What I made in 2025

 So... I made four skirts all to the same design - two lengths of fabric cut straight and seamed, with the top folded over and elastic threaded through, and of course pockets.  Two are gingham, one is Liberty Tana Lawn and one is quilting cotton - all fabrics from stash.

I also made three dresses - all Tessuti Felicias in linen in chartreuse, orange and a check one which is much more blue than it appears in the photo.  The orange linen I bought in Paris, the chartreuse linen I bought on Etsy a while ago and the check is Faro linen from Merchant & Mills.

I finished one cardigan which I'd started knitting in December 2023 from a pattern I'd bought in April 2018.  I bought it because I loved the design on the sleeves, but they turned out to be a real faff to knit in the round on 9" circs, and nigh impossible to unpick any mistakes and correct them easily, so I gave up and just knitted stocking stitch sleeves instead.  Yarn is 100% lace wool from Wollmeise.

The photo is lying, the sleeves are the same length as each other 😉. 

I don't think I'll be knitting any more round necked cardigans, I think v-necks are more useful.

In the works, a cardigan based on this pattern which I made a few years ago, with the wool from this jumper which I unravelled, steamed and reskeined because I just didn't wear it.  However, this version is in stocking stitch only - theoretically for quickness but it's actually taking me ages to knit because I haven't been prioritising it.

Me-made May 2025 (and 2021)

Another long gap with no blogging...

I decided to sign up for this again having not done so since 2021 - along with life and the world in general the contents of my wardrobe have changed quite a bit since then so I thought it would be interesting to see if what I would choose to wear had changed.

My pledge was to finish a skirt, make two more and one dress, plus get an ME2016 cut out, if not sewn up.  I also had a cardigan which I'd started knitting in December 2023 and wanted to get finished.

I took outfit photos on the days when I wore something me-made. 

Details here, here, here, here, here & here

Details here, here, here, here & here

Details here, here & here

Details here, here, here & here

Details here, here, here & here

I actually ended up making four skirts and three dresses and did finish the cardigan (I've written about them here).  However I didn't cut out the ME2016 (still haven't, hoping to get that made this year).  By the end of it I thought I would make some more fit and flare dresses although that hasn't happened (yet).  In fact I haven't sewn anything since.

And looking at the above photos there isn't really much change in the style of what I wore in 2025 from what I wore in 2021 - which I can see I didn't write about here at the time, but did record on instagram, so here is a quick summary.  I pledged to make three dresses (only made two, but did cut out the third and finished it in June) and to wear something me-made on every working day - only 13 days due to bank holidays and taking annual leave.  Some dresses which I wore in 2021 I wore again in 2025, some I've since passed on.  And May 2021 was clearly colder than May 2025 because there are a few handknits here (and a couple of rtw dresses - the first two in the batch of four photos).

Details here & here

Details here, here, here & here

Details here, here, here & here

Details here, here, here, here & here

Still here... a quick catch-up on the last two years

 Well... long time no see.  Two and a bit years since I've written anything here.  Both the knitting and the sewing have slowed down a lot partly because, despite regular wardrobe culls, I've really got enough clothes, and partly because I've been doing other things with my time (and money).

However, last weekend I went to the Stitch Festival at the Business Design Centre in London hoping to kickstart my sewing mojo (it has, I have plans...).  It was a very enjoyable visit, not crowded which was a blessing, even pre-Covid I was not a fan of crowded enclosed spaces.  I bought three lengths of fabric for dresses (left to right Dolores cotton lawn from Fabric Godmother, Saffron Flower Sienna viscose/linen also from Fabric Godmother and Cebolla Garden Liberty Tana lawn, an Althea McNish design, from Sewbox).

a dress pattern from Tessuti

I've made their Felicia and Lisa dresses so am hoping this will be as straightforward.  I also bought some bias binding to go with the Sienna fabric - I'm pretty certain this will become another Anna Allen Demeter dress - and a circular knitting needle which I think I'll probably need for my current knitting project when it gets to the stage of joining the sleeves to the body of the cardigan.

Looking back, since I last wrote I have knitted a couple of things - a cardigan which I started in February 2021 and didn't finish until January 2023

based on this pattern.

I knitted the body in one piece up to the armholes and after using one skein of the yarn, despite having the right tension, it looked much too big so I unravelled it and started again - one of the reasons for the delay in finishing, I was fed up with it.  I also did plain top down sleeves, by the time it got to them I just wanted it finished and couldn't be bothered to knit patterned sleeves, seam them and sew them in.

I've also knitted a jumper which didn't take so long!  I started in August last year and finished in November.  I wanted an easy knit from stash and this was it.  I've knitted four versions of this design (here, here, here and here) over the years and they wash and wear very well.  I've worn this a few times recently - it's definitely a jumper for spring because of the colours - and it's been really miserable weatherwise.

I'm currently knitting a cardigan on 2.5mm needles, so I don't imagine that will be ready until next spring.

On the sewing front I made four dresses in 2022 - two Bardons (the teal one is linen from Merchant & Mills, the yellow check one is cotton from Minerva),

one Demeter (linen from Merchant & Mills)

and a mash up of Simplicity 2886 and 1801 with Liberty Tana lawn.

I also altered two which I love but wasn't wearing because I now prefer a longer length (original versions here and here).  Fortunately I had some leftover fabric for both of them.

There was no sewing at all last year and I find I'm missing it, so with a couple of bank holidays coming up in May, I should be able to make some time to sew.  Probably not this weekend though as the garden is in desperate need of a tidy up!

Review of 2021 knitting and sewing and thoughts for 2022

For reference, I wrote about my knitting and sewing plans for 2021 here - a few of them actually happened!  

I'll start off with last year's knitting - won't take long as I didn't knit much at all - the mojo left me and despite being in the middle of winter it hasn't really returned (although as I write, the sun is shining, the sky is blue and the temperature feels more like March than what I would expect in January).  I'm currently knitting a cardigan which I started in February last year and abandoned probably in March / April, but I'm more than half way through the body and I think I'll wear it when it's finished so I'm going to persevere!

The two things I did finish were a cardigan and a tea cosy.

I was more productive on the sewing front, making a McCalls 7948 in January, but then nothing more  until the Easter weekend.

I sorted out some fabric / pattern matches at the time, and of the nine patterns I've made up six of them, although not all with the initially paired fabrics.  I also cut out and tacked together a seventh (New Look 6352) but abandoned it and turned the fabric into a McCalls 7948 instead because the style turned out to be completely wrong for my body shape.  I could have faffed about and put some long darts in the back to take out all the excess fabric at the waist, but given that it was billed as an 'easy one hour' pattern that was my expectation, and I couldn't be bothered.

So then I made an Anna Allen Demeter top, which I made as a fitting toile before embarking on the dress.  Over the course of the year I then made six sleeveless versions, all in linen. 

I've been on a bit of a linen trip actually, because I also made another five patterns up in it.

Me Made May pushed me to make another McCalls 7969, alter a dress I'd made seven years ago which no longer fitted, and make a Tessuti patterns Lisa and the first of four Peppermint Bardon dresses.

I also made a ByHandLondon Hannah, a Wiksten Shift dress, two more McCalls 7948, a vintage Simplicity 5921 and a Style Arc Montana midi.

For 2022

I've decided to just go with the flow this year - no plans, just knit and sew what I feel like at the time.  I don't intend to buy any yarn or fabric, but make use of what I've already got.  It remains to be seen whether that happens...

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.

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...

1940s fairisle top

I've been meaning to knit a fairisle top for ages and just never really got around to it.  Watching the new version of All Creatures Great and Small inspired me to get on with doing it now.

Tristram in a very fetching jumper

This was another stashbusting project, I've had the wool I used for this for ages - four colours are leftovers from projects I've made already - one jumper and three different cardigans.  The other colours I bought separately with a fairisle top in mind, and they've been in my stash for a good few years.

I tried a few different colour combinations before I settled on the final versions 

I charted out the pattern, because I thought it would be easier to follow a colour chart than written instructions (I find lace knitting much easier when it's charted rather than following long line by line rows of text).

I used a different colour for the ribbing - the pattern uses the same colour for the ribbing and the main colour - because I didn't have enough of the darker blue to do that.  Because I used eight different colours and most of the colour changes were on an odd number of rows which meant I couldn't carry the wool up the sides, there were an inordinate number of ends to sew in.  I don't think it took as long to sew the seams, add the armhole and neckline ribbing and sew the ends in as it took to knit it, but it felt like it!

I have quite a few vintage fairisle patterns and I think they look lovely, but it may be a while until I knit one with sleeves unless the patterning means I can carry the yarn up, or I can adapt the pattern to be knit in the round.

And finally, I have three cardigans which I can wear with it!

Autumn rainbow jumper

This is the second version I've knitted of this pattern and I really like it!

I used the same wool as for the first one (Malabrigo sock), but in a different selection of colours.  I tried a few colour sequences before settling on one.

After a few inches I decided that I would change the sequence - cue rather a lot of unravelling, but I'm glad I did since I'm very pleased with how it turned out.

I've still got enough of this wool to knit another multicoloured top, but I'm undecided yet whether it will be another one of these, or whether I'll use a different pattern.