Sew House Seven Toaster Sweater(s)

The Toaster sweater was incredibly popular a few years ago and it's always been on my radar for a long time, but I never ended up going for it until now, sneaking it in to my Lamazi Fabrics shopping basket along with these fabrics. There are two versions in the pattern; one with a turtleneck and the other more similar to a funnel neck. I had hoped to make one of each but ended up making version 2 both times because I didn't have enough of the fabric I intended for version 1, and really wanted the stripy fabric for version 2. A few small pattern adaptations later and I've got two brilliant sweaters for winter.

Fabrics

Both came from Lamazi Fabrics, using a Black Friday discount code which gave 15% off the per metre cost. 

Fabric 1 is a sweatshirting. I bought 1 metre, £18 per metre. It wasn't enough for Version 1 but I thought I might see if it really needed the amount stated on the envelope, as I often find I can manage with less. If I couldn't get enough I know I can get a Sloane sweatshirt from 1m so will use it either way. It was enough for Version 2, which states 1.5m required...just. It did take a while to cut out and if you look closely you will see that the arms are cut in a different direction to the main body, so I couldn't have used 1m if I had stripes like the second version. This sweatshirting was easy to cut and sew, and is really comfortable to wear. It potentially works better for the pattern than the other fabric, but you can see how creased the sleeves get with the way that I wear it.

Fabric 2 is a See You At Six French Terry, £21 per metre. I bought 1.5m as per the pattern envelope. I didn't need all of the 1.5m, but couldn't have got away with less due to the stripes. It was this fabric that led to the entire purchase to be honest as I fell in love with it, immediately visualising it in the Toaster sweater. The stripes actually run vertically across the fabric so it has been cut across the grain. Because it is a See You At Six fabric, there is also a matching plain ribbing available. This terry isn't as warm as the sweatshirting and sits a little stiffer.

Pattern and Instructions

The Sew House Seven Toaster sweater can be bought as a pdf (£10) or paper pattern (£20). Though paper patterns are more expensive, I now tend to buy these because I'm not interested in investing valuable sewing time into taping together pdfs anymore, on top of getting them printed. I also like how independent designers package their items, with instruction booklets as well. This version does have a printed booklet that features step by step instructions, very clear diagrams and explanations. The pattern itself comes on tissue paper. Version 2 only has 3 pattern pieces so it is quick to cut out and relatively simple to sew. I found the diagrams helpful when constructing the neck, and the precise details in the instructions useful for the mitred split hem. It took about a day to cut and sew together. The drafting means that there aren't a lot of fiddly elements to match up; it's really straightforward.

Alterations

I only made tiny alterations to my first version. Instead of the recommended stitch I used a zig zag, which I use for most of my knit fabrics and find it holds up well enough. I did use the straight stretch stitch for the hem though. Also, when fixing the neckband, the pattern recommends to stitch in the ditch. My test samples didn't look great when I tried this so I just tacked the ends down in the shoulders instead, which appears to have worked fine.

The picture above shows a couple of fit items that I thought could be improved: overall length, sleeve length, width and flaring of the bodice.

Above, you can see in the next version, I cut the bodice straight down from the arms which gives a better fit. I extended the overall length by an inch, and reduced the sleeves by 4cm.

 

It's not an alteration, but I did also have to work hard to match up stripes as well! They never match up across the top of the sleeve head so I focused on the line just above the bust, which matches to the first notch on the sleeve as well. This then leaves the stripes on the sleeves matching to the bodice stripes when you have your arms hanging down, so the best I could get it.

I now have two sweaters that I'm happy with. I would make this pattern again, but I might leave it for a while! I like the higher neck as a little cosier than my Sloane sweaters, and would be interested to see how this would look as a dress as well in this terry. I would still like to try Version 1, and would recommend a sweatshirting as a preferred fabric.