It’s the first month of Sew My Style and I’m happy to be sharing my version of the Toaster Sweater with you today. Sew My Style is a really fun, year-long sewing project hosted by Bluebird Fabrics, with one pattern featured every month. Official registration is closed but you can still join along and sew up your own wardrobe. Get all the details here and the sewing schedule here. I didn’t want to overextend myself, so I’ll just be joining in here and there. I actually wasn’t even planning to do January but I was inspired by Sara’s lightweight, gray Toaster and seeing as I already had a similar fabric in my stash, I just had to make my own. (psst there's a discount code at the end of the post so keep on reading!)
I made the Toaster Sweater 2 at the end of last year so this time around I thought I’d give number 1 a try. This version of the pattern features raglan sleeves, a loose turtleneck and hem bands at the sleeves and bodice. I was initially going to copy Sara all the way and do a mashup of the two and use the split hem but I messed up while cutting. It happens to all of us. :)
Just like last time, I made a size Large, to correspond with my 38” bust. The sweater is pretty loose fitting and I’ve been wearing it a lot. If I make it again, I may try making it one size smaller. This time around, I lengthened the body 3.5” and stitched the hem band with a 3/8” seam allowance. I may stitch it again to make it a little smaller but I’m ok with the current length.
I did not change the sleeve length at all. For my other Toaster, I shortened the sleeves 1.75” and they are totally fine but sometimes ride up and make me think they could be a half inch longer. The sleeves on this are so long that I can actually fold back the sleeve bands and they are the perfect length. For reference, I’m 5’11” and 38/28/39 but I think my arms are more average length. So when determining your sleeve length, check the finished measurements and compare to another sweater that you like the length of.
The fabric is bargain bin find from the Michael Levine Loft store in downtown LA. It’s a rib knit, which I’ve only worked with a little bit before. It’s a little tricky to work with because it stretches a lot. I recently made another garment that I haven’t shared yet out of rib knit and it got stretched in places where I topstitched. So for this top, I decided to just not do any topstitching, which made it extra fast to sew. Just a few seams and it was all done!
I’m really pleased with how it turned out and have been wearing it a lot. It’s perfect for the recent cooler weather in LA and loose enough that I can easily layer a shirt or two underneath. To follow along with the Sew My Style project you can sign up for updates here or check out the #sewmystyle hashtag on Instagram. A bunch of fantastic bloggers are sharing their Toaster Sweaters today so you are sure to find plenty of inspiration. And guess what! Sew House 7 is offering 25% off the Toaster Sweater pattern until midnight, Feb 6, 2017 using the code TOASTERROCKS. Woohoo! Toasters for everyone!! Happy sewing!
