Recently Carrie decided to make a great transitional jumper for Spring with some fine wale corduroy purchased in France last summer. It boasts a colorful floral print on an off-white ground and is quite light weight. As a sleeveless jumper, it will be useful for 3 seasons, choosing a short sleeve, long sleeve, or even turtleneck tee to wear underneath, or even wear it sleeveless on a mild day. Read on to see how to Make a Jumper with Carpe Diem.
Turn to the Tried and True
Where do you turn when you’re looking for a dress pattern? Fit for Art aficionados naturally turn to the versatile Carpe Diem Dress & Tunic pattern. Carrie has experimented with several variations on the Carpe Diem, so this time she turned to the pattern she used to make the sleeveless Copycat Jumpsuit. It features a scoop neck bodice which overlaps in front for buttoning, and a high waistline attached to very loose pant legs.
Bodice Modifications
Carrie was able to re-use the bodice pattern drafted for her copycat jumpsuit but couldn’t resist one change, incorporating the new V Neckline variations for the Carpe Diem Dress & Tunic. The V Neckline Front Template was used to alter the bodice front pattern from its original scoop neck, then ¾” was added to center front for the overlapping fronts.
Like the jumpsuit, the jumper bodice was fully lined for comfortable wear and easy finishing. Carrie found a piece of cotton batik in her stash for the lining that was an acceptable coordinate for the corduroy print. The lining’s neckline, underarms, and center fronts were all reinforced with fusible interfacing before assembly. Bodice construction followed the basic Carpe Diem Instructions for a sleeveless dress (View 2).
Skirt Modifications
It being a loose dress that Carrie was after, the jumpsuit’s pants were replaced with a skirt. This jumper was constructed with the typical Carpe Diem dress side panel, unlike the pantsuit, so no alterations were required to the lower body patterns. For simplicity, Carrie cut the skirt front and back each in one piece, placing the pattern pieces two inches from the fold for greater ease. Two small pleats were taken in front and back to make the skirt match the bodice at the waistline.
Finally, two patch pockets were added to the jumper front, slightly straddling the side seams.
Design Thoughts
In wearing the jumper, Carrie has found it a bit of a struggle to pull the jumper on over her head. The waist needed to be more relaxed, and therefore the bodice less fitted, to allow the pullover option to work comfortably. In retrospect, Carrie wishes she had chosen to extend the button front opening all the way to the hem, using the dress length Carpe Diem patterns. A waist could be shaped at the side seams and with fisheye darts rather than putting in a waist seam. Next time! Keep this in mind when you Make a Jumper with Carpe Diem
Have you sewn a V Neckline or created your own Carpe Diem variations? We’d love to hear about your design and construction experiments in the comments. Please show us photos of your Carpe Diem dresses and tunics on social media with Fit for Art’s hashtags #carpediemdress, #carpediemtunic, #vnecklinevariations, and #fitforartpatterns.
