Beth's Pumpin Cardigan Hack

December 3, 2024

Hi lovely sewists! And welcome back to another guest post where an amazing maker from the sewing community hacks one of the CocoWawa patterns :)

This time, we have with us the lovely Beth, who wanted to share her own take on one of our cosiest patterns, the Pumpkin Cardi Dress and Cardigan.

Check out her version below in her own words and the steps she followed to make it!

Pumpkin Cardi Hack Blog

Bows are all over the high street at the moment and I’ve been so inspired by loads of gorgeous sewing patterns with the bow details. I decided to combine this trend with the Cocowawa Crafts Pumpkin Cardigan. Follow this tutorial to make your very own Ganni-inspired cardi!

Cutting Steps

Cut out the cardi pattern pieces as per the instructions but with the following tweaks:

- Straighten the side seams of the front and back bodice pieces as the photo shows. I took a ruler from the underarm point (armpit) and straightened from there.

- For a cropped length, I took an additional 3 inches off the cardi length on front and back bodices.

- To create the facing pieces, I traced around the front and back neckline as the photo shows. The facings are 5cm in width.

- To create the bow strips, you can try a few different widths. I settled on cutting out 12.5 inch x 1.5 inch. I wanted three thick bows to ensure maximum coverage but again, this is something you can play around with! So 3 bows = 3 pairs of 12.5 inch x 1.5 inch strips.

Sewing Steps

1. Sew/overlock shoulder seams and iron to the back bodice.

2. Sew/overlock the facing pieces right side together and then overlock the outer edge. Set aside.

3. For the bow strips, fold them right sides together, press and sew/overlock one short side and the long side leaving the other short side unstitched so you can then pull them right sides out. Once you’ve turned them, give them another press and set aide.

4. Sew/overlock the sleeves and side seams as per the pattern instructions.

5. Now you’re going to decide on where you want to place your tie strips. With your cardi the right side up, place the tie with the unstitched end against the edge of the bodice, equally distanced apart.

I’d recommend trying out a few different placement options here to make sure you’re happy with it. You can easily baste with your sewing machine and try on (as I did in my pj bottoms!). For reference, my top bow is 3.5cm from the neckline edge and the last bow is 13cm from the unhemmed bottom edge. My bows have a 6cm gap between them. Baste them on to the bodice.

6. Once you’re happy with the placement, take you facing piece and lay it on top of the cardi, right sides together. For this, I used my sewing machine rather than my overlocker, going slow and steady, being careful to not stretch out the neckline.

7. Understitch, being careful to not catch your perfectly placed ties underneath.

8. Stitch in the ditch on the shoulder seams a few stitches to secure the facing in place.

9. For hemming, overlock the bodice and sleeve hems and fold up 1cm and then another. I do this because it helps with the twin needle (my favourite way to hem a knit fabric!).