KCW : Zonen 09 Ole

Kid's Clothes Week Day 4. Day 4!? Where has the week gone? My first (and only) submissions this season are this lovely Ole Cardigan, and Field Trip Raglan. Please accept these submissions and my apologies for over scheduling myself with the winter sessions of every extra curricular activity available in my fair city, greatly diminishing my free time to sew.

Everyone knows I have a bit of a crush on Zonen 09, so I was thrilled to be asked to make an Ole in celebration of the English release of the pattern. I have a bit of experience with Zonen 09 after sewing a couple of Theo button downs in the past. The Ole (like the Theo) is a fairly sophisticated make, it is nicely detailed, infinitely adaptable, and a VERY satisfying sew. Zonen 09 is known for crisp urban boy's wear, but Mina Dotter made her girl version look so appealing, L got first dibs on Ole.

PATTERN: Ole jacket from Zonen 09.  I totally under estimated this pattern when I was fabric shopping (and when I was sewing, more on that later). In my mind it was a cardigan because I planned to make the simplest shawl collar version, but it is so much more. Depending on the weight of the fabric you choose it could be a full on spring jacket, with on seam pockets on the outside and two options for interior pockets. It is fully lined, and can be completely reversible. It can be fastened with buttons or snaps. The Ole is in English, but maintains a few characteristic of it European decent. Seam allowances are not included on the pattern pieces, so I added 1/2" to each piece when I traced them. I know many people add the seam allowances on the fabric, but because I'm not used to doing it that way, I would rather screw up on paper, then forget and screw up my fabric. It is also formatted for A4 printing, making it a skosh too large for American letter size copy paper. I use legal size paper as a substitute for A4.

FABRIC: The exterior is a vintage polyester knit from Crafter Glow. It is medium weight and doesn't have much stretch. The interior is light weight cotton jersey from Girl Charlee. The buttons are vintage from my stash. 

SIZE/FIT: Like the Theo, the Ole comes with two fit options, standard and slim. L measured a 5, but I made the size 6 standard because I wanted it to be roomy enough for more than one layer underneath.  Even the standard fit has a nice long and lean look about it. 

I'm not gonna lie, this pattern kicked my butt. The whole thing seems silly now, but that's the way it is when you're learning new techniques. I read the instructions for attaching the cuff to the lining and the exterior at the same time 1 million times. ONE MILLION!!!! But I just didn't get it. I figured that it was the bagged lining method that I tried with the Salme Cropped Blazer, so I went back to the Grainline tutorial I've used in the past. It worked like a charm, though because I followed the Grainline instructions as exactly as I could, my assembly isn't quite what is specified by Zonen 09, and I had to do a little fudging of the finishing with some top stitching at the end.

When I finished I went back and read the instructions again, and they made perfect sense. If you have bagged more than one jacket lining over a year ago, you'll have no trouble at all. If you have never done it, baste everything as a test run. I ripped those g.d. cuffs off (after serging too!) so many times I very nearly gave up. The point is it's tricky, but not rocket science. The perfect fit and thoughtful details of this jacket are well worth stretching your skills. Next time I'll be bagging linings and attaching collars like a pro. 

Because you can't wear just a cardigan (and it wouldn't be KCW if I didn't sew at least one t-shirt), I whipped up a new Field Trip Raglan to go with it. I've made this pattern many times (here, here, here) before, which makes it easy to alter with a dependable outcome. The sleeves are vintage knit from my stash, and shorted to three quarter length. I added an inch of length to the body, and made the neckline 1/2" bigger for a girlier look. The graphic is from my Conversation Heart Valentine Pins, blown up to t-shirt size and applied with a freezer paper stencil.