Finished - La la la la Lola!

Autumn has been typically unpredictable in Melbourne thus far.  There's been glorious days, chilly days and fresh nights. And such days therefore have required layers. Jacket on, jacket off. Long sleeves, short sleeves. Sunglasses, umbrellas. Basically it's cardigan weather. I've written a couple of years ago about my love for the humble cardi. My most worn self-sewn garment has to be my Style Arc Fiona cardi, made 2 winters ago. It's my house cardigan - a bit frumpy but deliciously warm and my go to layering piece for probably 10 months of the year. 

I've had my eye on the Schnittchen Lola cardigan (I'm rather tickled to learn the German for cardigan is Strickjacke - I love languages!) since it was released and was very pleased when Helene announced she'd be stocking some of the patterns at Stitch 56. My hand shot up volunteering to sew up the Lola quicksticks. 

I'm very impressed with the drafting of the pattern. It's a bit of a cardi and a bit of a jacket, depending on fabric choice. The sleeves are drafted beautifully, with an asymmetric sleeve head that gives a really smart fit. The main design feature is the pleat incorporated into the offset side seams. 

My first version is a stripe made up in a fairly drapey cotton knit from Spotlight, and the second a much chunkier felted wool knit from The Fabric Store.  With some care the stripes in the sideseam can definitely be matched on this pattern - I'd recommend matching from the hemline rather than from the underarm. 

 

The wool version is probably a smidge too chunky for the pleat but really I'm very pleased with both (both already worn several times!) and I think it's a great pattern for building up some wardrobe basics. Head over to the Stitch 56 blog and check out my full write up, including comments on fit and some alternative (and very pleasing) methods for finishing the neckline!