HACK || Cut-out Stereo Sweater || By Marieke

March 20, 2021

If you ask me, the best feature of the Stereo Sweater is it's rounded or V-shaped insert. It brings me back to my beloved era of the eighties! But when Marieke joined our hacker team and pitched the idea to leave this eye-catching feature OUT, I was initially dumbfounded! 

Even though I wasn't convinced at first, I was confident that Marieke with her mind boggling creativity would hit this one out of the park. And boy did she deliver! My jaw dropped when I saw her Cut-out Stereo Sweater! It almost looks regal! And thankfully, Marieke was willing to share her process in this step by step blogpost!

 

You can find more inspiring makes by Marieke on her instagram profile @jong.design

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Hi there!

I am Marieke and I live in the Netherlands with my husband and our 4 children, 2 boys and 2 girls. My husband is from Germany and our life together started there too. We moved a couple of times and we had to start over every time again. On a lousy Monday, I was walking around the city with my youngest and I ended up with a sewing machine in the luggage carrier of the stroller!

2 Years ago we decided to try a new episode and we moved back to the place where I grew up. I have no idea how long we are going to stay here this time, but my sewing machine will be with me! 

 

Well, let’s start! 

Since the Stereo Sweater came out, I already planned one without the insert. You can use both the round or V-shaped insert version. 

For this hack, it is easiest to use sleeve option 2 (5 piece sleeve) or 4 (4 piece balloon sleeve) from the tutorial. I decided to fully line the upper part of my sleeves, which makes using these 2 sleeve options with an upper and lower sleeve, the easiest. But when you prefer one of the other sleeve options, you’ll have to work with facings or line the entire sleeves, which is absolutely possible too! I will explain more about the lining further on in this how-to!

Print the following pattern pieces:

• front bodice
• back bodice
• front, middle, back upper sleeves
• lower sleeve of your choice
• arm bands and bottom band of your choice
• collar facing

Remember: since we're going to line the upper sleeves, you need more fabric than the fabric chart in the tutorial suggests! Depending on the weight of your outer fabric, you can use the same fabric for the sleeve lining as well. But if you use a heavy outer fabric, I suggest using a jersey for the lining. Cut all your pattern pieces from the fabric, except for the collar facing.

 

Creating a front bodice facing

Since I'm leaving out the insert, the top of the front bodice has to be finished in a different way. To do this, I created a front bodice facing. Step 1 - Measure the height of the collar facing.

 

Step 2 - Collect your front bodice pattern piece and mark that same height on your front bodice piece. Draw a line indicating the new front facing.

 

 

Step 3 - Cut your front facing pattern piece out. 

 

 

Step 4 - Cut it from the fabric once on the fold. 

 

The sleeves & the back

Normally, the sleeves and back of the Stereo Sweater are finished with a facing. But with taking out the front insert, the inside of the sweater is also exposed and visible. So using the original facing would not look so pretty. Instead, I decided to fully line the sleeves and create a back facing for the back bodice. Here's how!

Step 1 - Instead of using the original collar facing, for my version I decided to fully line the sleeves. This means you have to cut all 3 upper sleeve pattern pieces (twice and mirrored) from your outer fabric and lining fabric. I used the same outer fabrics as a lining. 

 

Step 2 - Back collar facing - take your back bodice pattern pieces and measure the width of your back bodice neckline. Mark this same measurement on your collar facing and cut off the excess. You've now created your new back collar facing. Cut your back facing from the fabric once on the fold. 

 

By now, you should have the following pattern pieces: 

• Front bodice 
• Front bodice facing
• Back Bodice
• Back bodice facing
• 2 x Front Upper Sleeve in main fabric - 2 x Front Upper Sleeve in lining fabric
• 2 x Middle Upper Sleeve in main fabric - 2 x Middle Upper Sleeve in lining fabric
• 2 x Back Upper Sleeve in main fabric - 2 x Back Upper Sleeve in lining fabric
• Lower sleeve and arm band of your choice
• Bottom band of your choice or elastic.

 

Interfacing

Interfacing - Use a (stretchable) fusible interfacing to give your collar some structure. Interface your front & back facings and the top of all 6 sleeve lining pieces.

 

Sewing the facings

Step 1 - With the right sides together, place your front facing on the front bodice and sew at the top with your preferred stretch stitch.

 

Step 2 - Press the seam allowance towards the facing and understitch on the facing side, close to the seam edge.

 

Step 3 - Press the facing to the wrong side and baste the sides from the facing to the bodice.

 

Step 4 - Repeat steps 1-3 for the back bodice and back facing.

 

Attaching the sleeves

Step 1 - Construct your sleeves by following steps 2A - 2E in the tutorial. Don't attach the lower sleeve yet. Repeat this for the lining sleeves.

  

Step 2 - With the right sides together, place your sleeve lining on the outer sleeve. Sew the top collar seam. Press the seam allowance towards the lining and understitch on the lining side, close to the seam. Repeat this for the other sleeve.

 

Step 3 - With the right sides together, place the outer sleeve on top of your front bodice. Start pinning from the armscye all the way up. You’ll notice that your sleeve is longer than your front bodice, this is because we've removed the front insert! 

 

Step 4 - Flip the lining sleeve over towards the other side -  the right sides of the outer and lining sleeves are now together, in between "sandwiching" the front bodice. Pin together by carefully repinning the pins you used already. Sew the seam.

  

Step 5 - As you can see, your outer sleeve is on top, your lining sleeve on the bottom and your front bodice with facing is sandwiched in between. Repeat this for the other sleeve and do the same with the back bodice. 

 

Finishing up

Turn everything right side out and press. Baste the outer and lining sleeves together at the bottom and finish your sweater by following the instructions in the tutorial. And that's it! 

Some additional tips and ideas:

• You can handstitch the sticking-out-upper-sleeve to the shoulders for a different effect. Or leave them up like my other one.
• Finish the upper sleeve with a custom short sleeve bottom band, hello summer stereo tee!
• Although the front collar facing is long enough and the understitching should do his work, it can always happen that it’s popping out. Just hand stitch it from the inside with a couple of invisible stitches.
• If the lining of the sleeves is bulging or not laying flat enough, "stitching in the ditch",  through the seams of both the outer and lining sleeves, will help to keep things in place.

I hope you enjoyed this hack and have fun sewing!

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Thank you so much for sharing your talent and process, Marieke! Your hack turned out absolutely stunning! Are you interested to see more of Marieke's makes? Check out her instagram account: @jongdesign. And when you make your own Cut-out Stereo Sweater, do make sure to tag us or use hashtags #misusupatterns #misusuhack!

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