Thursday, January 24, 2013

Dress + Cardigan: A Codependent Study

I love cardigans because they are versatile garments: Wear them buttoned or fastened to stay warm, open them up to moderate one's temperature and showcase a lovely top.   A cardigan can be worn with a simple top, a complicated top, blue jeans, or a wedding gown.  Versatile.

If you follow me over on Pinterest you may have noticed one of my boards, Dress + Cardigan.  Of all the cardigan relationships, I find the pairing with a dress to be my favorite.  But alas, I do not have many dresses.

[ding!]

And so, I am setting some goals:
12 dresses, sewn by me.
12 cardigans, at least 6 of them worked into patterns.
On Groundhog Day, 2014, I will poke my head up and look around: If I'm looking shadowy there will be another six weeks of this project.

I was going to call it an independent study, but the name did not ring true. I get so much inspiration and support from others.  So it is a Codependent Study.

Today, dress no.1, from a pattern I drafted last fall.  There is a zipper at the side (instead of the back - last fall's version needs a string on the zipper like a scuba suit in order for me to get in and out by myself).  The fabric is a simple quilter's cotton from Marden's, and I made a three inch hem in hopes it will be heavy enough to drape properly.




And today's cardigan is Mary Rebecca, knit with Nash Island Light wool from Starcroft Fiber Mill.  This pattern will be available at NETA Spa, next weekend in Freeport, Maine, as well as right here and on Ravelry.  I'll give more details on this next week.





Up next is Fannie Fouche, the gal that made this endeavor possible.  (In writing the pattern for Fannie Fouche I fell deep into writing my own pattern calculators, last year's codependent study.)

Thanks for stopping by.

12 comments:

craftivore said...

Fabulous idea and gorgeous cardigan!! I love the idea of your dress and cardigan challenge and the brilliant part of it is that you will end up with a whole new wardrobe. 12 of each seems a reasonable goal.

Emily B. said...

I left you a comment on flickr but I just had to say how inspiring your project is! I am excited to see what you make this year!

emmy said...

I will be looking forward to the release of your cardigan pattern! I LOVE it- it appears to be perfect!

gale (she shoots sheep shots) said...

well, that makes the year much more interesting & inspiring for me, so a big thanks! Love project #1. I decided recently to start sewing dresses again. May or may not have been heavily influenced by your Smock Appreciation on Pinterest :-)

Mary Lou said...

WRiting your own pattern calculators! Oh my dear, I am agog in wonder. I have used others but they are never just what I want. A tutorial? Excel? Plus I was looking at your cardigan patterns the other day for a lighter (sport/DK) weight wool, I may have found it - lovely sweater.

Kathy said...

Are you vending at SPA? Hope to meet you there!

Thea said...

Perfect! I love that dress/cardi combo and you always look great in them.

Can't wait to see the rest.

And is Frannie who I think she is? I have been waiting to see her pop up here!!

Ellen Mason said...

Thea, yes, that Fannie! phew, I will be so glad to have her join the team of sweaters.

Ellen Mason said...

ML, I use excel: I plug in the gauge and measurements, some particulars like decorative st counts, and end up with paragraphs of instructions for 12 sizes. It took me a year+ to figure it out, and I still have a long way to go, but it's time to start using my discoveries, eh?

Ellen Mason said...

Thanks Y'all for your support on this -- this is the codependent thing I was referring to.

Iva said...

What beautiful garments you do! I found your cardigan by a chance on Rav and want to knit it and here I see you have more and the dresses are gorgeous too. Looking forward to your next patterns!

Sonya Philip said...

You know I love this, right - how could I not?