Knitting the Bestway 711 'Sweet Embroidered Boucle Jumper' - plus free pattern
- Emily
- Jan 23
- 6 min read
This beautiful 1940s knitting pattern is from my own personal collection and is the second vintage pattern I've sized up.
The original pattern asks for white boucle yarn and embroidery wool in three different shades of fuchsia pink. I didn't have any boucle yarn in my stash, but had a discontinued slub yarn called Wendy Satin Look. It's a beautiful pale blue yarn with a satin sheen to it. The yarn is made up of 34% cotton, 32% viscose, 30 % acrylic, and 4% nylon, and I thought was a close enough texture going from the front image.
The pattern uses no.8 and no.12 needles in old UK sizing which in metric is 4mm and 2.75mm.
Original pattern was for a 34-36 inch chest, so I had to work out how to size it up to fit a 43 inch chest. My original calculations were way off, as my first attempt would have fitted someone with a 50 inch chest!
For more information on how to size up a vintage knitting pattern, please read my previous blog post
For the lazy daisy embroidery, I used embroidery wool I found in a charity shop. I cut out a piece of paper that was 4x4 inches and using the front cover photo as a reference, tacked out where the flower sprigs were to go, using the square bit of paper as a template to do a long running stitch around it.
I placed where I was going to sew in an embroidery hoop to give it some stability, but making sure I didn't stretch the knitting out too much.
The flowers and leaves were made with lazy daisy stitch, the inside with french knots and the stems with stem stitch. I have done a lot of cross stitch in the past but this was the first time attempting embroidery and on a stretchy knit fabric. After a few attempts, my confidence grew and it was good to think about placement and colour sequence.
After finishing the front and sleeves, I only had a little bit of embroidery wool left, which was just enough to do 3 sprigs at the back. The back has an opening which is done up with buttons and I found some gorgeous pink flower shaped ones that were perfectly matched.
You can watch how I made this jumper on my YouTube channel here
Sweet Boucle Jumper embroidered with pretty sprigs of daisies
The most enchanting jumper, for day or for evening wear. Make it in white, as in the original, with daisies embroidered in three fuchsia shades, the stems and leaves in light and dark green.
Materials: 7 ounces of Lee's Clover Boucle or 9 ounces if made with long sleeves; one pair each of No. 8 and No.12 knitting needles; 4 small buttons and embroidery wools.
Tension: 13 stitches to 2 inches in width and approximately 17 rows to 2 inches in depth when working on No.8 needles
Measurements: Jumper will measure 34 inches all round underarms, but, owing to the elasticity of the knitting , will fit up to a 36 inch bust size. Length from lower edge to underarm, 11 inches; and lower edge to back neck, 18 and a quarter inches. Short sleeve seam is 5 inches: long sleeve seam 18 inches
Abbreviations: K -knit; P - purl; st - stitch; sts - stitches; inc - increase; dec - decrease; rep - repeat; tog - together; st-st - stocking stitch; g-st - garter stitch.
THE BACK
With No.12 needles cast on 96 sts and work 3.5 inches in k1, p1 ribbing. Change to No.8 needles and work in st-st (one row k, one row p alternately), but inc 1 st at each end of 9th row and every 8th row after (by working twice into first and last sts) until sts number 110. Continue for a few more rows without further shaping until work measures 11 inches from start, ending with a p row. Shape armholes by casting off 6 sts at beginning of each of the next 2 rows, then take 2tog at each end of the next 13 rows (72 sts). Work one more row (a p row).
Next row: K 38, slip remaining 34 sts on to a spare needle for time being, and work only on the first set of sts thus: Keeping 5 sts at inner end g-st (every row k plain), and remainder in st-st, work for 6 rows, then make a buttonhole in the next row. Buttonhole row - starting at inner end: K 1, k2tog, wool forward, k2, p to end.
Continue on these 38 sts for 11 rows, still keeping g-st border, and make another buttonhole as before, then work another 11 rows and make a third buttonhole.
Then proceed as usual for 8 rows, ending at armhole edge **
Now shape shoulder thus:
1st shoulder row: Cast off 6 sts, work to end.
2nd row: Work without shaping.
Next row: As 1st shoulder row.
Now change to gt-st, in first row making a buttonhole as before, then cast off 6 sts at beginning of each of the next 2 rows which start at armhole end.
Work 1 row , then cast off remaining 14 sts **
Join wool to the inner end of the set of 34 sts for other side, and cast on 4 sts for the underwrap, then work on these 38 sts in st-st with 5 sts at inner end in gt-st for 39 rows, then work as from ** to ** of first side.
THE FRONT
Work as for the back until armhole shapings are finished and sts reduced to 72, then continue without shaping until armholes are 6.5 inches deep, measured on the straight from first armhole row. Cast off 6 sts at start of the next 4 rows, then, working in gt-st, cast off 6 sts at beginning of the 4 following rows. Work 1 row more. Cast off remainder.
SHORT SLEEVES (both alike)
With No.12 needles cast on 66 sts and work 1.5 inches in k1,p1 ribbing, but work twice in to last st of last row only (67 sts). Change to No.8 needles and st-st, but inc 1 st at each end of the 5th row and every 4th row after until sts number 79. Work a few more rows until sleeve measures 5 inches from the the start, ending with a p row.
Shape the top as follows: Take 2tog at each end of the next 2 rows, then work one row without shaping. Rep these last 3 rows 9 times more, the rep the first 2 of them again, when sts will be reduced to 35.
Next row: K 25, k 2tog, turn
Next row: P 16, p 2tog, turn
Next row: K 16, k 2tog, turn
Rep the last 2 rows until sts are reduced to 17. Cast off
ALTERNATIVE LONG SLEEVES (both alike)
With No. 12 needles cast on 48 sts and work in k1, p1 ribbing for 3 inches, but work twice in last st of the last row (49 sts). Change to No.8 needles and proceed in st-st but inc 1 st at each end of 7th row and every following 8th row until there are 79 sts. Work straight until sleeve measures 18 inches ending with a p row. Shape top as for short sleeves.
TO MAKE UP
First mark with tacking cotton the places where the flower sprays are to go. On the original model there were 10 sprays on the front, 10 on the back and 3 on each sleeve. Each spray consists of 3 flowers, each flower being approximately 1 inch in diameter, and the longest stalk about 1.5 inches in length. Space the sprays irregularly as desired, working the embroidery before making up the jumper. The stems are worked in stem stitch and the flowers in lazy daisy stitch, and also the leaves, but complete each leaf with one straight st in centre. Use dark green for outer section of leaves and pale green for centres and stems. The flowers are worked in any colour desired and may be all one colour, or three contrasting shades, using a different one for each flower in every group of three. To gain a guide for working the motifs, cut a square of card about 2 and a quarter inches square. Pin this over jumper at intervals and run a tacking around it, outside its edges. You can then work a motif in each tacking square, setting the flowers to form three of the angles and the straightest stem forming the fourth side of the square.
Join the shoulder seams, sew sleeves into armholes. Lay work flat on a thick blanket and press well on the wrong side, avoiding the ribbed sections. Sew up side and sleeve seams. Sew buttons to the left edge of back opening to match buttonholes, and catch the base of underwrap down on the wrong side.
Tack a pair of 'Parapads', the ready made shoulder pads, inside the tops of the sleeves.
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