How to Crochet a Modern Draped Cardigan - Easy Free Crochet Sweater Pattern

Hey there, this is Jess from Make & Do Crew and in this video tutorial we're going to learn how to make a simple draped cardigan. This pattern is very beginner friendly and I'm going to walk you through each step along the way. We're going to crochet a big rectangle, then we'll fold it in half and seam it and add a bit of extension to the bottom to cover our backsides. We'll work a collar around the front and lastly we're going to make two simple rectangles that will become our sleeves. We're going to be using Lion Brand Heartland yarn for this project which is a category four worsted weight yarn as well as two crochet hooks, a size J and a size K or whatever sizes you need to achieve the gauge that's listed in the pattern. You're going to want to be able to reference that written pattern as you work which you can find right below this video on MakeAndDoCrew.com and in that free written pattern you're going to find details on the specific stitch counts and number of rows for whatever size sweater you decide to make. As I mentioned, the foundation of the sweater is one big simple rectangle. So the exact number of chains and rows you're going to work for that rectangle are determined by the size sweater that you're crocheting. So you can reference the free written pattern to get an idea of the exact number of chains and rows you need to work for your rectangle. But for right now I'm just going to make a small swatch to show you how to make the stitch pattern and that's the same thing that you're using in your rectangle, it'll just be quite a bit bigger than mine. If you're not much of a pattern reader, you can also purchase my inexpensive PDF which includes all the same information as the written pattern, all the stitch counts and number of rows and rectangle dimensions. But in this case they're also laid out in a chart form which makes it easier for people who maybe don't have a lot of experience reading written patterns because you can just look at the chart and know exactly the details of what you need to work for your sweater size. So for this rectangle, I'm using my larger hook, that's a K for me. You're going to want to make a little gauge swatch using this, you know, you can make it about the size that I'm working here. And then you'll measure your gauge to make sure it matches what's in the pattern. And that is how you're going to end up with a sweater that's the same dimensions that are listed in the pattern. If you are getting a gauge swatch that's smaller or bigger, you can just adjust your hook size accordingly. And for this video, I'm going to be using US crochet terms. So I've got an odd number of stitches here. If you're modifying the pattern in any way, you're going to want to work an odd number of chains to create that rectangle. And I'm going to skip those first two chains, one, two, and then I'm going to work into the third chain from the hook. And those stitches that I'm skipping, that's going to be counted as the first single crochet. So I'm going to work a double crochet into that third chain from the hook like that. And then I'm going to skip the next chain. And then in the next chain after that, I'll be working a single crochet and a double crochet both into that chain. So this pattern, it's called the grit stitch and it's also referred to as the Suzette stitch sometimes. It's just a repetition of single and double crochets put together in one stitch. So after we've worked those together in one chain, I'm going to skip the next chain and then again work a single crochet and a double crochet into that same chain. So we should have two stitches in one chain and then skip a chain all the way across. So I'm skipping the next chain and then I'm going to put a single crochet and double crochet in there. I'll skip the next one and then I'll work a single and a double in the next chain. And then I should have two chains left here. So I'm going to skip the next one and in that very last chain, I'm going to work only a single crochet. And now that I've got that first row completed, I'm going to chain one to start row two. So just like we did in the last row, we are going to single crochet and double crochet into one stitch. And in this pattern, we're always working into the single crochet stitch. The double crochet stitch from the previous row is the one we're going to skip. So that last stitch, if you remember, we worked a single crochet into the end of the row. So we're going to work a double crochet in there to complete the pattern. This chain is going to count as our first single crochet of the row. So I'll double crochet into that first single crochet and then I'm going to skip the double crochet that comes next. So I'll skip that spot and then this is a single crochet right here. So I'm going to work a single crochet and then a double crochet right there in the same stitch. So this is just like we did in row one. We're just working into single crochets instead of chains. So I'm going to skip the next stitch because that's a double crochet and then I'll single crochet and then double crochet into the same spot. And I'm just going to complete this row by doing the same thing. I skip the double crochet and then I work a single crochet and a double crochet in the next stitch. And I'll repeat that one more time here, a single crochet and a double crochet. So you can see we're keeping the same number of stitches because we're working two stitches in one spot, then we're skipping a stitch, and then we're working two stitches in the next spot. So as you work, the number of stitches in your rectangle should always remain the same. And that number is listed in the free written pattern so that you can make sure you're not losing any along the way. So as I get to the end here, I have one more double crochet and then I have that turning chain from the last row. So I'm going to skip the double crochet and in that last turning chain, I am going to work my final single crochet of the row. So our rows are always going to end with just one single crochet. So we'll go over this one more time now. I've chained one at the beginning of the row. That first stitch is a single crochet. So I'm going to start with a double crochet into it because that chain counts as my single crochet. So I've got a single and a double. And then I'm going to skip my next double crochet and then work a single and a double crochet into the next stitch, which is a single crochet. And I'm going to skip the next double. In the next single, I'm going to work a single crochet and a double crochet. And I'm going to repeat that across. So I skipped the double crochet, I got a single crochet and a double right here. And if at any point you're a little confused on which is a single and which is a double as you work and you need to know where to insert your hook, you can either turn your work around and it's a little easier to tell on the previous side because you can tell the single is just a little bit lower, the double is taller because it's a double crochet. So as I turn this around, I can say, it looks a little bumpier from the back, but this is my double crochet. It's a little bit taller, a little bit bumpier. And the single crochet just looks like a pretty easy hole right here to find. So that's where I'm going to insert my hook each time. So I've got a single and then a double right there. And then I'm going to end the row with a single crochet into that turning chain from the previous row. So we're just going to continue on like this, repeating that row until we get to the very end of our rectangle. And as you go, when you reach the number of rows that you should complete to make your rectangle, if you notice the size is a little bit off because maybe your gauge was a little too small or something, you can continue working this row until you have the same height of rectangle that's listed in the pattern for your size. So that's one way to troubleshoot if you find out your rectangle is maybe a little bit shorter than it should be when you complete the correct number of rows. So let's work a bunch more rows like this and I will meet you back here to sew our rectangle into a shrug. And once your rectangle is complete, you should have this nice big piece of fabric and we're going to lay it with the right side facing down. So the way that I can tell what the right side is, is I'm looking for the chain strand from when I started at the very beginning here. This is what was left over and this is going to be on the right side for me because I'm right-handed. So it's over here and therefore the wrong side is facing up. And the reason we want that is because we're going to fold this in half to form the shrug part of this sweater. So just to be super clear, the fabric is...the rows are going this way right now. Okay, so we worked back and forth that way and I'm going to fold this down in half like this. And so I'm just going to scoot it over a little bit so that you can kind of see at least on one side. The side over here is the edge when you were turning, like these are your turning chains over here, the edge of the fabric. So our next step is going to be to seam a portion of this, leaving a space for your armhole. So I've gone ahead and pinned this side here as an example. You can see I've worked the seam on this side now and I've left a 5-inch armhole here. So you can refer to the written pattern to figure out what size armhole you should leave, but the armhole is right where the fabric is folded here. So we're going to start where the corners are. We're going to attach some main color yarn with a tapestry needle and then I've pinned a couple times here to keep these lines, the rows of crocheting lined up. So that's pretty important to make sure that the seam receives as much as possible visually. So you're going to want to line those up, pin together, and then this is a 5-inch opening where we're going to end up putting a sleeve. So from here, I'm going to work a seam that's kind of like lacing shoes or something, where I'm just going to work back and forth under on this right side here and then it's going to go through and then I'm going to go under on the left side. Again, I'm going to go under on the right side, come out the top, and then go under on the left side and come out the top. So I'm just going back and forth and I'm picking up a couple strands of yarn on each side as I go just to make sure there's a sturdy enough seam that's not going to stretch out. But I'm just working back and forth like that from the bottom up to the top with each pass of my tapestry needle. And as you're working, just check to make sure that the rows of crocheting on either side are lining up, and that'll make the cleanest possible seam. And the next step here is a little tricky to show just because the camera angle can't get wide enough, but what I've done is taken my rectangle that was folded in half and I'm laying it out flat. So this is the wrong side here, the right side is facing out right here, and I'm laying it flat so that I can fold this part in. This is the armhole right here, so I'm making sure that that is perfectly flush. And then I want to make a right angle so that I'm creating a line right here, and this is going to be the front of the sweater where we'll eventually work a collar. But right now what I did with this contrasting yarn is just tie a little bow to show myself these are sort of the corners of the sweater. So I've got two up here and I have two more down here. And what this is going to give us is the place we're going to work the extension to the bottom of the sweater between. So right here we need to add some length to cover our booties, and after that we're going to work a collar all the way around. So this is an area where if you would like an extra long sweater, you'll just work extra rows of this section until you have a length that you're happy with. So your job now is just to fold your sweater in like this, tie a bow very clearly in each corner, and then we're going to work into the last row of the rectangle that we worked on before. So over here I have the chain row, and that is not the one we're going to use. We're going to have that. We'll end up being right behind your neck. The last row I worked into should have Vs going across the top like regular crochet stitches, and that's what we're going to be working into here. So now I've got a slipknot here I'm going to put on my hook to attach the yarn, and I'm going to attach it on the right-hand corner because I'm right-handed. So if I look at these Vs here, I can tell that my last row was worked this direction. It should have been a wrong side row for everyone at the end of your rectangle. So now we're going to work a right-side row. Here's the right side of our fabric. So we're going to work in this direction. So I'm going to slip stitch my yarn into the single crochet stitch right here. So we've got a double. We've always been working into the single crochet. I'm going to slip stitch into that closest single crochet to attach my yarn. And from here, it's going to be kind of like we're just working a row as we did before. So I'm going to... First of all, I'm going to get all of this crazy yarn out of the way. And then I'm going to chain one just like we did before, and I'm going to single crochet and double crochet into that first stitch. And this is just the same exact pattern. We're basically extending the pattern we were working before into more rows to cover our bottoms. So I'm going to skip the double crochet then just like we did before, and I'm going to work into the single crochet. I'm going to place one single crochet and one double crochet. And I'm going to continue like that all the way across until I reach this other marker over here. So that's just skipping the double crochets and placing a single crochet and a double crochet in each of the single crochets all the way across. And as I'm approaching this other sort of corner here, I'm going to work into the closest single crochet. So it just happens to be that this marker is tied into a single crochet, which is pretty handy because I'm going to end this row with a single crochet just like we did in the previous rows. So I worked a single crochet and a double crochet, and then I skipped the next double crochet, and in the last single crochet, I worked a single crochet. And from here, I'm just going to chain one and turn this around. And this should all feel really familiar because it's exactly what we did with the rectangle. And so then I'm just going to chain one here and then single crochet and double crochet into that first single crochet, and then skip the next double crochet, and then single crochet and double crochet again into the next single crochet. And we'll continue just like that all the way across the row until we get to that other green bow I've tied, which is the end of the row that we just kind of fastened on at the beginning of this. And that is going to form a little extension to the sweater that will cover your bottom. And we'll integrate that into the sweater by adding a collar next. All right. So now we've finished up our extension here, and we've worked an odd number, however many that is to create the length that you like. We're ending, if you're right-handed, over here, and I'm ending the row in the same way that I've ended every other row with a single crochet in that last stitch. And from here, we're going to work a collar all the way up here around the top behind the neck and then down the other side, and then we're going to turn around and work back and forth that way. So here we are still at the bottom of this extension here, and I've chained two because we're going to half double crochet. And here's the side of the extension, and here's the front side of the collar. So I'm going to work a half double crochet in each row of the extension. So that's going to start with one in this single crochet that we just worked. And then these don't always look...each row looks a little different. So you're going to work into each of these spaces, making sure that you end up with the same number of half double crochets as the number of rows you worked for your extension. And honestly, the point of this is not really to end up with a certain number of stitches. It's just to space your half double crochets evenly so that your ribbing doesn't bunch at all when you're wearing the sweater. So I'm just working into each of these rows here in half double crochet. And once I've arrived up here at the edge of the...essentially what was the shrug section, we have normal crochet Vs to work into instead of the sides of this extension. So I'm going to work a half double crochet stitch in each of these Vs. And then again, I'm going to reach another part up here after the seam where I'm going to be at the chains from the very beginning of this rectangle. And in that case, I'm going to work a half double crochet into each of these chains. And when you're doing that, you're going to just want to work not under only one strand of yarn like this because you're going to end up with a pretty stretched out chain. Instead, you'll want to insert your hook maybe like that under two strands of yarn and work into those holes just to make sure that it integrates nicely with the collar and doesn't create a lot of stretched out gaps. So essentially, you're working half double crochets all the way around this edge. You're just going to come to a couple different types of stitches to work into. So after you work all those chains, again, you'll be back way over here below this other side seam and you will work into Vs again. And then you'll reach the bottom of the other side of the extension. And again, you'll work one half double crochet into each row ending with a half double crochet in that very last row. Okay, so we've come around to the opposite corner here of the bottom of the sweater and I'm going to work one last half double crochet into that final row of the extension. And making sure we catch that stitch is going to make sure that the collar lies flush with the bottom of the sweater. So from here, we're going to just chain two for a half double crochet turning chain and we'll turn the sweater around. And now we have several rows where we're going to work a half double crochet stitch only into the very front loop of the row. So if you can see here, we have a very front loop, a middle loop, and a back loop. And for these stitches, we're going to work a normal half double crochet but we're only going to go underneath the front loop. So I'm picking that up there and then completing my half double crochet. And this creates a nice ribbed look which is appropriate because we're creating a ribbed collar. So I'm going to work like this in these half double crochet through the front loop only stitches all the way back around to the opposite corner of the bottom of the collar. And then we're going to work several rows back and forth like that with chain two at the end of each one or the beginning, whatever you want to look at it as. Those will never count as a stitch. So we're just going to work several rows like this and that's what's going to form our chunky collar in the front. And you can check out the free written pattern for the exact number of rows that you'll need to work for the collar depending on the size that you're making. So as we work on this collar here, I just want to give you one tip for making sure that you're getting every last stitch at the end of your collar rows. And with half double crochet, it can be a little bit tricky to identify that last stitch. So I wanted to show you what it looks like here in the collar. And I'm looking for, I like to kind of tip it so I can see the top of the stitch. And then I'm looking for three strands of yarn running parallel to each other. So that's the front loop that we're going to work into right here. And those are the second two loops of the half double crochet. So when I look at it from this direction, it's kind of just a big mess of turning chain and stitch. But from up here, I can see that front loop. So I'm going to yarn over and work right under only that to work my last half double crochet of the row. And now that we've got that sorted out, we're going to continue with several more rows of half double crochet through the front loop only. And you can check out the written pattern to know the exact number of rows you should work for the size you're making. And then I'll meet you back here to work some super simple sleeves. The sleeves of our sweater are made up of a very simple rectangle like this. And we're using the same stitch that we used for the collar. So it's half double crochet through the front loop only. And once we finish this rectangle, we're going to seam it into a little tube like this and attach it at the elbow of our shrug. So this is a great place if you have particularly short or particularly long arms, you can definitely modify the pattern to fit your body. And it would just mean that you need to chain a different number of stitches at the beginning here. So I've worked 32 chains, and that's going to fit a fairly average-sized arm. And these sleeves are meant to hang a little bit low, so kind of mid-hand. So if you want to modify it, just work a few more or a few less chains to get started. And we are going to use a smaller hook here. Now I'm using a J, which is a 6mm hook, and that's just going to make the ribbing slightly tighter around our wrists. So I have 32 chains, and I'm going to half double crochet into each chain after I skip the first two. So this is the third chain from the hook I just worked into, and I'm going to half double crochet all the way across. That first turning chain won't count as a stitch, so we're going to end up with 30 half double crochets at the end of the row. And now that I've come to the end of the row, I'm going to chain 2, and then I'm going to just like we did with the collar, I'm going to half double crochet through only the front loop in every stitch of this row. So we're literally just working rows back and forth of half double crochet through the front loop only. And each row should have the same number of stitches as the first row. So for me, that's going to be 30 stitches. So let's take a look here at the end of the row just to review like with the collar how we know exactly which is the last stitch of the row. So in the last stitch of the row here, again, I'm looking for those three vertical lines. We've got 1, 2, 3. Those are my last stitches of this row or my last stitch of this row. And then these little bumps on the end are the turning chain. So I'm going to work into that front loop, and that should give me 30 half double crochets in this row. So I'm going to continue like this, working half double crochet through the front loop only for several more rows. And again, you can just look at the written pattern to know how many you should work. But be aware that even if you worked extra chains here because you want an extra long sleeve, the choice you're making about what size to work for the sleeve circumference should be based on what size you're using for the big rectangle of the shrug. Because we're going to need a sleeve that fills up the same amount of space as the arm opening that you've left unsewn. So we've got that little hole for your arm. And we need to make a rectangle that will fill that same space. So if you worked on a large for the rectangle and then left the appropriate number of inches open, then work a large for this sleeve. But you can modify the length of it if you would like. So go ahead and make two sleeves just like this. And once you have two of these rectangles completed for the sleeves, we are going to lay the right side facing down. So this is my right side. I can tell because the chain is away from my dominant hand. So I'm right-handed, so my chain's on the left. So this is my right side. And I'm going to flip this over like that so that I can have my foundation chain is right here at the top. I'm going to roll it like that. And the last row I worked is right here. So we're going to be seaming this foundation chain, or actually sort of the stitches of row one into the stitches of the last row. And so that long tail that we left at the end there, I've threaded it onto my tapestry needle. And I'm going to be working into these Vs right here and the middle of the stitches, the half double crochet stitches from that first row. So that's these two kind of parallel vertical lines right here, those two. So since my yarn's already attached over here, I'm going to work underneath and in between those two vertical strands of yarn. And then we're just going to be working back and forth, working one stitch for one stitch so that our seam perfectly lines up. So every time we're going to be working from the bottom up. So now I'm going to work underneath these two stitches, this little V of my half double crochet from the last row. And then I'm going to go back between the half double crochet of the first row, and then back underneath those two V loops of the last row. So we're just working back and forth, always working from the bottom up. We want to mimic the look of the ribbing that's on the cuff here. And this is going to be the best way for us to kind of disguise the seam so that it's less noticeable on your wrist. And the reason I'm not working into the chains themselves, these right here, is just because we don't want this to stretch out too much. And those chains being just one strand of yarn, they're a little unstable. So that's why we're going into the actual half double crochet stitch. So we're going to continue seaming just like this until we get to the end of the rectangle. And now that I've made it to the end of this seam here, I'm just going to make sure that my seam is tight enough to be not gaping open, but not too snug to be bunched up. And from here, I'm just going to tie a little...I guess I'd call this like a sewing knot. I'm not sure what else to call it, but I'm just going to insert my needle like this, and then wrap the yarn around it, so I'm essentially going through this loop I created and pull it through. And I'm going to just make one or two of those because we're going to just keep this yarn attached and that's going to be what we sew the sleeve on to the sort of elbow section of the shrug. I just like to do that so we have a little place where if it started unraveling, there's a little bit of a safety there to stop the bleeding. Okay, so let's attach this to the elbow now. Now to seam our sleeve to the sweater, I've turned the sweater inside out. And if you ever get lost and need help figuring out which is the right side and the wrong side of the sweater, just look at the transition point between the large rectangle and the collar. And you can see on the wrong side, it just doesn't look very smooth. But on the right side, it's pretty nice, clean transition between this texture and then working into the ribbing of the collar. So we're going to put that nice looking side on the inside, and we've got the other side facing out. And I folded this so that the rectangle is sort of folded in half in the same way we seamed the arm. So I've got that opening and then my side seam is running down this way. And then similarly, I have the seam of this sleeve tube at the bottom. And that's just so that when you're wearing the sweater, if the seam is just even a little bit noticeable, it'll be on your forearm versus on the outside of your sleeve, which is a little bit more traditional location for a seam. So to attach this, we are going to use the mattress stitch. And you could definitely pin this with a safety pin or a stitch marker, but I find them kind of hard to work around when I'm filming a tutorial like this, so I haven't pinned mine. But go ahead and do that if you would like to. And then we're going to just be working back and forth all the way around this tube to connect it to the sweater. So I've got the same leftover tail from when we seamed the tube up. And now I'm going to use my tapestry needle to go underneath a few strands of yarn on this sweater. Each time I do this, I'm going to be working under, you know, two or three strands of yarn. I never really want to work under just one because that might get a little bit stretched out at this point where they're joining. So the way the mattress stitches worked, at least in this case, is we're going to be working over a few stitches like this on the same side my yarn is...sorry, my yarn is connected to right here. I'm working back on the same side and then going underneath to the other side like that. And then working again on this side, so I'm going back in on this side and then going under to the other side. So it's under and across and then over on the same side, under and across. So over again on the same side, under and across, and then over again on the same side. And like I said, whoops, we're going to work all the way around like this. And then when you get to back to the other side, go ahead and fasten your yarn off and weave in that end because we'll have that side completed. And then you're going to repeat the same thing on the second sleeve. Once you've got that second sleeve sewed on, go ahead and turn your sweater right side out and wear it around like the crochet goddess that you are. I really hope you enjoyed this free pattern and I would love it if you subscribed to my weekly email in which I send out free crochet patterns and tutorials just like this. Thank you so much for watching and happy crocheting!