Raglan sleeves are so easy to sew.  Those simple diagonal seams (well, simple as long as your fabric is stable or you have stabilised the bias cut) are so straightforward to join; no sewing in the round or easing sleeve caps!  They lend themselves to casual styles, in my view.  I avoided raglan sleeves for a while because I didn’t think that they did my narrow shoulders any favours.  They probably still don’t, but that hasn’t stopped me from being drawn to raglan sleeved patterns recently.  I pulled an old Knitwit pattern out of stash to have a bit of a play.

Yes, that IS an ’80s pattern. Copyrighted 1988, in fact. I did a Knitwit course back in 1990, and it was very useful in getting me comfortable with sewing knits.  You really don’t have to have an overlocker to sew knits – it was possibly another fifteen years before I bought an overlocker.  This course was a great introduction – it’s sad that the courses are no longer available.

I decided to give the raglan sleeved top a try, combining some fabrics that I had in stash. I cut size 14 (since that was already traced!) and whizzed it through the overlocker.

Yes, that is oversized, and yes, those are very low armholes! It’s pretty much a batwing look, and pretty much expected of a pattern from its era. The print fabric is a viscose jersey remnant bought from The Fabric Store a year or two ago, combined with a solid knit from Darn Cheap Fabrics for the sleeves.

The sleeves needed to be shortened about an inch. I added a simple neckband from the scraps of the jersey print, and twin-needled it to secure it.

This was very quick and easy to make, and I quite like the finished garment as a casual layering piece, but won’t use this pattern again in this form.   However, I’ll definitely be giving raglan sleeves another try.

I actually wore this top over a long-sleeved tee, with a scarf and jacket over the top, and was happy with the finished outfit – not that you can see much of the top in the photo below!  I am trying to remember to share how I actually wore my finished garments, as it gives a better idea of how things fit into my wardrobe and overall style.