Button-up Jarrah in Bamboo Fleece! Yes, Please!

January 14, 2021 1 Comment

Hi! I’m Cass (CraftyProfessor) and I’m excited to show you how I hacked the Jarrah Sweater by Megan Nielsen Patterns to be a button up!  

Fabric

First let me tell you about this amazing fabric.  This is a bamboo cotton spandex 4 way stretch sweatshirt fleece in charcoal gray (also available in light gray, eggplant, and dusty mustard). It is light to medium weight, and is seriously the softest fabric I have EVER worked with.  That’s saying a lot!  I gave a scrap to my husband and he just decided to keep it in his pocket so he could touch the softness all the time.  Seriously! The fleece has a really nice drape that I would describe as bouncy.  It has about 30% horizontal stretch, but actually has a lot more vertical stretch, which I found very interesting!  So, if you are dead set on using this fabric for something that requires more stretch, you could always cut your pattern pieces on the cross grain. I also used the matching bamboo cotton spandex 4 way stretch 1x1 ribbing for the sleeve cuffs.  This fabric is also fabulous, but more like a light weight sweater knit.  It worked well for the cuffs, but in hindsight I could have just as easily used the fleece for the cuffs also. 

The first thing I do when I get my fabric is wash and dry it.  I want to make sure it’s not going to do something funky right away.  I washed and dried on my normal settings and all was well.  The reverse fleecey side may have tightened up a bit, but no other noticeable changes.  

I tend to kind of obsess about what I’m going to make with a fabric until I have decided.  For this fabulous fabric, I knew I wanted something that I could wear a lot.  I spend a lot of time in semi-pajamas – joggers and zip up sweatshirt, and I recently got rid of that very worn-out sweatshirt.  So, I figured this would be a great replacement.  I wanted something that was casual and comfy but not too basic.  I actually looked at Ready to Wear leisure wear on Pinterest for inspiration and was drawn to these boxy slouchy turtle neck sweaters and sweatshirts, so I immediately thought of the Jarrah pattern (which I’ve used like 10 times already!).  To make it a little more interesting I decided to hack it with a button placket.  I’ll go through all the steps and measurements for this hack, but you can do this with any pullover top, so you don’t need to have this exact pattern!

Cutting the fabric

The Megan Nielsen Jarrah sweater already comes with tons of cute options.  For this top, I chose a combination of the funnel neck collar, cuffed sleeves, and the curved hem. The pattern pieces that will need to be modified slightly are the front bodice and the funnel neck collar.  The measurements I’m using assume a 3/8 inch (1cm) seam allowance. 

Front Bodice – normally this is cut on the fold, but we are going to cut two mirrored pieces.  I measured out 1 and 7/8 inches from the fold line. The placket for each piece will get folded in 3/8 inch and then folded in again 1 inch (for the math geeks, this is calculated as 3/8 that will get folded in, 1 inch folded in again, and then ½ inch of overlap when the two plackets sit on top of each other – trust me it works!).  

Funnel Neck Collar – because the funnel neck collar is doubled, I chose a slightly different construction for this than for the bodice, but they fit together perfectly and result in a really nicely finished looking inside too!  For this I just added ½ inch to this piece, and I still cut it on the fold.  But, the part that says it is the center back will now be the center front and part labeled center front that is cut on the fold will now be the center back. (Only a ½ inch for the overlap needed to be added to this piece because the pattern already assumed a 3/8 inch seam allowance in the center back that we are just shifting to the front.)

Construction of the button placket

1. Apply pre-cut 1-inch non-stretch interfacing strips 3/8 of an inch from the center front edge of both sides of the bodice and both short edges of the funnel collar.
2. Bodice Only - Press the seam allowance of 3/8 inch to the wrong side partially covering the interfacing strips, then fold over again 1 inch, completely enclosing the interfacing strips. 
3. Topstitch the plackets down close to the edge. You can use a straight stitch here because it is not going to stretch if woven interfacing is used. 

1. Make sure you have completed the above steps for both front bodice pieces.
2. Right sides together, sew ONE of the long edges of the funnel collar to the raw edge of the neckline.  The collar should extend out past the plackets by 3/8 inch. 
3. Press the seam allowance (3/8 inch) of the other long edge of the funnel collar in to the wrong side.

1. Fold the collar in half, right sides together and stitch the short edge of the center front collar. Repeat for other side of collar.
2. Turn the collar right side out and line up the folded edge to just cover the seam allowance.  Pin in place and topstitch with a stretch stitch.  This is a good place to add a tag if you’d like! 
3. You can now add buttons and button holes or snaps.  

I absolutely love how this turned out.  It can be worn casually with leggings, or dressed up a bit with jeans and boots.  And did I mention it’s the softest fabric EVER?!?

Thanks for reading!  Follow me on Instagram to see more of my makes and feel free to send me a message if you have any questions!

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