Testing the Lisbon Cardigan from Itch to Stitch

I haven’t been posting much. A big part of that is because I have been testing quite a few patterns. There have been so many lovely designs coming out lately that were too hard to pass up for testing, and the Lisbon Cardigan was one of those.
Kennis Wong from Itch to Stitch is really great to test for. She spends a lot of time getting her patterns perfected before even coming into testing. And she is open to any and all feedback. I don’t hesitate for a minute to recommend her patterns.

There are two things I love to use to make me feel like an outfit is complete; vests and cardigans. I actually had just been wondering the day before the tester call came out if there was a suitable cardigan for doing a sweater set, or twin-set as they are also known as. I was mulling over in my head how I could hack an existing pattern into a sweater as I already have some great tops to go underneath. Then, Kennis came to my rescue!

This was a pretty quick sew for most of the testers. In fact, most of the testers ended up doing 2 or three versions even though there were no major revisions done to the pattern during testing. One tester was able to sew one up in an amazing 70 minutes! I wasn’t quite that quick. My third one was done in 2 hours. That is still a pretty quick sew, though, in my books.

I did end up doing an adjustment to the pattern to make it fit for my body. I have rounded shoulders and a smaller bust. I experimented with a technique that would get the pattern to compensate for those issues and I think it turned out quite well. I am looking forward to trying this adjustment on another project that I did that needed it. No one else in the group needed to do any adjustments, for the record. This is just one of the reasons why me-made is so great. None of us are the same and in ready-to-wear, I would have either have to put up with a garment that didn’t fit quite right or pass it by.

I did end up making three myself. I won’t bother showing the first one, as I didn’t even finish it once I realised I would need to adjust it. That is why it is always a good idea not to use your prized fabric on the first try of any pattern.

The second one I did was a very loose and thin sweater knit. I really like the colour of this, but it was actually pretty hard to work with as the stretch across the grain is 100% and it does not have great recovery. But I really like the looks of it. I didn’t add interfacing or buttons to the front, as this is not something I would button up, anyways. I paired it with another Itch to Stitch pattern, The Hepburn Turtleneck.

Obviously, this will not give much warmth, but I like how it adds a little something to the outfit. We have been having unusually warm temperatures here, so while most of the time I like the extra warmth. it hasn’t been needed lately!

I am looking forward to doing a twin-set with the Hepburn and Lisbon in the future, but since we are now heading into the summer, that will be put on my projects for later this year. We typically have 7 months of winter here, so I am going to ignore the fact that it won’t be long before I will be shivering again!

The muslin that I initially did, was made out a light jersey knit, so I wanted to try something similar to get an idea of how much of a difference my adjustments had made.

The fit is perfect! I decided to play around with the bands and cuffs and use the same fabric I had on my long sleeved top. Itch to Stitch has a top that would be perfect with the cardigan called the Idyllwild. I don’t have the pattern yet, otherwise, I would have made it so as to have a complete Itch to Stitch twin-set!

What creations do you see yourself making with the Lisbon Cardigan? I would love to hear all of your great ideas!

Happy Sewing!
Jenny

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