The Spring Cardigan

I read a post the other day on someone's blog about "uniforms" - you know, your comfort clothes, the outfit combo you can throw on without really thinking about it, sometimes you don't even realize you do it. Well here's mine - jeans, t-shirt or tank, a cardigan (of course), and a fun necklace and earrings - 99% of the time this is what you will find me in. So with warmer weather approaching, I needed some lighter weight cardigans for my "uniform" - and the spring cardi was born (you could also probably call this a shrug)

The first version of this cardigan was made out of a blue jersey sheet that I had on hand. For the sake of this tutorial, I'm going to show you both the blue jersey version and the floral version which was made from a light weight mystery (probably polyester) thrift store fabric, although I think the floral version turned out better. It drapes better, fits better, and was more the look I was going for. **A couple of notes - when reading through this tutorial all measurements are for the blue jersey version with measurements for the floral version given in parentheses, and also these measurements are something you will probably want to play around with a bit depending on your individual sizing and the fabric you are using. Because it is made from 1 piece of fabric it is fairly easy to cut it a little bigger, check sizing, and cut down if needed.**

Ok, this seems a little complicated and it's a little hard to explain but in reality it is really, really easy to make - it's all 1 piece, 2 little seams, and you're good to go. You will need a piece of non-fraying fabric (such as jersey or some polyesters) that measures at least 34 inches by 30 inches (50 inches). Fold your fabric in half lengthwise, then widthwise. You're going to cut out a shape like this, cutting along the top line and side curved line, through all 4 layers:

Here are my pieces, still folded:



When you unfold it, it should look kind of like this:



Fold in half, across the concave side, right sides together.


Place a pin 4 inches (10 inches) up from the cut edge, and pin edges together up to that point and sew. **April 2011 - edited to add - do this on the opposite side as well - this will create your 2 armholes**:



Turn right side out and it is ready to wear. This was my blue version:

not bad for a first try . . .

. . . but I like this one a lot better!