Knit Boucle Cardigan | Simplicity 5855

I've added a lot of handmade garments to my wardrobe in the past year, but cozy outerwear type pieces were still sorely needed - especially to wear in cold trains and offices. 

I was inspired by this oversized knit boucle coat 119 from Burdastyle 09/2016. I loved the concept, but had a few issues with the mockup: it was absolutely enormous, the front is finished with twill tape instead of a facing, and the collar attachment is clunky.

At least the bad mockup guided me to toward which features I wanted in my coat. I found Simplicity 5855 in a Facebook Sewing Pattern Destashing group (my go-to source for finding patterns) for $3. Simplicity 5855 has options for an ankle length or knee length wrap cardigan/coat/coatigan??, vests, and a shawl collar jacket.

I chose View B for its length and unnotched shawl collar. View B includes piping along the collar and belt, but I omitted the piping the keep my coat from looking like a robe. I cut out the smallest size, XXS, to account for the stretch of my fabric.

I bought 2 yards of ivory acrylic/wool blend boucle knit from Fabric Mart Fabrics for $14/yard. This fabric is plush and lightweight, and not so stretchy that it sags from its own weight.

The garment was super quick and easy to make. I cut, sewed, and finished it in one weekend - and that included hand sewing the hems and facings! I highly recommend this pattern if you can find a copy.

I used my serger to finish all the edges before I sewed the pieces together on my sewing machine. On my serger, I used black thread for the needles and grey thread for the loopers.

I stitched the bottom edge of the pocket onto the cardigan with my sewing machine, and stitched the side edge by hand for an invisible finish. The other side of the pocket gets secured in the side seam.

I made the belt and belt loops but haven't attached/used them yet as I prefer the cardigan without them. I think it looks more like a coat and less like a robe without the cinched waist!

I omitted the interfacing on the collar because I didn't know what kind of interfacing to use that would be stretchy, lightweight, and light in color. Unfortunately this causes the collar to collapse and roll up around the outer edge.

I love this simple, functional, comfy garment and have worn it literally every day since I've made it. I recommend a project like this for folks experimenting with sewing knits!