Five years ago, I made the Albion coat for my husband. It was time to make him something else and I think the Finlayson Sweater from Thread Theory should keep him happy for another five years. One of the reasons I don't sew for him more often is he is a Big and Tall kind of dude. Finding RTW for him is difficult enough. Except for his business casual for work, he likes his comfy-cozy clothes for home and weekend wear. I love the look of the Finlayson- I knew it would fulfill his comfy needs while giving him a bit of style.
As for sizing, his measurements were a bit all over the size chart. I ended up going with the largest of the sizes. I measured some of his RTW tops and sweaters to ensure I had enough length and shoulder width and was surprised to find out that the only change I needed to make was to grade out a bit at the waist. The top is drafted to taper in at the waist, so instead I redrafted the sides to extend straight down, giving him a little more room in the area.
The instructions were very easy to follow and well illustrated. I sewed this up in a couple of hours on my serger. The trickiest part is the collar insertion due to the squared lines in front. But if you take your time, pin pin pin, and follow the directions, it comes out perfectly.
The fabric is a grey french terry knit from Fashion Fabrics Club. I didn't want to make anything to heavy or sweater like. We live in the desert and have a very mild winter. Still, the temps do warrant some light jackets from time to time.
My husband loves it and it fits very well. He is 6' 4" and I didn't need to make any changes to the length. Keep that in mind if you make this for someone not so tall. In fact, he mentioned that the sleeve length is a little too long for him so if I make it again, I will be shortening it by about one inch.
Do you sew for your significant others? Do you do it regularly or are there long intervals between garments?
~Jenny
That neckline is very nice. I’m surprised the pattern didn’t take any changes. I would imagine a part of what is so hard about sewing for a husband is the sad discrepancy in the volume of patterns to choose for men (or kids!) vs women. I hope this trend reverses again one day, to make sewing for everybody a little fun.
ReplyDeleteI'm surprised that I didn't have to make more adjustments too! I think pattern companies are slowly coming around, especially the indie designers.
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