Lekala 4042

So I’ve been a bit obsessed with Lekala lately, lurking their website, stalking patterns, hoarding my credits for “just the right one”…I might have a problem, but we’ll worry about that later. 😉

I first tried their freebie knit pattern a few months ago, and while it technically fit, it wasn’t exactly what I was going for. But honestly, I think it’s just an ugly design and they have some really cute ones on there, so I toughed it out.

Holy indecent neckline, Batman!! Without something underneath, you'd be able to see my belly button! Those Russian women must be less prudish than I am. #Lekala #sewcialist

A photo posted by Sew Sarcastic (@sewsarcastic) on May 21, 2015 at 1:04pm PDT

Either way it gave me a baseline for their sizing system, and I really like the way their sizing system works, or at least I do now that I understand that Russian women apparently want bare midriffs (and lots ‘o cleavage!) and I don’t. But that’s easy enough to fix. I’ve also heard that they are super skintight, but I didn’t find that to be the case on this pattern.

Construction and Pattern notes:

• The line drawing for sleeve length is misleading. The short sleeves are short–not elbow length. Either that or the model has teeny-even-for-a-t-rex arms. A seriously easy fix though, and I wanted 3/4 length anyway, so I added around 10″.
• I’m short, with a proportionally short torso, and even then the pattern was too short for me. At least it was obvious enough that I could tell as I was taping it together–I’d have been a bit upset if I hadn’t noticed until after it was cut! I added 3.5″ of length.
• There is no way to cut the front pieces to conserve fabric–don’t bother. You will need more fabric than you think to make this, no matter how good you are at pattern tetris. Ask me how I know.

#sewcialists I goofed when I cut this out and the store doesn't have any more. The only piece in missing is the back, do you think I could cut it in black, or will it look stupid? It's Lekala 4042, which has a wraparound scarf collar thing and raglan sleeves. Thanks!

A photo posted by Sew Sarcastic (@sewsarcastic) on Oct 8, 2015 at 11:29am PDT

• Yep. Sucks when that happens. Thankfully, I managed to find the last little bit of the fabric hidden away at the store. (They thought they had sold out, but I just happened to spy the last yard and a half a couple of months or so later and snatched it–there may or may not have been maniacal laughter and a victory dance. 😉 ) Also thankfully, I had been unwilling to throw the pieces away or recut them into something else and I had been working around them in the sewing room for months. I hope to sew it up soon, but I need to recover from holiday madness first!
• Lekala is like Kwik Sew and Burda had a baby. The design is deceptively simple and well drafted, but the directions are like 4 terse sentences. You’re on your own. And with the collar, you’ll want a dressform or some way to situate it “just so”, or you’ll sew it together wrong. Or maybe that’s just me. I had to pin baste part of it together before I could stitch the collar pieces together in the back, because I tried it once without and it was not even close to right.

Doing a little bit of Lekala origami. #sewcialist #lekalapatterns blouse 4042.

A photo posted by Sew Sarcastic (@sewsarcastic) on Nov 17, 2015 at 12:10pm PST

Overall though, I love the end results!

Note to self: don’t take pictures after supper… 😉