Back in December when I was doing some Boxing-Day online shopping, I found a great sweater on Roots that caught my eye. It looked perfect for pairing with leggings on the weekend, and I could even get away with wearing it to work on Fridays paired with jeans. Sadly my size sold out and I was sweater-less.
BUT - I realized I had some grey Tencel & Organic Cotton French Terry (from Blackbird Fabrics) in my stash which would work well to replicate the sweater, and would be WAY more comfortable than the polyester-blend RTW version. I also found some twill tape hanging around that could be used for the ties in the cowl, so I didn't have to go out and buy anything. Yay for shopping my stash!!
As for a pattern... I originally thought about altering the Grainline Hemlock Tee with a cowl neck... but then Helen's Closet released the extended sizes for the Elliot Sweater and the pattern was on sale! I do fit within the "original" size range for Helen's patterns, but seeing the pattern show up in my IG feed (and the sale, duh) made me realize it would be the perfect pattern to use!
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I didn't have to make too many changes to the Elliot Sweater pattern, aside from adding the ties to the cowl, and lengthening the sleeves. This is a size 16/18, and it fits really well! I documented the process of making this sweater in my Instagram Stories if you're curious for more detail.
To add the ties, I folded the cowl in half each way and pressed, to figure out the centre front, and determine the placement of the button holes for the ties to pass through. I added a little patch of interfacing, sewed the buttonholes, added a channel, and done! For some reason I thought this process was going to be harder... but it took all of 15 minutes and I am SO happy with the result.
Even though I did extend the sleeves to full length, I usually cuff my sleeves and push them up to 3/4 length, and I kinda like seeing the "wrong side" of the French terry. For the hems, I just turned the fabric out twice and zig-zagged over top. One thing that I don't get about this pattern is why on earth the sleeves are so short?!? Like, it's a sweater! Gimme some full length sleeves! It wasn't hard to extend them, but it did take some guess-work.
For the hem splits, I tried the "faux overlock" stitch on my machine and like the look.... but it stretched the fabric out and the hems were a tad wavy. Ironing helped, and it's not as bad out of the wash... but still annoying. For the hems along the bottom, I just did a 3-step zig-zag.
Oh! And if you're curious, here's a screenshot of the sweater from Roots I was trying to replicate. I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out, and like my version even more! I've worn this sweater a TON since last weekend and I might have to dig through my stash for more French terry to make another...
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