Tim is making out like a bandit this month since I bumped a couple of his projects up in the queue for the Sewcialists Menswear for Everyone month!
This is the Jennifer Lauren Auden Cardigan, which has been in that to-sew queue for a while now! It's a raglan-style cardigan, which a cool saddle shoulder detail I love.
Of course that saddle shoulder detail is really difficult to see in the fabric I chose! Next time I'll definitely do contrasting color sleeves!
The fabric is an organic hemp/cotton blend jersey that I bought at Gather Here last year when I was in the Boston area. I don't see it on their website right now, but I know other shops carry it because I've used it before for my Aomori Twist Top and Bowline Sweater- looks like Organic Cotton Plus has it right now.
The fabric is perhaps a wee bit stretchy and drapey for this pattern. But it worked out ok in the end!
Back to the Auden: This is a size XL, which corresponded with Tim's chest measurement. I think the fit through the body is spot on, but I had some major issues with the width of the sleeves: they were soooooo wide and the cuffs enormous! I'm glad I noticed they seemed overly large and tried the cardigan on Tim part way through.
I ended up sewing the sleeves and cuffs with an additional 1" seam allowance (for a grand total of 1 and 3/8") from the armpit down, reducing the sleeve width by 2". I wonder if it was a grading error?
The Auden has options for a contrasting woven facing, or a hidden knit facing. I went for hidden. I didn't have quite enough of the hemp jersey, so I used some coordinating brown ponte for the facings (and promptly forgot to take a photo of them!).
My machine hated the buttonholes through 2 knits. It was rough. I had to go back over most of the buttonholes with a zigzag stitch because there were so many skipped stitches. In the end I think they're fine, though.
I think he really likes the cardigan! After I made it, he immediately packed it in his suitcase for a work trip. Making this suitcase cut is high praise from Tim. Thanks for the push to sew up some menswear, Sewcialists!