Sewing the Leona sweater

Hello Fibre Mood, will you marry me?
I am obsessed with a pattern from the Belgian sewing magazine Fibre Mood… again. Since the first publication until now I loved every issue. The magazine has approx 12 pattern per issue and at least half of them cater perfectly to my taste. What does this say about me? Should I emigrate to Belgium?
But not only the patterns are so to my liking I also love that the magazine tries to be a tad better in their choice of models: in every issue is one plus size model included. Some issues feature woman over 50 or women with different skin colors. But still even this magazine could do a lot more regarding diversity and including more than the able-bodied, size 36 white woman with a height of 1,75 m not older than 28.



This issue is full of lovely dresses with huge collars, a cuddly coat, a pair of trousers with an interesting design detail - an into the waistline integrated belt. But the best of all, the magazine again contains a pattern for a jersey pattern which is not the same old design: Leona – a sweater with huge batwing sleeves which are ruffled along the front and back and so create a unique fit.



Over the weekend I made the sweater two times and started a third one which I modified into a cardigan (stay tuned to next weeks blog if this will be a revelation style-wise or utter sh**). My new studio set-up is perfect for sewing. I honestly am so much more productive, it’s unbelievable for me how much difference it makes that I do not need to store away the sewing machines every day. But I still cut on the floor :-DDD



As in knitting and crochet my biggest fear in garment making is the fit. And this sweater has such a clever shape that it is super wide and comfortable but, in my eyes, looks like a fashion statement. The magazine places me at size M (92 cm bust) and I trusted the numbers but integrated a security net in form of a for me big seam allowance of 1,5 cm (fibre mood pattern does not have the seam allowance integrated into the patterns).

Before I started my sewing journey, I researched the sweater to research how it fit on different body types. And as Fibre Mood has a kind of aggressive influencer strategy there was a big number of examples of this Leona sweater on instagram to find. Annoyingly most sewist did not mention the size they made… Nevertheless, the research was successful as I decided to omit the waistband as I did not like the bunched look on some of the sweaters and because I already learned from other sewing projects that I like my sweaters short but on the other hand hate it when the climb under my bust. The latter happens if the sweater has a tight waistband which naturally crawls to the smallest part of my body when I move.
So, the no-waistband choice was sealed.



The pattern pieces of the sweater look really unusual for my unskilled eyes: the sleeves are huge and the body pieces extreme slim. But the explanation is easy to understand and the whole sweater has only two minor steps which one could find a bit fiddlier. The first one is to sew around the corner of the gathered sleeve without creating additional folds and the other are perhaps only an issue for me: sewing the sleeve cuffs.



The latter is always a „hate“ task for me. Trying to fit the super wide sleeve into a tight sleeve cuff which is stretched to the limit of its capability. But not this time! Because of my new tables I have both of my machines ready and I decided to at first gather the wide sleeve with the „normal“ sewing machine and only then to sew the cuff on with the overlocker: worked wonderfully.



Ok, it worked better than stretching the cuff, but its still fiddly for me. I really have problems to make tiny things. This is one reason I so admire you - dear @needleworkmonday crafters - when you sew tiny Barbie clothes. I will abstained from sewing Mini garments in fear of destroying my machine in rage while sewing a minuscule Barbie sweater :-DDD
Remember there is a community contest running where you can test your Barbie clothes design and crafting skills. I am so exited to see all the entries <3<3

So, this is the story of my weekend: two finished sweaters and a cardigan experiment waiting for its completion (oh and a lot of leave cleaning in our garden… it was a funny experience, so many leaves that it felt as if we are cleaning a forest :-D)

if you look closely you can see that I am wearing the green Leona sweater under my jacket :-D

Thank you @crosheille for initiating and @marblely for hosting the #needleworkmonday and the community builder team @lauramica, @romeskie and @kattycrochet I am so glad to be part of. If you want to see more beautiful projects with yarn, fabric, and most of all needles, follow @needleworkmonday. Or even better grab your needles and keyboard and join the #needleworkmonday community.

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