I was chosen this month to review the Auden cardigan by Jennifer Lauren Handmade, yay! I have many of Jennifer's patterns and had been promising the Husband a handmade piece of clothing for quite a while so I was very pleased to be chosen. I love the saddle shoulder detail and slim fit body.
The pattern lends its self to using contrast fabrics for the body, sleeves, neckline and cuffs, making the most of the saddle shoulder detail. The two options are; View 1 has a contrasting neckline and elbow patches and View 2 is a more subtle option without the contrast neckline or elbow patches. The Husband decided he wanted a subtler option without any contrasting colours and opted for a quilted dogtooth fabric from Minerva Crafts.
The fabric was a nightmare. Frayed easily and often (all over my carpet) and my sewing machine was not a fan of its bulkiness!
The pattern is a pdf which I sent to Netprinter who printed it in A0, copy shop size, no pritt stick or selotape for me.
FIT
So I made View 2 and cut a size medium, which I graded down to a small at the waist. I also added 4cm to the length at the 'lengthen/shorten' point due to the Husband having a long torso, in RTW garments he sizes up to avoid belly button grazing tops!
The cardigan fits really well across his shoulders and his waist/hips. The sleeves are a good length too, defiantly not short and I feel the measurements given on the pattern to chose the size required are spot on.
Here he is, pretending to be shy! He loved posing!
Construction
The pattern came together really well, and if I hadn't been sleep deprived (read a newborn, a 4 year old just starting school, a 2 year old and a husband working away) I would not of made the silly mistake of cutting out the wrong arm. I even read 'cut view 2' out and had it in my pile to cut but ended up with View 1 arm cut out. So I had to add the extra required, as I didn't have any more fabric, here's a photo of my mistake
The pattern lends its self to using contrast fabrics for the body, sleeves, neckline and cuffs, making the most of the saddle shoulder detail. The two options are; View 1 has a contrasting neckline and elbow patches and View 2 is a more subtle option without the contrast neckline or elbow patches. The Husband decided he wanted a subtler option without any contrasting colours and opted for a quilted dogtooth fabric from Minerva Crafts.
The fabric was a nightmare. Frayed easily and often (all over my carpet) and my sewing machine was not a fan of its bulkiness!
The pattern is a pdf which I sent to Netprinter who printed it in A0, copy shop size, no pritt stick or selotape for me.
FIT
So I made View 2 and cut a size medium, which I graded down to a small at the waist. I also added 4cm to the length at the 'lengthen/shorten' point due to the Husband having a long torso, in RTW garments he sizes up to avoid belly button grazing tops!
The cardigan fits really well across his shoulders and his waist/hips. The sleeves are a good length too, defiantly not short and I feel the measurements given on the pattern to chose the size required are spot on.
Here he is, pretending to be shy! He loved posing!
The pattern came together really well, and if I hadn't been sleep deprived (read a newborn, a 4 year old just starting school, a 2 year old and a husband working away) I would not of made the silly mistake of cutting out the wrong arm. I even read 'cut view 2' out and had it in my pile to cut but ended up with View 1 arm cut out. So I had to add the extra required, as I didn't have any more fabric, here's a photo of my mistake
You can just see the joining seam, although it blends in well and if I hadn't of mentioned it to him I doubt he would of noticed.
Back to the actual pattern, as I said it sews together really well. All the notches matched and the saddle shoulders were a dream to sew. I added all the optional topstitching as I really like the look.
I loved the way of removing the excess seam allowance from the facing/cardigan front, which meant that when the facing was pressed back to the underside of the cardigan it removed all the bulk and naturally brought up the hem. I thought this gave a better finish than otherwise would have been the case. I will defiantly use this technique when sewing similar facings.
Instructions
As with the construction, the instructions were easy to follow with clear bullet point style and lots of clear diagrams.
Other Thoughts
I would highly recommend this pattern for its ease of sewing and fit. It came together really well and I enjoyed sewing it. I can see more in the Husbands wardrobe as well as family for birthdays etc. Its a great style that I haven't seen on the high street and I can not wait to have time to make the women's equivalent, the Juniper Cardigan.
Thanks for reading, I'd love to hear your thoughts.
Rebecca x
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