Grey marl cardigan...this one's for me

And how is everyone doing today? Just when you thought it was getting yawn-some boring around here with very practical garments and projects, here's a new to me pattern, fabric and style! I came to a sudden crisis point a few weeks ago when my beloved 100% merino wool RTW (but I still loved it!) cardigan developed a tiny hole in the back. Horror! A stitch in time saves nine so I carefully tried to darn the hole and for the most part it worked. Only to go into work the next day to discover there was actually a 3cm hole in one of the elbows!!! I admitted defeat and the merino cardi was retired.

Time to start wearing the grey marl one I'd made at christmas but needed a push to start wearing. Does this ever happen to you? I used Jalie Cocoon cardigan sewing pattern. This was the first time I've used a Jalie pattern and I like it. As with all patterns, it's important to measure yourself, which I did, before choosing what I thought would be the correct size. I cut out an X and added 4cm to the length, basing this on the torso measurement. I also like with Jalie how you can download the instructions sheet before buying the pattern. Avoids any nasty surprises! Looking at the photos I'm wondering if the X is a bit big for me?

I bought 2 meters of grey marl ponte from Edinburgh Fabrics. What usually puts me off ponte is that it's usually 100% man made fibres and I don't think it looks very good quality fabric for the most part. However, this one has a large percentage of viscose in it, I can't remember exactly how much, but it's enough to take away the man-made-ness of it. It's quite a dense fabric and has a bit of body to it. This is probably just as well as I didn't stabilise the shoulder seam. Mmm...we'll see over time if that was a good decision or not!

I find the sleeves feel a little bit short so I'll add an inch to the next one I make. The back is quite long but it does cover the back hems of some of my high-lo hemmed blouses so that's probably good. This was quite a simple pattern and a reasonably quick make.

I used my overlocker throughout and don't think I used my sewing machine at all. The wrong side of this fabric is black so I used black thread on my overlocker. All hems are finished by sewing on bands of fabric so the insides are really nicely neat and tidy. This is actually a fairly cosy cardigan so with the density of the fabric I don't think I'll be wearing it beyond spring.

I've actually cut out another one of these cardigans but in a wool/viscose/lycra mix which is thinner than this ponte but has more stretch. It'll be interesting to see what difference the change in fabric makes to the fit of the cardigan and the look of it. Well, hope this grey-ness wasn't too boring but I do love the drama of dolman sleeves so it was only a matter of time till I sewed up this pattern. What do you think of the pattern? Made any Jalie patterns at all?