StyleArc Laura Cardigan wearable muslin

I bought this pattern in the summer of 2011, but sewing it up meant I would have to learn how to use my serger first (see the overlocked edges above) and find some sweater knit.

Finally, 2.5 years later, the time came to make a muslin.  I made the straight 12.  I think it fits pretty well.  The only thing I'm unsure about is the length.




My usual work photographer was not available for pictures so this is a different work photographer who insisted we use his windows phone.


Here is the walking away shot, to show how it flutters.  I feel like I'm a caped superhero when I wear this.



This is to show you the impressive wingspan



And here are some pix my regular work photog took before I serged the raw edges


back


Side



Serger practice
I was pretty afraid of serging the raw edges.

I cut some sample squares.

I bought this 4x4" square "ruler" after taking the PR class "understanding knit fabrics".  Mainly I use it for cutting sample squares when I wash and dry fabric to determine shrinkage...but it has another use...when I serge the edge, is it getting longer or shorter???

Then I serged.
And it was terrible.
No matter what I was setting the differential feed (DF), it was gathered.  Adjusting the DF was always my fix in the past, but not this time.
I gave up.
Then I googled.
And then I found the right setting.

First three:  great if I wanted gathering!!

I had no idea that I had to release the needle tensions down, and the upper looper tension down too, but so it was.  I experimented a bit more than above, but finally figured out that the last settings above are right.

I then serged on the lengthwise grain, expecting the settings to be different, but they weren't!  This was single layer, which is exactly what serging the raw edges involved.



In the above photo, the top and right sides are serged.  I cut the edge so the square is no longer 4x4.  If you really want to check if the stitching is changing the length/width you need two samples:  one where you only cut the length and one where you only cut the width.

So here's what it looks like on the garment.  Wow, that black serger thread really blends into this blue and black fabric:


So I wanted to serge the inside too, which meant 2 layers.
I wrote down the settings in my notebook where I keep sewing notes for myself. The fabric was from the San Diego swap meet with Elizabeth last November.


and this is what it looked like inside on the sleeve cap


For the bottom of the sleeve I serged the raw edge and then blind hemmed it.  The arms seem to be extra long and begging to be hemmed so that's what I did.

Wrong side of the sleeve.


What to do with the serger tails
I was also unsure of what to do with the serger tails on the single layer, around the edges.  It turned out to be so easy...but maybe I'll talk about that in the next post.

So what do you think of the length?  Too long?

Be well!!!