Planning and Design
So after hacking together the Negative Longcuff Sweater using the Toaster Sweater as a base, I wanted to try and make it as intended with the full height collar and with the proper fabric (not ribbing). However cotton fleece isn’t that common a fabric, but luckily Wattle Hill Fabrics had it in light ochre, which fit in with my Yellow Sweater Project.
Materials
- Pattern
- Toaster Sweater #1 (Sew House Seven)
- Fabric
- European Cotton Plush Polar Fleece – Light Ochre (Wattle Hill Fabrics)
- Thread
- Maraflex col. 968
- Maxi-lock 3000yd Polyester Serger Overlocker Thread – Mother Goose
Sustainability Check
👍The polar fleece is 100% cotton
👍Maraflex is biodegradable
👎Maxi-lock is polyester (but I need to use it up before buying a replacement)
Construction
So I was expecting this to be an easy sew. What I did not take into account was having to sew through multiple layers of the cotton fleece, since my previous version only did half fleece with the other half ribbing. This cotton fleece might also be denser than the previous one I used, since I wasn’t even able to cut it with my rotary cutter. I ended up tracing it out, pinning it and cutting it out with my fabric scissors. I tried using my Merchant and Mills heavy duty scissors, but they were too heavy so just used my normal Janome ones 😂 Sometimes I think about getting Gingher dress making scissors, but I’m starting to think light weight is more important.
Sewing started off fine, even though I couldn’t use the walking foot since I couldn’t fit two layers of the fabric under it. I was using the 90 weight jersey needle and even did twin topstitching on the front/black/sleeve seams using the edge stitch foot. I also was good and started securing my overlocker thread ends as a rule. Then it came to the collar, cuff and hem. I was also good and marked the top so that I could make sure my nap direction was consistent across all of these. But attaching these to the body was where the problems started. Firstly, my thread started shredding. I’ve learnt a bit about thread shredding by now, so changed to a denim needle instead and the issue went away. Then when it came to overlocking these, I had to hand turn over the bulky seams and it was really really hard. But I managed to neatly overlock off the round so that I could secure the thread ends nicely. I tried to make sure I did this on the side that was going to be concealed after topstitching, for that extra security and neat visuals. Then the final hurdle, topstitching down the cuff seam 😣 The cuff was too long to topstitch it from the ‘front’ side, so I tried the free arm and I had to stretch it to get it over and aligned to the needle. I was a bit sad about this, because the pre-stretching circumference was nice and snug, but it probably is better this way because it fits over my smart watch better LOL. So topstitching this seam…was very very difficult because it was so taut over the free arm. So as a result my topstitching isn’t nice and even 😫 oh well, at least it looks best on the top which is the part which will be visible the most. The collar and hem topstitching wasn’t as bad, but since I used a denim needle I feel like it ended up a bit wavy, which even ironing couldn’t fix.
Reflections
The tall collar is an interesting detail. Since it’s quite wide, it doesn’t feel constricting at all, but it also feels a little bit floppy? The fabric is very warm and the fit is nice. I dunno if this style is my thing, but that’s what this project is for, to test what my preferences are.
I don’t think I’ll sew with this fabric again. I don’t like the feel of it enough to go through the hassle of dealing with the bulk and everything else extra I needed to do with this project.
Things I learnt:
- Use a large eye needle for cotton fleece because it’s so dense
- Walking foot doesn’t work with cotton fleece
- How to neatly create a overlocker thread tail when edging in the round
Categories: Sewing
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