Autumn coat

A little overdue, but there you go.

Towards the beginning of September  I looked everywhere for a lightweight coat suitable for Autumn. I looked in all the shops. Nothing would suit or fit me. I looked in ALL the charity shops (it took a day). Nothing that I would like or in my size.

I decided to make my own, but couldn’t find a pattern that I had in my head. I wanted hip length, Peter Pan collar, large pockets on the outside, slightly A–line and a box pleat at the back (that’s a must!). I wanted it to be as simple as possible. I didn’t have a clue how to draft a coat pattern, how much ease one needs in sleeves and how much in body. I needed a starting point.

Talea coat from burdastyle looks a long shot from what I wanted, with its princess seams and lots of detailing, but hey, it’s free!

I cut out all the pattern pieces and arranged the princess seams next to each other. I could immediately see that they touch around bust area and at the bottom, leaving a gap that will form waist shaping when sewn. I didn’t want waist shaping, so the easiest thing to do was to glue the pieces together and disregard the hole in the middle. That still leaves the gap at the top of the princess seam, which forms the  curve in the yoke. I left it, but used it as a dart marking – which gave me lovely fit at the top, but no waist shaping. I did the same with the back, but added some width in the middle for my box pleat. I ended up with one piece for the back, and two front pieces (instead of four and four respectively).

I changed the collar as well, lined the pockets and put in lining. I didn’t know how to do it, but somehow managed to figure it out.

I spent a little bit more on the fabric, because I figured I’d wear it a lot, so it made sense to put some extra effort into making this a quality garment.

I bought nice, large wood buttons, which are stitched not onto the coat, but smaller shell buttons on the other side (to prevent fabric pulling). The biggest challenge though was making bound buttonholes, which I have never done before, and got it completely wrong  – started from the wrong side – and had to unpick it all and fix the holes I made in the process… Let me tell you, there were tears. But once fixed – they look great, so I think I will do them again on something.

It took me almost 4 days to make, including fiddling with the pattern, but it was worth it – I did indeed wear it a lot. Until it got colder and I found almost exactly the same coat, but heavier and longer, in local charity shop for £1. That’s another story though…

Long time, no see

Sometimes life just takes over for a while. My university course is intense, leaving precious little time for anything else. It doesn’t mean I haven’t been knitting or sewing, just didn’t get a chance to blog. So to sum up:

• I have finally finished the waistcoat for my lovely, and managed to do that before it got cold. It has been worn almost all the time, so it doesn’t look so lovely and new on these photos. It has diagonal pockets lined with wool twill and is very light. (rav link)

• I finished Saint Denis Cardigan – it is a tiny bit too big, but does a great job as an outer layer, it’s lovely, soft and comfortable. I omitted short rows in the collar, really prefer it flat. I tried to to as much as possible in one piece and I may have decreased for v-neck in a wrong place. You can’t tell though, can you? (rav link)

Looking forward to having some time off for Christmas (when I say off, I mean that I have to write essays, but I can do it from home and sneak in some knitting time) and putting my feet up for a bit.

Stylish dress book 2

I am a proud owner of the second book in this series. I’ve been lusting over it for a good while now. Which one should I make first?

I got mine from here!

The doily dress (and a few tops)

Do you remember Pochee magazine I’ve shown you a while ago? Well, I’ve finally pulled myself together I made that dress you can see on the cover. I used heavy linen form Fabric Land and a vintage doily from Snooper’s Paradise (great flea market in Brighton). I slip-stitched it on top just before sewing on the neckline facings. It looks quite professional if you don’t notice that little bit of wonkiness (is that even a word accepted by Oxford Dictionary?). The only modification to the pattern was rounding the corners of the neckline – only slightly though. It’s a little too long to look flattering over jeans, but I’m sure it will be great with wooly tights.

I like slightly A-line tops, and I love the neckline in this dress, so I decided to make a few tops based on it. I took the bust part of the dress, extended it and made it an inch wider towards the bottom, then did the same with the back. The result, as you can see below, is an easy and quick basic top pattern, that can be easily altered so it’s not so boring.

Green top was the first one I made. In the original pattern facings on the neckline didn’t require interfacing, so I decided to try it like that. On the neckline it wasn’t a problem really, but I didn’t put the sleeves in, and sewn on facings instead. The sleeves facings really need to be interfaced, they look messy after a wash, and sometimes they stick out. So in the rest of the tops I interfaced all the facings, just to be sure. They look a lot better. I have now plenty of ideas how to spice up that basic pattern. Perhaps with some embroidery?

New header from Rio

My niece Rio has drawn a new header for my blog. I hope you’ll like it as much as I do!

L is for lavender

I am a crazy lavender lover, I must admit. There is nothing better than a bit of lavender oil in your bath to help unwind after a long day. It is also my friend and companion in a fight against evil moths. I have one of my plants on a windowsill, and any bigger gust of wind fills the room with the most wonderful, dreamy scent.

My plants are too small still for a big harvest (in their first year you’re supposed to go easy on them), so I bought some very inexpensive (£1.70/25g) dried lavender from Neal’s Yard Remedies. I had in my mind some lavender bags, which I could use inside pillows and in the wardrobe.

I sketched the pattern directly onto some calico, since I didn’t need them to be exactly the same size, so I didn’t have to be very precise. I wanted to construct them like some of the pillowcases, with a flap, for ease of making.

I gave embroidery another go. I didn’t enjoy using cotton floss, it was too fine, flimsy, and took so long, it almost put me off – but every time I visit tiny happy blog or shop I wish I wasn’t so rubbish at it. Thick wool seemed like a much better resource to work with for somebody so impatient and desperate for immediate results. I managed to embroider 6 sachets in about an hour and I was really rather pleased with the appearance of wool. I will definitely embroider some more things in the future.

Some of the sachets were intended to hang in the wardrobe, so I added a small loop at the back flap, for the hangers to go through.

Each was then filled with a large spoonful of dried lavender wrapped in some muslin cloth. I am certain I will be making more – it seems like some shelves in a wardrobe were left out.

Devil is in the detail

Recently, whilst shopping in Lidl, I came across a stamp with interchangeable rubber letters, with ink that was intended for paper and textiles. I immediately thought my handmade clothing would benefit greatly from having some labels. Being able to change the text means I could personalise them for every recipient (should I wish to give any of them away). If they ever end up in a charity shop, somebody else would be able to appreciate the time I spent making it (hopefully).

I finished my Garter Yoke Cardigan a while ago now, but it took some time to properly block it and sew the label in. I love it – it is comfortable, in a very nice colour, and it should be warm enough to keep me happy in the winter.

Troon Tweed gets softer with wash and wear, so that’s a great incentive to wear it lots. It’s a little too hot now though, I should be probably sewing some swimwear instead!

The Uniform Project and sustainability

(c) The Uniform Project

Sheena Matheiken is my new favourite person on the web at the moment. She is wearing the same dress every day for a year, to prove that wearing a uniform can be liberating, fun, fashionable and could be one idea that helps us shift our consumption habits. Her outfits include mostly second hand accessories (it’s not as bad as buying brand new, although I somehow can’t imagine she is actually making do with less), and if you like them, you can show your appreciation by donating money to her chosen charity.

I’m all for making wearing the same thing over and over fashionable and desirable. Everybody knows by now how much waste we produce because of short life span of fashion items. Kate Fletcher wrote a great book researching this subject (“Sustainable Fashion and Textiles: Design Journeys”), and one thing she has pointed out, is that yes, buying lots of items puts a pressure on the environment, but for majority of garments the biggest impact happens in the use phase, not in the production phase. The less you wash then, the better. No Wash project tries to tackle that issue. A garment that wears stains like badges and doesn’t smell (apparently) was produced and worn for six months.

Check out also Wardrobe Refashion, with lots of ideas how to re-fit and recycle.

Needled has a great post on the impact (not only environmental) of the cashmere industry.

I always try to think twice when it comes to satisfying my desire to have new thing and look good, but I try to follow Worsted Witch’s advice – it’s good to buy organic, better still to buy second–hand, but best not to buy at all.

Crabapple jelly recipe

My husband and I were given a big bag of crabapples a few days ago. Now, crabapples are not really nice raw, and need a lot of sugar to perk them up. As jelly, they’re completely transformed into most delicious and juicy addition to toast and cakes.

This recipe is easy to adjust for any amount of apples.

What you need:

• crabapples
• sugar
• muslin cloth
• jars with lids (or jam jar covers)

1. Wash your apples thoroughly, cut out any bruises, remove stems, etc.

2. Place them in a pan and add water, just enough to cover the apples. Bring to boil and simmer until the apples become soft and start to fall apart.

3. Wrap musling cloth around a bowl – you need it to be strong enough to hold all your apples and not sink to the bottom. Now place apples and juice in your strainer and leave overnight. Trust me, patience is key! If you squeeze the pulp through, the jelly will end up cloudy. Don’t worry if your juice is cloudy already – it will clear when you cook it with sugar.

4. Once the juice is strained, you need to measure it to determine how much sugar you will use. I had 1 litre of juice (just about 2 pints) and used 1 kg (about 2 pounds) of sugar.  That meant I filled up 5 average sized jam jars. Have an extra one just in case.

5. Now the fun part! Put the jam jars (and lids if you have some)  in a pot filled with cold water, and bring to the boil. Ideally, you want them to stay in boiling water for about 15 minutes. If the labels are still attached, they might need a squeeze of dish washing liquid as well to help dissolve the adhesive. At the same time, mix the juice with sugar, until you are happy it is as dissolved as possible. Boil it vigorously. Skim the white stuff from the top. You will notice that at some point the juice becomes thicker – that’s when it’s ready!

6. Remove your jam jars from boiling water – use thongs and oven gloves – it is so easy to scald yourself (I wouldn’t know anything about that, would I). Act quickly, pour hot jelly into hot jars and quickly put lids on. If you are using lids, tip the jars upside down and leave to cool. If you are using covers, refer to the instructions on the packet. Let it cool down and set.

Now all that is left to do is to get a slice of toast and try it!

Not long until harvest

Our little makeshift garden truly astonished us. From charity shop tomato plants put in quite small and shallow container we can expect loads of fruits… There are more than 30 flowers, some of which are already turning into tomatoes.

We weren’t sure if our chilli plant will flower at all, but it seems that temperature in Brighton is high enough!

Sweet peas look wonderful in bloom:

We already had some salad leaves, very small radishes and some potatoes, they were all delicious. The only unsuccessful thing so far was lavender, I have sown it twice over a period of about two months, and still nothing. Luckily, I got a lavender plant for my birthday!

It is denifinitely my most favourite thing.

I will post soon some photos of my Garter Yoke Cardigan, which is finally finished. I intended to start a new project soon, but since I was given the ukulele for my birthday, I haven’t had time for much else. It is incredibly easy to play, after two days I could play a simple song. And it sounds like a warm summery evening. Just what I need.