Dude. Seaming is hard. Well, I should say, normally I quite like seaming but in the case of the Phildar Zip Cardigan, seaming is a challenging, time consuming and thus painful process. Allow me to explain why.
- This sweater has 12 (yes 12) pieces to seam together.
- There are all kinds of ribbed bands you have to attach to non-ribbed edges that do not measure up perfectly. So you have to make sure you allow the right amount of give in the right places so that the pieces seam together neatly while not creating bulges in places where there shouldn’t be bulges.
- The majority of the sweater is knit in reverse stockinette. I have worked on perfecting seaming for stockinette garments–not reverse.
- Because of reasons #1-3, some knitters might have to resort to re-seaming parts of the sweater several times since they just can’t get it right.
- There are 12 pieces to seam. Ugh.
Did I mention I have struggled a bit with the seaming of this sweater? I really thought I would be all done by now. Silly, silly Erin.
But, I have come a long way. See?
It almost looks put together right?
There has been a lot of trial and error with the seaming. I have done and then taken out and re-done almost every seam so far. Some of them I have seamed more than twice. You might think this is a little extreme but let me show you what I mean. There is a part of the sweater where you have to seam two ribbed bands together but you are connecting the purl valley of the rib. The first time I did it I didn’t know what I was doing which resulted in the seam looking like this.
Ugly seam:
After an epiphany last night, I re-did it and now the seam looks like this.
Pretty seam:
See how much better??!? As I work on it more and get better at it I realize how bad my first attempts at seaming the sweater are and am compelled to re-do the parts that don’t measure up. I just want it to be as close to perfect as I can. Is that so crazy?
In related news: I went hunting for a zipper that would work for this sweater on Saturday and came up empty handed. Very discouraged, I called Knit-n-Tyme (the place where I purchased the kit) to ask them if they sell a zipper that would work. The very nice woman on the phone asked me, “didn’t one come in the kit?” Um…no, it didn’t, but doesn’t it make perfect sense that it would? Turns out the zipper was on backorder when I ordered the kit and I just didn’t realize it was supposed to be part of the kit and so I didn’t notice when it never got to me. So she is sending me the right zipper this week which is lucky that she still has it in stock seeing how I ordered the kit over a year and a half ago. Phew. Now I just have to put the zipper on. Ugh. It better be easier to do than seaming this baby. Somehow, with my sewing skills, I doubt it.
The following 22 comments were originally left at blogspirit:
Beautiful seaming. I admire the final product, worth the effort. I have Green Gable just about done, and then your Glee!
The pretty seam looks great! I’m looking forward to seeing the finished prduct!
The seaming looks beautiful! Too bad there are 12! pieces to your sweater. That would drive me mad. Good luck with the zipper!
ugh. 12 separate pieces? remind me to never, EVER knit this. i despise seaming! ;0)
erin, i whole-heartedly congratulate you on your perseverance.
Wow, your new seam looks…seamless! Good for you for sticking with it until it’s right. Your finished product looks impeccable.
I share your dislike of finishing–sewing and knitting don’t even seem slightly related in my brain. I now try to do everything in the round.
I totally bow to your producing-extremely-wearable-and-beautiful-sweater prowess. Go, girl!! 😉
I HATE seaming too, however I want my seams to look perfect, so I can understand why you kept re-doing them.
On a good note – now you have better seaming skills for the next more difficult to put together sweater!
12 pieces! Holy crap, I looked and could not pick out where 12 different pieces would go. Unless it still has a complicated hood or something. I’m guessing that your pieces are so fabulously seamed I don’t even notice they are there. Nice work!
Wow, what a lot of work. You’re awesome!
your work on the seams is really going to pay off – wow – what a difference it makes in the two seams.
keep on plugging away at it – it’s going to be one of those sweaters you keep forever I bet. Very very pretty.
Having 12 seams to seam would drive me crazy. Looks like you can handle it though. Can’t wait to see it finished. 🙂
Obviously I will never make this cardigan! But I admire your work, and your re-seaming looks great. Excellent job! At least I know who to come to with any seaming questions…
You should probably consider sitting farther away from the boys at lunch — you actually opened up your blog with the word “DUDE”!
I have one word for you in regards to putting in the zipper ~basting. I normally never do it because I am a cowboy when it comes to sewing but you being the donna you are basting will be a necessity.
You are so persistent! It does pay off since your seaming is beautiful!
What a pretty seam! It feels SO good to have a neat seam. Kind of makes you want to run around and show the neighbors. LOOK LOOOK!
You are doing an amazing job on those seams. I feel your pain; I’m a rip and re-do knitter myself. The seam on my cami border drives me nuts, picking up from garter stitch but also in between the garter stitch “bumps” to have the required # of stitches. I’m going to have to go around and pull every stitch tighter with a crochet hook. Me, obsessive? Just a little.
I’m so glad to hear about the zipper…it only seems (seams?) fair, considering all the work you’ve been doing.
It looks SO good thought!! Keep up the spirits, I’m sure this will be a winner when you’re done. And then you’ll be crazy good at seaming. Crazy good.
What torture….12 seams! yuck. BUt it looks lovely, way to go on re-working for perfection…and what a great turnout on the zipper!
Wow, that is a lot of seaming. I would want it as close to perfect as I could get it too!
12 pieces? Is that even physically possible? Your seams look fabulous, though!
As painful as it sounds like the process is, it’s turning out a *fantastic* sweater. The cardi really looks beautiful. You’ve read Grumperina’s tutorial on zippers, right?