Over the last year or so, I’ve ended up buying quite a few jumpers, as it seems I had a bit of a hole in my wardrobe. While I haven’t bought many RTW clothes since I started sewing, I don’t mind these ones too much – they are all cashmere ones that I got from a couple of awesome stalls at the market in Oxford for ridiculously cheap prices – 5 cashmere jumpers for £20 anyone? They are all lovely, and so warm and cosy! But I did want to make an effort to add some jumpers to my handmade wardrobe as well. I have started knitting a jumper, but that is hardly a quick way to make additions to my wardrobe!
When I saw Marie’s version of Blue Ginger Doll’s Bonnie pattern, I knew this would fill a hole in my wardrobe. When Abby announced the sewalong, (you can see the sewalong entries and cast your vote here) that was the push I needed to actually get on and sew one up!
The fabric is a…I want to say sweater knit, but I have to say, I’m not particularly up on my knit fabric types, and often have difficulties deciding what kind of knit they actually are! Regardless of what it it, it’s a gorgeous fabric – it’s a nice weight – just thick enough for something like Bonnie, without being too bulky, and it feels quite stable. It came from the Fancy Silk Store in Birmingham when I was up there for the SewBrum meet up. I just checked back on my post about that meet up, and I helpfully didn’t mention how much it cost, and of course now I can’t remember! I think it was about £6/m, maybe £5. If it was any less than that, I’d have bought more than 2m, and I don’t think it was any more. It was originally destined to become a Renfrew, but when Bonnie appeared on the scene, I thought it would be perfect for that.
I went for pretty much the same options on my Bonnie as Marie’s original one that had inspired me – the cropped length with a waistband, and boat neck. I considered going for the 3/4 length sleeves to match the cropped length of the jumper, but decided in the end to go for long sleeves, as I thought I’g get more use out of it, what with it being cold and all! I’m glad I did, as I really like the way the long sleeves look with the cropped body.
My jumper is actually a bit more cropped than the original pattern – I made it up as per the pattern, but it was just a bit too long – it ended up sitting a bit below my natural waist, but wasn’t wide enough to sit comfortably over my hips, so it bunched up a bit. I shortened it just by running my overlocker around the waistline seam again…and then again. I think I took about 4cm off the seam in total, so about 8cm off the overall length, and I’m much happier with how it sits now. I could probably do with taking a smidgen more off, but I didn’t want to make the waistband too narrow by taking more off the seam.
The other change I made to the pattern was to add cuffs onto the sleeves. This was partly because I thought they would look nice and complement the waistband nicely, and partly because I managed to break the only twin needle I had when I was setting it up to do the neckline. And then managed to drop the broken piece inside my sewing machine and had to dismantle a bit (and turn upside down and shake) to get it out again! I used a zigzag stitch do to the neckline, but I didn’t really want to do that on the sleeves, so the cuffs provided a good alternative. I basically just guesstimated the size of the pattern pieces for the cuffs, and I’m really pleased with how they’ve turned out – I like the look!
I love how flat the neckline is sitting – I’m always worried with knits that it might stretch out when I’m sewing it, but this one held its shape beautifully. Next time I’m going to sew a little piece of ribbon into the back neckline when I sew it though, as I can’t really tell the front from the back of this sweater when I look at it! Luckily (it turns out), when I started sewing the neckline, I inadvertently had a pin stuck under my presser foot, which stopped the fabric from going through, and so there’s a patch of very condensed zigzag stitches on the back neckline, which is the only way I can tell which side is the back!
I think what I like most about this jumper is the mix of a vintage-style pattern – the cropped length and gathered sleeve heads definitely lend a vintage feel to it – alongside the more contemporary print of the fabric. I get the cute vintage features without the risk of it being too ‘twee’. Although that’s not to say that a floral version won’t be in my future ;)
After I’d made this, I suddenly have a moment of wondering what I was going to wear it with. It will look great with dresses that have a fitted bodice and full skirt, but it turns out those are the things that I always want to sew but often get pushed down the list in favour of more practical everyday things! But now I have the excuse I need to sew more pretty dresses ;)
I thought I’d try it on with this denim pencil skirt I have, and I absolutely love this outfit! Again, I think it’s the fairly smart pencil skirt with the contrast of the slightly casual star print sweater – I just really like how they work together. I love wearing this skirt, but I don’t wear it much at the moment – I work in an office where there is no dress code, which is great if I’m feeling lazy and just want to pull on jeans and a jumper, but I actually like dressing up a bit smarter for work, and I feel a bit out of place if I’m too smart after being in jeans the day before! This sweater allows me to dress the skirt down a bit which is great. Especially as I seemingly have a continual desire to make pencil skirts, but worry how much use they’ll get.
This is actually the first Blue Ginger Doll pattern I’ve made. I bought Stella ages ago, and had an attempt at fitting it (it was just after I’d done my fitting course), but struggled a bit and it got put aside. I really need to go back to that though as I love that top. I really like this pattern, and the instructions were easy to follow – I had it all sewn up from putting pattern together to finishing the top in an afternoon, although I found the PDF a little tricky to line up in places.
I’m loving the quick wins in my sewing lately – I got one top sewn up on Saturday afternoon and this one on Sunday, and it makes for a very satisfying weekend! Given that I had a nasty cold all weekend, I’m pleased I had some simple sewing that I could manage! I can definitely see more Bonnies in my future, I want to try out some of the other variations!
I’ve actually been really productive with my sewing recently, and have a whole host of makes to show you. The thing that’s holding them up is being able to get photos when it’s dark so much of the time! I took these before work this morning and man was it cold out there! 0°C according to our sensor – chilly! The things I put myself through for my blog ;)
If you’re interested in making your own Bonnie, Abby currently has 30% off all her patterns (until 19th December!).
Make, sew, do 