I have been eying up my beautiful Lillestoff quilted cotton jersey ever since it came in, trying to plan what to make with it.
The toaster sweater by Sew House Seven has been on my to do list for ages and so the perfect match was created.
Of course, I really struggled on what colour to use from the lillestoff fabric as I loved all of them but eliminating a few because of what would suit me I was very excited to be using a colour I wouldn’t normally use.
Now reading the pattern they say you need 1.5 m of 150cm wide fabric, this Lillestoff I extra wide however so I did think I could get away with less, but this pattern is quite fabric greedy and so I think I was just short of 1.5 m in the end. I would normally place my arms, across the fabric with a 4 way stretch but I wasn’t too sure if this would work with this fabric so they went down the fabric in line with the grainline as the pattern suggested. Yes I actually did as I was told.
I am a little bit short, in case you don’t know me and so I wasn’t sure if I’d need to shorten the length, but I didn’t in the end, I measured and used the finished measurements to see when it would finish and I love the final length, I did however shorten the arms by about 3 cm but maybe next time I will make it even shorter, maybe!
Taking the advice of a fellow toaster sweater maker in this fabric, I tried to finish the edges with a zig zig/overlocker edge stitch (I don’t have an overlocker), but it was totally stretching out the fabric so in the end I gave up and just started to sew the jumper.
I was a little worried this was going to happen with the actual seams too but it didn’t thank goodness. The pattern does say it is best with an overlocker but also give instructions without and I was really happy with the end result.
I did finish the seams after sewing which was much better as it was a lot more stable.
I did at one point use a twin needle for the first time (yes I know madness I have avoided that one for sew long) but i am not sure I like the results, I think that is mainly to do with my sewing skills and how straight my stitches are, but at the same time I really like the look of the seams that aren’t finished with the twin needle. Oh well, learnt for next time.
In summary, this was a really lovely easy pattern to do, the fabric, once I had gotten used to it was lovely to sew with and I am really happy with the result.
Would I make the Toaster sweater again? YES
Would I recommend using the quilted organic cotton fabric? YES
Would I say to do the top stitch on the finished jumper? NO
Will you be wearing this jumper all winter?
Oh YES and I need to make one in every colour!
Thanks for reading, you can buy both the pattern and the fabric on our website :)
The Toaster Pattern
Lillestoff Organic quilted cotton
I really like this jumper!! I’m making hoodies today, but definitely need to fill my winter wardrobe so may look into getting one of these!
I love that jumper! Thanks for showing it.
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