Hi everyone,
You won’t have seen me on the sunshine blog for a while, unfortunately I don’t blog regularly anymore because university work is usually taking over my spare time. However, this is a special guest blog to celebrate the release of the Nina Lee patterns, in bigger sizes, 16-28 (hooray!). Nina is doing this with the Southbank, Carnaby and Mayfair. I was thrilled when she asked me to represent the curvier girls and pattern test the Southbank for her. I love being able to represent a broad (and real) size range. I was straight on to Harriet to see what lovely fabrics she has which would go with the pattern.
We decided the cotton sweatshirting range was just perfect for the Southbank sweater and although there are many dreamy colours to choose from, I went with the rust colour way. They are fleece lined and super soft and, true to name, REALLY cosy! Not to criticise Harriet’s photo taking skills (or mine) but the pictures of the fabric really do not do it justice; the colour is right but the special little fleck that it has throughout it is just brilliant and just adds a whole new dimension to it.
The pattern test for the Southbank could not have gone better, I made the size 20 in this, as I didn’t want the fabric to cling. I made a toile in a thinner jersey to test it in a size 18 and although it fit, I wanted a bit more ease with the thicker fabric so I sized it up to a 20. I usually complete an FBA with patterns but in the interest of pattern testing, I didn’t make any alterations and it worked perfectly. It comes together really easily and is a relatively quick make. I think Nina has got the shapes and sizes for curvier ladies just right! 
I have struggled to find jumper/sweater patterns which work for me and had to make all sorts of alterations to make patterns like the Linden fit so I am super chuffed to find one that fits straight away and is such a breeze to make. I expected the bottom band to make it hang a bit strangely but it works really well and gives a really nice finish.
I will say that I left the pockets out in the end as I felt it would may make the jumper look a bit too bulky and whilst on the topic of bulk, I do feel that because of the fleece backed nature of the fabric, that it does come with a bit of bulk so when working with it I would recommend really trimming seams down (like on the neckline and cuffs) and loosening the tension slightly if using an overlocker. Still, I really could not recommend this gorgeous fabric or the pattern enough, what a super satisfying make and I’m in love with it.
I styled it with a brown waist belt and boots and felt really cosy and chic. I hope you like it and please feel free to ask any questions about it.
With love,
Emma - @emmaandhermachine
***As a member of the Sew Me Sunshine blogger team, the fabric for this project was sent to me free of charge. I chose which pattern I wanted to make and all opinions expressed in this blog post are my own.***