I make things in threes, and I’ve sewn three Toaster Sweaters by Sew House Seven and will probably make three (or a dozen) more! This comfortable, slightly cropped banded hem and sleeve sweater is a fun, EASY sew even for beginners.
I bought the fabric (a ribbed velour) from my Local Fabric Shop. My LFS owner is a self professed lover of woven fabrics (but not knits) and as she handed me the pattern and directed me to the black ribbed velour, she said “if you’re brave enough, try this fabric”. Bravery not needed – I knew looking at the pattern and the velour that this would be a super easy sew, and it was.
My LFS Seams Fabric carries some really lovely knits for the Toasters – including sweatshirting, French terry, and a wide assortment of other knit fabrics. I made the navy and the black one from fabric from Seams. The aqua is a random ponte knit from stash.
I sewed the Toaster 1 with the raglan sleeve, banded sleeve and bottom hem. My philosophy of making three is here.
If you have a serger, Toaster 1 can be made entirely on your serger in under 45 minutes. It’s that fast~ But if you don’t, use a stretch stitch on your machine and trim your seam allowances. You can also use two rows of zigzag – a narrow on the seamline and a wider next to it in the seam allowance. Because of the bands on this, there is NO HEMMING OF KNITS, LOL, perfect for those of you who won’t sew knits so you don’t have to hem them.
The sweater is a little cropped – to your hip bones. Fine with any jeans/pants you might have, especially higher waist ones. Resist the urge to over fit this, it’s meant to be a wee bit loose in fit.
You can wear your Toaster with jeans, cords, with a wide leg pant like the Emerson, Rose or Pietra, or even a knit skirt as shown here. Super versatile and stylish, you can wear it under blazers and jackets too.
Toaster 1 is on my want to sew list, and I’ll provide a review of that too.