My Uniform Tunics and Cardigan

While I often knit and sew garments to wear together I've never made two garments that were designed to go together. Enter the Uniform Tunics & Cardigan that we designed with Carrie of Madder which became the Uniform Knit & Sew book! Both of these tunics were made for our Uniform Tunic Sew-Along so if you’re looking for progress photos I’ve got plenty.

Usually I don’t think of myself as a tunic person so it was a challenge to design something that I would feel comfortable in, then add to that the fact that it needed to look good with not just one cardigan, but a mix and match cardigan, and it was a tall order!

My favorite combo of the tunic patterns is the slight v-neck, long sleeves, and apron skirt which is shown in these photos. I love how the split in the sides moves and catches the wind, and it’s so comfortable to move in. Always a plus for me! I think I’d really like to make one with this skirt and the pockets as well.

I layered the sleeveless version with the cardigan here, but you can get a good view of those pockets. I really like the way the longer cardigan hits just above the bottom of the tunic, for some reason that’s my favorite layering proportion.

For both versions of the tunic the kind folks over at Robert Kaufman supplied their fabulous Limerick Linen in Charcoal and I absolutely love how it sewed up. I’ve used it a few times before, including as one of our Felix Dress samples and it’s right at the top of my favorite linens. I really can’t resist a soft handkerchief linen! I’m dying to get some in Indigo - trying to resist till spring but we’ll see how long I can hold off.

Now let’s talk about that cardigan! If you’ve followed me for any length of time you know I’m not really one with the top down sweater situation. I love knitting in pieces and seaming and I can’t lie to you and say this cardigan converted me to the top down life, seamed sweaters are my jam and that’s never going to change. That said, I’m very pleased with how this sweater turned out!

I absolutely love the yarn I worked with, Får from Woolfolk in color 12 which they very kindly sent me for this project. The yarn is a chained worsted weight yarn and is basically the softest thing I’ve ever touched. Since this is a close-fitting sweater I didn’t want anything too scratchy because I knew at least some of my arm would be exposed to it.

As for the ”configuration” of this cardigan, it’s the long length, straight hem, A-line, long sleeves, inset pockets, 2x2 ribbed bands and button band version. As far as mods I only made 2. The first change was that I knit the sleeve by picking up around the entire length of the armhole and casting on 2 sts for seaming. The second is that I omitted buttons and buttonholes. I think the last time I wore a cardigan buttoned was probably 5th grade and even that was picture day. I also lengthened the sleeves but that’s not really a mod, just extra knitting.

I knit the bulk of this cardigan in Australia and on the flight back, and it was a pretty quick knit. I’d never done that method of adding in a pocket so that was fun to learn. I used a great tutorial by CocoKnits on seaming the pockets down which made the whole thing really easy and about 1/100th as scary as I thought it was going to be. I’ll definitely be snuggling down in this sweater over the winter - it’s definitely too warm for right now but the weight should be perfect for Nov - March in Chicago.

Since I know you guys are going to ask, for now they’re still only available in book format but we’ll be selling individual patterns of  each come March 2019. Have you made a Uniform Tunic or Cardigan yet?