A knit boucle cardigan

Nine times out of ten my sewing plans start with a pattern. Once in a while I buy fabric without a plan, and only too often it will stay in the dark corners of the stash forever with little hope of being promoted to the sewing queue. But not this time!

When this knit boucle caught my eye I knew I had to have it and after a quick prewash I was spending the next evening in my sewing room, cutting while trying desperately not to exhale. Or sneeze. Nevertheless I ended up with curly stuff from floor to ceiling. And not just in my sewing room either.

It was totally worth it. The fabric is very soft, feels luxurious and was a dream to sew.

For a brief moment I had been contemplating a remake of this jacket, but working with a zipper combined with this fluffiness? Not the smartest plan. I went back and bought buttons, stretch lining and some black ponte for facings. On my way home I looked around and got some new ideas.

These RTW cardigans all had trim along the center front that was part of the facing. Clever and quick! I made a pattern that was a mix of my jungle January jacket and the sleeves of McCall's 6708. The colour of the lining fabric, although black, looked a bit off next to the facings so I left it out (the red cardigan above was unlined too). I took my facing pattern pieces and added 2x1 cm + seam allowance to the front to create a 1 cm wide trim. The facing was stitched to center front, right sides together, then flipped inside, folded one centimeter from the stitching line. Stitched in the ditch and voila, all that was left to do was finish the neckline with a separate band and hand stitch the hems.

In this close up you can see the taupe and copper yarns that add some shine to the fabric, hard to catch in the pictures. I mentioned buttons, but when I added them I didn't like the look. Iiieee! Bavarian hunter jacket vibes!
Maybe snaps? So far I prefer to wear it open.

As there is not much more to tell about this project I tried to experiment a bit with my camera settings. I'm following Gillians's Better Pictures Project and wanted to try Heather B's tip to shoot in Portrait Mode. Although the general idea was that my garments would be in focus and my backdrop would be softer, I have a feeling it's the other way round here. Back to the books!

As part of the Better Picture Project I may as well show the outtakes:

When you check the settings, make sure to be back in position in time!

How many times do I have to say that's the remote. Not a doggy snack.

Me and my furry shadow doing our simultaneous catwalk act. 

Sooo. The pictures need more practice but the good news is that less than two days after I first spotted my fabric-without-a-plan I had finished my first autumn sewing project and a comfy cardigan was packed in my suitcase for a weekend trip!

Edit: by special request now with crappy iPhone pic from the trip. At the Song Dong exposition, Groninger Museum.