Lake Garda Shawl

Hi everyone, hope you’ve had a good week, mine’s been pretty packed and a little stressful so I’m glad to have made it to the weekend again!

I said in my last post that I’d show you the shawl I started knitting on holiday and finished a couple of weeks ago when we got back – so here it is.

The pattern is the UK Alpaca Pearly Queen shawl that I used for my cream version earlier in the year, but I chose a different yarn this time. It’s Artesano’s Lace Handpainted Alpaca Silk and the colourway is called Mermaid.

I actually started knitting this the weekend before we went away, but as I spent some very relaxing afternoons sitting by the huge picture window in our apartment overlooking Lake Garda working on it I’m going to name the shawl in honour of the lake – and the colours of the yarn remind me of the shades of the water and surrounding mountains.

There really isn’t much to say about the pattern, I still love the stepped edge, and the lovely simple stitch pattern used throughout. The only thing different about this one from the first shawl is that the yarn is much finer, so although it’s worked up and blocked out to roughly the same size because of the stretchiness created by the open mesh stitch, it’s not as bulky and so not quite as warm, but it’ll be fine for the next few weeks while it’s chilly in the mornings but not cold enough for a proper scarf.

I obviously made a fairly drastic over-calculation when I bought the yarn though as I’ve got a skein and a half leftover – so I may well end up making another one for someone as a gift, or finding another pattern for something a bit different, I spotted a beautiful lace cowl in last month’s issue of The Knitter.

I’ve made a good start on my next cardigan, and gone from extreme to the other - lace-weight shawl to chunky knit cardi! I’ll keep you posted with progress, and let you know if I manage to fit in any more sewing, but I’m a bit pressed for time over the next couple of weekends with extra choir rehearsals and a big performance coming up.

Only three weeks to go until The Knitting & Stitching Show which I’m really looking forward to. I know it’s the Handmade Fair at Hampton Court Palace this weekend so if you’re going I hope you have a great time, and I really must try and get tickets next year! Have a lovely weekend everyone.

Sleeveless Mimi Blouse

Hi! How are you all? Hope you had a great summer, I thought autumn was fully upon us but the last couple of days have been really warm and sunny where I am – chilly in the mornings though so autumn still knocking on the door.

Anyway, I’ve been back from holiday for a couple of weeks so wanted to give you an update on crafty progress.

I took my knitting away with me and managed to do a little bit most days working on my shawl – I’ve finished this since we’ve been back so I’ll show it to you in my next post, I need to wash and block it out first.

Last weekend I didn’t have anything else special on so I made another Mimi blouse. As I already had the pattern traced out it was much quicker to cut out my fabric, and having the experience of the first one meant I got the sewing done quicker too.

This floral fabric has been in my stash since the beginning of the year and I’m really pleased I’ve finally used it because it’s so beautiful, I love the colours and the big florals, and it’s a lovely light cotton lawn.

I decided to go sleeveless for this version for a bit of a different look, and it means it’ll layer better over a long-sleeved t-shirt and under a cardi so I can carry on wearing it over the winter. My first version is a little awkward under a cardi because of the bit of puffiness in the sleeves.

Nice and quick to sew up, I zig-zagged and pinked all my seams, got the collar and facings on straight and sitting nicely, and then bound the armholes with cream bias binding folded through to the inside.

I got purple buttons to pick out the colour from the fabric and love how they look against the other colours.

The size is great, and I didn’t make any alterations to the armholes but they’re absolutely fine and don’t gape at all.

I’m wearing it today as I type and really happy with how it’s turned out, it’ll be great for work or casual, trousers or a skirt. I’d quite like to try another version in a drapey viscose or something and see if that makes any difference to the overall look and feel.

I’ve got loads of patterns lined up for more sewing, and more fabric still in my stash, but I bought several metres of calico yesterday that I’m intending to make some toiles in, especially of dress bodices and really concentrate on ironing out the fit issues I’ve had before – I’ll let you know how I get on. There are a couple of dresses I really want to make, but I don’t want to waste good fabric on something that doesn’t fit properly and I then don’t wear often.

I had an amazing holiday and bought lots of souvenirs, but the one I want to show you is some GORGEOUS silk I bought in Venice. We spent three days there and I hunted out a couple of fabric shops, but got this from G. Benevento near the Ca’ D’Oro – they stock lots of dressmaking fabrics, many of them designer.

This is 100% Italian silk and from the new season collection for Etro – the man in the shop showed me a catalogue of some of the dresses and they are absolutely incredible!

It was extremely expensive, I bought a metre and a half (140cm wide) and it cost the equivalent of about £100!!! I’d never ever spend that much money on fabric over here, but the holiday spontaneity monster obviously took hold that day!

I absolutely love it though, the colours and the print, plus it feels amazing, but I’m going to have to do some serious thinking and planning of what I’m going to make with it, and probably a toile or two before I even dare thinking about cutting into it. I’ll keep you posted!

I’m going to start a new knitting project this weekend, and will also be visiting the Weald of Kent Craft Fair at Penshurst Place on Sunday, and then it’s not many more weeks until the Knitting & Stitching Show at Alexandra Palace, which very conveniently falls on pay day for me!

Have a great weekend, I’d love to see what you’ve been making.

Rowan Spelt Cardigan

Hi! How are you all? Still enjoying the summer I hope, although the weather’s not been quite so good as it was at the beginning of the month. (Really must stop this compulsion to talk about the weather every time, it’s a horribly British thing isn’t it?!)

I’ve finished a new cardi this week using more of my favourite Rowan Purelife Revive – this is the last pack of it bought from the Knitting & Stitching Shows, although I’ve booked my tickets for the Ally Pally show in October so I’m sure I’ll be able to re-stock then!

I LOVE this colourway, orange is one of my favourite colours anyway, and this is a beautiful shade, and all the extra flecks in different colours add some interest and texture.

The pattern is Spelt from the Simple Shapes book I’ve used before and is a useful everyday round-necked cardigan with garter stitch edging and three buttons. The pattern recommends 10 balls of yarn for the size I’ve knitted, but I’ve actually ended up with slightly more than 2 balls leftover. I’m going to add these to the leftovers of the other colours and maybe do a stripy top or something.

Can’t really say much about the pattern or knitting process – nice and straightforward and one that I’ve been working on in front of the TV the last few weeks. It’s got some subtle waist shaping, and I like the three quarter sleeves. The button and buttonhole bands are knitted up separately then sewn on to the front pieces as they’re knitted on different sized needles, and I had to do a bit of maths to work out where to place the buttonholes – though I’ll probably rarely do the cardi up anyway.

I found some buttons in Mum’s button box to finish it off, and will wash and block it this weekend to settle in the sleeveheads a bit, they look a bit puffy at the moment!

My collection of me-made knitwear is rapidly outnumbering the bought items in my wardrobe, but I think that’s good because they’re things that I’ve invested time and effort into making, they’re colours and styles I like and suit me, and it’s always a nice feeling to say ‘thanks, I made it myself’ when someone compliments an outfit!

I won’t be posting for the next few weeks as I’m going away to enjoy some summer sunshine in foreign climes, but I’m taking a new knitting project with me, and am hoping to start on some paper-pieced patchwork when I’m back. So until September – happy crafting!

Liberty T-Shirt

Hi! Just a really quick post today, I’m super busy again with too much to cram in to not enough time!

This is another version of the New Look K6217 t-shirt (like my Feathers top for a few weeks ago) – nice and quick but a couple of alterations.

The fabric was a fab find in the Liberty sale a few weeks ago – gotta love a remnants table! Half price too so that always helps. I love the bold print that’s like mandalas, though I think it’s from the Alice in Wonderland collection they did this season so it’s probably supposed to look like the playing card designs – it’s called Lord Paisley.

With the experience of the first one under my belt, this time I lengthened the pattern by 3 inches to give me a bit more stomach coverage, and because I only had a one metre remnant I squeezed the back piece onto the fold instead of cutting two pieces. However, I’ve since realised that I made a bit of a rookie mistake here – I forgot that the back piece has a seam allowance included at the centre back, so my piece cut on the fold is two seam allowances-worth too big! D’oh!

It’s not too much of a disaster though and I think if I sew a pleat into the back of the neckline to take a bit of the extra fullness out it’ll be fine – I don’t mind it being looser through the body, the fine cotton voile drapes beautifully anyway. I left slits in the side seams too so that it's not too tight over my hips with the extra length.

I’m pleased with the symmetry of the print on the front and back, I made sure to iron the centre folds really well to line everything up! I used cream bias binding for the neckline which stays invisible on the inside.

Happy with this one, lovely and cool to wear and I love the colours.

I’m hoping to fit in another couple of quick sewing projects before I go on holiday, and I’m making good progress with my knitted cardi – but the free weekends are fast running out!

La Paloma Shift Dress

Still enjoying lots of lovely sunny weather here – how is it where you are?

Today I’ve got my main holiday week project to show you – this took the best part of two days, but some of that time was because I had to figure out linings and I wanted to make sure everything was sewed neatly.

The pattern for this dress is New Look K6145 which I got free with Sew magazine a few months ago.

The fabric is Alexander Henry ‘La Paloma’ which I bought at the Knitting & Stitching Show in the spring after scouring all the websites where it was sold out. And the reason it was sold out everywhere is because Deborah made a dress with it on week one of the Sewing Bee this year and it looked AMAZING! Its mid-weight cotton and I just love the bold colours and print with the birds and flowers. Anyway, I was thrilled to find some and quickly snapped up two metres. It’s not a very wide fabric and I’m now wishing I’d bought more to have some spare for future makes, but never mind. The two metres was just right for this shift dress and meant I didn’t have to do any drastic pattern matching across waist seams.

I chose to make version E of the dress – sleeveless, but I left off the collar. I picked and cut out size 14 based on the finished measurements, and lengthened the skirt by 3 inches to take it to knee length on me.

I gave myself an extra challenge this time by deciding to line the dress rather than just using the facings and potentially needing to wear a slip underneath. I got some basic poly-cotton lining that will be cool to wear and not cling. As the pattern instructions don’t include a lining I had to figure this bit out myself, but followed the principles of the all-in-one facing from the Shell Top I made a few weeks ago.

So after I’d made up the two layers as far as sewing in all the darts and joining the shoulders, I attached the lining to the main fabric around the neckline and understitched to keep it sitting flat once turned through, and then joined them at the armholes too. This meant I could then turn the whole thing the right way out by bringing the lining through the shoulder straps and giving everything a really good press. It looks a really neat finish and meant I didn’t need to worry about using bias binding to finish the neck or arms.

Inserting the invisible zip into the centre back seam took a bit of figuring out to get the layers in the right order and I managed to sew main fabric, zip and lining in one go so that the lining is anchored neatly, and meant I didn’t need to do any hand sewing! The back is finished with a skirt vent which I’ve never done before but was pretty simple and give a little more freedom of movement – I mirrored this in the lining too.

This just left the side seams to sew up, and allowed me to shape the dress a little to bring the waist in to fit me a little more closely – I find straight up and down shapes don’t suit me terribly well so just nipping in the waist seams by an extra inch means it has a better silhouette for me. A quick double hem and I was all done!

I’m really delighted with this make – I think the simple shape shows the fabric off beautifully, it’s a comfortable dress to wear and will be great for work over the summer. Plus there’re so many colours in the print I can change up my outfit with a different cardi and shows every time I wear it – I went with orange when I wore it the first time!

The fit still isn’t absolutely perfect, I think I need to take a bit of length out of the upper torso as this is where I’m obviously short compared with the standard measurements – the armholes and bust darts are a little low. I also might lower the neckline into more of a scoop next time, again as a personal preference for what suits me.

I’ve had loads of compliments wearing it though which is lovely to enjoy the “Thank you, I made it myself!” moment. I’m really pleased with how the lining turned out too and will definitely use this method again. I’ll have to look out for more of the fabric too as it’s just fantastic and I’d love to try some other garments with it.

I’ve got one more recent sewing project to show you another day, and I’m currently knitting another cardigan which I’m hoping to get finished before I go away on holiday in mid-August, so I’ll probably be concentrating on that instead of starting any other new projects for the next few weeks. I also need to figure out what projects to take away with me – knitting, crochet, patchwork – what would you suggest?

Feathers T-Shirt

Hi! I'm on holiday from work this week so have been making the most of lots of time at the sewing machine. I'll probably post a few things up separately - mainly so I don't lose track myself!

For today though, this nice quick t-shirt. The pattern is New Look K6217 which is an outfit pack (I got it free with Sew magazine), but I've just stuck with the t-shirt for now (I might have a go at the trousers and skirt at some point). 

I cut my size straight out of the pattern paper going for the size 14 based on the finished garment measurements - there seems to be a lot of ease in this and I didn't want to be too swamped in fabric.

This is a medium weight cotton that I bought at the Knitting & Stitching Show (yes, still working through the stash...) and I loved the colour and print - peacock feather designs always look gorgeous I think.

Two pattern pieces and some bias binding for the neck and bobs your uncle. The keyhole detail at the back neck is a nice feature, though with the amount of ease in the pattern it's not strictly necessary from a functional point of view - I can get the top on quite easily without undoing the button.

Very happy with this, and easy to whip up in an afternoon. This is definitely going to be a staple pattern, in fact I've already made another one, and will be great for making easy and comfortable tops for the summer that I can wear for work or casual.

It's been glorious weather this week, although rather too hot and humid on Wednesday, so I'm hoping it lasts through July so I can wear lots of my new me-made cotton clothes!

Leonora Jumper in Blue

Hi! Another busy couple of weeks have kept me from updating, but that doesn’t mean I haven’t been getting on with some sewing and knitting! I’ve got a couple of new sewn garments to show you in another post, but today is about knitting.

I finished my second Leonora jumper last week and I’m really happy with it. I love this pattern by Sarah Hatton, and the Rowan Revive yarn is wonderful to work this (I may have mentioned this before...).

I picked up a pack of the yarn in this beautiful blue blended colourway (the name Grit really doesn’t do it justice) at the Knitting & Stitching Show - and a pack of orange-y Silt which is next on my list to knit up.

The pattern is one I’ve knitted before, I blogged about my first version of this jumper last year, and I don’t mind using it again because it’s a shape and style that works for me. I love the little lace panel detail at the front and back necklines and cuffs, as well as the slightly more unusual (in knitting patterns anyway) square neckline.

This time around I made a couple of alterations: I knitted a size smaller than before which helped narrow the body and shoulders a little, I also knitted the body longer and the armhole-to-shoulder section is shorter. This was because in my first version the neckline ended up being a bit low for comfort (and decency) so I have to wear a vest top underneath. The new version now sits higher so I can get away with wearing it on its own. The longer body will also help here by not revealing any midriff if I’m stretching or reaching up for any reason!

Not much else to say on this one really – straightforward knit, fits really well, washes beautifully, gorgeous colour and with the cotton/silk blend I’ll be able to wear it through the summer without overheating (assuming we get much warm weather that is...).

I’m on holiday from work next week with a few days to chill out at home so I’m intending to get stuck into a few projects – hopefully a couple of quick and easy summer tops, maybe a dress or two, and start knitting another cardigan. I’ve also been catching up on a few of the free craft kits that come with Mollie Makes magazine, and stash-busting some yarn I won’t use for anything else with a bit of giant granny square crochet.

How’s your summer of crafting going so far? I’d love to see what you’ve been making, drop me a line with where to find you!