to make a second rendition. I think a wool version with buttons would be super toasty and a great alternative to a winter coat.

Have you sewn with a sweater knit fabric yet? If so, what did you think? Was it as easy or as hard as you thought it would be? Let me know in the comments!

-RED

P.S. You can follow more of Rachel’s adventures in sewing, cat wrangling, and chicken wooing at sewredy.wordpress.com!

P.P.S. The tank I’m wearing underneath is my Seamwork Aurora. It’s a total Seamwork inception here!

P.P.P.S. My nail polish is called “Heavy Metal Sewing Circle.” I kid you not…