Moon child

In Finished items 2021, knitting on
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Here’s a knitting project that enjoyably occupied a large chunk of March lockdown: my slightly modified take on Laura Dalgaard’s Moon Child Vest pattern which I couldn’t resist once I’d clocked it on Instagram.

As you can see, compared to the original pattern I modified the chart a bit as I decided I wanted the larger planet to have the rings instead of the little one, because it’s cooler, no?. I basically redrew the chart with my modifications in a graphics program and followed that instead once I was done with the mountain part. I also removed the ‘craters’ from the ground area and shortened this area by several rows, although I still find the vest a bit too long overall, hence my attempt to French tuck it here. I also find the shoulders a little bit over-extended for my taste, I’d prefer them a little bit slimmer and not at all dropped over the shoulder point. I couldn’t adjust this as there’d have been no space for the intarsia details!

I was originally considering some extra intarsia design elements on the back but was almost out of the secondary yarns and quite intarsia-burnt-out after finishing the front so kept it plain. I used a hodgepodge of yarns: the body is Debbie Bliss Donegal Luxury Tweed Aran in Midnight held together with a spool of fluffy British spun mohair I bought on eBay. The pink planet is Wool and the Gang Feeling Good in Mineral Pink (I wish I’d held this double for a bulkier finish) and the purple and cream are Rowan Kid Classic in Periwinkle and Feather held double. I only used one ball of everything except the tweed which used 3 or 4. It was my first time trying to make more complex yarn substitutions and I found it quite a minefield both to calculate required yardage and to know which yarn weights to blend to get the right hand-feel and gauge. But I really like how the main body choice here turned out, I’ll certainly experiment with more yarn pairings in the future.

The knitting process was certainly interesting and absorbing. The pattern didn’t provide any guidance on how to do the intarsia design (just a big chart) so I had to refresh my rusty colourwork skills. I used mostly true intarsia, which for many areas required 6-8 different strands to swap between which got a little hairy – literally. I had to gear myself up for each knitting session and lay out all the bobbins around me to avoid them getting tangled – definitely not a project I could multi-task and watch TV with.

For some of the areas where a detail didn’t cover many background stitches (like the edges of the moon and some of the mountain tips) I floated the navy yarns in the back with twists to avoid more switch-outs. I tried my best to keep good tension and sharp joins between the colours and in general I think it certainly looks a bit more neat and polished than some previous projects.

The back is surprisingly tidy! I used the tutorial here to ‘bury’ in the loose ends with a fast and bulk-free technique which I really liked.

The awkward length and shoulder width – as well as the design being quite statement-y – makes me find this a little bit hard to style, unlike my Holiday Slipover (of which I’ve just made a second) which I throw on top of anything. I picked colours that tone with my wardrobe so at least I have a lot of matching tops in pink, navy and cream to layer under. Nonetheless I’m proud of it and enjoyed making it a lot, and hope it gets some outings before warmer weather properly kicks off.

Two post-pandemic tops

In Finished items 2021, Indie patterns, Tops on
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Apparently I’m optimistically looking ahead to a post-winter, maybe even post-pandemic world with my sewing, if these two frothy little tops are anything to go by. I had a little spree of fun prints purchases then grabbed a couple of Lysimaque patterns to make them up in.

The first top is the Lysimaque Angelique pattern, a sweet blouse with puffy shirred sleeves and a ruched centre front. I used a fabric you have seen before, an abstract shapes print viscose from Blackbird Fabrics that I made a Claudia dress from last summer. I had to buy more when it got restocked as it’s my dream fabric!

The pattern was a nice semi-absorbing sew that came together pretty quickly but needed a bit of precision in places. I think Lysimaque patterns have a nice balance of being fashion-forward and distinctive in design but with quite basic shapes and construction details – a high bang for buck ratio.

It was my first time ever doing shirring on the sleeve cuffs and I had some issues on my Pfaff machine – it just wasn’t gathering up at all no matter how much I meddled with tension and stitch length etc. In the end i just grabbed and pulled the elastic ends to cinch it in like regular gathering. I didn’t make any fit adjustments but have done a small forward shoulder adjustment to the pattern for next time.

The second one is Lysimaque’s Paquerette, featuring perhaps even puffier sleeves plus bonus ruffles and lots of drape and volume in the tent shape. What’s got into me! The fabric is a sick marble print in all my favourite colours from Stoff & Stil (n.b. look at this other one that I’m trying very hard not to buy too…). Again I lived on the edge and didn’t alter anything for fit or preference before cutting except leaving off one layer of the ruffles. It looked very cute halfway through without the sleeves attached, though sleeved is certainly going to be more practical for outdoor-centric spring outings.

It’s a bit annoying that the unattractive wrong side of the fabric shows as the ruffles drape so I’d recommend a fabric without an obvious wrong side for this one. I keep thinking about another one in either solid black or tencel gingham…

It’s all French seamed inside and I used a nice overcast stitch on my regular machine to finish the facing raw edge.

Planning these more stylistically-risky (for me) projects was the fruits of some sketching sessions using Procreate on the iPad Pro. I’ve been feeling like my sewing was getting a bit too staid and not really leveraging the fact that we sewists literally have the power to make whatever we can sketch up. Digital sketching is a nice way to test that fabric choice will match the pattern, and even helped me assess what style of bottoms might suit them. Now I have my little digital croquis sketched I think I’ll use it quite often to visualise project ideas (those mi-parti trousers are in progress as we speak).

Checkered slipover

In Finished items 2021, knitting, Sweaters, Tops on
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I saw a few versions of this knitting pattern floating around Instagram, but it was Gyasti’s reel that convinced me it had some wardrobe versatility and really nudged me over the edge to try it. The pattern is the Petite Knit Holiday Slipover, modified to add a large checkerboard intarisa pattern. Big blocks have been a running theme in some of my recent makes, definitely influenced by Paloma Wool although unfortunately recently stylistically christened as avant basic. Eh, I’ll take it, it’s a bit of fun to brighten lockdown yet still very wearable.

The pattern is easy to follow and includes those clever construction touches like picked-up shoulder stitches and joining in the round after the armholes are shaped, but I did it flat in two pieces to make the intarsia easier. I divided the number of chest stitches (after all the armhole increases are complete) by three (+1 for the edge ones for seaming) to know how many stitches wide to make each block. The final block is half as high, which looks a bit unbalanced on the back but looks pretty ok on the front given the lower neckline.

Now, one thing I say I’ll do every new knit project is have a bit more discipline around swatching and gauging… but I always just jump right on in using a ‘best guess’ mentality and make tweaks rather arbitrarily as I go (much like a lot of my sewing, but at least I have some good sewers’ instinct by now). The fit of this is basically acceptable but I’d like the tension to be overall tighter to create a denser fabric with a bit less ‘sag’. That’s because I used a less bulky yarn (Debbie Bliss Merion, same as my Craze Crop sweater) on too-large needles, which swatching would probably have told me. NEXT TIME, promise.

I’m quite pleased that the ribbed edges turned out quite neat at least, I went down a whole 4mm in needle sizes and twisted the knit stitches, binding off with my favourite stretchy sewn method a la Elizabeth Zimmermann. (I learned to sew from Elizabeth Zimmermann books and have always been fond of her.)

On this balmy fool’s spring day I found myself quite cosy in the flat with it layered over a T-shirt and with my Nenuphar coat over the top on a little bike ride. I’m tempted to make another one in a solid or tweed as it was so fast to make – a week of leisurely evening knit sessions – and the checks won’t go with every underlayer.

Kew jeans

In Finished items 2021, Jeans, Style Arc, Trousers on
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Heyo! I made these pants over the course of last week… I used to be such a ‘get it all done in one sesh’ sewer but now I’m getting OK with taking more time over things, just to give myself something to do each day…

They’re Style Arc Kew Pants, gone in the jeans direction by uh, using denim and a hammer-on button. I really wanted some balloon leg pants and was torn between Bob, Victor and Kew but ultimately liked the pocket detailing on Kew the best. (I actually also made some Bob sweatpants but they were far too big and looked inzane, so may revisit that pattern at some point too.)

I did some flat pattern adjustments before getting started, mainly grading down the waist based on the finished garment measurements chart as there is 2″ of ease included and I prefer my waistbands snugger. This is quite easy as there are additional seams running down the back leg which provide a useful spot for adjustments. However I should have removed some width proportionally from the fronts too as now the side seams are hanging slightly backwards as the front is wider than the back. This is causing a bit of funny pulling around the pockets, but not enough to massively bother me.

The pockets have nice construction; there are self-fabric facings for the openings and a yoke for the visible part at the hip, which is attached on top of the lining fabric. Other details include a pre-curved waistband (hurrah, one less adjustment to make) and a dart at the front hem to peg in the silhouette – there’s supposed to be a cut-out notch detail but I sewed the dart all the way to the hem. As we all know by now, Style Arc instructions are pretty inscrutable, but I used my own techniques for the fly etc and I like the drafting and details a great deal. The fit is exactly how I hoped, with a bit of interest from the shaping but not wildly voluminous, though I was hoping for almost full length so took the smallest hem possible and they’re still pretty cropped. They’re very comfortable too; the waistband has stretched out a touch but hopefully they’ll snap back in the wash.

I used 9oz Brushed Bull Denim from Blackbird Fabrics; I was buying more of my favourite ever fabric and threw this into the order to make the most of postage. It’s really nice, the ideal mid weight with a soft finish to add even more comfort. Didn’t have an appropriate black zip in my stash so it’s navy but at least the brass detailing match.

I’m pleased with these, they definitely pass the WFH comfort test and I think I might make an indigo denim version some time.

Lockdown birthday dress a.k.a midcentury nightgown

In Dress, Finished items 2021, Indie patterns, Pattern hack on
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After the success of my frosting-sew Christmas dress I decided to do the same for my 36th birthday this week. Obviously my new frock and I are not leaving the house to celebrate properly, but I wore it for some Zoom karaoke with pals and took these photos the next day as it’s extremely comfortable.

It’s another Friday Pattern Co pattern too, a dress hack of their popular Sagebrush Top. I was impressed by the fit and overall experience of making the Wilder which made me gravitate to this pattern of theirs too, though the puffiness and ruffliness of the blouse as designed is a little out of my normal style zone. Easily solved by a bit of hacking!

The first thing I knew I wanted was a square neckline as a few other sewers have done, then it was just a case of extending the top to dress length and doing a bit of de-poofing in key areas. Here’s what my altered pieces look like; I followed some useful reference photos from sew_nessa on Instagram here as she did a similar hack.

Front and back yokes, neckline squared off and widened a little, 1/2″ extra length added
Front and back, slashed & spread and 12″ of length added
Sleeves, slashed and overlapped by 1/2″ in 4 places to reduce some of the volume

I cut two each of the front and back yokes and did a clean finish for the yoke seams, which ended up looking rather pretty and giving some nice stability to the neckline. Finally I cut a ruffle 1.5x the width of the hem and 6″ wide to give a final finish. Yep, a lot of gathering in this project but luckily I don’t actually mind gathering unlike many sewists!

The fit is very loose but it fits well across the shoulders and this floaty fabric drapes and moves beautifully. It is Midcentury Modern Day viscose from Sister Mintaka, currently sold out again as it does every time she restocks – I was fast on the buy button this time rather than my usual dithering! Keep an eye on her Insta for restock news. It’s a little thicker than some of those flimsier viscoses you can find with a bit of a twill weave, enough structure to hold the frills and a delight to sew with.

It’s too cold to wear this outside at the moment anyway but I expect it will become a Spring staple.

Winter ‘rees

In Dungarees, Finished items 2020, Indie patterns on
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I’ve been wearing a lot of my older dungaree makes – namely Roberts and Ronja – during these stay-home times: I love just throwing on one waistband-less garment and being comfy yet presentable. So I decided to add a heavyweight winter-white version to the canon.

This is an old pattern, the Pauline Alice Turia. I made it back in 2014 for my sister, but bought the PDF afresh for these as I was cutting a different size and I’ve heard the pattern has been updated recently to address some feedback on errors in it.

I would say that some of the feedback on the pattern still holds true e.g. all the curved edges are finished with a basic single-turn hem – but, while this may not be the most elegant finish, I think it worked out fine for me here as my fabric is so rigid. In a lighter fabric you may get rippling or stretching that you’d probably want to stabilise somehow. There are also a few other lacking details that would make it work harder, like properly trueing up seam allowances and giving the straps an angle where they join the back so they fall over the shoulders better – both adjustments I made myself but would agree the pattern should have included.

I made a few other changes for aesthetics:

  • Changed up the pocket designs, making the back pockets larger and squared-off and adding an asymmetric chest pocket. Moved the front pockets towards the side seams; I wish I’d made these a bit deeper too.
  • Added a carpenter-pant style hammer loop. I’ve been wanting to try this for ages and it’s obviously really easy – just a tube of fabric wedged between the back pocket and side seam stitching.
  • Narrowed the straps at the front to account for the width of my buckles (a kit from Stoff & Stil)

I cut a straight size 40 and really like the fit. It’s loose on the waist, but I didn’t want to over-fit. The rise is perhaps a tiny bit short making the waistline sit lower than my natural waist, I would prefer the whole thing hiked upwards a bit but then I’d get a wedgie so I would consider raising this if I make them again. I like the straight leg fit a lot and the length is unchanged apart from a generous outside-cuffed hem. I’m not sure exactly what defines the term ‘boot length’ but I find this ankle-grazing length works well with my staple winter boots.

I used Merchant & Mills 11.5oz ecru denim. Oddly, although this denim is only a tiny bit weightier than the 11.2oz denim I used for my recent Landers, this one feels much tougher, more structured and was trickier to sew with. I made liberal use of the hand-crank when I went over areas of multiple seam intersections to avoid cracking the needle. I absolutely couldn’t turn the straps right side out first try due to the stiffness and bulk, so had to sew them from the right side with the seam allowances turned in instead.