How to Sew Women’s Cardigan From Sweater Knit

Picolly
by Picolly

I must admit that I just love my latest cardigan pattern! This is one of the reasons why I used it to sew another piece for myself, this time in a beautiful dark strawberry color. So today’s article is about this charming red cardigan from sweater knit. This type of fabric is great for cardigan, but i don’t like it’s cutting edges unfinished. So, if you are similar in this respect, then you will love today’s article.

How to sew women’s cardigan from sweater knit

You can get my pattern for women’s cardigan here:


Pattern for women’s reversible oversized cardigan (sizes 32 – 60)

HOW TO SEW WOMEN’S CARDIGAN FROM SWEATER KNIT

Recommended material

As I said in the previous article about this pattern for women’s cardigan, it works best medium and thick knits (elastic materials).


You can also use sweater knit to sew yourself a beautiful piece. I’ve used fleece sweater knit to sew cardigan from this article. Generally don't like to use synthetic materials, but I made an exception regarding a fleece sweater knits and warmkeepers. Over time, I started to like these materials. Fleece sweater knit is easy to work with and it’s very comfortable to wear. I have fabric for this cardigan from Unuodesign.cz. You can buy it in several beautiful colors here.


This is my shade: Fleece sweater knit – red

HOW TO SEW WOMEN’S CARDIGAN FROM SWEATER KNIT

How to sew women’s cardigan from sweater knit

Sewing procedure is basically the same as with the original cardigan from warmkeeper. But cardigan from today’s article has pockets in the side seams instead of patch pockets. And I’ve also finished hems of this cardigan with bias tape. Cutting edges of the fleece sweater fabric have large loops and I don’t like their look. You can learn how to finish hems with bias tape here: Video tutorial - bias tape hems.


And now today’s sewing instructions.

HOW TO SEW WOMEN’S CARDIGAN FROM SWEATER KNIT

Cuts preparation

Prepare:


  • 2x front piece
  • 1x back piece (folded fabric cut)
  • 2x sleeve piece
  • 2x pocket piece with opening and 2x whole pocket piece (whole pocket piece is not part of the pattern files, but you can simply prepare it by not cutting out the openings on the pocket piece that is part of the pattern ?)
  • 1x belt piece (I recommend cutting this piece first, so you can use whole width of the fabric before you start positioning other pieces.) My belt is 9 cm wide and 145 cm long (full width of my fabric).
HOW TO SEW WOMEN’S CARDIGAN FROM SWEATER KNIT

Align the pocket piece with the side seam of the front piece (use marks in the paper pattern to find the correct position).

HOW TO SEW WOMEN’S CARDIGAN FROM SWEATER KNIT

Trace the shape of the pocket opening to the front piece and cut it out.

HOW TO SEW WOMEN’S CARDIGAN FROM SWEATER KNIT

Reinforce both openings with strips of one-sided fusible facing.

HOW TO SEW WOMEN’S CARDIGAN FROM SWEATER KNIT
HOW TO SEW WOMEN’S CARDIGAN FROM SWEATER KNIT

Use one-sided fusible facing on the entire belt too. My fusible facing was too narrow, so I needed to use two stripes next to each other.

HOW TO SEW WOMEN’S CARDIGAN FROM SWEATER KNIT

Sewing

Side seam pockets

As I said, this cardigan has pockets in the side seam. There are two ways to sew pockets of this type. You can sew classic pocket without hemming in the pocket opening area, in this case lay the front piece on the front piece (face side to face side) and pin it there.

HOW TO SEW WOMEN’S CARDIGAN FROM SWEATER KNIT

Then follow instructions from this video tutorial:

You can also finish the pocket opening with bias tape hem. If you decided to do it this way, lay the pocket piece on the front piece (reverse side to reverse side). Then temporarily stitch both pieces together.

HOW TO SEW WOMEN’S CARDIGAN FROM SWEATER KNIT

And sew the hem of the pocket opening.

HOW TO SEW WOMEN’S CARDIGAN FROM SWEATER KNIT
HOW TO SEW WOMEN’S CARDIGAN FROM SWEATER KNIT
NÁVOD JAK UŠÍT DÁMSKÝ CARDIGAN ZE SVETROVINY

Let’s prepare the whole pocket piece now.

NÁVOD JAK UŠÍT DÁMSKÝ CARDIGAN ZE SVETROVINY HOW TO SEW WOMEN’S CARDIGAN FROM SWEATER KNIT NÁVOD JAK UŠÍT DÁMSKÝ CARDIGAN ZE SVETROVINY

Place it on the pocket piece with opening (face side to face side). Pin the edges of your pocket pieces to create pocket pouch.


Note for beginners: pin just the pocket pieces, not the front piece.

HOW TO SEW WOMEN’S CARDIGAN FROM SWEATER KNIT

Sew the pocket pouch. I’ve used my overlock, but you can do this with regular sewing machine just fine - sew pouch with some kind of elastic stitch first and then clean it with zigzag stitch, for example.


You can find more tips about sewing elastic fabrics on a regular sewing machine in this article: Sewing with knits - 4 steps to success.

HOW TO SEW WOMEN’S CARDIGAN FROM SWEATER KNIT
HOW TO SEW WOMEN’S CARDIGAN FROM SWEATER KNIT

Pin the pocket pouch to the front piece so it’s not flopping around.

HOW TO SEW WOMEN’S CARDIGAN FROM SWEATER KNIT

I recommend temporarily stitching the pocket pouch to the front piece along the side seam.

HOW TO SEW WOMEN’S CARDIGAN FROM SWEATER KNIT

Shoulder seams

Pockets are ready, let’s look at the shoulder seams. Lay front piece over the back piece (face side to face side). Pin the shoulder seams.

HOW TO SEW WOMEN’S CARDIGAN FROM SWEATER KNIT

Sew and clean the shoulder seams.

HOW TO SEW WOMEN’S CARDIGAN FROM SWEATER KNIT

Turn the cardigan on its face side so you can topstitch the shoulder seams. Press the seam allowances of the shoulder seams towards the back piece and sew along the shoulder seams from the face side. You should sew through seam allowances about 5 mm away from the original seam.

HOW TO SEW WOMEN’S CARDIGAN FROM SWEATER KNIT

Sleeves

Spread your cardigan on the table (face side up) with the open armhole facing you.

HOW TO SEW WOMEN’S CARDIGAN FROM SWEATER KNIT

Pin the sleeve piece to the armhole (face side to face side). Start at the top of the sleeve (which should be aligned with the shoulder seam).

HOW TO SEW WOMEN’S CARDIGAN FROM SWEATER KNIT

Next pin one of the corners of the sleeve to the corner of the armhole...

HOW TO SEW WOMEN’S CARDIGAN FROM SWEATER KNIT

...and then pin the second pair of the corners.

HOW TO SEW WOMEN’S CARDIGAN FROM SWEATER KNIT

Now pin the rest of the sleeve to the armhole. Since the sleeve needs to be easestitched a bit, it will be necessary to pin densely near the top of the sleeve. Use double-threaded needle to easestitch your sleeve before pinning it if you are a beginner.

HOW TO SEW WOMEN’S CARDIGAN FROM SWEATER KNIT

Sew the sleeve in and clean the seam and work on the other sleeve in the same way.

HOW TO SEW WOMEN’S CARDIGAN FROM SWEATER KNIT
HOW TO SEW WOMEN’S CARDIGAN FROM SWEATER KNIT

Sleeve hems

Sew the hems on the edges of the sleeves.

HOW TO SEW WOMEN’S CARDIGAN FROM SWEATER KNIT

Pin the side seam and sleeve seam of the cardigan. It’s necessary to align edges of the sleeve hem precisely. Procedure for sewing closed parts of the garment with hems is described in the video tutorial above. Take look if you aren’t exactly sure how to do this.

HOW TO SEW WOMEN’S CARDIGAN FROM SWEATER KNIT

Sleeve seams & side seams

Sew pinned side seam and sleeve seam in one go.

HOW TO SEW WOMEN’S CARDIGAN FROM SWEATER KNIT
HOW TO SEW WOMEN’S CARDIGAN FROM SWEATER KNIT

Pull free ends of thread chain near the hem of the sleeve under the loops when sewing on overlock.

HOW TO SEW WOMEN’S CARDIGAN FROM SWEATER KNIT

Press the seam allowance of the sleeve seam near the sleeve hem towards the back part of the sleeve. Sew through it from the face side with a few stitches to stabilise and flatten this part of the sleeve seam.

HOW TO SEW WOMEN’S CARDIGAN FROM SWEATER KNIT

Bias tape hems

Now you just need to finish the cutting edges of the cardigan with bias tape hemming.

HOW TO SEW WOMEN’S CARDIGAN FROM SWEATER KNIT
HOW TO SEW WOMEN’S CARDIGAN FROM SWEATER KNIT

There are two ways to deal with the corners when sewing the hems. First option:

HOW TO SEW WOMEN’S CARDIGAN FROM SWEATER KNIT

Cut the bias tape seam allowance up to the seam (perpendicularly to the seam).

HOW TO SEW WOMEN’S CARDIGAN FROM SWEATER KNIT

Cut off the corner like this.

HOW TO SEW WOMEN’S CARDIGAN FROM SWEATER KNIT

Pin the bias tape around the corner from the face side.

HOW TO SEW WOMEN’S CARDIGAN FROM SWEATER KNIT

This is what it looks like from the reverse side.

HOW TO SEW WOMEN’S CARDIGAN FROM SWEATER KNIT

Fold the excess part of the bias tape like this to create smooth corner.

HOW TO SEW WOMEN’S CARDIGAN FROM SWEATER KNIT

If you want to sew sharp corners you need to cut the bias tape right before sewing the other side (side “around the corner”) and then start this second side right at the edge of the corner. This method leads to corners like this one.


(You will need slightly more of the bias tape to sew the corners like this.)

HOW TO SEW WOMEN’S CARDIGAN FROM SWEATER KNIT
HOW TO SEW WOMEN’S CARDIGAN FROM SWEATER KNIT

Pin one piece of the bias tape to its final position.

HOW TO SEW WOMEN’S CARDIGAN FROM SWEATER KNIT

Fold second part of the bias tape over the corner and first bias tape.

HOW TO SEW WOMEN’S CARDIGAN FROM SWEATER KNIT

Fold the excess part to the reverse side...

HOW TO SEW WOMEN’S CARDIGAN FROM SWEATER KNIT

...and then fold the bias tape lengthwise. Pin bias tapes to the edges of your cardigan.

HOW TO SEW WOMEN’S CARDIGAN FROM SWEATER KNIT

Temporarily stitch all sections of the bias tape to their final positions.

HOW TO SEW WOMEN’S CARDIGAN FROM SWEATER KNIT
HOW TO SEW WOMEN’S CARDIGAN FROM SWEATER KNIT

And sew it to the cardigan.


Belt

Last thing you need to sew is the belt. Fold its shorter sides 1 cm to the reverse side.

HOW TO SEW WOMEN’S CARDIGAN FROM SWEATER KNIT

Then do the same thing with one of the longer sides.

HOW TO SEW WOMEN’S CARDIGAN FROM SWEATER KNIT

Fold prepared piece lengthwise in half.

HOW TO SEW WOMEN’S CARDIGAN FROM SWEATER KNIT

Next fold the second long side 1 cm to the reverse side and temporarily stitch long sides together to form a tube.

HOW TO SEW WOMEN’S CARDIGAN FROM SWEATER KNIT
HOW TO SEW WOMEN’S CARDIGAN FROM SWEATER KNIT
HOW TO SEW WOMEN’S CARDIGAN FROM SWEATER KNIT

Now you just need to sew through the belt along edges of its long sides.

HOW TO SEW WOMEN’S CARDIGAN FROM SWEATER KNIT

And that’s it! How do you like this version of cardigan WILD BERRIES? Are you going to sew it for yourself?


If you have a moment, leave a comment about how you like this pattern and today's instructions below the article.


Have a nice day, Peťa


You can get the pattern for this cardigan here:


Pattern for women’s reversible oversized cardigan (sizes 32 – 60)

HOW TO SEW WOMEN’S CARDIGAN FROM SWEATER KNIT
HOW TO SEW WOMEN’S CARDIGAN FROM SWEATER KNIT
HOW TO SEW WOMEN’S CARDIGAN FROM SWEATER KNIT
HOW TO SEW WOMEN’S CARDIGAN FROM SWEATER KNIT
HOW TO SEW WOMEN’S CARDIGAN FROM SWEATER KNIT
HOW TO SEW WOMEN’S CARDIGAN FROM SWEATER KNIT
HOW TO SEW WOMEN’S CARDIGAN FROM SWEATER KNIT

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Picolly
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