Another Butterick B6563 shirt

The other Sunday evening, I was at a loose end and felt like starting a new sewing project. I'd been planning to make a project case for my embroidery but realised I was missing one of the key supplies. With that idea scuppered, I decided to move on to trying out the Sew Over It Ultimate Trousers (one of my Make Nine projects) but when I went to trace out the pattern I found that I'd run out of tracing paper, and I definitely didn't want to cut into the pattern because I was very unsure about what size I'd need to make.

Having been thwarted once again, I went back to the drawing board hoping that it would be third time lucky. The one advantage of having a pile of fabric sitting in the corner of my flat is that there were a few pieces left over from other projects that were therefore already prewashed and ready to sew. One of those pieces was a decent-sized chunk of Liberty tana lawn in the Suzy Elizabeth print left over from a Granville shirt that I made last year (which I now realise made it to my Instagram account, but not onto my blog for some reason).

While this fabric was left from another project so was sort of a "freebie", it is still Liberty and therefore demands a bit of respect and is also potentially my favourite fabric print ever (there's a closeup of it on my Instagram here) so I didn't want it to go to waste. A tried-and-tested pattern was therefore definitely required! Enter Butterick 6563, one of the Patterns by Gertie range.

I made two versions of this cute little shirt pattern last year, so I knew that it wouldn't disappoint. As with my previous two, for this B6563 I also used the cap sleeves from view B and the Peter Pan collar from view C. I fully intend to use the other collar and the sleeveless/puffed sleeved options at some point, but this time I wanted to stick with what I knew would work.

Unsurprisingly, given that I've made this pattern twice before, the sewing process was a breeze. The instructions are clear, and the pattern is relatively simple but still produces a nicely finished garment. As I said in my post about my previous versions, I made a size down from what is recommended for my measurements and that fits me nicely.

Considering the fact that this is a pattern that I've already road-tested and a fabric that I know and love, it's also not a shock that I'm really happy with the finished garment.

Just to prove how much I love this fabric, here's my current collection of garments made using it! In my defence, there are two different colourways and the two tops on the left were both made using leftovers from two of the other garments. And fabric for four of the five garments came from an ebay seller that used to sell precut lengths of Liberty fabrics at significantly reduced prices (sadly they no longer do!). That all makes having five garments in one print acceptable doesn't it? I'm not the only one who uses the same print repeatedly am I?!

Knitting: Lace Hearts Cardi

As has become customary in recent years, I've finished knitting a cardigan just as the temperatures should be about to rise so I won't be wanting to wear it for a few months. Given the grey and chilly day outside my window as I type though, it seems likely that this project will get a few more outings this spring. Here's my Lace Hearts Cardi!

The Lace Hearts Cardi is a pattern by Martin Storey published in the book Knit Red. I picked my copy up secondhand for a few pounds, which was a bit of a bargain considering there are 31 patterns in the book. Admittedly I wouldn't want to make them all, but there are a couple that I definitely like the look of - particularly the slip stitch beret by Ysolda Teague and Debbie Bliss's dolman sleeve sweater.

Anyway, back to the Lace Hearts Cardi! It's a classic, slighty cropped and nicely fitted cardigan that alternates between moss/seed stitch panels and the eponymous lace heart motif on a stocking stitch background. It's knit in pieces and them seamed, which is my comfort zone when it comes to garment knitting. I didn't have any problems at all with knitting the cardigan, and the pattern for the lace hearts is simple and effective, and fairly intuitive to knit.

The pattern calls for DK yarn, and I chose to use Willow & Lark Ramble from Love Knitting in the Bluebell colourway. It's a 100% merino wool - I loved knitting with it and it seems to me like it's soft enough to wear against the skin. If it wears well in this cardigan, I'd definitely like to use it to knit something else. If you're interested in using it yourself, it's worth keeping an eye out for offers - I got mine for 40% off which made it pretty affordable, and I've noticed (and been tempted by but so far managed to resist!) a few similar offers over the last couple of months.

I had to go down a needle size to get gauge for the pattern. Even with the smaller needles, my swatch came out fractionally bigger than it should have been but I did some calculations and worked out that if I knitted the 37" size, then I should end up with a cardigan with zero ease (my bust measurement is 38"). I think my finished cardigan might be a little bigger than that, but I'm happy with the fit so it's all good.

The sleeves are perhaps fractionally longer than ideal, but that's because I knitted a little more than recommended before starting the cap shaping so that the decreases would end ready for me to bind off with a complete heart at the top of the sleeve. I decided I'd rather have a slightly longer sleeve than have one that was just the right length but with the final heart cut off in the middle at the shoulder, and I'm happy with that decision. And it'll help keep my wrists warmer!

All in all, I'm really happy with how my Lace Hearts Cardi turned out, and it's another item that I can cross off my Make Nine list. I'm making way better progress with my Make Nine challenge this year than in previous years - obviously I must have planned it better this year! How are you getting on if you made a Make Nine list?