A Cornish Guernsey commission to honour a family heirloom knit

How I developed and made a new jumper inspired by a century old traditional guernsey.

It is always a joy to bring new life to old, treasured knitwear, but creating a replica of a century old garment felt like a particularly special task.

For a recent commission I was asked to develop a womens jumper that would be a gift that honoured an old, well worn and loved fishermans guernsey, a sentimental family heirloom passed down through generaetions, and dating back to around 1900. The client loved the local stitch detailing on the worn out guernsey - seed stitches and bars across the front, a pattern rooting the garment to Cornwall through it's distinctive 'Polperro' patterning. He chose to copy the ribbed cuffs and traditional hem, but as the commission was for his wife, we decided to adapt the shape into a more femenine, modern silhouette.

Getting Started

I was fortunate to have access to the original garment, to take photos and analyse the patterning, and discovered that one of my books - 'Cornish Guernseys & Knit Frocks' by Mary Wright, referenced the exact patterning. A fantastic discovery that confirmed the origin of the origional garment and it's identity as a heritage knit from the South coast of Cornwall.

I began taking notes on the measurements and details of the garment, and then began to draft up the pattern for the new womens jumper, altering the measurements in areas to create set in sleeves and a more fitted silhouette for the new jumper design.

The knitting process

I started by knitting the hem by hand, copying

the garter and rib design that formed a lovely

boarder and paid homage to the origional piece. Then, I picked up the stitches onto the knitting machine and knitted the rest of the jumper in pannels - front, back and sleeves, that would be linked together to form the garment.

Finishing touches

After the pannels were knitted, I linked them together using my industrial linker, before picking up stitches along the neckline and knitting the ribbing by hand. Now, all that was left to do was the tie in the loose ends of yarn and give the jumper a wash to bring out the softess of the beautiful British wool that we used.

Our Studio & Commissions

Alongside developinng and crafting our Carnwear range, I love to take on commissions and work on custom projects like this one. Our studio houses a range of hand powered knitting machines which we work on alongside using traditional hand knitting and crochet techniques. Our small, hands on studio is a space for craft and design, so we love to get creative and work with customers on different projects, as well as creating our own range.

You can find out more about comissioning a bespoke piece of knitwear and other projects we've worked on here.