Pattern Review: Marlo Sweater by True Bias

The Marlo Sweater is a repeat pattern for me and in this article I want to share my thoughts about the pattern, the modifications I’ve made and my overall sewing experience. This sweater is a staple in my closet (I’ve made 3!) I wear mine quite a bit in the colder months with the rest of my handmade wardrobe.

So far I’ve only made the Marlo Sweater in the longer length, but I would love to try a cropped version soon. I love pairing the longer length with my handmade jeans, but think that a shorter version would look cute with dresses.

My first version, the brown one, was made in a size 4 and is definitely more slouchy than the others, but so cozy! For the yellow and white ones, I sized down to a 2 for a closer fit and slimmed down the sleeves on the white version (read how I did that further down).

The Pattern

The pattern is the Marlo Sweater by True Bias and is an oversized v-neck cardigan sweater with two length options, a wide button band and optional pockets. It comes in sizes 0-18 and the main fabric can be sewn up in either stretch or non-stretch fabric (but the button band and hem band need to have stretch). You can find more details about sizing, fabric suggestions and notions on their website.

I find the instructions clear to understand with plenty of illustrations to help with each step. The sweater construction itself is pretty straightforward and if you’ve sewn a basic boxy top before, then you will be able to sew this just fine.

The first time I made this, my main worry was making the button band and sewing button holes into knit fabric – I had never done that before! The instructions have you apply interfacing to the front band which really makes it helpful when sewing button holes and gives structure in that area. After practicing on scrap fabric first, sewing the buttonholes went smoothly!

Fabric

I’ve only ever used one type of fabric when making my Marlo Sweaters which is a 100% cotton slub sweater knit – a true favorite of mine to work with. Once I find a good pattern/fabric combination, it’s hard for me to want to try anything else! This fabric is great for mild Texas Fall and Winters and the cotton is easy to care for. When they’ve had it in stock, I’ve found this cotton sweater knit at either Threadbare Fabrics or Lyrical Fabrics and it comes at a great wide wide width of 60″ (152 cm).

When sewing with this fabric, or other knit fabrics, I find a jersey needle works best and I like to use a walking foot when topstitching along the hem and neckband to help prevent waviness. For all other seams I use my serger, but a zig-zag stitch works as well! You may want to practice on scrap fabric before starting to figure out a good stitch length and width that works with your chosen fabric.

Pressing the hem or neckline after sewing with a steamy iron really helps to straighten out wavy stitching – especially with this cotton fabric since it doesn’t have a lot of stretch retention (doesn’t “bounce” back like knits with elastane in them do).

Modifications

When I was looking for a cardigan sweater pattern, I loved the overall shape and design of the Marlo, but wanted to try it with a smaller button band since I prefer that look. Since then, I’ve only ever made this pattern with mods made to the neck and hem bands instead of the wider bands and oversized buttons.

My most recent version, I experimented with taking some of the slouchiness out of the sleeves by slimming them down and tapering to the cuffs. I also added 1″ to the front neckline to make up for some of the width being taken away by the narrower neck band. Both of this changes worked out great and I’ll share how I did them next!

Narrower Neckband And Hem Band

To make the neckband and hem band more narrow, I simply folded the pattern pieces in half (photos below). Of course it’s up to you how wide you want your bands, but remember that they get folded in half before attaching to the front. My finished neckband ends up about 3/4″ (1.9 cm) wide and the hem band about 1″ (2.5 cm) wide.

I follow the rest of the instructions for attaching them as written, making sure to pay attention to the grainline and fold line markings on the pattern pieces.

On my white version, I was not paying attention, and I cut my neckband out on the wrong grainline (you may notice this in my pictures)…so it does stick up a bit at the neck instead of laying flat like it’s supposed to.

I also folded the neckline interfacing pattern piece in half, so that it fits on the new narrow width. Remember to cut out a mirrored pair of interfacing.

I applied the interfacing following the placement directions in the instructions.

Added 1″ To Neckline

In my first two Marlo Sweaters, I made the neckband narrower but then noticed that this change makes the neckband sit farther away from my neck and tends to drag down as I wear the sweater throughout the day. So to compensate for the narrower band, I added back some of the width that was lost…if that makes sense.

To do this, I added 1″ (2.5 cm) to the front and back necklines. I forgot to add 1″ to the back neckline until after I had cut out my fabric, so you will see that I piece together fabric at the back (insert facepalm). I added scrap paper to the front piece, measured out 1″ and drew the new neckline (photos below).

I did the same thing for the back neckline, making sure to follow the existing neckline curve (photos below).

Shortened Sleeves and Tapered Sleeve Shape

My first two Marlo Sweaters (brown and yellow) are great as is, but are more slouchy in the body and arms. For my white version I wanted to experiment with narrowing the sleeve width and tapering the shape. I tried on one of my other sweaters and pinched out about how much I wanted to take out from the underarm and decided on 1″ (2.5 cm). If you try this, you may want to start with less, depending on desired fit, because you can always take out more later.

To get the tapered shape, I measured out 1″ and then connected that line to the sleeve opening with straight line (photos below). The cuff circumference is perfect for me so I didn’t make any adjustments there. I also shortened the sleeve length 1″ by cutting along the lengthen/shorten line, overlapping the pieces by 1″ and re-taping. Repeat the same steps for the other side of the sleeve.

Instead of cutting along the new sleeve line I just drew, I simply folded the paper back along the line in case I ever want to go back to the original shape.

Sewing Process

After making those adjustments to the pattern pieces, I cut them out in my fabric. Don’t forget to transfer the notch markings to your fabric!

From here on I followed the pattern instructions as written, using plenty of pins when needed.

There are two different methods included for sewing on the neckband and I’ve always done the easy method (the intermediate method would be more challenging with narrower neckbands).

The instructions have you make and sew the pockets on at the beginning, but I like to wait until the end so I can try the sweater on and pin the pockets where I want them. When pinning the pockets on, I put a square quilting ruler underneath so I can have the whole front of the sweater facing me (photo below) – I find this helps me to visualize the placement of the pockets better. And I use a lot of pins 🙂

The final step is sewing the buttonholes and buttons! Since I’m using a narrower band and buttons, I pick a button that suits the width of the band and sew on 5 (vs. 4 like the pattern).

Final Thoughts

Overall, this pattern is easy to follow and I find the instructions thorough. If this is someones first time working with knits, that might be the more challenging part of the process. The design of the Marlo Sweater is cute as is, but I like it even more with the mods that I made. This cardigan sweater has really become a tried and true pattern for me and gets a lot of wear!

If I make this again (most likely) then I would make the same adjustments to the sleeves because I like the narrow, tapered fit. I may even bring in the sides as well to help balance out the smaller sleeves and the oversized body of the sweater. I would love to try a cropped version as well! Maybe even bring up the ‘v’ neckline so I could wear it buttoned as a top?

Hope you enjoyed reading through my experience and thoughts about the Marlo Sweater! Let me know if you tried any of this mods or what type of fabric is your favorite for this pattern if you have made it before.

Happy sewing! 🙂