A seasonally appropriate jumper

A seasonally appropriate jumper

I put this jumper on for photos today and dare I say… it felt perfect.  It was warm (hello Melbourne winter!), comfortable, stripey, boxy, cropped and I love it’s earthy and grey tones.

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Let’s talk about fabric first and then I’ll confess how I cobbled the pattern together.

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The fabric is a loose weave wool/acrylic knit from The Cloth Shop.  It’s something I wouldn’t usually look twice at, but The Cloth Shop had cleverly sewn up an inspiration jumper which was hanging above the roll of fabric.  All of a sudden I had a vision of this fabric made into a boxy cropped jumper with fitted sleeves; a copy of a favourite RTW jumper (as seen in this post).

After purchasing the fabric (20% off thank-you very much!) I went home to browse my Japanese pattern books.  Who else but the Japanese do boxy so well?  I can’t read Japanese, but I think we can safely say I made a woven pattern (red silk?) into a jumper!

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The pattern is number 30 from Pochee’s May & Me Style Sewing II (only available in Japanese).

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The pattern front and back are identical apart from differing necklines.  The sleeves for the pattern are short and wide, so I lengthen them by 4 & 1/2 inches and narrowed them slightly (I made a muslin to check fit and refine the sleeves).  If I’m wearing a boxy top, I do prefer a slimmer fitting sleeve.

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I traced the largest size (LL), and lazily didn’t add the seam allowances.

Even though the fabric has an open weave, the little samples I sewed up showed that neutral coloured fine fusible stay tape was required to stop the fabric ‘growing’ and it was almost invisible.  Oh how I love fusible stay tape.  It’s a must in my books if you are sewing knits!

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Construction was predominantly on the overlocker.  I finished the neckline and sleeves with bands and the hem was secured with a twin needle.

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Will I use this pattern again?  I already have…

Pattern:  Number 30 from Pochee’s May & Me Style Sewing II
Size:  LL (without adding seam allowances)
Fabric:  Loose weave wool/acrylic knit from The Cloth Shop
Alterations:  Lengthened and narrowed the sleeves.  Added bands to finish the neckline and sleeves.

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42 comments

  • This looks great Anna – very ‘you’ and nicely styled – the scarf is perfect with it.

  • This is a great pattern! It looks comfy and worm. Nice job!

  • I love japanese style patterns and this one is no exception. I love it, Being such a loose weave didn’t it try and unravel as you cut it?

    • The Japanese style is very appealing to me too Louise. Surprising the fabric it didn’t unravel as I cut it out. I cut it on the flat (rather than the fold) to help line up all those stripes. I also tried to limit handling as much as possible. Maybe the acrylic portion ‘held’ it together???

  • Where did you buy the fusible stay tape and what brand? I’m wanting to try knits but when I asked in Hobart Spotlight, the ladies there had no idea what I meant. As a beginner I didn’t know enough to explain or substitute and they suggested that sew-in cotton tape. I enjoy seeing your creations.

  • It’s gorgeous, Anna! Perfect! I love it. I sewed this pattern out of some slinky poly and didn’t feel the love, might give it another try with some other fabric. The pattern seems more suited to knits and jerseys than wovens. Will wait and see what you did with the pattern again.

  • Oh my goodness, this is so snuggly to look at! Epic win! And I love it when samples are are put up in fabric stores- I have no eye for pattern/texture so seeing something together is always super helpful!

    • One of my school mum friends today said the jumper was her equal favourite make of mine (equal with my mix print liberty dresses). I know every new make is often a fav, but I expect this will last the test if time. Are you surprised to hear the colourway that a fabric shop sample is sewn up in is always the first to sell out?

  • What a great looking jumper – it looks so cozy and warm, and I love the fabric. I love looking at Japanese pattern books but not sure if I could make anything from them without a major Lost in Translation moment.

    • I wore the jumper with pride today & revived several compliments. Although I do sew from Japanese patterns, I spend equal amounts of time flicking through & admiring the offerings.

  • This looks lovely! Perfect for this time of year. And thanks for the information on fusible tape, I’ve never used it before either. (The comment above about the ladies in Spotlight having no idea about the tape made me smile… that happens at the various Spotlights I go to too. Quite often I ask for something, am assured they don’t have it / have never heard of it, and then find it on the shelf).

  • I really like these boxy types of tops and the fabric is lovely.

  • You’ve made a really lovely jumper. It looks great layered. I too have a number of Japanese pattern books which unlike you I tend to look through rather than sew from.

  • That’s such a terrific look on you Anna. And yes, I love that stay tape too! The Cloth Shop do a great job of sewing up samples actually – I always get ideas for both patterns and fabrics when I go in there! The jumper is terrific.

  • This is a great make! Very you. Very stylish!

  • As they’d say in America – I sewed a sweater! Doesn’t quite have the same ring when you use the word jumper, hay. This looks really similar in style lines to the Mandy tee, the one Leith just blogged about? Yours looks cosier of course, but that’s by default 🙂 What a lovely woolly knit!

    • It’s interesting you mention the Mandy Tee. I actually put the pattern pieces on top of each other on the weekend & this pattern is much wider & much shorter but you’re right, they have similar lines. The Hemlock Tee from Grainline is another sister pattern. I’m in cropped, boxy oversized heaven!

  • The more I see of the Japanese pattern books the more I’m considering trying them out for myself.
    The fabric suits you well, I think.

    • Thank you Tropical Threads. I’m really pleased with how this one turned out. The Japanese pattern books are great, but sizing has a lot of ease built in. I recommend a toile/muslin before cutting any precious fabric.

  • […] that red silk top pattern that I used to make a jumper in my last post?  Well before packing the pattern away, I decided to make it up as a top (rather […]

  • This is glorious – and so is your Jaywalk one – the stripes work wonderfully (and I always love your accessories) – I patted this at the Cloth Shop, but walked away with a snuggly navy knit – I’m so glad you nabbed it & made this up – perfect 😉

  • Queen of the boxy jumpers to be sure! The pairing of the slightly oversize top with the lean legs is great proportions. The Japanese Pattern books have some fabulous inspiration in them. I’m challenging myself to make more from my books this summer.

    • Shucks… I find it takes a while from browsing to sewing up those Japanese patterns. Looking forward to seeing what you decide to make for when the weather warms up. Bring on Summer I say!

  • Anna, I really love this!! The colour, the style- both perfect on you. I’m with you 100% on the narrow sleeves for boxy tops. I have a Gorman jumper from my pre-sewing days that has a similar silhouette & I love wearing it. I might have to do a rub-off, go find myself some wooly jumper fabric & make one too now 🙂 And yay!! for seasonal sewing…. I’m finally getting there as well I think :p

  • PS where do you get your stay tape from?

    • I buy my fusible stay tape online from A Fashionable Stitch (there website is currently closed for maintenance). The brand is Sewkeys E by Emma Seabrooke. The names of the tapes are slightly confusing, but the Woven Stay Tape (in the blue packaging) is for straight seams/hems and the Knit Stay Tape (yellow packaging) is cut on the bias and therefore perfect for curves ie. necklines. Tessuti sell a similar product which I’ve used before too.

  • […] I’m either taking a pattern that works for me and then trying it in different fabrics (like here and here) or adjusting a TNT pattern to create a slightly new look.  This make was all about […]

  • […] thought I’d made this pattern twice before – firstly in a jumper knit with an open weave and secondly in a viscose/jersey – I still made a muslin […]

  • […] counting the different fabrics I’ve used to sew up a boxy cropped Japanese pattern (jumper/sweater knit, viscose jersey & wool/silk)?  I’m enjoying the experimentation and learning lots along […]