Merino Stylearc Harper Jacket

 With a day of enforced rest today due to an altercation with a trailer resulting in a strained ACL, aside from a bit of physio and prescribed rest, I managed to hobble outside for a few photos before the sun disappeared for the day.

Stylearc Harper has been around for a while but I was really late to the party on this one.  I really liked my first version, but being made in a relatively lightweight cotton knit, it was never intended to be a serious winter alternative.  This time however, I have tweaked the pattern and made it in a really lovely merino lycra knit that I picked up from Lane Walker Rudkin when they closed down a few years ago.  I have quite a bit of this fabric but because I love it, I am really careful about how I use it.  I made a Sewaholic Renfrew out of it when I bought it and it remains one of my most worn items of clothing despite now having a hole in the cowl.

I cut this version the same size as my last because I bought a paper pattern in size 8.  This time however I increased the seam allowances to 1.5cm.  I also added 9cm to the length both on the front and back.  Once again, I turned the hems twice and topstitched them, being mindful of the way the fabric would fall when it is worn, meaning the hem is folded in a different direction to the neckline and front drape.  I also added cuffs to the sleeves in true cardigan style.  This is for two reasons.  The first, it fits nicely and I can push the sleeves up which I tend to do regularly and the second because being such a stretchy knit, I didn't want to risk the twin needle hem breaking.

I don't think I can express enough how much I love this cardigan, so much so, I think the people I work with may be sick of the sight of it by the end of the winter, or maybe not!  There may just be more....