I made this jumper for my daughter because she liked the design when we were browsing the pattern books at Joann’s last fall. “The Artful Jumper” is what Simplicity named this design on the pattern envelope. It’s style is relaxed and Bohemian, and uses quite a lot of fabric yardage for the handkerchief skirt.
My Approach
I wanted to make this jumper out of what I had, which I thought would be very much in keeping with it’s artsy style. I had some windowpane flannel, enough to make the bodice with, and for the skirt, I had some navy blue plaid that I’d bought while in NYC. I decided that I would blend the entire look of the jumper together by adding lengths of the bodice fabric to the edge of the skirt, along with some solid and plaid velvet scraps I had in my stash. I spent a lot of time piecing the skirt block to achieve this look, and here’s how it looked before it was hemmed:
As I mentioned earlier, the skirt is huge. It’s a large panel of fabric that’s cut on the fold and is then gathered and turned on its side before being attached to the bodice. It’s weight was too much for my daughter, in addition to it being too long because it just slightly touched the floor. As a result, I cut away the fabric piecing to lighten the load, and she was much happier with it:
I re-did the back zipper once in order to match the skirt’s stripes as evenly as possible. They weren’t lining up correctly on the first go round. It was definitely worth the extra effort and I’m happy with the result:
Thoughts
There’s no way to shorten the skirt on this pattern. It’s probably been standardly sized for a 5’5″ tall or taller woman, and because of the fact that it’s cut on a fold and turned on it’s side to achieve the finished look, the matter of reducing the length for a shorter height is problematic. I only achieved it because I didn’t use one continuous piece for the entire skirt to begin with, so I was able to remove some of the length that way.
I could’ve cut an XS for the bodice. I cut an S, and although the design is oversized with a semi drop waist, the S was too big. I had to take the bodice in on the back pieces to improve the fit. The bodice is lined.
The skirt has pockets, which are always practical and nice, in my opinion.
In terms of technical difficulty, I think that adjusting the gathers on the skirt so that it balances evenly on the bodice was probably the most challenging part of making this jumper. It’s a lot of fabric to manage and it does require patience.
It’s an eclectic dress, with an unusual cut for the skirt. It makes a versatile garment that can be dressed up or kept casual, depending on the kind of shirt it’s worn with.
Take care and as always, thanks for reading 🙂
Sewcoordinated 