Jenna, Jenna, who can I turn to?

Hey, remember how I've been wishing for a merino fairy-godmother? Well, bibbidi bobbidi boo because Kat from Muse Patterns is having a super generous contest where she is giving away a tonne of merino wool. What a perfect opportunity to let the Jenna cardigan jump the stalled sewing queue.

When Jenna first came out last year, I loved it immediately for its vintage styling. As usual, I forced myself to wait out the crush, but I finally succumbed a few months ago. Even then, I wasn't planning on making it until sometime next year. But I also really like merino wool and I'm jealous of you New Zealanders having easy access to it. Enter merino fairy-godmother and PhysicsGirl's first Jenna. *Bats lashes hopefully and hopes that she gets this in before she turns into a pumpkin*

I really like this pattern. It's a super-quick sew. I read about the contest on Monday through Andie's Hogwarts-inspired outfit, bought the fabric on Tuesday, put the pattern together and washed the fabric on Wednesday (and then waited for it to dry -- my bathroom smelled like wet dog for two days). I cut the fabric Friday, sewed it Saturday, and finished it and took photos yesterday.


A few notes. I cut a straight 32, view B with the gathered yoke, and long sleeves. I cut the waist-length version, lengthening the front and back pieces 1.5" by measuring up 3" from the button band and slicing across. The bottom of the waist band now hits me just on the top of my hips. It's probably a bit longer than the design intends, but it's the perfect length for me.

The material is a medium-thin wool/acrylic sweater knit in a heathered wine -- I discovered that the grey bits are the acrylic part when I accidentally pressed one of the yokes without a press cloth. Yuck. Other than that, it presses and sews quite nicely, and I seem to be getting away without finishing the seams. I'm trying to avoid buying yet another slightly different shade of burgundy/wine thread even though the shades I do have don't match this fabric, so I'm happy that that grey thread trick worked out so well it's like I meant to do it. I bought enough to also make either a Renfrew for a Bronte -- or possibly both, since I forgot that knits tend to come in 60". There's loads of it.


I accidentally sewed the second yoke piece on upside down and that was a lot of fun as you can imagine. Unpicking stretch stitch on a sweater knit. I know how to party on a Saturday night.

Because Muse patterns are made for either taller women or spiders and I have Tyrannosaurus arms, the sleeves were ridiculously long on me. I cut off just over four inches before attaching the cuffs. The sleeves are a bit loose, but I'll see how they work layered over other sweaters before I decide whether I should go slimmer in future versions.


Stupidly, when I lengthened the bodice I forgot to also lengthen the button band. I have well more than enough to recut the band, but I had already interfaced it and don't really want to waste fabric. Fortunately, the amount I took off the sleeves was exactly the same depth as the waist band, so I fixed it by attaching what is basically a waist-band extension to the button band. My button-holer, which did a really lovely job on the top four holes, had a complete hissy fit on the bottom two because of the extra seams and thickness. I picked out the resulting rat's nest of thread and I put on snaps instead.

That worked out really well because my stash had only four of these buttons that perfectly matched the fabric. Nevertheless, I will do the button holes before attaching the band in future versions.


Despite the fact that there is supposed to be negative ease, the whole thing feels a bit big on me. I took in the waist so that it fit more or less snugly, but I've left the sides looser until I see how the cardigan fits over other sweaters and blouses. I also found the front neckband too long, but I don't know if that's something I did or the pattern. Next time I will trust my instincts and we'll hope it will sit better.

Generally, I'm really pleased with this make. It's a bit big on me in the shoulders (something I've seen in a few other Jennas), and feels a bit large overall so I'll probably narrow it for future makes. Because there will be future versions.

Thanks for the pattern!