Back to another pattern that I’ve sewn before – the Papercut Patterns Pinnacle top/sweater. In the past I’ve sewn the woven top version (twice). I was especially happy with this version, which has been worn quite regularly, so thought that I’d give the pattern another go as a sweater.

I sewed it up during my May nojourn, from a printed double knit that I’d bought at Eliza Fabrics last year. It doesn’t have a great deal of stretch, but enough. I had some lightweight wool knit in stash in the perfect colour for the bands, but they turned out WAY too floppy. I put it aside, knowing that I needed to remove all of the bands and replace them with something a little more substantial, with plenty of recovery.

Despite lots of looking, I could not locate a rib in red or blue that matched the print, so finally went with black. I made the sleeve cuffs much narrower than the pattern piece, but I still reckon that they are a bit loose.  I sewed size S, which is smaller than suggested for my measurements.

I really don’t love the finished sweater, and will be passing it on to someone who will enjoy it more than I do. I did consider giving it another go in a softer sweater knit, but have decided that I have other patterns in my stash that I prefer for a sweater type of garment.

Given that I had sewn this pattern twice before, I didn’t find the construction too problematic. However, this is definitely not what others have found, and my quilting background may have helped me a little bit here too. Both Anna and Sarah have sewn the sweater version of this pattern, and noted that there don’t appear to have been any modifications to the woven top pattern to take fabric stretch into acount for the sweater. Interestingly, in mid-June (many weeks after Sarah’s Instagram discussion and associated blog post) I received an email from Papercut Patterns letting me know that the instructions for this pattern had been updated (they’d never informed me about any errata previously). The email also pointed out the Pinnacle top photographic tutorials on their website, but both these are for the woven top version; nothing for the knit sweater.

Papercut Patterns have been really popular, especially patterns like the Pinnacle top/sweater and the Sapporo coat, but recently I have been left wondering about the quality of the drafting. Most people have had to ‘tweak’ the patterns to make them work. Now it makes absolute sense that everyone makes alterations for their own shape and their personal style, but when the majority have problems with notches not matching up, or with matching points, or with linings being too short, or seams not matching up, it makes me hesitant to sew more of their patterns (and yes, I do have some unsewn ones in my stash).  It’s a shame; the style lines are terrific and they use some interesting shapes.  But I need to feel certain that everything will go together as it should.

In conclusion:  this is a well constructed top, in quality fabric, that I’m not going to wear, and I probably won’t use this pattern again in the sweater version for me.  I think that there are alternatives that are better for my shape.