Rose pink linen Montana

This is a Style Arc Montana dress, made in rose linen from Fabric Godmother which I started sewing in August and finished in September.

I tried the bodice on before I attached the skirt and it looked OK, but once I'd finished the dress the armholes didn't have much leeway in them, so I cut triangular gussets on the bias, unpicked the side seam and inserted them by hand.  It was a bit of a faff, because I'd completely finished the dress (all seams overlocked), but definitely worth it because it's improved the fit significantly.  I do like this pattern, so I'll modify the armholes before I make it again.

And finally!...Now I'm all caught up with this year's knitting and sewing. 

Two more McCalls 7948 dresses

These are both the same, the first is made with fabric I bought a few years ago (I think it's a Kaffe Fassett-designed print?) I love the colours in it.

And the second is fabric which I think I bought last year, or possibly in 2019, with the intention of making it up in a 1930s / 1940s pattern, but it's quilting cotton (as is the blue chrysanths fabric) and I decided it probably wouldn't hang properly - not enough drape - so it's become this.

For both of these I modified the bodice which is now a mish-mash of sizes from 8 (armholes) to 14 (shoulders).  I also lowered the neckline and adjusted the seam allowances at the armholes and neck for bias binding rather than facing.  I may have done this for the blue and yellow striped version as well, I can't remember now!  Both of these dresses also have Bardon pockets and the skirt is 6" longer than the given pattern pieces.

Purple gingham vintage Simplicity 5921

This dress is a wearable toile - I'm going to make another version of this with shorter skirt, deeper frill and long sleeves (possibly more than one version...), but I wanted to get the yoke and armhole fit right before making one with sleeves.  I bought this gingham in John Lewis originally intending to made a shirtdress with it but never did, so it's turned into this.

This pattern was published in 1983, but there are several similar contemporary patterns - what goes around comes around!

Blue and yellow striped McCalls 7948

This started out in June as a New Look 6352, however when I tacked the sides and shoulders together for a quick try-on it was obvious that I'm not the right shape for this pattern.  The armhole shape needed changing and darting, and so did the back of the dress, there was a lot of spare fabric just being there looking surplus.  I couldn't be bothered with all this, the pattern envelope does say the dress can be made in an hour, so I already had expectations!  Fortunately I had more of this fabric and in July I came back to it and changed it.

I cut two rectangular skirt pieces from the dress I'd already cut out, a McCalls 7948 bodice (using modifications I'd previously made to this pattern), Demeter pockets and additional pieces of fabric to piece into the side of the skirt.  With the remaining fabric I cut a frill, so all in all I used the full 3.2m of this quilting cotton, which I'd had in my fabric stash for a good few years.

I do like the end result, I just wish it had only taken an hour! 

Powder pink linen Wiksten Shift dress

This is a Wiksten Shift dress which I finished at the end of June.  The length is midway between the short and long dress versions (short dress + 12cm).

I didn't cut a waist tie, but I did add inseam pockets rather than use the patch pockets that came with the pattern (I used Bardon pockets because they were to hand).  I've actually placed them a bit low, but they're useable, so I'm not going to move them!  Made with Powder Pink linen from LinenOholic - I love this colour.

This took 2.3m and is very easy to wear, either on its own, or with a long sleeved t-shirt and leggings underneath in cooler weather.

Gingham Hannah

My next dress is a Hannah, from By Hand London.  I liked this when they first issued it, but at that time they had stopped producing paper patterns and it was only available as a pdf.  Fast forward to this year when they made a paper version - yay!

This is made from cotton gingham from Minerva, which I bought last year.

The bodice should really cross the other way, but that is my fault for misreading the pattern instructions.  I also made the waist ties with a narrower hem than the pattern gives, so they are a bit wider.

I really like this and will definitely make it again, although possible a bit longer.

Peppermint / Elbe Bardon dresses

Here is another pattern which had caught my eye on Instagram and so far I've made four of them.  The first I made in May with some quilting cotton that I bought years ago and never made up because I kept changing my mind about which pattern to use.  So I finally made a decision and it became this.  The lower tier is a bit narrower than the pattern piece, because of the width of the fabric.

The next one, which I started in late May and finished in early June, was made with Coco linen from Merchant & Mills.

Bardon number three, which I made in July, was from some red cotton gingham which I bought years ago in John Lewis with no clear plan - I think it was an end of roll and reduced, I only had 1.7m, which is not a length I would have bought by choice.  Because of that I used different pockets (from a purple Simplicity gingham dress which I made in July - I'll link to it once I've written about it) - the ones which come with the pattern are quite generous.  As it was, one of the pocket pieces is made from two pieces of fabric sewn together!  The front skirt piece is also slightly narrower than the back, because of the not-really-enough length of the fabric.  For this one I modified the armholes to the next size down (although I can't now remember whether this was just for the front or the back bodice as well...), which gives a better fit.

And the last one so far is this one, which I made in August, in a lovely salmon double gauze which I bought from Fabric Godmother this summer.

The skirt pieces (tier 1) are per the pattern, but the next one down and the bottom frill I cut to use up all the fabric length.  Again, I used smaller pockets (the same ones as for the red gingham version).

And here's the pattern, which unfortunately is only available as a pdf, so I pieced the bodice together and traced it, but helpfully the dimensions are given for the skirt sections so I just used the measurements and cut them out of dot and cross paper.  (I hate piecing together A4 pdfs.)

Love it!

Coral linen Lisa

This is another pattern I'd been meaning to make for a while and the me-made May challenge spurred me on to get it done!

This is a made from coral linen which I bought from Fabrics Galore.  I did cheat a bit - I sewed the two bodice fronts together (I did check whether it would go over my head first) because I wasn't sure whether I'd have enough thread for the buttonholes - all the top stitching used a lot of thread - which was by Coats.  I went to the local shop where I'd originally bought it and discovered they'd closed down in January, and the only other shop local to me which has a haberdashery only sells Gutermann thread. 

The buttons I bought a few years ago in Jenners in Edinburgh and were originally intended for a cardigan, but I ended up using different ones.  They are an exact colour match for this fabric.

It was a challenge to do all the top-stitching and keep it straight and parallel, but I do like the finished look.

Pineapple Felicia

My second dress completed in May is this one.  It started life back in 2014 as a Butterick 5748 bodice / Simplicity 2444 skirt mash-up, but the bodice had got too tight in the intervening years.

I love the print and had about a metre of the fabric left after making the original dress, so I unpicked and removed the bodice and zip from the skirt, which I reused - I pressed out the pleats and gathered it.  I cut a Tessuti Felicia bodice (I'd already made a Felicia last year) and then with the remaining fabric cut two equal widths to make a frill for the bottom of the skirt.

I'm so pleased that this dress now has a new lease of life!

Sangria McCalls 7969

This was the third dress I made this year, the first of my me-made May challenge and the second McCalls 7969 I've made - the first being this gingham one which I made last year.  I made the same mods for this dress as for the first one, it's essentially view D with a shorter skirt and longer sleeves with a cuff.

There are many, many versions of this dress on Instagram, I think I read that this pattern was McCalls biggest seller last year, or possibly in 2019 (but don't quote me!), but it doesn't have pockets!!  So I added Demeter ones, because I happened to have those pattern pieces to hand.

Lovely linen from LinenOholic in Sangria colourway.

Sleeveless Demeter dresses

I've decided to just write one post for all the sleeveless linen Demeters I've made so far this year, rather than give them each a post with about two lines of text!  They are all view B (which has a higher neckline and longer and slightly narrower skirt than view A) with the skirt lengthened by about 3" and the plain ones all took 1.8m of fabric.

In order of me making them they are this one, which I made in April

with Forest Green linen from LinenOholic who have an Etsy shop and their own website.

Then I made a few other dresses before version two came along in an absolutely beautiful pale pink colour.  Started in late May and finished in early June.

After that in mid-June (again, with a couple of other dresses in between) came this in Lollipop linen from Merchant & Mills - I absolutely love, love, love this fabric - orange is such a happy, summery colour.  this took 2m and I also had to cut the front skirt piece slightly narrower - this isn't quite as wide as the plain linens.

This was the next Demeter off the blocks in a gorgeous yellow linen called Faded Sun which again came from LinenOholic and which I finished in early July.

Five other dresses later, in August, came this one in Penzance linen from Merchant & Mills,  I cut the skirt slightly shorter and wider and it took 1.65m

Closely followed by this one which has the skirt width of view A and took 1.7m.  

And that's as far as I've got until now, although there will definitely be more.  Great in summer just as they are, and in winter with a warm cardigan and boots.

Anna Allen Demeter - irises top & cobalt linen dress

I'd seen several Demeter dresses popping up on my Instagram feed and really liked the look of them.  I'd been meaning to make some looser fitting dresses for ages - initially because I didn't enjoy wearing very fitted dresses in hot weather, but more recently to accommodate the lockdown baking increase in my waistline.  So in April I made these.

I started off making a short-sleeved top (view C) to see whether I would need to make any fit adjustments.  I've had this fabric for years, it came from Classic Textiles in Goldhawk Road I think, and had already cut out and marked up a Vogue 8666 dress but never got around to sewing it up.  I had a metre and a bit left, which was enough for this top.  It's a pretty good fit, but the bust darts needed moving - it doesn't really notice on this busy print, but definitely would on a plain fabric, so I'm glad I made this toile before cutting out a dress.

And this is the first of several linen dresses I've made from this pattern this year (and no doubt there will be more).  A lovely cobalt blue linen - this colour is available from several fabric shops.  I cut pattern view A, with the skirt length of view B.  I didn't give it a 3" hem though - I liked the unhemmed length, so just overlocked it and turned it up by 3/4".  I also adjusted the bodice front with the bust darts moved.

I'm very pleased with how it's turned out.  Linen is great in summer (cool) and winter (doesn't stick to your tights, so no need for a slip).  Love it!

Teacosy

 I needed a new tea cosy and this is what I knitted.  Started at the end of January and finished 9 days later - it's an easy knit.

It's a Patons pattern from this book, which I bought several years ago just for this pattern.  I made this exact same tea cosy back in 2008 and it was looking a bit sorry for itself so I decided to knit another one. 

The only difference this time round was that I knitted a few more rows of navy at the base (can't remember how many now, maybe half a dozen), because I had bought a new teapot which was larger than the one I had used with the previous version of this.

I do like the way it looks from the top!

Dabloon cardigan

Long time no write - time to start updating this blog... 😉

I bought this wool in February 2018 from Easyknits when they were exhibiting at Unravel in Farnham, because I loved the colour.  It then sat in my stash for a while waiting for me to settle on which pattern to use.  I knew I wanted it to be a cardigan but kept changing my mind about style.  In the end I decided I wouldn't use a pattern at all, just get it knitted!  I started it in December last year and finished it in January.

It's a very simple style - front and back knitted in one piece to the armholes, then divided for the top and seamed at the shoulders.  The button band is picked up and knitted on, the sleeves are picked up at the armholes and knitted in the round down to the cuffs.  The buttons are vintage and I already had them in my stash.

It's lovely and warm and had quite a bit of wear earlier in the year and it's now back in rotation for the winter.

Knitting and sewing plans for 2021

This is my last day of holiday before I return to work so I thought I'd better get this post published today otherwise I can see it will languish...(I started writing it about a month ago).

Sewing

I plan to make more floaty dresses and having totted up the sewing patterns I bought last year (21), I will aim to use more of them this year,

although repeats of three of them (McCalls 7969, McCalls 7948 and Tessuti Felicia) will probably also feature.

I've decided that I'd really like to make inroads into my stash of gingham, 

lawns and voiles, 

chambray, Indian cotton and linen.

I may also feel the need to make something really bright...

Although there is no chance of me sewing all this up in a year, this will serve as a useful visual reminder of what I have!  There is a possibility I may buy more linen, because (i) I've loved the look of many of the dresses other sewing peeps have made from it and posted on Instagram, and (ii) I have some ideas in my head which cannot be realised with what I already have.  I also love that it doesn't stick to tights in winter.

I've already finished one dress this year, and will try and cut out a couple more at the weekend - I much prefer to do this in daylight - I find the shadows from electric light on fabric when cutting out disconcerting.

I am also going to plan my sewing so that I'm not forever changing the thread on my overlocker - it's not too much of a hassle, but I'd rather keep it to a minimum.

Knitting

I hope to only knit from stash again this year and would also like to get back to my Home Fires knitting project which stalled during 2020.  There is a new book being published soon (I think it's already out in digital or audio format, but I like paper books) so that will be a perfect excuse to watch the two series (again) and probably re-read the two books already published since ITV pulled the plug.  I've tracked down and bought a few more patterns for knitting which featured in the show.  Two of these I've blogged about already, but didn't own them at the time, 

and the third is what I think was probably used for this jumper, it's more similar than the other two patterns which I thought I might use.

Other than that, more vintage, probably fairisle or colourwork, to use up partially knitted balls and skeins, 

and a few plain coloured cardigans and jumpers as palette cleansers from all the sewing in of ends that multi-coloured knitting generates.

Navy micro-spot dress

So for my first dress of 2021 I wanted to try out the non-tiered skirt option of McCalls 7948 and I've had this fabric stashed for ages so decided to use it for this - although the photo seems to show a slight check pattern, this doesn't notice at all in real life (it's just small white dots on navy), so it might just be a trick of the camera?  I cut this out on New Year's Eve and finished sewing it on Saturday.

I lengthened the skirt by six inches and used the same bodice modification as for this one + pockets from Tessuti Felicia.  This was a quick sew, I didn't do any pattern matching when cutting out - I wanted to see what the minimum fabric requirement would be (2.2m of 110cm wide fabric) and there are no darts or fastenings (or sleeves).

I like how this has turned out, there will be more of these this year I'm sure!

2020 knitting and sewing review

Well 2020 was a very topsy turvy year - all my plans for visiting places and events went out the window because of Covid-19.  I've also been working at home since March and had no work-related travel, which you would think would have given me more crafting time, but I ended up using the time gained to do a lot of sorting out and recycling of stuff rather than creating more.

During this I came across this piece of fairisle knitting.

I knitted this many years ago and the top of the piece has some shaping at the sides so I can only think that I was intending for it to be a jumper for my daughter (who now has three children of her own...).  I recognise the colours as being leftovers from things which I did actually finish knitting for her when she was a baby / toddler.  Memory fails me as to which wool I used - possibly a John Lewis own-brand or Patons - it's 4-ply which has stood up remarkably well to the passage of time, with no holes or thin bits.  I'm pretty sure it wasn't from a pattern, and I didn't have any stitch dictionaries at that time either so I suspect I just made it up as I went along.

Anyway...back to 2020... the first knitting FO was a cardigan (as will be the first FO of 2021...).

This was followed by four vintage tops - two 1940s rainbow jumpers, another Greta top and a fairisle sleeveless pullover.

On the sewing front I made three maxi dresses - two from McCalls 7948 and another Simplicity 2886 / 1801 mash-up. 

 There was also a loose sleeveless dress (Tessuti Felicia), a long-sleeved dress which was a modified McCalls 7969 and a skirt from a vintage New Look / Maudella pattern.

So significantly less sewing and knitting than in previous years.

I'm very pleased that I got through the entire year without buying any yarn at all - this hasn't happened for at least a decade!  I also destashed a fair bit and the money and space this released persuaded me to break my self-imposed decision at the beginning of the year not to buy any fabric or patterns.  Because of this I've ended the year with more fabric yardage that I started with.  I've only made up one of these fabrics so far (the brown gingham), and because I bought 5 metres of it and it's wide there is enough left to make another dress.  On the pattern front I added to my collection of vintage knitting patterns, and probably bought about a dozen, mostly current, sewing ones.  I've just checked and the tally is actually eight indie, three vintage, one vintage repro and nine big four, so 21 in fact - oops...