Pattern Monday #10

 

Do you want to ride?

Finished: Denim Crescent Skirt

Worn with a favourite top from Zara (about 5 years old)

The first item from my capsule wardrobe plan has been ticked off! I actually finished this skirt a couple of weeks ago, and have worn it loads since finishing it, including at last weekend's Crafters' Ceilidh. It's the second Crescent skirt I have made - the first was a longer-length bright floral version. I had high hopes for this version, knowing how much I loved my Summer version, but was a little wary as I quite often find that when re-making a pattern, I don't love my second version quite so much. Happily, that's not the case here. Here's my review...

Pattern Used
Sewaholic's Crescent Skirt - View A, which is of a shorter length and with less gathering.

Does it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope? 

Yes

Were the instructions easy to follow? 

Yes - last time I followed the sewalong and didn't refer to the pattern instructions but this time I used the instructions, and they were great.

 

From the inside - french seamed pocket bags, flat felled side seams and bias tape to make a neat hem finish

What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern? 
I love the pockets and the fit of the skirt is great. I think the shape is quite universally flattering too.

 

Fabric & Notions 

I used a dark denim which has a teeny bit of stretch in it. This worked very well for view A, as I think the stiffness of the denim would not be so good with the other views which have more gathers. I used a red zip as this was what I had in my stash, and I like the look of the contrast too. I used a red bias tape to finish the hem too, which looks nice and neat and matches the zip.

Pattern alterations or any design changes you made

No changes made - why mess with perfection?

 

Would you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others?   

I would sew it again and can totally recommend it.

Did you use any new skills? 
Yes! Flat felled seams. I <3 these big time.

 

What wardrobe gap does this fill?  
A practical, casual skirt.

Cost   
I already had the pattern and I used fabric etc from my stash, so you could say it was technically free but if you're being picky, I paid:

Denim       4.99   (about 1 metre, leftover from my Saturday Afternoon Skirt)
Thread      0.00   Black - I already had loads
Zip            0.25   Charity shop
Bias Tape  1.50
Pattern       6.50 Approx - 2nd time of use

Total        £13.24

Conclusion
A great, useful wardrobe addition.

How I wore it - with snow boots!

Lucky, Lovely January

January can be a bit of a dull month. Everybody is skint, back at work after the holidays and the weather is usually rubbish. However this year, in addition to the fabulous Crafters' Ceilidh (from which I am still recovering, in a good way), I was lucky enough to win two blog giveaways.

Not a good example of pattern mixing

The first was for a beautiful silk scarf from gingermakes. It's a pattern of purple leaves on red. Pretty, eh? And perfect for a spring wardrobe. I wear scarves a lot, so am looking forward to trying this one out.

The second giveaway was from Did You Make That? and I won 2 metres of gorgeous silk fabric and a big wodge (aka 3 metres) of lovely lace trim. Ooooooooh!

Karen had used the same lace for the hem of her coat, and I am also planning to use mine for hem beautification at some point. As for the silk, I'm thinking about using it for some luxurious nightwear, but I will be giving it careful consideration before daring to cut into the silk! The pattern I have in mind is this one, formerly belonging to Scruffy Badger, which I picked up in the Crafters' Ceilidh Swap.

I have been thinking about making a slip like this for a while, so was delighted to get this pattern. This project is one I have lined up after my capsule wardrobe sewing.

THEN, today I received an amazing knitting book in the post, as I thank you from Roobeedoo for gathering and sending her some items from the Crafters' Ceilidh Swap.

This, dear readers, is also a gift to you all, because it features some brilliantly bad pattern photographs which will definitely be included in Pattern Monday. There are some belters in here, I promise.

Thanks so much Ginger, Karen, Winnie and Ruth!

K x

In Progress: The Sweater of Botch and Perseverance

Back in September I posted about knitting this short sleeve fairisle sweater from a 1940s pattern. Here's the pattern I'm using:

I had 2 false starts before getting going and my gauge still didn't match the pattern. I decided to wing it. It feels like I have been knitting this forever, although I have made decent progress. As I knitted the main part of the body (below the armpits) in the round, that section seemed interminable. It feels like progress is slow when knitting a sweater in the round, but once that part was complete, knitting in the flat felt so much quicker, even though I had to tackle fairisle in purl.

I've knitted fairisle before but I've found this pattern particularly trying. The linear sections are fine and my tensions is even, but on the flower-like bits, you have to carry the coloured yarn along the back of the pale blue and I have really struggled with making this neat.

Here, the darkest blue flowers above the rib are knit too tightly while the ones above are maybe a little loose. I'm hoping blocking will help. A lot.

It didn't help that that sleeve pattern look distinctly suspect to me:

What do you think? The rib of the sleeve goes along the bottom here - with the little section at the top forming the 'puff' at the top of the sleeve. But the shape decreases so sharply I don't see how it could possibly create the nice narrow sleeve in the pattern picture. So, I've gone my own way with that too, with one sleeve knitted so far.

I feel like I'm more or less making this pattern up as I go along, staying only within the bounds of the pattern repeat and using the pattern photo for reference. I can't face having to rip out anything I've knit as fairisle takes so long, and I'm reasonably confident I can produce something that looks like a jumper.

Do you ever disobey the pattern and go rogue? It's a new thing for me, but sometimes you just need to call shenanigans on your pattern and use your intuition!

K x

Giveaway Winners!

The Winner of the Vintage Sewing Pattern is:

 

Comment number 6 - Roisin!

The winner of the vintage knitting booklet is:

 Comment number 2 - gingermakes. I promise this is not a fix, but I just won a giveaway on the gingermakes blog too!

Ladies, please email your postal addresses to kestrelmail@gmail.com and I will get your prizes in the post.

K x

Pattern Monday #9

Image from CemetarianHardCopy on Etsy

Can you imagine the effect created when this lady walks past you? Pattern overload.

Thanks to Debi for bringing this to my attention. The best thing is, this astounding pattern is still available to buy from Etsy here as part of a pattern booklet.

K x

Newsflash - Edinburgh Fabric Stores Ransacked

Flower brooches made by Kristen, Debi and myself

After hours spent planning, emailing and tartan flower crafting, yesterday was the Crafters' Ceilidh Meet Up in Edinburgh. And what a day! Over 20 crafters travelled from Scotland and England to meet, chat and shop.

We met in Frederick's Coffee shop...

Nice view of Roobeedoo's gorgeous cardigan!

Before heading to Princes Street Gardens for photos...

 Did You Make That?, Roobeedoo and Scruffy Badger Time smile for the camera. (I can confirm that Karen's coat is just as beautiful in real life as you would expect)

We then hit the Grassmarket for vintage and wool shopping before heading to Edinburgh Fabrics, Mandors, and The Cloth Shop.

House of Pinheiro and myself clutching the fabric we both purchased

We then headed to the sewing cafe for a pattern, fabric and yarn swap...

And finished up at the Voodoo Rooms for dinner.

My highlights were:

• Meeting everyone whose blogs I follow, in real life for the first time.
• Meeting Scottish crafters (and non bloggers)
• Talking about sewing ALL DAY
• Sharing dubious pattern and fabric choices in the swap - a mix of wonderful and weird items with plenty of hilarity.

The shopping was pretty good too, of course, but overall, the opportunity to spend a whole day with like-minded people, talking about and sharing a passion was fantastic. Thank you so much to everyone who attended, especially those who had endured horrendously early starts to get there.

I had a ball!

K x

Pattern Monday #8

This girl's face is positively aglow with the joint thrill of knitwear modelling and pretending to be learning something. Oh. Hang on...

Vintage Knitting Booklet Giveaway

I'm celebrating reaching 100 followers! This is the 2nd of my giveaways - The first is for a vintage sewing pattern - this one is to win a 1960s aran knitting booklet. The book contains 9 patterns for men, women and children and they are all gorgeous, classic aran designs.

It even includes the pattern for these mittens I bought in a charity shop last year!

Here's how to enter:

1. Be a follower of this blog
2. Comment below

Giveaway is open to all readers, no matter where you live and it closes on Friday 20th January - I will draw the winners that evening.

Please feel free to enter both giveaways if you are interested.

Thank you for reading!

K x

Vintage Sewing Pattern Giveaway

 

To mark the fact that I now have over 100 followers, I wanted to say thank you with a couple of giveaways. This is the first, to win a vintage Simplicity pattern from 1966/7. The dress is 36" bust.

Here's how to enter:

1. Be a follower of this blog
2. Comment below

Giveaway is open to all readers, no matter where you live and it closes on Friday 20th January - I will draw the winners that evening.

I am also hosting a vintage knitting book giveaway, so please feel free to enter both giveaways if you are interested.

Thank you for reading!

K x

6 Easy Pieces - Sewing a Mini Capsule Wardrobe

 Sewing Buddy/Hindrance

It is two years this month since I took a sewing class at a local college and learned to use a sewing machine. In that time my skills have developed enormously and I have been able to sew a whole range of clothing. I've made plenty of mistakes, and I still have a lot to learn but I am now at the stage where I feel confident enough to make handmade items the basis of my wardrobe. So, I have decided to begin to sew what I am calling 'A Mini Capsule Wardrobe.' The idea is that this small collection of items can be worn with each other, but will also go with items I already have.

During the last two years I have made my decisions on what to sew based on finding a pattern I liked and then selecting fabric, without really considering what items I wear the most and what things might go with items I already have. There is nothing wrong with this, and I have made some items I really love and wear frequently. However I now want to take the opportunity to approach my sewing differently. If I am serious about having a wardrobe of useful homemade clothes, I need to consider what items I will realistically wear.

I'm sure I am not alone amongst sewing bloggers in feeling this way. When I read the Colette Sewing Handbook, it all clicked into place with me. Sarai writes:

"Of course, it's nice to sew the things we love, but it's even nicer if we can sew things we love and will get to wear."

It seems obvious, but this sentiment really resonated with me, twinned with the fact that I struggle to wear handmade when I'm looking for separates or casual wear. Then, when I picked up some gorgeous wool check fabric to use for the Colette Peony dress, I realised that the colours in it were so very 'me' that I could use it as the starting point for my capsule collection.

So, I have put together 6 items which I will make in the first three months of this year. I have included smart and casual items as well as separates and all of the patterns and most of the fabric will be from my stash:


1. Colette Peony dress in green/blue/grey check wool.

Why do I need this? 
I have been coveting this classic dress since the pattern was released and it would make a great winter dress for work. The colours in the fabric are the basis for the mini capsule wardrobe.

2. Simplicity 3196 1950s pencil skirt in dark green wool mix fabric

Why do I need this? 
For work, as pencil skirts form the basis of my work wardrobe.


3. Blouse with tie collar in unknown man-made fabric with 1930s-style pattern

Why do I need this?
I need more separates for work, particularly tops that don't need ironed, since (being honest here) I iron very rarely. I haven't sewn much with man made fabrics as I dislike like the lack of breath-ability, however the 'easy to care for' aspect is attractive.

4. Sewaholic Crescent skirt View A in lightweight denim

Why do I need this? 
A skirt to wear at the weekends instead of wearing jeans all the time. I love the Crescent skirt I made in the summer and wore it a lot.
 
5. Other top - Jasmine blouse, fabric undecided

 Why do I need this? 
I always need more tops to wear! Also, I'll be able to look for some fabric during the Crafter's Ceilidh!

6. Knitted item - Kate Davies' Manu cardigan. 

 Image from Kate Davies' Ravelry page

Why do I need this? 
I have two long cardigans with pockets from the high street that I wear frequently and would like to replace. This will probably take more than 3 months to knit so it might not fit the timescale, plus I still have to buy the wool, which I would like to get from New Lanark. And let's be honest - since I live in Scotland this cardigan would get year-round use.

I'm quite excited about my list of items and about the possibility of having a more useful and workable handmade wardrobe. There's every chance that some of my choices will not work out as I planned but I think that it's a good place to start. All being well, this will be just the beginning of a more thoughtful sewing plan. With the different seasons I hope to do something similar, and build up a number of garments that are useful, wearable and lovely.

What do you think? Have you ever sewn a capsule wardrobe?

K x

Pattern Monday #7

 Taupe and hairspray combine to create a mighty force.

The back of the pattern was just too good, I had to share it as well.

K x

Finished: Miss Marple Cape

 
Finally! I have made the cape of my dreams. After a long period of thinking I would like a cape, and trying on a few vintage ones which weren't right, I have made one that is (very nearly) perfect for me.

When I found 3 metres of lovely dark blue and white striped wool fabric in a charity shop before Christmas, I knew that it would be perfect for a cape. I then began to search for the right pattern to use, and found New Look 6007. What I liked about this pattern was the option of a short and medium length, that it wasn't too restrictive in shape for your arms and the belt gave it a nice and flattering silhouette rather than looking like a bell shape. It also looked very similar to a cape worn by Geraldine McEwen as Miss Marple in the TV film Ordeal of Innocence that I had admired on TV a few months ago. I tried to take a photo but it was hard to get a good one, and Internet searches revealed no images of the cape. For reference, this is the best I could do:

Sorry, terrible pictures, but you get the general idea!

I'm not sure how I feel about modelling my fashion sense on an elderly woman, but you have to admit her cape is pretty nice.

 Stingray....STINGRAY!

This is my review of the project:

Pattern Used

New Look 6007, an unlined cape with optional belt. I made View C, the longer length version with a belt of the same fabric and using the collar from View E. Some of the views are without a button but I used one on mine.

Does it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope? 

Yes.

Were the instructions easy to follow? 

Yes, this pattern is labelled as 'EASY', and it really is easy. Not even any darts required. If you are looking for a simple coat or cape pattern I can highly recommend this, especially because the cut is pretty forgiving of fit too, so you don't need to have that perfect.

What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern?  
I loved the shape of the cape but didn't like that it wasn't lined, so I added interlining. The cape could have done with being a *little* longer at the sides because I have long arms. Originally I was going to add pockets at the front seams but I then forgot to do so. I think this would be easy to do, but might make the cape a little bulky round the front if you had things in the pockets.

Fabric & Notions 

Wool purchased from a charity shop, interlined with an old duvet cover. I had been planning to use the duvet for muslins but as it is a good quality cotton with an embroidered circular design that matched the colour of the wool, I thought it was perfect for this project.

The button was from my stash, I can't remember where or when I got it, but it matches the lining of the cape too. Result!

Pattern alterations or any design changes you made

I mixed and matched views and details from the pattern as I wanted a longer length but with a small collar. The cape also really needs a button to feel secure, but you can get away with only adding one quite easily, making it a great way to use up a really special button from your stash. You could also use large metal poppers/press studs to keep it closed. 

I added an interlining as I wanted to make sure the cape would be cosy. I had never tried interlining before but this was a good opportunity to try it. Scruffybadger's post about interlining for her New Look 6000 dress was very helpful, particularly the link to a really neat way to do a seam finish with interlining, from from these hands blog. Thanks so much for sharing this information Scruffy Badger! I won't explain what I did as you can look at the link, but it's very clever and I will definitely be making use of this neat method of seam finishing next time I interline. 

 My own seams look pretty neat, if a little wonky as the method is best for straight seams and I was using it on slightly curved seams.

Would you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others?   

I would definitely recommend it, particularly to beginners. I only need one cape so am not planning on making another, but I would use the same pattern if I was.

Did you use any new skills?
Interlining and a new way of seam finishing.

 Inside view with duvet cover lining

What wardrobe gap does this fill? 
A short but warm winter jacket.

Cost   

Fabric          £3.99  (British Heart Foundation Charity Shop)
Lining         £0.00 (old duvet cover)
Interfacing  £1.80
Pattern        £5.95 (www.sewessential.co.uk)
Thread         0.00 White- Already had loads
Button         0.00 Stash 

Total          £11.74 

A bargain price for a lined wool cape? I think so.

Conclusion
I really love it and have already worn it at every opportunity since I finished it on the 28th December.


K x