The Vermont Cardigan from New Horizons Patterns
/Hey y’all, I’m excited to join you today. Here in coastal Virginia, sweaters are a wardrobe staple for me. I’m almost always cold, so a cardigan is the ideal way for me to keep warm wherever I go. I have several store bought sweaters and cardigans, but they are all lacking in the same way - the sleeves are always too short for my loooong arms. It’s one of the many, many reasons I sew. So when I saw the Vermont Cardigan from New Horizons, I got a *little* excited. Finally, I can have all my sweaters with long enough sleeves! It’s the simple things in life that make me happy.
The Vermont Cardigan has a ton of options - three sweater length options; v-neck or crew neck; hood or no hood; two sleeve lengths; optional elbow patches; banded hem or no band; and narrow or wide binding; and several button or snap placement options. Sheesh, that’s a lot! For my first one, I chose to make a banded, hip length, long sleeve, v-neck version with buttons. I made my standard adjustments - blending sizes from waist to hip because I’m somewhat pear shaped, and adding length to the sleeves. This gorgeous garnet and gray damask stripe sweater knit has been in my stash, just waiting for the right sweater pattern to come along, and it was a match made in heaven. Because I am a stickler for stripe matching (seriously, can you find my seams easily?), I needed a little more fabric than the requirements listed, but that is to be expected when it comes to pattern matching. Luckily, I had *just* enough.
The instructions are really simple to follow and the whole sweater came together in an afternoon. The only thing that slowed me down was binding the cardigan, but that is because I had to piece my binding so that the print would be consistent. It had nothing to do with the pattern or instructions.
My second one was a banded, crop length, long sleeve crew neck with snaps. I saw another gorgeous floral version and I envied it. It reminded me that I had a floral sweater knit from a mystery pack ages ago that had never told me what it wanted to be until now. Because I had already prepped my pattern, it was under 3 hours start to finish, and a good chunk of that time was spent applying all the snaps. I love, love, love the cropped length and how it drapes. The topstitching at the seams makes everything lie perfectly. And have I mentioned how excited I am to have sleeves that actually reach my wrists?
I absolutely love how versatile this pattern is! I made casual versions that pair perfectly with jeans and a tee because that’s what I wear day-to-day. I can easily pair the floral one with a dress or nicer pants for when I need a more professional look. My next one, because you know I already have another one in mind, will be dressier, maybe even with pearl buttons. Now that I have the Vermont Cardigan in my possession, I can make all the sweaters!
Gloria's Version
Today Gloria June sews up this super fun Harbor Hoodie from New Horizons. Using some faux sherpa fur, this hoodie is ready for some seriously stylish winter weather.