My amazing sister gave me a couple of great patterns for my birthday this year. One was the Briar Pattern by Megan Nielsen. It's a simple pattern with only a few pieces. It is probably easy to draft something like this yourself but I appreciate the work being done for me. More importantly, I value the amount of hand-holding that a lot of independent pattern companies do when it comes to instructions for construction. I love the clear step-by-step instructions, suggestions for variations and the tutorials that are found online to accompany the patterns. The Briar is no exception.
Inspired by a post from the Megan Neilsen Design Diary blog, I saw some sequined sweater knit next to the cutting table at the fabric store and grabbed it on impulse to try this pattern out as a sweater.
I had never sewn a sweater knit before. I was expecting it to be harder to cut and sew on a machine. My rotary cutter didn't like the sequins but I switched to scissors and had no problems. My machine was able to handle the fabric without any problems with a zig zag stitch and no walking foot (as I don't have one). The only down side is that there are tiny sequins all over my dining room table FOREVER.
Inspired by a post from the Megan Neilsen Design Diary blog, I saw some sequined sweater knit next to the cutting table at the fabric store and grabbed it on impulse to try this pattern out as a sweater.
I had never sewn a sweater knit before. I was expecting it to be harder to cut and sew on a machine. My rotary cutter didn't like the sequins but I switched to scissors and had no problems. My machine was able to handle the fabric without any problems with a zig zag stitch and no walking foot (as I don't have one). The only down side is that there are tiny sequins all over my dining room table FOREVER.
I usually cut a size Medium for the briar but sized up to a Large for the sweater knit to wear over shirts and I am quite happy with the fit. I chose the neckline band instead of the binding as I am comfortable with a band and have only tried the binding once with mixed results.
Overall, I'm really happy with this sweater. It satisfies my desire for over the top tackiness that I am drawn to - in this case sequins for everyday wear.
My partner is graciously taking photos for me for this blog but is learning in the process so I have decided to add out-takes because there are many. Here's the first one:
Overall, I'm really happy with this sweater. It satisfies my desire for over the top tackiness that I am drawn to - in this case sequins for everyday wear.
My partner is graciously taking photos for me for this blog but is learning in the process so I have decided to add out-takes because there are many. Here's the first one: