This is a weird knitting project for me because I usually can’t follow a pattern, at least it has been a few years since I tried to make anything with a pattern, and that was Butterick Retro ’44 #6374 and Butterick Retro ’44 #6485. They didn’t go super well.
This is the only picture I saved from #6485 because it was so bad. It felt like a weird Star Wars dress. But I digress, with knitting, I would like to rectify my aversion to patterns to learn new skills and appreciate the creativity, celebrate even, the creativity and talent of my fellow knitwear designers. So I was inspired by Making Cassie’s Stripe Hype Sweater knitting project and through my move, I decided to use up leftover yarn in my stash to make a sweater someone else designed. It was one of the most rewarding knits I’ve made all year!
Who Designed the Stripe Hype Sweater?
The original Stripe Hype sweater and sweater pattern was designed by Veronika Lindberg and the pattern was published on Ravelry in 2023. Now I didn’t realize there was an actual Ravelry pattern, I just gave it a go off of other people’s versions of the Stripe Hype Sweater on Instagram and YouTube, like playing a song by ear. Whoops! Sorry, Veronika! But here is the link to her pattern.
My Take on the Stripe Hype Sweater
This is one of my favorite sweaters I’ve made because it challenged me to do things I wouldn’t gravitate towards like using white on a sweater. After all, I’m pale and I’m clumsy so stains. But dang it’s a fun background for the colors of this sweater. It taught me how to balance color, to mix colors with more abandon, and to bring balance and order to my pieces. This is also a make that grew my skills as it was the first project where I tried casting back onto sections – such as the ribbed collar and the sleeves.
It was a rewarding experience and reminded me that even though I like designing my own pieces there is always something new I can learn from using a pattern and although I can find it tedious, it puts limits on my creative energy to channel it into a direction I may not have gone if not for the guidance of the pattern. Always have a teachable spirit, my grandma would say, and yeah she’s definitely right about it when it comes to knitting!
Have you heard of the Stripe Hype Sweater? Would you wear or make something like this design? What colors would you choose? Until next time, thanks for being here, dear reader. I hope you have a lovely day!
In honor of National Sewing Month and the 160 years of their existence the big four – Simplicity, McCall’s, Butterick, and Vogue Patterns are taking a look back at their patterns. The Simplicity Creators group turned this little moment of fashion history into a challenge, Sew Your Decade. I first learned about this through a video from Stephanie Canada where she took a look at the patterns Simplicity was highlighting on their ‘Stitch in Time’ historical presentation of patterns and fashions made by these four companies over the years. A lot of them were reproduction patterns and had dubious choices, including some 1950s patterns in the 1960s. But that’s more of an editing problem.
Because I have a lot of other projects in progress but I love historical fashion, I thought I would take a look through the historical pattern wiki and choose a pattern from each decade of what I would want to make if I had the time to make a garment from each era. I’m using the vintage patterns wikia and historical sources instead of the patterns on Simplicity’s site because the originals are just more appropriate and imaginative than the ones selected on the timeline and the reproductions they sell currently.
1800s Era (1860s-1890s)
Butterick 9111; ca. 1897; Ladies’ and Girls’ French Bathing Costume. Pictured in September 1897 Butterick catalog.
I choose this bathing costume because it is such a unique relic from the past but also because we’ve seen some new designs for swimwear come out recently that reimagine the typical 20th century-21st century swim suit, that look less like bikinis and more like a crop top and a skirt.
1900-1910s Era
McCall 1675; ca. 1907; Ladies’ Eton Jacket (with deep armholes). Featured in McCall’s Magazine September 1907.
What a fabulous jacket! That’s why I would choose this Eton jacket from 1907 because not only would it create a great historical silhouette, I’d love to try styling it with other items from my modern wardrobe.
The flapper dress patterns you see in the store are so played out and inaccurate. My choice was influenced by the wonderfully boxy lines of this robe. It encapsulates the straight up and down silhouette of the time while looking like a piece that could be dressed up or down, for around the house or used for wearable garment in the right fabric.
1930s Era
Simplicity 1832; ca. 1935; Ladies Swagger Coat and Six Gore Skirt. Coat has full raglan sleeve tucked at the wrist, patch pockets, stand-up collar and inverted back pleat.
Oh my goodness, this coat is fabulous. I may try to track this down in the future just to try my hand at it because I love these style lines. I love the raglan sleeves with the contrast of the narrow 1930s skirt. It’s so chic.
I like the academic style of view A and the elegant style lines of view B. I think I would get a lot of wear out of a dress in this style. The 1940s are one of my favorite eras for vintage fashion, I love the style lines of this time period and the 1920s-1930s.
The 1950s is not my favorite era of fashion, mainly because this silhouette looks horrible on me and it’s really over done when people think of “vintage” so for inspiration I went to 1958, the year my grandparents got married to find something interesting. I like the bow on the front of this and flounce of the skirt. The shape reminds me a bit of a bridesmaids dress I tried on that my grandma wore for her friends’ wedding in the 1950s.
1960s Era
Vogue Paris Original 1434; ca. 1965; Pierre Cardin – Suit. Side-buttoned jacket with standing, bias ring collar and cuffs. Tie belt at front, welt pocket and three-quarter length sleeves. Slim skirt.
I chose this one, first because I had yet to choose a Vogue pattern and secondly, because this suit is sharp and screams 1960s glamour. I love the over sized buttons. The classic shape and the slightly mod-artsy feel of the over all look.
This is a unique pattern. I like how many styling options we get in the line drawings. It’s an interesting jumpsuit I could see made up in several types of fabric for casual or fancy styling. I should see the blazer made in a contrast fabric or the same. Jumpsuits were a staple of the 1960s and 1970s so I think this is a great option to represent the decade.
This pattern is so extra. I didn’t realize how much the cottagecore aesthetic pulled from this time period – wow! I thought the 1980s was just inspired by the 1940s, but there is a lot more there to see. I think this would be a great upcycling project with bedsheets.
I originally wanted to pull from 1993, but this pattern is too perfect for me. I honestly want to make all three of these. I have fabric that would work for view B. I wonder how difficult it would be to track down?
Closing Thoughts
A special thanks to Vintage Pattern Wikia for making it possible to browse vintage patterns and for keeping these moments of fashion history alive. Thanks also to Stephanie Canada for putting this on my radar and for sewists like her who are keeping vintage patterns accessible to us to sew with. This was a fun challenge posed by the Simplicity Creators group and Simplicity itself for putting this on all of our radar. Although I’m not going to sew anything from what I found because I seriously have to many projects to add another right now. It’s a great way to appreciate vintage paper patterns and the effect they have had fashion and clothing in the last 160 years. Sewing your own clothes is such a great way to make things that fit you, and have your own flair, they also combat the unhinged mayhem that is fast fashion. It’s a win win 🙂
One Rabbit Riot 