Tiger Tiger

22nd Feb 2021 yorkiemouse3 Comments

January 2021 saw a flurry of “ostrich sewing” by me whilst the UK was plunged back into lockdown. As well as making some seasonally appropriate makes, I started to dabble in Spring/Summer makes – mainly due to a general desire to be warm!

Grrrrrr

I bought this fantastic Tiger fabric from Guthrie and Ghani with the intention of making it into a dress. However, I hadn’t realised just how narrow 110cm is. It is now my firm belief that there should be some sort of law that makes 145cm the minimum width for fabric.

I wanted a pattern that would really show off the funky pattern and also had a gap in my wardrobe for another By Hand London Jessica skirt, as my first one was perfect for summer weather. An ideal pairing!

For a relatively simple make, this skirt required so much head-scratching on my part! Here’s a list of the challenges I encountered:

Re-toile of waistband (I wanted to do this to get a better fit)
“Pleat algebra” (if it wasn’t already a thing, it is now)
Concern that 3 years of University Maths was wasted time, effort and money as I couldn’t do “pleat algebra”
Unexpected pattern matching requirement to create a seam-free skirt piece wide enough for gathers (after abandoning pleat idea)
Not enough fabric for waistband facings

All that aside, I’m really pleased with the end result and learnt a lot along the way.

Adjustments

I cut a size 14 waistband, then increased the seam allowance by 1/8″ either side of both centre panels. This cinched the waistband in to improve the fit and ‘lift’ the skirt closer to my waist.

I shortened the skirt length by 2″, but also used a 4″ hem to make this skirt slightly shorter than my first.

In terms of making the skirt piece, I made it as wide as the fabric allowed whilst also pattern matching. I think I managed to get the skirt piece about as wide as a size 8 on the original pattern. This means the gathers are less pronounced than intended but I’m so pleased with the pattern matching because there is a seam right down the front of the skirt that’s fairly invisible.

I also added patch pockets and a decorative hem stitch, just to be fancy.

Hidden details

For the facings, I didn’t have enough Tiger fabric so I chose to add a touch of the Arts to my skirt. My friend bought me some Royal Opera House swatches a while ago and I’ve been saving them for something special. As an avid theatre goer, the threat to the arts is never far from my mind at the moment so stitching a tiny piece of the ROH into my skirt was a strangely emotive experience.

These two fabrics have a silk/sateen feel, which means they’re really soft against the skin. As was inevitable with this make, I didn’t have enough of one fabric to make the entire waistband facing so I used two. It’s a “design choice” that I’m owning!

I’ve actually been wearing my skirt with tights and boots for a few days, trying out different tops, and I’ve discovered that it’s a good transitional piece – bonus! Thanks for reading :o)

Baa-ble Hats

16th Feb 2021 yorkiemouseLeave a comment

Welcome back. This hat is so good that I’ve made it twice! I’ve had the Baa-ble Hat pattern for over 5 years. It was released as part of Shetland Wool Week back in 2015 and has been patiently sitting in my pattern stash ever since. With the weather in the UK taking an incredibly chilly turn in February, I decided that I needed a hat made from weightier yarn.

I bought some Drops Nepal yarn to create my Baa-ble. I did buy some purple yarn with the idea of my sheep standing on a heathery landscape, but decided it would look odd and might be asked “why are your sheep on purple grass?”. In the end, I went for more traditional colours.

I really enjoy colour Fair Isle knitting. Aside from traditionally being exclusively knit stitches in the round, I think I enjoy the counting! When I was learning, it took me a while to get the hang of carrying the floats, but once I did, I find it very relaxing. I like how the floats on the wrong side give a hint of the pattern as well.

Two top tips from me are to weave in the ends are you go. If, like me, you aren’t a fan, breaking them up into small chunks softens the blow. My other tip is to invest in some cheap hair elastics as stitch markers. I use one of my ‘proper’ stitch markers for the beginning of the round, then hair elastics where the pattern naturally breaks up – the photo shows my decrease points.

Research break

I alternate between the term Fair Isle and Colourwork, so I did a bit of research on which is technically correct. From what I’ve read in books and on the web, and the fact that this pattern was released during Shetland Wool Week, I think I’m on safe ground calling this a Fair Isle hat.

I fell down a delightful Pinterest rabbit hole after searching for “fair isle fisherman” and I think the following visuals demonstrate why…

How small is my head?!

I finished the first hat in just two evenings. As I mainly knit with 4ply/fingering weight yarn, I forget how much quicker I can work with chunkier yarn. I had read some reviews saying that the hat came up a bit on the large side, but my gauge was ok so I used the ‘original’ pattern. Once I had finished, I thought it was a bit big but would probably work. However, I hadn’t accounted for my specs holding the hat up in an act of defying gravity. When I tried it on with my contact lenses in, I found that I had a significant ‘vision problem’! So the hat was (reluctantly) gifted to my husband.

Aside from a second sock, I don’t think I’ve ever knit the same pattern more than once. However, this became the exception for to a few reasons:

I really like the pattern and have wanted a Baa-ble Hat for years
It’s a quick knit
I had enough yarn to make another (after buying a bit more ‘grass’)
Overwhelming envy whenever my husband wore his

That last one sealed the deal and even though I had some socks on the needles, I put them to one side and embarked on another Baa-ble Hat for myself. Donna Smith has helpfully put some Baa-ble Bairns instructions on her website which instruct knitters how to size down. I decided to go for the smaller size, but frogged that after doing the ribbing and settled on the larger ‘bairn’ size.

It fits really well and I added a pom-pom to mine with the leftovers, just for fun.

I have since noticed that there are patterns for Baable Mittens and a Cowl….how many sheep is too many?! Thanks for reading, stay warm :o)

Sewing

Scrapbusting TnTs

5th Feb 2021 yorkiemouse1 Comment

I’m back with something a little different today. I realised that I have quite a collection of tried and tested (TnT) patterns for scrapbusting. I love a bit of scrapbusting as it really reduces what goes in my remnants bag for recycling, plus it makes the most of all the gorgeous fabrics.

I don’t claim to be the most sustainable crafter, but I do try. There are loads of resources for free scrapbusting patterns ‘out there’ and these are a handful that I keep coming back to.

Lavender bags

First up – tiny, lovely smelling rectangles! These are so easy to make and scraps go a long way because the end product is quite small. I tend to make sets of at least four, with the aim of gifting them as stocking fillers. If I have odd ones, I keep them myself. They’re great in bedding and towel drawers. I also put a few in with my yarn and fabric stashes to deter any moths, which we all know are little flying devils when it comes to wool.

When I’m making these, I make sure I have my purple pointy thang to hand to poke the corners out and give them a good press before filling. I fill the bags about 75% full with Yorkshire Lavender before closing up the final seam.

Eye masks

Next up is the Tilly and the Buttons eye mask. Tilly and co released this as a free pattern to go with their FiFi pjs set, which is also a great pattern.

I deviate slightly from the instructions and baste the batting/wadding to the bottom layer of the eye mask. Then I use that as one layer and continue. I found that when I washed the masks, the wadding bunched up inside because it wasn’t attached to anything and there was no way of flattening it out without unpicking it.

This pattern is great for those bits of viscose that are too floaty for some scrapbusting projects because viscose tends to be softer on the eyes than a cotton lawn or quilting cotton.

Zip pouches

I’ve been making the Melly Sews Zipper Pouches for years. It was a good way to practice zips when I was still getting used to zipper foots. This is a fab pattern for all those fat-quarters that you’re not quite sure what to do with, but you really don’t want to make another face covering!

I have these pouches in most bags that I own for one reason or another. They’re great for keeping hair stuff in one place (most dancers will have a bag of clips in their dance bag), tablets that you don’t want loose, knitting notions. You name it, it’ll go in one of these. Whilst Melly Sews give dimensions, the pattern can be amended to fit whatever your requirements are, as long as you’ve got a zip long/short enough.

Bookmarks and a hack

This is a recent find. Untitled Thoughts has a fab pattern and tutorial on her website for a bookmark. I thought this was a really unusual suggestion and really wanted to make some. I made a batch for gifts and kept a few for myself. I had a tiny square of Liberty fabric that I’ve stashed for years which was the perfect size for this pattern

Whilst making my bookmarks, I realised that the pattern would hack really well into a fabric coaster, just by eliminating the triangle….so I made some of those as well! Again, I kept a set for us to use at home and the others will be gifted to friends and family.

Brigitte

One scrapbuster that I have never gifted, but use a lot myself is the Brigitte headscarf by Tilly and the Buttons. This is the first pattern in Tilly’s Love At First Stitch book. I don’t think I’m exaggerating when I say that a lot of modern-day sewists learned their craft from this book!

As a “pale English Rose”, the sun is not kind to my skin. My hair parting is difficult (impossible) to put suncream on so I often reach for a Bridgette scarf when we’re on holiday in warmer climates (remember holidays….? remember sun….?!). If you’re into matching accessories with your outfit, this is a fun way to use up remnants.

Barbie’s wardrobe

Finally, and perhaps the most well-received scrapbuster gift I’ve ever made, a new wardrobe for Barbie! One of my nieces asked for some Barbie clothes for Christmas. I didn’t actually have a Barbie to hand when making these so had to google her measurements. I was utterly convinced that they were too small and that my niece was going to be disappointed on Christmas Day. Apparently Barbie really is miniscule though because they all fit and one of the tops was too big.

I used patterns from this site, but there were loads available online. My niece seemed vaguely amused when I video called her in my Lotta dress, looking like a life-sized (with more natural proportions) doll.

Thanks to my sister-in-law for doing a photoshoot with the crew! Striped top: model’s own.

Thanks for reading :o) I hope this has given some of you some scrapbusting inspiration.