A review of the Juniper cardigan by Jennifer Lauren Handmade

As Spring approaches I found that I had a gap in my wardrobe for a lightweight cardigan. I wanted something that would work well for layering over summer dresses and could be teamed with a pair of jeans too. I came across the Juniper cardigan by Jennifer Lauren Handmade and I thought it would really fit the bill.

The Juniper cardigan is the second pattern I’ve made by Jennifer Lauren Handmade. The first was the Pippi pinafore, which I made a couple of years ago. I made the pinafore in a gorgeous rust coloured Robert Kaufman corduroy and I have really enjoyed wearing it.

The Pattern

I associate Jennifer Lauren Handmade patterns with pretty feminine details and little twists on classic designs. This is definitely the case for the Juniper cardigan. It is a V-neck cardigan with a lovely saddle shoulder detail that I hadn’t seen before. The pattern comes with some different options: cropped and hip length versions as well as long or ¾ length sleeves. It also has sleeve cuffs, a separate waistband and a neckband piece, so would be a great pattern to have fun with colour blocking.

Fabric choice

For the Juniper cardigan fabric, Jennifer Lauren suggests stable knits that have a good amount of stretch across the grain.  A minimum of 30% stretch is recommended, as the cardigan is designed to be fairly fitted.  Jennifer Lauren also recommends a minimum weight of 180gsm.  I found it unusual but helpful for a fabric weight recommendation to be included.  I guess some weight is needed to help the cardigan hold its shape, particularly on the saddle shoulders and button band.

Fabrics suggested include cotton jersey or a lighter weight cardigan and heavier merino and wool jersey blends for a cosier version.

I chose to make my Juniper cardigan in a baby knit fabric purchased from Eliza Mac Fabrics.  I was unfamiliar with baby knit before I bought this fabric and I was curious to give it a go.

I would describe baby knit as very similar to the fabric used to make ready to wear cardigans.  It has a chunkier knit texture than a cotton jersey but still the same flat and smooth texture. 

I ordered the baby knit in the colour ‘ecru’.  My understanding of ecru is that it is the colour of unbleached linen.  However, when it arrived I found it to be more like a clean white colour.  This was fine with me though as I think it will complement a lot of my dresses.

I pre-washed the baby knit at 40 degrees and in hindsight I think this might have been a little hot for the fabric as it did dry slightly out of shape.  It made it a bit tricky cutting out the pattern pieces, as it was hard to get them to line up both vertically along the grainline and horizontally along the row of knit stitches.  Going forward I’ll be putting this cardigan in my 30 degree wash. 

The baby knit fabric was fine to sew with but it did fray quite a lot, which I’m not used to with knit fabrics.  I used my overlocker to finish all of the seams to protect from any further fraying.

Sizing

I made cropped version of the cardigan, view A, but with long sleeves. My measurements are 32 bust 26 waist 36 hips.  This put me right in between size 6 (measurements 31-24-35) and size 8 (measurements 33-26-37).  I therefore decided to grade in between these sizes, effectively creating a size 7.  The only adjustment I made was to lengthen the sleeves by 1 inch as I do have long arms.

The cardigan is designed to be fitted but with enough room to wear over the top of a lightweight long sleeved top.  I found the fitting of the ‘size 7’ came out just right for me.  The cardigan is nicely fitted but with enough space for another top underneath.

One thing I would note is that the cardigan did not end up as cropped as I had expected.  I quite like the length it turned out, but then I have quite a long body.  If you have a shorter body, you might want to consider shortening the cardigan a little to end up with a true cropped cardigan length. 

Construction

Jennifer Lauren states that the Juniper cardigan pattern is designed for intermediate to advanced seamstresses.

I think it would be helpful to have a few knit sewing projects under your belt before you try this pattern as there are some more techniques involved than on a simple knit sewing project such as a basic t-shirt.

My experience of Jennifer Lauren pattern instructions however, is that they include a lot of detail and explanations through the sewing process. So if you are a confident beginner looking to up your skills, the Juniper cardigan would be a good one to try.

It is also worth noting that Jennifer Lauren has produced a Sewalong for the Juniper cardigan.  The sewalong includes information on choosing the right fabric and making various adjustments to the pattern pieces for your body shape.  It also includes more detail on each step of the construction process.  And there is also a whole section on attaching pockets to the cardigan, including free pocket pattern pieces.

Having sewn quite a lot with jersey, I found that the Juniper cardigan was a fairly straightforward sew.  The cardigan came together more quickly than I expected.

One detail I like is that the pattern specifies for the shoulders of the cardigan to be stabilized with clear elastic.  This will stop the cardigan stretching out, so that the shape of the pretty saddle shoulder detail is retained and the cardigan lasts longer.

Summary

The Juniper cardigan is a lovely cardigan pattern with some really pretty details. It is a pattern that can be used all year round – you could sew a cosy wool blend longer version to layer over winter dresses, and a cropped lighter weight version like mine for summer. The instructions include a lot of detail although you probably want to try a few more simple knit patterns before you tackle this one. It’s definitely worth a try though. I love my version as a great basic layering piece for my wardrobe. In future I would love to have a bit of fun with a statement colour blocked version – watch this space.