Ideas come in a variety of sequences. Sometimes it starts with a fabric, other times with a pattern, and, oftentimes for us, it starts with a trim. The latter was the case here. The colors charmed us at first sight. After searching far and near to find the perfect fabric, we encountered the ideal fuzzy knit at one of our favorite haunts: Textile Fabrics in Nashville, Tennessee. It was weighty, with perfect textural interest and spot-on colors. The Talvikki Sweater from Named Patterns brought it all together. Exaggerated darts run from the funneled neck down both the front and back of the piece, adding just the right bit of interest without taking away from what's to happen around the sleeves. We chose to topstitch the darts in a rose cordonnet for emphasis. We made a few creative tweaks to adapt the trim and fabric to the pattern. First, instead of self-lining with the fashion fabric, we lined the neck in a soft, lighter-weight knit so as not to make the neck too bulky. Second, we widened the sleeve bottom for a more exaggerated shape onto which to stitch the fringe. We then shaped the hem in a slight curve. Not really sure why, but we felt it was the right thing to do! We started with a single row of fringe around the bottom of the sleeves, but added a second because we just can't help ourselves. A row around the hem of the top seemed a bit much, so we opted to trim the fringe, flip the edge under, and use the band of colorful stitching.
We now have a warm, fuzzy, fun sweater to pop on with jeans.
Make it more!
