Toaster Sweater - 1 and 2
The deadline for the first pattern of #SewMyStyle is today and I've just posted a picture of my Toaster 2 on instagram. I made it today! So it can be called a fast sew. Basically my day went like this: woke up at 7am, started sewing around 9am and walked out the door wearing my Toaster 2 at 11.30am. Although during that time I also dressed myself, dressed my two girls, got the nappy bag ready, prepared a lunch box for my youngest and sorted a wash out. So all in all it must have taken me 1hr 30mins to make and that was with distractions from my girls so I could have made it faster. I did cut it out yesterday afternoon but in my books that is a super fast sew.
My measurements put me into the XL size but my material was very stretchy so I made a size M and I'm very happy with the fit. I did a few things wrong but its wearable so I don't care. Firstly, I was good and pressed the neck facing down (I'm lazy and I often skip instructions like this!) but when it came to catching the facing at the side seams I completely disregarded the pressed line and pulled the facing to line up with the shoulder so it was around 1cm too far down. Even the picture in the instructions show that the facing doesn't meet the shoulders so I don't know why I did this. Due to this the neckline pulls down a little. In addition to this my material is very slinkly and heavy but its also very thin so that also causes the neckline to drape down to - almost in a cowl like way. Here are some pictures to show what I mean.
I love the split hem. But again I didn't press or even pin this so it is a little wonky but you can't tell. The reason I was so lazy was that I wasn't sure I was going to like this style so I was using material that I don't really like. Yes I bought the material but it was noted as light brown but really its like a mink colour and it is too similar to my hair colouring so I just think it washes me out.
So if my Toaster 2 was nicknamed my 'fast toaster' then my Toaster 1 should be named my 'burnt toaster'. I almost gave up with this one. Again I was unsure of the style on me so I just used what material I had in my stash and it didn't have the stretch that was requried. My measurements were in the XL size but I made a size L for this one due to the lack of stretch.
Again there were mistakes with this one. First thing I did was sew the neckband on the wrong way so the seam was showing on the outside. It was a pain unpicking the lightening stitch in a ribbed material that absorbed the stitches. It took me 45 minutes to unpick. I re-did it and tried it on and hated it. The neckline was way too high for me. So I unpicked it again. Another 45 minutes later I cut the neckband down by half the height and re-did it. This time I loved it on and was very happy with the end result. The material was quite thick so I had to topstitch all the seams to avoid bulk.
My next version of the Toaster sweater will be a mash up of the two. The neckline of T1 with the split hem of T2.
This was one of the patterns that I was unsure of when I signed up for #SewMyStyle but I'm pleasantly surprised by how much I love the pattern. I need to find the right material for my next version so I'll have to have a dig through my stash (brownie points for sticking to my material ban!).
