The Marlo sweater....sweater?? It's a cardie!!

I'm going to say it... I'm a pedant.

I like things to be correct and I'm very detail oriented. Honestly I LOVE detail. Which brings me to my biggest issue with the Marlo Sweater... it's a bloody cardigan.

There. I've said it. I'm sure it's a 'lost in translation' thing and North Americans are currently shouting at me going "of course it's a sweater". But it's got two front panels and buttons so that's firmly in UK 'cardigan' territory.

But flippancy aside, what do I think of the Marlo 'Sweater' by True Bias?? I love it! If you've read my previous blog post (catch up here) you'll know that I had a break from sewing with a broken wrist (first in cast and then in recovery). So I wanted a project that would ease me back into sewing slowly: a nice easy 'win which would want me returning back to the sewing machine for more.

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I'd already bought the Marlo sweater pattern so I thought it would be great to give it a go with our Jane French Terry. I've seen lots of Marlos on Instagram with block or solid colour but not many with patterned fabric so I thought I'd try it out and see how it worked. 

I was very tempted to use a solid off-white rib for the cuffs, waistband and neckband as I had some in my stash. But it turned out I didn't have enough so I canned that idea. And actually it was fortunate - I don't think it would have looked as good.

Down to construction then, I cut a straight size 8 based on my measurements and I'm happy with the sizing - it's boxy and oversized but doesn't swamp me. The fabric requirements on the pattern say 1.8m are required but I think I managed to cut it out of approx 1.25m. I didn't attempt to pattern match anything.

I found True Bias' instructions to be detailed and straightforward. Definitely great if you're new to sewing or sewing with stretch. In fact there are two options for sewing the neckband, based on your skill level: 1) an easy version and 2) an intermediate version, which I did. From the outside there is minimal difference between the two. Just a line of visible stitching on the easy version. However the finish on the inside of the intermediate version is much neater so it just comes down to preference and confidence.

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The neckband is definitely the trickiest part of the make. As I said before, I'm a bit rusty at the moment so I'm OBVIOUSLY going to blame my mistakes on being rusty! Two things went a little wobbly for me. Firstly, my neckband ended up a little short when I attached it so I had to do some creative 'recovery' - it still worked fine and no unpicking required. If you're eagle-eyed you can see my finished neckband is a couple of mm shorter on one side but I don't think you'd notice.

My other wobble was stitching in the ditch which I'm terrible at even on a good day. In hindsight I should have made my stitch length longer and I will for next time. So both my issues with the neckband were caused by me and not the pattern.

Which leaves the elephant in the room..... especially for Captain Pedant (me). It's a cardigan, Tanya. Where are the buttons!?! Well, erm, yes. I haven't found any from my stash that suit the garment yet. So I'm waiting until the perfect buttons come along before attempting the buttonholes. I have that to look forward to.

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But in the meantime I'll be wearing my Marlo CARDIGAN with a great deal of pride and joy. It is 100% dopamine dressing and it'll put a smile on my face every time I wear it.

Happy sewing,

Tanya xx