Teal blazer II - pattern drafting - back panel from bottom hem to waist
For the teal blazer project, I decided to try something new and a little risky (mildly so, I can always go back and revise my posts): document my process and my progress live. If you want to adapt the pattern for your own needs, you can follow the process and substitute your own measurements.
Today, we come up with the pattern for the back panel of the blazer, up to the waist line. It's really not that hard, and it begins with knitting up a swatch. I don't sweat how many stitches I cast on, I just make sure the work is more than 10 cm wide. I begin with 3 garter rows and continue with a 3 stitch garter border. That's because I am particular when it comes to curling (I hate that).
I stop when I have a little over 5 cm of stockinette done. The row count is less sensitive than the stitch count. I always use my trusted Susan Bates Knit-Chek to measure my gauge, even if unfortunately, the handy window is labeled in inches and so I can't use it. But there is a cm ruler on top and that's what I find useful. As a side note, it also has holes to measure the size of needles. That's probably what I use the most often.
Anyhow, this is my gauge: 16 stitches and 22 rows to make up a 10 cm x 10 cm square.
For needle size, I followed what was indicated on the yarn label. In this case, it worked well for my tension. Swatching also allows you to gauge that.
Next, some key measurements to make:
A. Width across the shoulders at the level of the shoulder blades. I used a blazer I own that fits nicely, drapped it on the back of a chair, and measured from sleeve seam to sleeve seam.
B. Around the chest above the breasts just across the front, + 2 cm of ease. If you have someone who can help, the idea is to get the width from side seam to side seam, measured around the back, under the armholes. This is the widest the back panel is going to be. Or again, measure an existing garment.
C. Waist circumference divided by 2, then add 2 cm of ease.
D. Choose how long you want the blazer, measure around the hips where the bottom hem will hit.
E. Measure the distance between the waist and intended location of the bottom hem.
F. Measure from the waist up to the underarm (where you intend the sleeve to be). I put on a sweater with the kind of ease in the sleeves that I intended for the blazer and measured from the waist to the sleeve seam under the arm.
G. With the same sweater on, measure from the underarm, up to the shoulder seam. This is a curvy measurement. Allow the measuring tape to follow the sleeve seam from under the arm up to the shoulder seam.
H. Distance between darts (get that off a fitted shirt that has darts)
My measurements:
A = 36 cm
B = 40 cm
C = 34 cm
D = 42 cm
E = 8 cm
F = 16 cm
G = 20 cm
H = 18 cm
Then we do some math:
With my gauge, the 42 cm across the bottom translates to 68 stitches. This needs to decrease down to 54 stitches by the time I get to the waist, over 8 cm or 18 rows. Each decrease row is going to subtract 4 stitches and not 2, as I am not only decreasing one stitch on each side, but also one stitch at the location of each dart. We need to decrease 14 stitches, not a multiple of 4. How about we do 4x3 (12) and then one decrease row with only decreasing on the sides (takes us to 14)? This works ideally, as in practice, darts do not have to start at the bottom of the panel. To summarize, we have 4 decrease rows to work over 18 rows. 18 is not a multiple of 4, but 20 is. So I will work the decreases over 20 rows. One every 5th row (4 x 5 = 20). Hard core math.
Put this plan into practice. We only work decreases on right sides, so we can't do every 5th row (otherwise, some decreases will be on the wrong side). So we translate the 5 into a 6 and 4, alternating. 6 and 4 average out to 5 and it will all work out in the end.
The plan, for hip to waist decrease:
From hem, work a simple decrease row (decrease only on the sides) on the 6th row.
Then do full decrease rows (sides + dart) every 4th and 6th in turn, until there are 54 stitches left on the needles (this will be 3 full decrease rows)
We still need to take care of how we will do the darts. Darts should roughly stay parallel to the sides. Also, we have determined that there should be 18 cm between them. Stitch wise, this works out to be 30 stitches. That leaves (68 - 30)/2 = 38/2 = 19 stitches on each side of the darts. So before the first full decrease row, we will have a setup row where we will place markers 19 stitches away from the edges.
The simple decrease row goes: K2, SSK, K to 4 stitches short of the end of the row, K2TOG, K2.
The full decrease row goes: K2, SSK, K to marker, pass marker, K1, SSK, K to 3 stitches shy of second marker, K2TOG, K, pass marker, K to 4 stitches short of the end of the row, K2TOG, K2.
On the next row, move the markers so that they are back to being 19 stitches away from the edges (after the decrease row they are down to 18 stitches away from the edges).
Special technique for the bottom hem:
As always, we need some sort of edging so that the finished work does not curl up. The standard technique is to work a few rows of ribbing. Another option is seed stitch. Here I am trying a different technique, for a more sophisticated look. It will be an actual hem. There are two issues with knitted work that make it so that we don't do that. One, it's hard to fold thick knitted fabric and two, it makes a bulky edge.
I take care of issue 1 by working a row in reverse stockinette. Now it's easy to fold. I take care of issue 2 by splitting the yarn so I get a knit that is less thick. The gauge will still work because I keep the same size needles. Splitting yarn is finicky and overall a pain, but the good news is, we don't need a lot of it.
Putting it all together:
With split yarn (e.g. for 4 ply, use 2 ply), CO 68 stitches. Work 2 cm in stockinette stitch.
Then work one row in revers stockinette (if it was time to do a purl row, do a knit row instead, then resume your normal stockinette pattern).
Work 2 more centimeters in stockinette with the split yarn.
Now switch to full ply and start the decreases, as described above.
That brings us up to the waist. We have 54 stitches on the needles.
Today, we come up with the pattern for the back panel of the blazer, up to the waist line. It's really not that hard, and it begins with knitting up a swatch. I don't sweat how many stitches I cast on, I just make sure the work is more than 10 cm wide. I begin with 3 garter rows and continue with a 3 stitch garter border. That's because I am particular when it comes to curling (I hate that).
I stop when I have a little over 5 cm of stockinette done. The row count is less sensitive than the stitch count. I always use my trusted Susan Bates Knit-Chek to measure my gauge, even if unfortunately, the handy window is labeled in inches and so I can't use it. But there is a cm ruler on top and that's what I find useful. As a side note, it also has holes to measure the size of needles. That's probably what I use the most often.
Anyhow, this is my gauge: 16 stitches and 22 rows to make up a 10 cm x 10 cm square.
For needle size, I followed what was indicated on the yarn label. In this case, it worked well for my tension. Swatching also allows you to gauge that.
Next, some key measurements to make:
A. Width across the shoulders at the level of the shoulder blades. I used a blazer I own that fits nicely, drapped it on the back of a chair, and measured from sleeve seam to sleeve seam.
B. Around the chest above the breasts just across the front, + 2 cm of ease. If you have someone who can help, the idea is to get the width from side seam to side seam, measured around the back, under the armholes. This is the widest the back panel is going to be. Or again, measure an existing garment.
C. Waist circumference divided by 2, then add 2 cm of ease.
D. Choose how long you want the blazer, measure around the hips where the bottom hem will hit.
E. Measure the distance between the waist and intended location of the bottom hem.
F. Measure from the waist up to the underarm (where you intend the sleeve to be). I put on a sweater with the kind of ease in the sleeves that I intended for the blazer and measured from the waist to the sleeve seam under the arm.
G. With the same sweater on, measure from the underarm, up to the shoulder seam. This is a curvy measurement. Allow the measuring tape to follow the sleeve seam from under the arm up to the shoulder seam.
H. Distance between darts (get that off a fitted shirt that has darts)
My measurements:
A = 36 cm
B = 40 cm
C = 34 cm
D = 42 cm
E = 8 cm
F = 16 cm
G = 20 cm
H = 18 cm
Then we do some math:
With my gauge, the 42 cm across the bottom translates to 68 stitches. This needs to decrease down to 54 stitches by the time I get to the waist, over 8 cm or 18 rows. Each decrease row is going to subtract 4 stitches and not 2, as I am not only decreasing one stitch on each side, but also one stitch at the location of each dart. We need to decrease 14 stitches, not a multiple of 4. How about we do 4x3 (12) and then one decrease row with only decreasing on the sides (takes us to 14)? This works ideally, as in practice, darts do not have to start at the bottom of the panel. To summarize, we have 4 decrease rows to work over 18 rows. 18 is not a multiple of 4, but 20 is. So I will work the decreases over 20 rows. One every 5th row (4 x 5 = 20). Hard core math.
Put this plan into practice. We only work decreases on right sides, so we can't do every 5th row (otherwise, some decreases will be on the wrong side). So we translate the 5 into a 6 and 4, alternating. 6 and 4 average out to 5 and it will all work out in the end.
The plan, for hip to waist decrease:
From hem, work a simple decrease row (decrease only on the sides) on the 6th row.
Then do full decrease rows (sides + dart) every 4th and 6th in turn, until there are 54 stitches left on the needles (this will be 3 full decrease rows)
We still need to take care of how we will do the darts. Darts should roughly stay parallel to the sides. Also, we have determined that there should be 18 cm between them. Stitch wise, this works out to be 30 stitches. That leaves (68 - 30)/2 = 38/2 = 19 stitches on each side of the darts. So before the first full decrease row, we will have a setup row where we will place markers 19 stitches away from the edges.
The simple decrease row goes: K2, SSK, K to 4 stitches short of the end of the row, K2TOG, K2.
The full decrease row goes: K2, SSK, K to marker, pass marker, K1, SSK, K to 3 stitches shy of second marker, K2TOG, K, pass marker, K to 4 stitches short of the end of the row, K2TOG, K2.
On the next row, move the markers so that they are back to being 19 stitches away from the edges (after the decrease row they are down to 18 stitches away from the edges).
Special technique for the bottom hem:
As always, we need some sort of edging so that the finished work does not curl up. The standard technique is to work a few rows of ribbing. Another option is seed stitch. Here I am trying a different technique, for a more sophisticated look. It will be an actual hem. There are two issues with knitted work that make it so that we don't do that. One, it's hard to fold thick knitted fabric and two, it makes a bulky edge.
I take care of issue 1 by working a row in reverse stockinette. Now it's easy to fold. I take care of issue 2 by splitting the yarn so I get a knit that is less thick. The gauge will still work because I keep the same size needles. Splitting yarn is finicky and overall a pain, but the good news is, we don't need a lot of it.
Putting it all together:
With split yarn (e.g. for 4 ply, use 2 ply), CO 68 stitches. Work 2 cm in stockinette stitch.
Then work one row in revers stockinette (if it was time to do a purl row, do a knit row instead, then resume your normal stockinette pattern).
Work 2 more centimeters in stockinette with the split yarn.
Now switch to full ply and start the decreases, as described above.
That brings us up to the waist. We have 54 stitches on the needles.
 |
| The reverse stockinette row where the hem will turn |
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| The back panel so far |
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