Vintage Jumper: The Test Version

Stash-busting 2016:  McCall's 7946

Yes, I made myself a jumper, in the North American sense of the word. Not a sweater, nor jumper as known in British terminology. And just to add a bit more confusion, it is my muslin, or is that a toile? Either way, I tried out a pattern for a jumper. I used OOP McCall's 7946 and I do believe this is now considered vintage, circa 1995.  

It is designed by Shelli Segal from the Laundry label. I was pretty thrilled when I found this pattern in my size over at Etsy this past summer. 

I did make a couple of small changes to the pattern, I raised the bodice by three inches changing it from a pull-over jumper with a fitted bodice to a pull-over jumper with a empire waist. It worked out great and I prefer the raised waistline. The skirt length was shortened by four inches. Even though this is a petite-able pattern, I still found it to be quite long for my slightly over five-foot frame. I have one more change to the straps / neckline that I'm considering on the final version.  

The raised waistline might be difficult to detect in these photos since my fabric is a dark grey knit (sorry about that).

This fabric has been in my stash for a long time and just might be the same vintage as the pattern. I picked this knit up when Fanny Fabrics closed down in the city. It is a lighter knit than I wanted to make but I thought this would be good enough to test out the pattern. It is actually not the best choice for this pattern but I just wanted to use something that would give me an idea on the waistline changes. And even though the fabric is light-weight and not ideal, it didn't stop me from wearing it out in public a couple of days ago. It is a garment that needs a slip underneath.

The fabric was sewn with a knit (lightning bolt) stitch including the top-stitching. And it was pre-treated with a tumble through the washing machine and delicate setting on the dryer. All these treatments worked well with the fabric.    

I hope to make and post the wearable version soon. I have a striped ponte knit that I would like to try with this pattern.  

Stats: 

Fabric:    2.4 metres knit, $13.56 ($5.00 / metre plus taxes)  

Pattern:   McCall's 7946 $16.00

Thread:   I'm going to average out $4.00 for thread used in the serger and sewing machines.

Additional Tools and Supplies:  Sewing machine, serger, scissors, pins, pattern paper, pen, one cup of coffee, and about five hours of my time.  

Happy Sewing!