My 2020 Make Nine

21st Jan 2020 yorkiemouseLeave a comment

I’m back! I’m trying to get into the swing of blogging so I’m starting with a commitment that I made a few weeks ago – my Make Nine 2020.

What is the Make Nine Challenge?

The Make Nine Challenge is branded as a “gentle self-guided challenge for makers“. Home Row Fiber Co launched it in 2016 and, rather than inarticulately explain the history and idea myself, I recommend you read this post (after you’ve finished this of course!) and take a look at #makenine, if you have Instagram.

This will be my third year of setting myself a Make Nine Challenge and for 2020, I’ve looked at my fabric stash. My stash has spilled out of the box I have allocated to it. I’ve just laughed at typing that because in my head I have “a fabric box” which is genuinely neatly organised and folded. However, there’s also a “lining fabric” box, two scrap boxes, there’s ~~sometimes~~ usually some on top of “the fabric box” because it doesn’t all fit, there’s some on a chair in the dining room and there’s often some in the laundry basket awaiting a pre-wash. Maybe I should get a bigger box…or a room?!

Anyway, where was I…

My 2020 Make Nine

For 2020, I have selected nine fabrics in my stash. Coincidentally all are wovens, some I’ve had for a while, some are more recent purchases, some I have plans for, others are awaiting inspiration. All are fabrics that I love and want to wear, rather than keep hidden away in a box.

First up are three fabrics that I have ideas for:

This Gold Shimmer fabric is a silky, velvety viscose that is destined to be come a Kew Dress with long sleeves. The fabric came in my Sew Hayley Jane December box. It was one of those fabrics that I knew fairly instantly what it was going to become.
I’ve had this cotton viscose blend since the summer when Lamazi Fabrics had it on sale. I want to make a short sleeved Melilot shirt. It’s still at the toile stage because I often find Deer and Doe patterns too narrow on the shoulders and have to adjust them. Plus, it’s winter in the UK so I don’t really need a breezy summer shirt right now!
If all goes well with the Melilot toile process, I think I’ll make another from this Lady McElroy Rainbow Clouds.

The next three are all drapey fabrics that I can’t decide what to do with but all cry out “summer” to me.

I’ve got 3m of “Imogen” from Crafty Sew and So and have always thought I want to make a dress from this but I do have the Sequence blouse in my pattern library and keep coming back to that as an option. Alternatively, another Kew Dress maybe, or maybe an Adrift dress??
Another Sew Hayley Jane gem is this Strawberry fabric which needs to be made into a summer dress to wear for a picnic. I think it’s got enough body/drape combo to be a lovely Amelie dress but I’m struggling to fit the back of that dress. I’d really like to revisit it in the Spring and try and get the fit right.
A lot of sewists have this Meadow fabric that I bought from Guthrie & Ghani. A lot of sewists also seem to struggle to convert it from “2D fabric for admiring” into “3D garment for wearing”. I’ve got enough for a dress but am wallowing in indecision about this one. I think a tried and tested pattern is most likely so I know I’ll wear it and the fitting is already done.

And finally, a trio of cotton

This Jitterbug cotton was a gift from my sister and brother-in-law. I’ve got about 1.4m of it so it is likely to become a top. I made several Fleet tops last summer and wore them on rotation. My current thinking is that this pairing would work.
This Teal Gold Dots double gauze almost became “the one that got away”. I saw it on Sew Me Sunshine’s site in the summer and it sold out before I convinced myself I needed more fabric. I emailed the lovely Harriet who told me that it was coming back in stock. The day it came back on her site, I didn’t hang around! Double gauze feels quite light but this is opaque so it’s perfect for summer, especially as it’s cotton. My current thinking is to make a Bettine dress because I have a few of those already and wear them a lot in the summer.
Last but not least, another Sew Hayley Jane fabric – a cotton gauze with dandelions floating around. I have the Myosotis dress pattern and didn’t really think it’s my style. However, I followed the hashtag on Instagram and I think adding waist ties might convert it into a dress I love.

Hope you’ve enjoyed a stroll through my 2020 Make Nine. I’ll update you throughout the year with how I’m getting along.

Knitting

I will have warm feet

16th Jan 202029th Feb 2020 yorkiemouseLeave a comment

My colleagues hear me say “is it me, or is it cold?” at least once a day, regardless of the season. Our office is basically a fridge with hot-desking.

Part of my quest for warmth involves knitting socks. My Mum often asks “what are you knitting at the moment?”, then without waiting for an answer says “more socks?!”

Buying sock yarn is the first part of the joyous process. There is so much variety in ‘base’ but I often choose something that’s alpaca-based as it’s so soft, warm and non-itchy on my skin. The colours are amazing too – sparkly, self-striping, speckled…the list goes on.

There’s something so appealing about going around and around on double-pointed needles, then dealing with a tricky bit (hello gusset), before going around and around again. Then hey presto, I’ve got a slightly warmer foot. At this point, I immediately cast on again before the dreaded “second sock syndrome” kicks in!

Looking back over my knitting, I have a fairly monogamous relationship with sock pattern designs. Coop Knits patterns almost exclusively fill my sock drawer. Some of my favourites include Hortensia (above), Twylla (I may need an entire blog post on colour work) and Ernestine (lace knitting is so fun – “look, I knitted holes in some yarn”!).

Thanks for reading – hope you’ve been inspired to knit some socks.

Sewing

My favourite sewing makes

16th Jan 202029th Feb 2020 yorkiemouse3 Comments

Eek, my first official blog post! I thought I would tell you about a few of my favourite sewing makes to help me get into the groove of blogging.

I Am Lion

This sweatshirt is definitely one of my favourites and rarely makes it back into my wardrobe once it’s clean and dry! I AM Patterns offer two sleeves in one pattern – the Lion has puffed shoulders in a throwback to the 80s, the Zebre has balloon sleeves. I’ve made both but prefer the epic shoulders of the Lion, as demonstrated by my goofy smile on the photo.

The sweatshirt material was from Guthrie Ghani a while ago but they always have a great range to choose from. This one is speckled with a fleece backing to make it extra warm.

Coppelia

I wear the Papercut Coppelia cardigan most weeks of the year. The wrap-top reminded me of the ones I had when I danced as a child. I still do ballet every week and wanted a pink one to remind me of my childhood.

I made the cropped version as I have a short torso and wanted it to sit on my waist for ballet class. The pink version is a loopback jersey which is so soft, even after multiple washes. The black is made from Atelier Brunette remnants that I had from a previous make. I had to do the waistband from a plain black jersey, but it worked.

I love that I get so much use from these two tops and they’re perfect for ballet, adding a layer of warmth whilst not getting in the way by being baggy.

Flora

This was a labour of love. We attended a wedding and I wanted to make a dress. I had seen cupro fabric on Instagram – I think it was the amazing Elisalex of By Hand London who showed the fabric on her stories and my interest was piqued. I got my cupro from Rainbow Fabrics and it was a dream to work with – it’s a really unusual texture and I panicked when I pre-washed it because it takes on the strangest texture when wet (“crunchy” is the phrase I would use). When dry though, it drapes really well, has a lovely weight to it and catches the light in an almost iridescent way.

I had better talk about Flora now, rather than just the fabric! By Hand London are one of my first stops for dress patterns. They’re well drafted, come with excellent tutorials and seem to fit my body well. The cross-over bodice of the Flora and high-low skirt really appealed to me.

I ended up doing a hack because I wanted a v-backline. It was trial and error but I was so pleased with how it turned out and felt it was wise to do three toiles!

I took my time with my Flora and made the insides pretty with French seams, bias binding on the zip and some fun panda cotton lining.

The dress is so cool on a dance floor – that skirt can twirl! I wore it again for a wedding this month and was reminded how comfortable it is, even though I feel quite glam in it.

Thanks for reading my first official blog post.

Embroidery · Knitting · Sewing

Hello!

13th Jan 202017th Jan 2020 yorkiemouseLeave a comment

Welcome to my blog and thanks for stopping by. I’m Hannah and this blog will hopefully document my quest to reduce my fabric and wool stash. Along the way, I’ll probably work against myself by adding to both!

Why blog?

For the past few years, I’ve sporadically mused over writing a blog. I have kept sewing and knitting journals for some time – which are far more enjoyable to look back on than the teenage angst that I wrote about in the 90s! The process of documenting what I make is fun, as well as useful if I want to re-make a pattern.

I’ve sometimes worried about the time commitment, or the pressure to have “proper” photos of makes. On the flip side, I always read the blogs of other makers when planning my next make and find them really helpful. With this in mind, it would be nice to be able to give something back to the awesome sewing and knitting communities.

Finally, I love to reflect (some might say “over-analyse”) on a process and I think that stopping to write it down in a semi-coherent way will help me do this more.

This date isn’t significant, I’ve just finally got the confidence to dive in. So, here goes…. Hope you enjoy.