I’d been eyeing the Muse Jenna Cardi for a while, but really wasn’t sure if it would be flattering on me. I wasn’t too sure about the contrasting color versions that I’ve seen around – I prefer simplicity. Also, I’m avoiding anything I need to add a FBA to, as I haven’t successfully done one of those yet. But it looked very cute and I wanted a simple, cropped cardigan so I decided to give it a whirl.

I used this 64″ wide cotton jersey in black from Minerva Crafts. I use a lot of knit fabric and am always on the look-out for a go-to fabric, so had bought this to try. I think I’d originally meant to make a Julia cardigan from it, but somewhere had not looked up the correct amount of fabric. I should probably start writing down my plans so I don’t forget – or buy the wrong amount of fabric. My assessment is that this is a wonderful, luscious, soft and somewhat drapey fabric that I will definitely order again. I do wish they carried more of my purples and pinks in this range. It is listed as a medium-weight knit, but I think it’s somewhere between light and medium.

Once I had the cardigan cut out, I had about 30 cm remaining. I had somewhere come to the conclusion that I had bought 2 meters, so that was just about right as the pattern called for 1.5 meters – I wasn’t being particularly careful with the layout.  When I went back to see if I could find more of that fabric, the order says that I actually bought 2.5 meters. So I’m not sure if I was really careless with cutting out the pieces or if there was an error somewhere.

I cut out the size 48 to match my 48″ bust. My waist is 2″ bigger than the measurement given by the pattern for this size, but I hoped there would be enough ease/stretch in the fabric. I went    with the waist length and 3/4 sleeves options. Thanks to the stretchy knit, it fits beautifully! The only alteration I ended up doing was tightening up the bottom of the sleeves – I took about 6 cm off of the lower arms to fit more snugly. On a next version, I need to do a narrow shoulder adjustment, but the cardigan certainly doesn’t suffer for it. I’m not sure if it needs a FBA or not – I’m leaning towards not.

This cardigan has the distinction of having taught me how to make buttonholes! Note to self: next time, when tracing the buttonholes onto the fabric, there has to be an easier way to do it. Regardless, making the buttonholes, including looking up how to do it, took me far less time than transferring the markings. I was a bit leery of six buttons as six seemed like overkill, but they are the perfect amount. I was also able to use my machine to sew on the buttons! I had a lot of fun with these new skills as they were a lot easier than I thought to learn. 🙂

I love the waist-length and the wide bottom-band looks fantastic. It doesn’t matter if I wear the cardigan open or closed with just a few buttons, it’s so flattering. The wide cuff band seemed too big, but once I tried it on, I decided I loved it.

Cost breakdown:

Pattern: Muse Patterns, 100 kr
Fabric: 2.5m? from Minerva Crafts, 270 kr
Buttons x6, 18 kr
Thread: Already had it
Total: 388 sek
388 Swedish kronor is approximately 40 USD.  It was expensive because it was a new pattern and because of the fumble with the fabric – I paid for 2.5 meters and used just over 1.5 meters.

I will be making more of these cardigans – I can’t seem to find a combination of clothing it looks bad with. It zipped together with the serger and a bit of topstitching. The instructions were clear and easy to follow. I’m considering trying the yoke detail next time, though I do love the simple lines. I’ve also gone ahead and bought the Muse Gillian wrap dress!