More on the eShrug

There were a few questions in the comments about the eShrug, so I'll address them here.

The eShrug is a downloadable pattern from The Sewing Workshop, that you print on your own printer and tape together. It's $6.00 and you can see/buy it here.

It's an easy task to tape it together. All the pieces fit well and it will take about 5 minutes for assembly.

What this pattern is NOT, is a fitted jacket/cardigan. As I said yesterday, it's kind of weird to look at and sew. But it's also extremely fast to sew, especially if you use a knit that doesn't require finished edges, as I did.

As drafted, there is no sideseam. Front and back are morphed into one piece. I had to make a sideseam so the pattern would fit on my fabric width. But as I also said yesterday, I actually preferred the sideseam so I could sew the sleeves in flat. The shoulder seams are curved, which is one of the weird aspects, but hang straight. Although they sit forward and not actually on the shoulder.

So, with all that in mind, here are the fast alterations I made.

First, after it was sewn together, I scooped out the back neckline as shown below. I didn't like all that fabric bunching up at my neck. It didn't look bad — it just felt … weird.

Next, I changed the lapel by simply folding down the front edge as shown below. I knew I wanted to do this because I actually had made up another version first in a fabric that turned out to be totally inappropriate and then compared that to a RTW cascade/waterfall cardi to see what the difference was between the two lapels. This is what I came up with and it worked.

And that's it. I think I got my $6's worth, especially in the instant gratification aspect. I have a more structured waterfall cardigan Vogue pattern on the way. It will be interesting to compare them.

Parting Shot: New shoes. I really need some basic black shoes because I do plan on making a black skirt soon (even though I don't wear too much black) because it will go with a number of cardigans I've either bought or plan to make soon. I really like the updated wedge, it's rounder and more flattering to the foot.

Now I'm off to watch the football game before I hit the pillows, since Tampa is playing and it's one of the very rare times we actually get to see a home game televised due to poor ticket sales the past couple of years. The NFL's policy on that is a rant for another day.