Wearing My Butterick 5251 Cardigan

Here I am wearing my new cardigan. I could not wait to have a picture taken. I took my pictures this evening. Then one thing led to another and I went ahead and posted my review on PR. You can find my review on the right side bar under my recent sewing projects.

I think this cardigan looks better on me than on SusieQ. lol! This sweater knit print is a bit too masculine for me. I would like to find a floral knit and sew this up again. What do you think?

Butterick 5251 - Sweater Knit Cardigan Completed

This is a follow up post to the previous one from this morning. This sweater knit cardigan is finished. I have included more pictures and more details.

Okay, I mentioned in this morning's post that I would post a picture of the finished seam. Here it is. The main seam I sewed with my sewing machine (SM) using the narrow zigzag stitches. I then serged the seams about 1/8 inch away from the main seam and trimming the excess fabric off.



I hand sewed the inside collar to the base of the jacket using a slip stitch. I also slip stitched the front facing edge to the shoulder seams.



Here's a picture of the front facing and the hem. I serged the outer edges of the facings. I topstitched the facing to the cardigan along the facing edges. For the hem, I turned up 1-1/2 inches and also topstitched.




I turned my cardigan inside out and placed it on SusieQ to show you what the insides look like.








Here's the finished cardigan with the self fabric belt.









Here are the side views with the self fabric belt.








Here's another view of the cardigan without the self fabric belt. I actually like wearing this cardigan loose.



I think this cardigan will look great with a pair of jeans for a casual look or with a pair of slacks for a dressy look.

This sweater knit cardigan could be completed within a weekend day or within several hours over a few evenings. I will be posting a review on PatternReview.com within the next few days and include pictures of me wearing my new cardigan.

I need to take a break from this marathon sewing I have been doing. I hope you have enjoyed reading about my cardigan and the sewing techniques I have used and the many pictures I have included.

Butterick 5251 - Sweater Knit Cardigan-WIP #1

I am currently working on the Butterick 5251 knit cardigan. I have to mention, it's coming along nicely. It is turning out to be a wonderful looking knit garment. This will be a long post with lots of pictures for your viewing pleasure.

This is a close up of the bulky sweater knit I am using for this knit cardigan. It's a pretty blue and dark brown diamond patterned knit that I found at G-Streets. I had about 2 yards and 2 inches of this fabric. Turns out it wasn't enough to fit the belt pattern piece. Since this fabric had a 4-way stretch, I was able to reposition the belt pattern piece along the selvage.


Here's the fusible knit interface applied to the collar. I used Pellon's Easy Knit (that's what it said on the paper that came with it). I applied and fused it with a damp press cloth and medium/high heat setting.


Here, I am pinning the front pieces to the back piece. I match my notches first and then match the ends. Then I gently pin along the seam line and careful not to stretch the knit fabric.


I'm sewing a 5/8 inch seam using a narrow zigzag stitch. Once I'm done with the seams on my SM, I go to my serger and finish the seam edges. I stitch about 1/8 inch away from my SM seam (main seam). This gives the seams a nice finish as well as reinforces them. Sorry, I forgot to take a picture of the finished seams. I will include a picture in my next post.


To give you an idea of the narrow zigzag stitch I used, here's the display on my SM. This shows what the actual stitch would look like. Your SM stitch settings will be different than mine. This gives you an idea of what you should try to get your machine to stitch out.



Here's a picture of the narrow zigzag stitch I used. As you can see, it's not quite a deep zigzag and not quite a straight stitch. The narrow zigzag gives the seam some stretch and prevents the stitch from popping or breaking.

Here's the collar after it is sewn together (interfaced with non-interfaced). I pinned the back collar area away from the seam line.


This is the first time I am sewing a knit on my Sapphire SM. I tried sewing a knit over a year ago and had some issues. I guess with experience and getting to know my SM, I didn't encounter any problems with sewing this sweater knit fabric. You'll notice the thickness in the picture. That is about 5 layers of bulky knit fabric. I set my SM speed to the slowest setting and it did not hesitate one bit.


Save the best picture for last. Here's the collar and front facings installed. The collar is actually a bit wider than what's presented on the pattern envelope picture. The line drawings appear to be exact. I think I have to get used to the collar. It just seems a bit wide towards the bottom when I tried on the cardigan. I do like the style...very contemporary looking.

This cardigan is about 80% completed. I still have to finish (hand sew) the collar back, hem the cardigan, topstitch the hem and front facing areas, and create the self fabric belt. I will be back with more pictures and another post later.

Happy Sewing!

Shifting Gears...Now onto a Butterick Cardigan?

I made a mistake. I went to Hancock's to buy more sheer curtain fabric to make a curtain for my sewing cart. They were having a Butterick pattern sale. Like I need more patterns. Well, the sick person that I am...I skimmed through the pattern book. This pattern called to me...BIG time! I am shifting gears and changing my sewing priorities.

A few days ago I posted a picture of some fabrics I found at G-Street. Remember the sweater knits? It dawned on me that one of those knits would make a lovely cardigan jacket like the one in View A. (I shudder at View B as it reminds me of a bath robe). Anyways, this pattern is now on my tracing/cutting table. My two sweater knits are being pre-washed.


View A should be quick and easy to sew. I just need to decide which sweater knit to use. Hopefully, I can find a cool belt in my closet to go with it. I can already tell that I will need to shorten the cardigan length. The sleeve length (which will be a bit longer on me) should be fine. Maybe this will be the jump start I needed to start sewing with knits again.

In other sewing news, I finished my doorway panel and hung it on the spring tension rod. It's working out great. I have my much needed privacy along with the much needed air flowing in and out of my room. I have to take a picture to show you what it looks like. That will be a new post for another day.