Muse Jenna Plus Kwik Sew 2759 = New Twinset Love

Here's my almost complete Jenna cardigan over the tank from Kwik Sew 2759. I still have buttons to sew onto the cardi tonight while plopped in front of the television. I decided on shank buttons from the button stash and so there's no way NOT to do these by hand. Oh, the sacrifices ... ;-)

The fabric is an acrylic/poly lightweight sweater knit purchased from Hancock's on Friday during my aerobic lunchtime shopping. I say "aerobic" because I was out of the office, into my car, in Hancock's (3 miles away), through the fabric and cutting table for 4 selections, a stop at the pattern cabinets to pull 8 Simplicities I had on a list for the sale, through the checkout, and back to my desk in a little over an hour. Whew! It's probably a really good thing that I was so time limited because I saw a LOT of fabrics that were asking to come home with me, made worse by my fabric shopping withdrawals for the last many months.

I picked this fabric with the Jenna in mind and to hopefully match this Sophia knit KS skirt I made last year. I love the skirt but don't wear it much because I'm not so in love with the pairing possibilities in my closet. I made a knit HotPatterns top which goes with the skirt perfectly but the fabric is just so clingy that I tend to avoid wearing it. The new knit doesn't match exactly but I think it blends well enough at a reasonable distance to fool the naked eye, so I'm very happy the skirt has a new mate and I'll be wearing this tomorrow. (Plus I did hem the Gillian dress shorter which means TWO new outfits to wear this week!)

The underlayer of the twinset is the tank from this classic Kwik Sew 2759. And, yes, you're probably thinking I could've used the cardigan from this or even the Jalie I hacked instead of buying the Jenna, and you'd be sorta right. Except, one, I really wanted to try the Jenna, especially after my recent success with the Gillian. I'm not immune to the call of new patterns/designers and I've really liked all the Jenna makes I've seen around the interwebs. And, two, there's enough shaping subtleties between Jenna and the other two to make the Jenna much more current-trend fit-wise. Jenna's more fitted, with nice sideseam shaping and high armholes (something KS is notorious for NOT drafting).

After cutting the Jenna, I had enough left from the 2 yds I bought to eek out a tank. So, out came my personal pattern catalog for a quick look to see what I had on hand, and then the tracing paper. I know KS always runs big on me and those armholes always low, so I traced a M everywhere and raised the armholes to the XS height, and while tracing made my usual square shoulder adjustment. The finished tank fits very well. I just wish I had added an inch in length because this thing is pretty short as drafted and I had to turn the tiniest of hems when I would've preferred to hem this knit a bit deeper. Oh well. Sew and learn. I like how the print worked out for neck and armhole bands, even though I will NEVER wear this single layer. So I'll just enjoy the bands in the mirror and on the hanger. :-)

For the Jenna, I cut at the 42 for the shoulders/neckline and morphed out to the 46 for the rest, also adding a square shoulder alteration before I cut the pattern. There was nothing particularly scientific about this, just my gut after sewing the Gillian in a straight 46 that I probably could've gone down a size or two but the wrap styling forgives sizing accuracy a lot. My gut was correct and the finished cardi fits just as I was wanting. Which you'll see when I get photos of it on me instead of Zillie.

I had a few problems with the page alignment marks on my printout but I haven't studied it enough to blame the draft or the printer. Whichever it was, the actual pattern lines fit together without issue, which makes me lean toward the marks being the culprit. The whole thing prints out on 30-ish (I forget the exact count and the PDF is at the office) pages, which tape together just as quickly as unfolding and pressing tissue. I know I'm an oddball, but I actually prefer most PDFs over tissue. I've always had an aversion to pattern tissue. It's gotten better over the years, but I still don't love it.

The only drafting issue I found with the Jenna is very minor and does not affect fit at all. Where the side seams come together creates a "bump" at the bottom edge, which will affect how the hem band sews on and lays if left alone. (Don't stare too long at my sad matching at the sideseams. This is what eyeballing will get you. And I actually cut this single layer!)

Solution: trim the bump away.

Everything else fit together perfectly, including the neckband and center front bands. No overage, no shortage, so nice even edges top and bottom on all the bands. Here's the top button waiting for handsewing tonight. And a glimpse of the teal topstitching.

Overall, I'm very pleased with the two offerings from Muse, after sewing and fitting them both, and I know that you'll be seeing more of these patterns made up in the near future because I love me some pretty cardigans for our Florida winters and who doesn't love a nicely detailed wrap dress? (So, Kat ... when is your next pattern due??)

I want to get back into the sewing room later today to start on something else because the mojo is on FIRE, but the grocery store and weekly trip to the dog beach call first so we'll see how far I get on the next project.