Bridie Striped Jumper with Long Puff Sleeves in West Yorkshire Spinners ColourLab - DBP0195 - Downloadable PDF

Bridie Striped Jumper with Long Puff Sleeves – Zandra Rhodes x West Yorkshire Spinners ColourLab

The Bridie Striped Jumper with Long Puff Sleeves is a striking knitted sweater designed by the legendary Dame Zandra Rhodes as part of the Zandra Rhodes – Make A Statement collection, compiled by Jenny Watson and technically edited by Helen Birch and Jill Gray. This downloadable PDF pattern is published by West Yorkshire Spinners and is rated as an intermediate difficulty project, making it ideal for knitters who are comfortable with shaping, colourwork, and more advanced sleeve construction techniques.

True to Dame Zandra Rhodes' iconic aesthetic, the Bridie jumper is designed to make a bold visual statement. Its defining features are its vibrant stripe pattern and dramatically shaped long puff sleeves, which bring a sense of theatrical flair and high-fashion energy to a hand-knitted garment. The puff sleeve silhouette — gathered or shaped to create volume at the sleeve head or along the sleeve length — is a technique that elevates this jumper beyond a standard striped knit, requiring careful attention to increases, shaping, and finishing.

Design Features and Construction

The jumper is worked in stripes, a classic colourwork technique that involves changing yarn colours at regular or irregular intervals to create horizontal bands of colour across the fabric. Stripe knitting is accessible to intermediate knitters and allows for stunning visual impact without the complexity of intarsia or Fair Isle colourwork. Managing multiple colours and neat yarn joins or floats at the edges is an important skill this pattern will develop.

The long puff sleeves are the standout construction element of the Bridie. Achieving a puff sleeve in knitting typically involves working additional increases along the sleeve cap or upper sleeve to create gathered volume, which is then set into the armhole. This requires confident understanding of sleeve cap shaping and seaming, skills that place this pattern firmly in the intermediate category.

Techniques Used

• Stripe colourwork — working with multiple yarn colours in sequence to create horizontal stripe patterns
• Puff sleeve shaping — increases and sleeve cap construction to achieve dramatic volume in the long sleeves
• Garment seaming and finishing — joining body and sleeves for a polished, structured result
• Tension and gauge management — essential when working with multiple colours to maintain consistent fabric

Stitches Used

• Knit and purl stitches — the foundation of the stocking stitch or other base fabric used throughout the jumper body and sleeves
• Ribbing — typically used at cuffs, hem, and neckline for elasticity and a neat finish
• Increase and decrease stitches — used in sleeve shaping to create the puff silhouette and body shaping

Yarn and Materials

The Bridie Striped Jumper is designed to be knitted in West Yorkshire Spinners ColourLab DK yarn, a DK weight yarn that provides a smooth, stitch-definition-rich fabric perfectly suited to showcasing bold stripe sequences. The pattern specifically references the following ColourLab DK shades, each with its own evocative name drawn from Dame Zandra Rhodes' signature palette:

• Zandra's Sunset – shade 1033
• Botanical Forest – shade 1029
• Bluebell Woodland – shade 1030
• Rainbow Bouquet – shade 1032
• Bloom Stripes – shade 1028
• Mist Awakening – shade 1031

The pattern also references West Yorkshire Spinners Signature 4 Ply yarn as an alternative, with corresponding shades including Zandra's Sunset (1027), Botanical Forest (1023), Bluebell Woodland, Rainbow Bouquet, Bloom Stripes, and Mist Awakening — allowing knitters