I Won!

I won my first giveaway prize! It came in an extremely opportune moment, as I desperately needed this particular garment. It has to do with breastfeeding and feeling cold while doing it. No, it’s not a nursing top, though I could use some of those as well…

No, the garment I needed was a replacement of a well-beloved 12-year-old me-made, a ratty old hooded cardigan. Made about twelve years ago without much knowledge about anything, really (which shows in almost every aspect of it’s construction…). Nevertheless, it served me fine through all these years, but I think it’s time for it to retire. After all my lounge pants are quite stylish now, even if I say so myself. How lucky for me that I won a copy of the equally stylish  Jenna cardigan in a giveaway on The Monthly Stitch! It’s new indie company Muse Pattern’s first pattern.

I made the the long version with long sleeves and the shoulder yoke detail. I like how this takes this simple pattern up a notch.

stylish

While I did not make this in an afternoon, as others have done (there’s serious cuddling to do around here, you know), it was quite a fast make. (That is after taping all those pages together. Ugh, I loathe that step in PDF patterns…)

I went with my current bust measurement, which is one size bigger than before. It shows a bit in the shoulders, but the rest of the cardi fits really well, I think.

The sleeves are quite long, as opposed to the bodice length that is just a tad short for me. But I repeat again (ad nauseam, probably) I have a long torso, so it might be just me.

Obviously I changed a few things. Most notably, I put in an invisible zip instead of the button placket. The reason being that buttonholes are my nemesis, whereas invisible zips are my favourite closure (ever since I bought an invisible zipper foot, that is). Also, miraculously I had this separating invisible zip in my stash, and no button stash to speak of.  The other change was that I added side seam pockets. Unfortunately they turned out too small and I might just close the side seams, but for now I’ll leave it as is.

The fabric I used is a stable cotton/elasthane mix from Eurokangas. I have no idea why I bought it, since I avoid wearing animal print at all cost, as it can look quite tacky on blondes, I feel. This is ok, though, and I’m happy I had it in my stash (it was the only suitable fabricI had for this pattern).

I am already planning a second version, as this one is in very heavy rotation (it’s the only cardi I have atm). I just need to find the time to do it, as I am also knitting the gorgeous Celtic Hill. Seeing as naps take about 1 hour max, and that knitting takes a lot less start-up-time, I think it will be some time before I really get to it, though.

That’s it for now. Maybe I’ll do a getting settled post next, as the apartment slowly emerges from chaos. No promises, though! Life is a tiny bit unpredictable at the moment (even if the bean already has some kind of routine and lets us sleep more than I expected). Hopefully ’till soon!