Tuesday 27 May 2014

The Terry Tie Cardi from Style Arc

I have been sewing quite a few practical garments lately, which have been filling a gap in my wardrobe. My latest effort is the Terry Tie Cardi from Style Arc.

Style Arc Terry Tie Cardi
A stylish and comfortable cardi with shoulder tucks and front tie detail.This is one of their older patterns and it gives a nice flattering silhouette.

Style Arc Terry Tie Cardi Line Drawing.
I used a marle grey ponte de roma purchased from Lincraft. This was probably a bit heavier than the fabric they recommend, but it gave the result I was after. This is a nice warm cardi but it still has enough drape to work as designed. I cut a straight size 12 with no alterations.

Front
The ties are sewn into the front darts. When tied together they pull the fronts together creating draping folds of fabric at the front, and nipping in the waist line. The centre fronts also hang lower and this also adds to the flattering effect.

I had terrible trouble trying to work out the pleats at the shoulders. The instructions for this are very sparse, and you are really only given a series of notches across the front shoulder. I ended up making 5 small pleats about 6mm wide which worked out ok and the front shoulder length matched the back shoulder length. I did quite a bit of unpicking before I figured this out. The rest of the construction was easy and came together without any problems.

Back view
Even though the back has no darts it still has some shape. The length was fine on me. I did end up with a bit of a bubble effect at the back neck. The back neckline is finished off with some binding. There is a pattern piece for a vilene stay which I didn't use. I was concerned that the neckline might stretch out without this, but it seems to be a little tight rather than stretched.

Hem line
The hems were all finished off with a twin needle which sewed beautifully on the ponte. My only real disappointment with this pattern is the front opening edges. The raw edge is folded back 1.5cm and secured at the top in the shoulder seam, and at the bottom in the hemline. This means it is unsecured all the way down the front. In the photo above you can see where it has flopped forward, revealing the raw edge. I do plan to fix this by securing it with some Steam-a-seam lite when I can buy some. All my local stockists are having trouble getting any in at the moment.


This has been a great practical addition to my wardrobe and I am sure I will get a lot of wear out of it.


Happy Sewing

9 comments:

  1. Really cute - and yes, looks like a great practical wardrobe addition.

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    1. Thanks Carrie. I have already worn it a few times.

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  2. I got my last lot of Steam A Seam Lite from thesewingplace.com. US $5.50 a roll. Unfortunately I only bought 1 roll as wasn't positive it was the correct one as I couldn't see the packaging - it was! Check out their fold-over elastic as well. NAYY - just another Aussie who's also had that problem. CherylStillSews

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    1. Oops - forgot to add - good prices on Design Plus Stay Tapes as well. And I'm enjoying your blog!

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    2. Thanks so much CherylStillSews. I've since found out there is a production problem with the company that makes Steam a Seam Lite. Thanks for introducing me to thesewingplace.com. I'm sure I will find this source very useful.

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  3. Nice cardi. That fabric looks nice and cosy. You are building up quite a wardrobe.

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    1. Thank you BeaJay. I'm really trying to concentrate on winter garments that I know I will wear on a regular basis, at the moment. Me Made May has been a great tool to identify the gaps in my wardrobe.

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  4. Great looking cardy and the colour will work so well in your wardrobe. I have heard that there has been a problem with the supplier for Steam a Seam.

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    1. Thanks Sharon. The grey is nice and neutral and should be a versatile piece in my wardrobe. I too have heard there is a problem with the production of Steam a Seam. Only a temporary issue apparently.

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