McCalls 7948 version 2

Having spent weeks knitting the fairisle top I wanted to make something which would be quick!  So this is another version of the McCalls dress I wrote about here.  This is made from an Alexander Henry quilting weight fabric which I bought years ago, probably mail ordered from the States because I had 3.2m of it (which is 3.5 yards).  That's not a length I would buy from a vendor who sells using metric measurements.

I used the whole length for this dress.  I recut the back bodice to be in two parts with a centre seam, and also brought the side seams in from the last version I made, and made the neckline a bit wider.  So this is a real mish-mash - size 14 shoulders / bodice length, size 10 armholes and size 12 side seams.  Rather than use the pattern pieces the skirt is two 26" long full widths of the fabric and the frill uses three 13" full widths.  This means there is slightly more fabric in both the skirt and the frill than would be the case if I'd used the pattern pieces, but I didn't want any leftover fabric and doing this meant that I used the entire 3.2m.  I also added Felicia pockets as before.

I'm really pleased with this - I probably won't wear it until the spring, but I'm glad to have finally sewn up this fabric!

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!

Zigzag dress

This is from a pattern which I bought this year which I though would be ideal for floaty dresses for hot summer days.

I modified the bodice because I wanted it to just go over my head rather than have the button closure which is in the pattern.  This necessitated lowering and widening the neckline.  I also cut a larger size than I usually would because I wanted to be able to wear it over jumpers during the winter.  However... when I quickly tried it on having just sewn the shoulder seams, it was clear that there was too much width of fabric across my upper chest, so I cut the armholes two sizes smaller and that solved that issue.  Another modification was that I lengthened the frill  to make use of the full length of the fabric (3m), which I bought several years ago from Classic Textiles on the Goldhawk Road in London.  Rather than cut three frill pieces per the pattern I just used two full widths of the fabric, so in all there was 12" less fullness.

I cut the back bodice in one piece and lined rather than faced the bodice because this fabric is quite fine and I felt lining it would give it a better structure than just facing the neckline and binding the armholes (also, I didn't have any bias binding the right colour).

This meant that I had to pin the armholes together and topstitch them rather than sewing everything inside out and then turning it through.  This was a faff, so next time I make this pattern I'll put a seam in the centre back.  The pattern pieces for the pockets were for the other version of the skirt and wouldn't have worked with this one so I used the pockets from Tessuti Felicia which were what I had to hand.

Other changes for next time I make this - reverse the proportions of the skirt and the frill - I think it would look better with a longer skirt and shorter frill - and take the bodice side seams in.  I'm sure there will be summery versions of this next year.

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.

60s floral maxi

I bought this fabric several years ago from Remnant Kings - and I've had it so long I can't remember whether I bought it in Glasgow or Edinburgh.  Sadly, I see that Remnant Kings closed down earlier this year.  Anyway... it stayed in my stash while I dithered about what to make with it.  In the end, I decided on a maxi.  This is a pattern combo I've made before - it's a modified bodice from Simplicity 2886 - I altered the neckline at the back to not be full height (much less faff for zipping up) and the skirt is from Simplicity 1801.  However, for this dress I added pockets since this fabric was wide enough to allow for that.

I really love this dress and I'm sure it'll get plenty of wear all year round - with a thin jumper underneath in the winter and on its own when the weather warms up.

Purple skirt

Having reviewed my autumn wardrobe I felt I could do with another skirt, and that's how this came about.  I bought the fabric years ago in Fabricland intending to make a dress from it, but never got around to it so decided it was time to use it for a skirt instead.

The pattern I used was a vintage New Look / Maudella one, from the 80s I'm guessing, by the hairstyles of the models on the cover!

I made the four-gore option and there's not really anything to say about the construction - it was straightforward.

I've already worn it a few times, and it will be just as useful in summer with bare legs as it is now with tights and boots.

Brown gingham dress

Having done no knitting or sewing over the summer, I started sewing this dress over the bank holiday weekend and finished it yesterday afternoon.  I came across this pattern while noodling around Instagram and seeing a version which someone else had made and deciding that I wanted to sew it too.

 

The fabric is cotton gingham from Fabworks and it was lovely to sew with.  I cut out the medium size and made a couple of changes - the sleeves are from view B / C / D but lengthened by 6" and with the edge binding from view A.  While I like the look of these voluminous sleeves I know that I would end up catching them on something, so decided on a compromise and am pleased with how they've turned out.  The second change I made was to the length.  I wanted a slightly below mid-calf finished length so used the maxi skirt piece but shortened it by 10+" and then did a 4" hem.  I also added pockets in the side seams of the skirt - I used pattern pieces from the Felicia dress because those are what I happened to have to hand. 

I'll probably make another version of this because I like how it's turned out, and maybe cut the skirt pieces full length and then do some pin tucks to end up with a wearable length.

This dress will be great in summer when all you want is a loose cover-up, but I'll also wear it in winter with a polo-neck jumper underneath and boots, so it'll get plenty of wear.