In last week’s installment of the Como Cardigan Sew Along, I reviewed fabric options and what you would need to make this pattern.

This week, let’s get to sewing!

Quick Sew Along Recap

Seam allowance is 3/8″ or 1 cm and is already included in the pattern.

The pattern has 6 pieces:

1. Sleeve
2. Back
3. Front (and yoke)
4. Front Band
5. Back Neck Band
6. Pocket

For clarity, I will refer to the pieces by both their name and number.

Two tips that will come in handy from last week:

1. Cut a small notch at the top of the center back on the Back (2) piece.
2. Cut a double notch on the back of the Sleeve (1) so you can remember the front from back.

Sewing the Como Cardigan

1. Start with darts! On the Front (3), sew the shoulder dart on both sides.
   • On a regular sewing machine, use a narrow zigzag or a “lightning” stitch for this, to allow the seam to stretch if needed. (If you need help choosing a stitch, check out this great explanation from DIBY.)
     
   • Press this up, or towards the back (on a tailor’s ham, if you have one). The top of the front is actually the back of the garment since it’s an all-in-one yoke and front piece. (Note: I’m skipping all decorative topstitching because it will be lost in the ribbing.)
     
2. Still working with the Front (3), stitch or serge the center back yoke seams together with right sides facing.
   • Be VERY careful which seams you sew together! Make sure it’s the one with the notches, NOT the other one!(Ask me how I know this might happen…)
     
3. Now we’ll move on to the Pocket (6). There is a nice diagram in the instructions for this. The instructions for this are pretty typical for a patch pocket of this type, so I’ll skip the photo tutorial.
   • Tip: use Wonder Tape to stick the Pocket (6) to the Front (3) at the designated marks. Wonder Tape is double stick tape that won’t gum up your machine when you sew through it.
     
   • Baste the pockets on for now. If they’re in the wrong spot, you can always reposition them later without ripping out teeny tiny stitches! When it’s time to sew them on, use a zigzag or stretch stitch.
4. Attach the Front (3) to the Back (2) along the yoke, right sides facing.
   • In Part 1, I recommended making a notch at the top of center back on your Back (2) piece.  Now you can match this to the back yoke seam.
   • Stitch or serge with a 3/8″ (1 cm) seam allowance. Press the seam down towards the Back (2) piece.
     
5. Attach the Back Neck Band (5) to each end of the Front Bands (4) right sides facing, matching the notches in the curved ends of each piece.
   
6. The Back Neck Band (5) and Front Bands (4) are now one long piece.
   
   • Turn the long band inside out (so the right sides are together) and sew or serge along the short ends of each side at 3/8″ (1 cm) hem allowance. If you sewed, clip the corners so you can get a nice sharp point. If you serged, it should turn out nicely without clipping.
     
   • Turn the band right side out and push out the corners so they’re nice and sharp. Press the hem. Your band should now be folded in half with the wrong sides facing.
     
   • Tip: baste the long edge together from one hem to the other. This will make it easier to attach to the neckline.
7. Attach the whole Neck Band (pieces 4 and 5) to the Front (3) with right sides facing.
   • Match the notches of the band (4 and 5) to the notches down each side of the Front (3) opening. The seams between the Back Neck Band (5) and Front Band (4) will match to the shoulder darts on each side.
     
   • When you get to the bottom of the Front (3), press the hem up so that it matches the length of the band.
     
   • Stitch or serge the whole thing together with a 3/8″ (1 cm) seam allowance.
8. Press this seam away from the sleeve band.
   
9. Attach the sleeves to the body with right sides facing. This can seem a little tricky, so pay close attention to the notches.
   • Remember how I suggested clipping 2 notches in the back of the sleeve? This matches up with the yoke seam on the body of the cardigan.
     
   • With right sides together, match the Front (3) notch that says “Start Front Sleeve” to the front corner of the sleeve. Match the next notch moving up to the front notch on the sleeve. Continuing around, the yoke seam will line up with the back sleeve notch. The final notch on the Back (2) will be where the sleeve ends.
     
   • Stitch or serge together with a 3/8″ (1 cm) seam allowance.
     
10. Sew or serge the side seams with right sides facing, using a 3/8″ (1 cm) seam allowance. Start at the hem and work up to the sleeve opening on both sides, in the direction of the arrow.
    
11. Hem your sleeves and body. Both are 2″ (5 cm).
    • The body hem is 2″ (5 cm) but you should match the hem to whatever it came to when you attached the band to the front (and make sure the hem is even along the entire garment)
      
    • When sewing the hem, begin and end at the front band seam.
      
    • Tip: if you don’t have a twin needle, sew the hem with a zigzag stitch.
12. Give everything a final press. Check to make sure your pockets are where you want and sew them on with a stretch stitch. Enjoy wearing your cardigan!

I hope this photo tutorial was helpful for you! If you have any questions or if anything is unclear, please let me know down in the comments.

And stay tuned for next week when I reveal my full cardigan and review the pattern—I might have a hack!

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