Otium Blog Tour and Giveaway!

Otium sweater by Sofiljantes sewn by Lulu & Celeste

Disclaimer: I received the pattern for free for the purpose of this review. All thoughts and opinions are my own of course! This post contains affiliate links, which are marked with an . That means if you click the link and buy through it, I may receive a small commission at no additional cost to you.*

Hi! Welcome to my stop on the Otium blog tour! So excited to take part!

PicMonkey Collage back groundpurple

The top turned out so cute, and was actually a fairly quick sew! I managed to sew it up in about 2 hours even with distractions from the kids (you know, like feeding them and stuff). Check out my pics and review and when you get to the end of the post don’t forget to enter the giveaway!

So here’s all the details:

Pattern: Otium Sweater for girls*

Size range: 12m to 14y (Also available in women’s XS to XXXL)

Price: $8.95 regular, on sale right for 20% off, or purchase the bundle* of the girls and women’s sizes which is on sale right now for $13.25!

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Fabric recommended and used: Stretch fabrics. The fabrics I used are Kaufman Laguna stretch jersey knit in taupe and Riley Blake cotton jersey knit Happy Flappers Owls in cream (Little Miss V loves the owls!)

Views/Options available: There are lots of options!

Back: low bow back or regular
Large diagonal pocket can be left off or added on
Sleeves: short, 3/4 or long.

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Design changes/Pattern alterations made: I made the regular back option with the large front pocket. I didn’t make any changes, although I wasn’t paying attention (ie. didn’t read the instructions properly) and sewed the two layers of the pocket together along the entire edge instead of the just the long diagonal so my pocket doesn’t look like how it should. (I only realized that it was wrong once I had already sewn and topstitched and basted the pocket to the front. It still looked cute so I went with it.)

I also follow the recommendations to add some length to the neck binding cut length since I wasn’t using ribbing for the binding but I think next time just an inch extra inch would be fine.

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Comments on the pattern/instructions: Instructions are easy to understand. There are clear line drawings (not photos) that illustrate each step. At the end of the instructions she includes a summary of the instructions without the images if you want to print the instructions out but don’t want the images.

More things to note:

She includes size charts as well as finished measurement charts.
Fabric recommendations and list of other items needed included
Measurements are in both metric and imperial.
Suggested stitches tips included
There are also tips on how to lengthen or shorten your pieces if you need to make adjustments to the size.
Pattern pieces are included for all the pieces you need except the neck binding, there is a cut chart included for that.
Printing guide included; pattern utilizes the layers feature so you can print just the size(s) you want.
Finally, there is also a tips page for when making the bow and pocket versions!

otium05 — Yep, I figured trying to tempt her with leftover chocolates from last Easter might help the photo session. Ha! Didn’t go so great, her and her sister got chocolate bits everywhere!

Overall thoughts on the finished item: The fit is great. The length is good, she still has a some growing room so she will be wearing this for awhile. I really liked how it turned out, although next time I’ll pay more attention and do the pocket properly.

Will I make it again?: Yes, there are lots of options to this top! For the summer I’ll make a version with the bow back, and Silly has been eyeing that pocket so I need to make her a pocket version as well.