MY GOD, you guys. I am so happy I got this finished in time for the OAL deadline! I’ve had the dress finished for a couple of weeks now, but I worried about that sweater as the time drew closer! I ended up needing to take a couple marathon days in order to finish, but I did finish! And now I’ve got an outfit to show y’all!
I’ll start with the dress. Again, this is McCall’s 6887, which I used cotton ikat fabric from Mood Fabrics to make it up with (this isn’t a Mood Fabrics allowances fabric; I bought this on my own dime while I was in NY last year). I used the version with the back cut-out, as well as the cap sleeves, omitted the lining in favor of bias facing, and added pockets. I’m not going to go into detail about the construction, since there’s a whole series of blog posts on the making of this dress! You can see them all here:
- Fabric, Size & Cutting
- Assembling the Bodice // Adding Sleeves
- Adding Pockets // Assembling the Skirt
- Attaching the Skirt // Finishing the Cut-Out
- Finishing
We are just gonna look at pictures instead. Btw, I walked through a lot of spiderwebs to take these. Appreciate me, dammit. 
Now for the sweater part! 
Vianne is a sweet little top-down cardigan with lace details and a open mesh back. It’s supposed to be knitted up in DK weight yarn, but I used Cascade 220 worsted weight and was able to get gauge using size 6 needles. I knit the size XS, and the only modification I made to the pattern was to knit full-length sleeves. As in, I followed the sleeve directions and just kept knitting/decreasing until they were long enough. I’ve found that I don’t have much need for 3/4 sleeves – if I’m cold enough to wear a sweater, I am cold enough to need the full sleeve – so I went with long sleeves. I did keep the mesh back, though. The mesh back is awesome. I found the mesh+lace a little confusing to follow, so I used a bunch of stitch markers to stay on track and that helped a lot.
While I normally finish my buttonbands with a strip of petersham ribbon for stability, I did not do that with this cardigan. Vianne is a looser fit on me, and the button bands are so wide that they don’t really stretch when they are buttoned. So I left off the petersham and just sewed the buttons directly on the ribbing. One thing I will say about using a stabilizer with your button band – it makes sewing on the buttons a helluva a lot easier! Oh well! Anyway, the buttons are vintage glass from my stash – I’ve had them for YEARS and been hoarding them for a special project, which I’m happy to have finally found! I only had 4 buttons, so I left off one of the button holes. And by “left off,” I mean I originally knit it and then later closed it up with a slipstitch haha.
As with all of Andi’s patterns, I REALLY enjoyed knitting this sweater! The yarn was so nice to work with (after a long Cascade 220 hiatus, I’m happy to be home! And I’m really happy to find a local source that is still selling it – Ewe & Company, who happen to be located here in Kingston Springs! What are the odds?) and the color is my favorite. The only thing I didn’t like was feeling rushed at the end, but that’s my own damn fault for not pacing myself earlier during the OAL. I’m glad I got it finished in time, at any rate!
As a side note, wrangling the last sleeve of the sweater got me really wanting to start doing seamed knitting. I’ve always been a fan of in-the-round, because it’s so easy, but I’m starting to feel a little comfortable and I’m kind of craving a bit of a challenge. It would be fun to learn how to properly seam a sweater. Not to mention all the pattern possibilities that open up when you’re not hung up on just one particular construction style!
Anyway, that’s it! Here is Vianne on Ravelry (spoiler: not any more info than what you see here!). Don’t forget to post your finished outfit in the OAL 2015 FO Thread on Ravelry for a chance to win prizes! We have prize donations from Indie Stitches and The McCall Pattern Company, as well as from Andi Satterlund herself (winner’s choice with all of these, so you won’t get stuck with something you don’t want!), and there will be 4 winners. Also, if you have blog posts to share with your FO, post them here so I can see! I need to get my lurk on 😉
LLADYBIRD 
Absolutely beautiful. You have such talent for both sewing and knitting.
Thank you! 🙂
“DK” is the same thing as “worsted weight.” So, no worries there. As for the delights of seamed knitting … I wouldn’t bother. It’s a whole lot more trouble for a whole lot less-nice result. I grew up making them that way, and converted to in-the-round relatively late in life. (There are any number of ways to “properly” seam a sweater, btw.) Check out books by Elizabeth Zimmerman and her daughter, Meg Swansen, for sweet tricks with false seaming, to help block your sweaters and to achieve the look of a seamed sweater.
See, I want to learn how to properly seam a sweater. New skills are always on my horizon 🙂 And I’m not liking all the bulk that comes with an in-the-round sweater – once I get to the sleeves, there’s a lot of mass to deal with and it slows me down (and makes it hard to carry around to work on the go). That is one upside to seamed sweaters – you can leave the pieces at home and just take what you’re working on 🙂
Love the back mesh pattern. I’ve made a few of Andi Satterlund’s patterns – (myrna,chuck,miette) and they’ve always turned out well. I think I prefer seamed construction, just to have smaller pieces in my needles. I can also knit sleeves alot faster flat than in-the-round. How dies cascade 220 hold up after wears/washes? It seems good value, but I always wonder how it holds up?
‘does’ 🙂
Oh, I LOVE Cascade 220! It’s such a lovely yarn and the price is so excellent. I think it holds up really well – my first sweater was knit with it, and it’s survived a few years of washing and wearing and looks great. The only drawback is that it does pill quite a bit when you first wear it – my LYS told me that’s common, and you just pull the pills off and they tend to stay away. I tried that and I haven’t had any pilling since. Seems kind of weird, but I won’t argue with that!
Fantastic outfit! You did a wonderful job on the sweater, your skills are definitely growing! I wholly support exploring seamed construction, It’s not any harder, just a little more to do on the back end.
Thank you so much, Melissa! Excited to try a new method of construction for my next sweater project 😀
Beautiful dress…. Beautiful sweater….. Whenever you can twirl….. GO FOR IT!!! Thanks for sharing, I just may learn to knit, I tried it a couple times, maybe I’ll try again. 🙂
Definitely try again! Knitting is the best secondary hobby (well, secondary for me – because sewing will always be my #1 😉 ) because it’s PORTABLE. Love that about it!
I love that dress, it looks so good on you! And the sweater looks awesome – good job! I think I would knit it without the mesh, because if it is sweater time, I need a covered back! And I need long sleeves then, too! Never understood the purpose of 3/4 sleeves – cold hands guaranteed O.O ^_^
The mesh is ok with me, because I primarily wear these types of sweaters to combat the crazy a/c that gets blasted down here in the summer. So the mesh makes it a little more breathable! (and if I wear it in winter, I’d assume that whatever garment I’d be wearing underneath would have a full back. Haha!). Anyway, Andi did include instructions on her blog of how to knit it with a plain stockinette back, so non-mesh is definitely an option 🙂
That outfit is stunning. The sweater looks so intricate and difficult. You are an expert in everything you do! The dress is so gorgeous – I just might have to try that pattern!
Aw, thank you! 🙂
Congrats girl! The outfit is gorgeous. You’ve got to have some silouette to wear that dress, too! It fits you like a glove and you look stunning on it.
Thank you so much 🙂
Wow this is amazing! ❤ I admire the dual talenting going on … I'm totally envious of your knitting. I WANT to know how to knit more than I actually want to knit…. but fancy mint sweaters? Be still my heart! Completely gorgeous outfit. 🙂
Learning how to knit is sooo worth it! It’s such an awesome (and portable!) pasttime, and being able to make your own knitted whatever -socks, sweaters, hats, scarves, etc – is such an amazing feeling 😀
Lovely outfit!
I wanted to chime in to say that seaming sweaters can be so satisfying! If done properly, in many cases those seams can be invisible, which feels like magic! The seams also add stability to the sweater that’s essential for many designs.
Seaming sweaters also makes them much more portable since you only work one piece at a time. I have a gorgeous bottom-up, in the round sweater on the needles now, and it has to stay at home because it’s so bulky. And, as you say, a whole new world of pattern/design options opens up!
It’s an extra step, but you already have your sweater “chops,” so I’d say it’s worth it. If you’d like a resource, I recommend _Seven Things that can “Make or Break” a Sweater_ by Margaret E. Fisher, which I used when teaching classes on sweater construction at my LYS.
Thanks for the resource tip! I will have to see if my library has a copy of that book, it sounds really interesting!
This is an absolutely gorgeous outfit — and the dress and cardi, separately, are going to be well and happily (and beautifully) worn, I can just tell! Totally agree with you re the stitch markers; anyone who can successfully knit lace without a plethora of them is probably an extraterrestrial..
I’m sure the spiders were suitably impressed when you photo-op’d this one. Hope they don’t request any sweaters. Eight teeny sleeves??? Bugger that!..
Oh man! I won’t even go to the distance of knitting gloves for myself (well… yet. That may change in the future, haha), so definitely no 8 tiny sleeves when I won’t even do 5 fingers! Can you imagine?! haha!
Great outfit! I need to learn about seaming too.of you find any good info/resources please share!
Will do! 🙂
Girl, it has been a hot minute since I’ve been to you blog! Been thinking about you lately. I hope you settled into your new digs (I’ll have to troll through old blog posts to get updated). I still can’t knit, so I’m crushing on your cardigan!
Things are great here! 🙂 Miss you, Maddie! Still jealous of your Paris trip – it looks like you had an amazing time!
Such a great combination! I love this.
Thank you!
Beautiful sweater and dress– great job!
Thanks!!
For a second I thought you had fallen to the ultra-photoshop trend on blogs!! I was like oh no Lauren not you too!
There is a bit of an illusion in the third pic where it looks like your back is your arm and your waist is super tiny!
but otherwise great dress and sweater!
HAHA!! Ok, now that you’ve pointed it out – I see it! Don’t worry – I would never photoshop myself any skinnier. Mostly because I don’t even know how people do that! All I know how to do is crop the photo and adjust the contrast hahaha 🙂
I love the colour of your cardigan! I’m going to get some Cascade 220 next, what shade did you use?
Also, if you’d like to check it out, my FO can be found here: http://notionsoffabric.blogspot.com.au/2015/07/an-outfit-long-or-birds-and-bows-and.html
I believe the color is “mint,” #9076 🙂
Thanks for the link! Gonna check out your outfit now, yay! 😀
I love the colours of your dress and cardigan, perfect for the Summer! *^o^*
If you’re interested my finished outfit is here: http://www.friendsheep.com/2015/06/theoutfitalong-teatime-in-calcutta.html
Thank you!
That dress! You knocked it out of the park girl. LOVE the pattern match at the waist. Nicely done! And the sweater? Seriously, you MADE that? O_M_G. I cannot knit, don’t want to knit, and admire those who do. Just the thought makes my knuckles hurt (arthritis ya know) It’s a perfect match for that dress and you look absolutely gorgeous in it. OK, enough gushing. 🙂
haha thank you so much!! ♥
Your outfit looks fantastic, Lauren!
The OAL was so much fun again this year. Thanks to you and Andi for hosting and can’t wait to do it all again next summer!!
Thank you! I’m glad you enjoyed the OAL this year – we sure enjoyed hosting it 😀
This was great! My only regret is that I didn’t find this OAL when you did it before. Can’t wait for the next one!
http://thesewcialist.blogspot.com/2015/06/2015-outfit-long.html?m=1
Yay! I’m so glad you enjoyed it ! 😀
Amazing!!! I love, love it honey!! I’m giving some serious second thoughts to that dress.
GIRL, this dress would look sooo good on you. Forreals!
Both the sweater and dress are beautiful! Love them both.
Thank you!
Love the color of your Vianne and how it looks with the ikat!
I did a different sweater for the OAL but am about halfway through Vianne now. There were so many wonderful finished outfits on Ravelry but I now have a really long knitting and sewing queue!!!
Details of my OAL 2015 can be found here:
Thanks again for hosting. Can’t wait until next year.
I just saw your sweater and holy shit! It’s beautiful!! I can see why you picked that pattern instead (although I bet Vianne is gonna be just as nice on you!).
Ahhhh so pretty! As usual, I totally didn’t budget my time enough to finish on time (I haven’t started my sleeves!) but I’m green with envy over your pretty minty sweater. It looks perfect with the print of the dress, too 🙂
I was afraid I wouldn’t finish mine either, which would have been terrible as a host! Ahh!! Sounds like you’re going to have a knit a mint sweater next 😉 haha!
Your outfit came out so great! I love the color of your cardigan – I knitted a mint green Miette last year and I wear it all the time. It’s a surprisingly versatile color.
I just barely finished my sweater in time for the deadline too, and my finished outfit is blogged here: http://www.showandtellmeg.com/2015/08/oal-2015-dont-let-bird-do-dishes-dress.html
Yeah, I’m eyeballing my closet and it seems like 99% of it goes with the mint. Who would have thought!
Love your outfit! And that sweater…so pretty! I am always impressed with knitters…and now you say you want more of a challenge! WHat?! I long to be a knitter and did knit the Meitte but never blogged it cause I found out I have been doing my purl stitch the wrong way so the stitches are twisted…frig.
Haha! Well, knitting seems to be one of those hobbies for me where I’m always looking for a new challenge – that’s what keeps it interesting! I actually feel the same way about sewing, so maybe it’s just how my personality rolls 🙂 And i bet your Miette looks fine! Even if the purls are twisted, as long as they’re *all* twisted – it probably doesn’t look bad! Call it a ~design feature~ haha 🙂
I love these kinds of green of your dress and sweater. They fit very well with a nature background like your photos.
Thank you.
Thank you! 🙂
Looks beauuuutiful and that mint! Aaah! Best vianne I’ve ever seen! I blogged my oal outfit so lurk away! Thanks for hosting 😀
Your outfit was AWESOME!! Your knitting skills always awe the shit out of me, and your fitting skills are not too far behind!
Both your dress and cardi look lovely!
Thank you!
Love both! That ikat fabric is one of those I wish I could find in German fabric shops …
And the colour of that cardi is just so cool! I have the same issues with 3/4 length sleeves by the way. So many patterns come with them, but – like you said – if I’m cold enough to wear a sweater, I’m cold enough to need full sleeves.
Thanks again for hosting the OAL. I lost my cardigan knitting virginity to it 🙂
You can see my finished projects here:
http://www.naehzimmerblog.de/2015/07/29/outfit-along-2015-the-finished-cardigan/
and here: http://www.naehzimmerblog.de/2015/08/01/outfit-along-2015-the-finished-dress/
Yay for losing your cardigan virginity!! I’m so proud of you 😀