Astoria cropped sweater by Colette Seamwork
I didn’t sign up to seamwork magazine straight away. I waited to see a few issues and get a feel for style of the patterns. The whole idea of the magazine is very interesting. Easy and quick projects to fill wardrobe gaps. The first two issues convinced me to sign up. So as long as I like at least one pattern every month I will keep my subscription. Of course I got to make them otherwise it’s better to buy the patterns as one offs. Do you subscribe?
Since my fabric was so inexpensive I sewn the pattern as-is and took my fitting notes (detailed below) to make the final alterations on another version. When a pattern is really quick like this one (one hour), I find is best to sew a test version straight as is instead of start-stop and checking. Some jerseys get really chewed up when unpicking. It’s less frustrating.
I could unpick and re-sew the few things that are bothering me. I won’t!
Where is fun for you if all the fixing is left behind the scene, not giving a good blog post full of “spot the fitting problem” right?
I still have enough to make a new version with the same fabric. To be totally honest this sweater will get a good amount of use as is. Of course I want to make my clothes to fit as well as I can but I’m not ashamed to say I would wear a muslin ‘less-than-perfect’ version without a second thought.
Fabric & notions: Embossed white Scuba £1 at Walthamstow market. Ballpoint needle size 90.
Pattern experience: My experience been positive. All notches matched perfectly and instructions were easy to follow and clear. I sewn size S/M without fitting alterations. My only issue with colette’s PDF is the amount of pages to print. Maybe i’m used to Named economy printing but I always feel Colette’s Pdf use a lot more pages than it should. I understand that this extra spacious layout make it easier for beginners. Different customer’s user-experience is a difficult thing for a pattern company to balance and they cannot cater for everyone. I know I just need to put more paper in the printer and tape on a day I have more patience.
Fitting Issues:
Sleeves rotating forward: Drag lines running diagonally from my upper arm point directing towards the underarm and inner seam. It seems like the pitch of my arm is different from the pattern, a problem that loads of people with forward shoulders have. I got to add length on the back and reduce that amount on the front of the sleeve or rotate the sleeve forward till I find the right point.
Drag lines underarm: It looks like the arm hole is too small but it is not. Because my shoulder is narrower than the pattern the position of the sleeves is complete off for me. If I reduce the shoulder width and redraft the armhole it will fix this problem.
Drag lines on the bust: I need a FBA. Colette guide to sewing knits * has a super easy Knit FBA technique I will try and report back.
Neckline on the back: The neckband sits flat all around the neck but not quite right.
It’s raises on the top of the shoulder neck points. When I adjust the pattern for my slopping shoulders this issue will resolve.
Most of my fitting issues with this pattern are related to shoulders/back. I love the fitting of the lower body of this sweater. The lengthen is perfect and waist clinching is so flattering. Beautiful.
Ps:I made the Ondee sweater (sneak peak on my instagram- sidebar on the blog). Loads of people talked about how they look similar on the cover. I can tell you they fit completely different on my body. I will talk more about their similarities and differences but looks like my favourite sweater pattern will be a mix of both of them .
More Ps: In case you ask the skirt is RTW (Zara). Similar pattern can be found here.
If you guys have some fitting input, do share!
