Helen’s Closet Blackwood Cardigan

Before I chat about the Blackwood Cardigan, check out the Same Pattern Different Bodies post for the Muna and Broad Glebe pants on the Curvy Sewing Collective. I forgot to mention it in my last post when I talked about the Glebe pants. I want to make another pair and then you’ll see a full review here.

On to the Helen’s Closet Blackwood Cardigan

The Blackwood cardigan is an open front cardigan in two lengths: hip length and thigh length. It comes in sizes 0-30. Smaller sizes are drafted with a B cup and larger sizes are drafted with a D cup. It’s drafted for a 5’6″ tall person.

I chose to make size 24 in the thigh-length version. My measurements are 51.5 bust, 48 waist, and 54-58 hips. I decided to focus mostly on the bust measurement here since it is an open front cardigan. I thought about going to a size 22 since my high bust is 46 inches, but I went with a 24 instead. My fabric is a rainbow wavy cotton lycra from L’Oiseau Fabrics. The specific colourway I have isn’t available anymore but there are other colourways.

Due to fabric limitations, I ended up cutting a smaller hem band that the pattern calls for so this is actually a few inches shorter than the pattern calls for. I also cut the hem band to match the colours in the bottom of the cardigan so you can’t really see the difference here.

With the wavy stripes, it’s tough to match side seams, but it’s close enough that I am okay with it. The most important part for me in this cardigan was to cut mirror images so that the stripes didn’t look all over the place. I think I did a good job of that with the fabric constraints. For some reason, it was also super important to me to get the neckband in pink, too.

It’s definitely a comfortable cardigan. I think the fit is pretty good. I thought about doing a narrow shoulder adjustment on it but I don’t think I will since it’s meant to fit over clothes. I do need a bit more room in the upper biceps, though, so I will do a full bicep adjustment. The arms are also a bit long. They are long without the cuff and then with the cuff they are really quite long. Definitely need to shorten them for the next version.

The only other small comment to make about the pattern is that the pockets are a smidge too small for my taste. I need massive pockets people! Not for my hands, those are teeny, but for my haul, for my dragon’s hoard. If you can’t fit a dragon’s hoard in your pockets, why even have pockets?!

TL:DR Review

• Pattern: Helen’s Closet Blackwood Cardigan
• Pros: Great size range. Great features. Great instructions.
• Cons: Pockets are a bit small and the sleeves are a bit tight and really long.
• Make again?: Definitely. It’s a great cardigan and I love the length of it.
• Rating:   4.5/5 stars

 

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