Sewlala – Paula Cardigan

It’s a lot warmer here in the Lisbon area, and it made me realize that I need to blog about this cardigan before it’s completely unseasonal. Although, I think we’re already to that point.

I have been sewing a lot of Sewlala patterns lately because I have been testing her patterns, and I’ve really like them! The Paula Top & Cardigan was gifted to me after I completed testing one of her patterns last year. I was eager to try out this pattern because I really like the relaxed fit.

From the inspiration I saved on Pinterest (above), I liked the look of buttoning it and wearing it as a top or wearing it over a tank top. It seems like a nice light layer to have during the Spring/Fall.

I sometimes find it hard to get the right type of sweater/rib knit when shopping online, so I opted to make this first Paula out of cotton jersey. This is the Camel color from Style Maker. Cotton jersey sounded comfortable to me and seemed like a good fabric to try for my first one.

I made the size 12 (closest to my wait and hip measurements) and chose not to add the elastic that is supposed to be added to the hem and sleeves. I lengthened the sleeves by 1″ and left the hem the original length. I hemmed the bottom using the same wide hem but used a narrower hem for the sleeves so that they were a little bit longer on me.

I also decided to topstitch the neckline because it wasn’t laying very flat and looked a little bit sloppy. I realized that using matching thread (instead of black) on my serger would have made the insides look a lot nicer too. So, I’ll remember that for my next one.

I used some shank buttons that I had on hand. They are kind of a really light pink color, so I didn’t think they would work very well, but when I put them up to the fabric, they looked great! I think because the color of this fabric has a little bit of a pink tint to it. I was just happy to not have to make another trip to the fabric store.

I like wearing this with a tank top under it. I even wore my Suna Tank under it (shown in photo above), and it was really cute! But I found that wearing a t-shirt felt a little too bulky because the sleeves of the Paula have less ease and my short-sleeved shirts didn’t have a lot of room to lay nicely.

I don’t know that I would make any major changes to my next one. I like the fit and the style, and I think I’m going to be wearing it a lot when temperatures cool again. This fabric was great, and I’m excited to make it in a different fabric next time.

If you’ve read this far, then thank you for reading this very unseasonal cardigan post. Happy sewing!

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Sharing Joy:
I went on a hike with some women from the crafter/sewist meet-up we have every month, and it was really nice. There is a really big green area in Lisbon called Parque Florestal de Monsanto, and we hiked around part of it. Although you could still hear the cars and airplanes in parts of our hike, it was nice to explore a new place, and I noticed that the smell of the trees was even just calming for me. I highly recommend finding somewhere that you can get lost in the trees for a little while.

Here is a photo that I took. If you look closely, you can see the top of the bridge and Cristo Rei statue on the other side of the river.