Help please! Disaster

#1

I hope someone can help me
I have finally finished knitting the Sublime Big Knotty Jacket (it has taken me since August), and yesterday I sewed it together and it is a DISASTER!!!
The instructions were a bit vague, and I wasn’t sure where to sew the shoulders onto, so did it so that the pattern followed over the top from the back, if that makes sense. The front at the shoulders is far too shallow now it is made up, and the sleeves feel as though they are twisted when I tried it on, with a bulge under the arms…
Had I known I was going to have to unpick the thing, I would have used contrasting wool to make up with, as I can’t see the sewn wool to unpick it

Help!!! Has anyone made this jacket? Where do the shoulder panels go? And how the devil do I unpick it all???

#2

I haven’t made the pattern you mention however I have made many a garment out of cloth. All dressmaker patterns call for basting in the sleeve by setting in the sleeve side seam and bottom seam of sleeve meeting and than easing the sleeve in. Sometimes this will require more fabric for the back, which is why they ask you to ease and baste before you do the permanent stitching.

Sorry this has happened to you :sad: , but fixing it now will make you a far more comfortable and wearable jacket. And yes I would loosely bast with a contrasting wool first

#3

when you go to stitch it next time, a tip from knitty gritty was to go and start in the center of the part you need to stitch so that your stitches don’t bunch up and you end up with odd bunches and such in your finished garment…

#4

I don’t think I explained very well… the pieces all fit together and are the right sizes, its just that once together, it looks wrong.
So I think I must have done something wrong in the putting together, but being inexperienced and having very vague instructions I was wondering of anyone else had made this and had any hints.

#5

OK since I couldn’t find a copy of the pattern to look at on the net. I would like to know a little more info. Is it a seamed sleeve or sleeve worked in the round ? is the shoulder end shaped ? straight ? or raglan ?

I will try to explain some fitting techniques as I was taught.

If the sleeve is seamed this should in most cases match up to the side seam of the garment or if it is not seamed the center side as found by folding the garment flat an marking where it folds in half at underarm.

If it is a sleeve worked in the round from the cuff up with no other shaping ( straight set in ) you need to either go by the knit in design or find a way to determine top and bottom, front and back.

I like to pin mark ( Safety pins work best for knits ) the top center, bottom center and front and back center of each top sleeve edge.

Match up the top and bottom of the sleeve and arm opening, now here is where most problems occur … the sleeve edge and the arm opening may not match up exactly ( one or the other may be bigger ) you will need to ease the difference in fabric so that one edge may be a little tighter the other a little looser. This differential may come in to play either front and back or only on one side. Make sure you are truly matching top to bottom, if anything ease more to back than front as this will allow greater freedom in bringing your arm together in the front.your sleeve top edge is slightly larger than your armhole edge, this gives a nicer appearance and more arm freedom in my opinion.

I hope some of this is helpfull. I personally hate finishing touches of any kind and avoid them as long as possible. Right now I am dawdling along on finishing a jacket for myself that has a lot of loose threads that need to be worked in

Ideally

#6

Nora, I took a look at the pattern on a web site, did you buy it as a kit, or just the pattern? You should be able to contact the place you bought it from and ask for help,especially if it was bought as a kit, if no one can help you on KH.

It looks like a wonderful piece. If it were me, and believe me, I’ve frogged more than my share of sweaters, I’d take it apart and redo the sleeves, aligning the center of the sleeve to where it’s suppose to match the body of the sweater, and ease it down to where it joins under the arm, and probably use the mattress stitch to do so.

You said you can’t see the yarn to take it out, pull the sleeve from the sweater as hard as you have to, and make the first cut that way. You don’t want to risk cutting anything else. The two pieces will relax again when you block it.

Hoping that one of the mods see this and can give you the info you need.

#7

Thanks for the replies and the great ideas!
I bought the Sublime book of the cashmere silk aran patterns when I was in the UK in the summer, so have no support here in Singapore with it unfortunately… it is a fabulous pattern isn’t it? It’s my Mum’s Christmas present!!! A little late. I had thought starting in August would give me plenty of time.
I have sewn all the seams in mattress stitch, so it is very hard to see where the stitches are. I will give a seam a good tug as suggested and see if I can start it off!
And the safety pin idea is an excellent one - now why didn’t I think of that!!!
I’ll try and get the pieces apart, and maybe take a picture or two to see if someone can work out what goes where!
Thanks guys, your help really is invaluable.

#8

Is it possible that you didn’t put it in wrong, but that you didn’t make the back and fronts the same length? That would put the shoulder seam in the wrong place and affect how the sleeve goes in.