Pogonip warmth

2nd Feb 2025 yorkiemouse2 Comments

Hello and happy 2025! My first blog of the year is a relatively new make that has been seeing me through the chilly weather. The Pogonip Pullover screams 80s to me and reminds me of fleeces my parents wore during my childhood. It’s a warm layer that I’ve been wearing around the house and will definitely be useful as we transition from winter to spring.

Fabric focus

Double-sided quilted fabric was my aim for this project from the start. After ordering several swatches from Higgs and Higgs, I settled on this navy and cream floral. Pre-quilted fabric is a revelation, with a lot of the work being done for me.

I did toy with using alternate sides as a way of colour blocking, but ultimately decided against it.

Adjustments

The main adjustment I made was choosing not to include the placket pockets. The fabric is very thick in comparison to what I usually work with and I was worried a placket would look messy. There was also the added pressure of cutting two big holes in the front piece when I didn’t have enough fabric to make mistakes! This decision meant that I didn’t need the lining, which would have added additional bulk.

With this being a cropped jumper, I haven’t missed the pockets. Speaking of which, if I make this jumper again, I would add a few inches to the bodice length. Despite having a short torso, I find it rides up slightly.

Let’s get stitching

As a relatively experienced sewist (who is placket-shy!), this was a quick sew. I was a tad worried before the sleeves went on that I looked like an American footballer, but thankfully the sleeves weighed them down.

After sewing together, the final step was “just” to thread the elastic into the cuffs and waistband. Easy peasy, I hear you cry… The waistband behaved itself but the cuffs had other ideas. The multiple layers made it really difficult to thread a safety pin and elastic through. It took several attempts and even more stabs to the finger because the safety pin kept popping open! I’ve since bought a metal bodkin, which I suspect would have made the job significantly easier.

The Pogonip is such a cosy make, and I’ve been wearing it fairly constantly since I finished it. I definitely recommend for maximum warmth. Thanks for reading :o)

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The longest project

6th Jul 2024 yorkiemouse2 Comments

Hello all! This shawl was almost two years in the making and knit entirely from the comfort of my sofa.

With 7 contrast colours and a main colour providing borders, it wasn’t a project suitable for travel. Unlike other projects that have taken a long time, I experienced an odd sense of loss when I approached the end of this comfort project!

I started this shawl during a heatwave in July 2022. I remember the all-too-familiar procrastination involved in choosing a colour palette. I decided on purples and pinks, all from my sock yarn stash and bought a grey cone of merino as the main colour to tie them together. I don’t really wear grey – it washes me out – but the contrast colours are the stars of the show here.

I used a trick that I learned years ago to check the colours complimented each other. Wrapping a few strands around some card (actually a loo roll!) with the grey in between gave me a good idea of how they would look together.

From the top down on the swatch card:

“Rose Lichen” from Beehive Yarns

“Blummebette” from Skein and the Stitch (which I mistakenly called Bumbleberry for ages)

“Peony”, also from Skein and the Stitch

A kickstarter yarn from Botanical Yarn

“Solar Flare” from Noodle Soup Yarns

“Meadow” from Red Robin Yarns

“Phoebe” from Skein and the Stitch

Pattern

The pattern is the small Painting Honeycombs by Stephen West. It’s a nicely repetitive pattern, though I always needed the physical copy close by to start a new contrast colour to ensure I was counting correctly! The individual honeycombs act like tiny picture frames for the yarn and I loved finding specks of colour as I knit.

Thoughts nearing completion

In recent months, I have measured the shawl against other ones to gauge size. With hundreds of stitches on my longest cable, it was hard to tell the true length. There came a point where I decided that one last round of all seven colours would be about right.

At that point, I found myself both excited to be nearing completion and a sense of anticipation of missing this knit. I have never taken this long to complete a project and it’s been a constant feature next to the sofa, patiently waiting for me to come back to it and knit a few rows at a time.

Obviously, I get to wear this beautiful finished shawl, but I will miss knitting it.

Two practical approaches that I took whilst knitting my honeycombs are…

Every few rows of colour, I made sure to weave the ends in. I can’t imagine the despair of having to weave all the ends in at the very end. I used the “Weavin Stephen” method by the pattern designer. I have used this with all projects since I first saw it.
As I have discussed in other blogs, I am a fan of the spare yarn lifeline. Having so many stitches with slipped stitches in the mix, it was reassuring to know I only had to rip back a few rows if I messed up. In the end, I didn’t ever rip back, but the security of knowing it’s possible should not be underestimated!

I made sure to photograph the last colour before it was cast on. The bind off is one that I haven’t tried before. It looks really nice, but took about 3 hours!

My thoughts after blocking were “it’s bigger than I thought”! I suspect I’ll wear more as a blanket around the house but I love this knit and enjoyed the hundreds of hours it took to make. Thanks for reading :o)

Sewing · Uncategorized

Sprite Wings

1st Jan 20231st Jan 2023 yorkiemouse7 Comments

For Christmas this year, I made one of our nieces some Twig and Tale Sprite Wings. She loves dressing up and I knew these would be a welcome addition to her games. Once finished, I declared these wings “the best thing I’ve ever made”! It’s such a fun pattern and will hopefully inspire imagination and fun in our 5-year-old Nibling.

When we were having some quality Nibling time in the summer, I asked my niece which was her favourite of four screenshots of fabric. Going straight for the bright pink, she unknowingly picked the main fabric for her Christmas present. I used this floral pink for the main body of the wings and straps, along with plain quilting cotton remnants for the applique pieces. The wadding is made up of remnants too, but I made sure that I picked two pieces of the same composition.

An oddly-shaped mini quilt

Making the Sprite Wings is like making a strangely shaped mini-quilt. One of the first steps of construction involves stabilising the main pieces. The instructions suggest leaving the tip off the stiff interfacing to make it easier to turn it through. Unfortunately I misunderstood (likely watching TV with a gin whilst cutting!) and left the tips off the main fabric! I did an almost invisible mend on the tips, which I’m fairly proud of even if my niece doesn’t notice.

Next comes the quilting bit. It was so much easier to quilt these relatively tiny wings than wrestling a full sized double bed quilt through my machine. The letters in the below photograph refer to the applique pieces used later in the process.

Putting the wings together was really interesting for me because I really had to trust the instructions and follow them. With garment sewing, I usually have an idea of where things are going and the end construction. With these wings, it took until a few steps before the end for me to know how they would come together. The instructions are really clear, which was essential for the tricky bits. Plus, my “purple thang” was invaluable for poking out the detail of the wing tips.

The final stitches that close the gap between the two halves of the outer wings give them enough additional stability to stand proud and look amazing when worn. Here is our dining chair modelling them.

Of course, a final flourish was necessary in label-form. Thanks for reading, hope you make some wings and fly :o)

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Sophia cami

8th Aug 2021 yorkiemouse1 Comment

Hello! It feels like it’s been a while since I’ve blogged. With my new sewing set up, I’ve been batch cutting, which is more effective. However, that means batch sewing, batch photographing and batch blogging!

Today I’m writing about some nightwear that I sewed up in an afternoon and has a touch of decadence about it. It’s also hot off the machine, which is always fun to write about.

I have been following Evie La Luve on Instagram for a while now and absolutely love her “Let the Dice Design” stories. Whilst I don’t have any current desire to sew lingerie (never say never), I wanted to buy a pattern to support her business. The Sophia cami is a two layered top that I’m planning on wearing for bed so I wanted material with a lot of drape.

I bought this mink coloured sandwashed satin from Sew Me Sunshine ages ago with “fancy pjs” in mind but it’s been sitting in my stash for some time now. The drape on it is amazing but it’s a slippery sucker (to quote Pretty Woman!). I also had some gold remnants from my liquid gold Kew dress which I thought would compliment the mink for the bows. If you’re going to have huge bows, they may as well stand out.

Fitting and cutting

As I am only planning on wearing my Sophia cami for bed, I took my bust measurement without a bra. The finished garment is quite a relaxed fit, with a generous waist so the bust is the important part to fit.

I cut a straight Small but I wish I had added a few inches to the length, or maybe another even a third layer. I have a short torso and the cami sits just above my tummy button. I should say that is how this pattern is designed, and it’s my personal preference to want it a bit longer. Yet again, I was reminded of the importance of a toile. The top still fits, it’s just not something I’ll answer the door to the postie in!

The fabric was challenging to cut out with it being sooooooo slippery. One of the main pieces needed the hem levelling up after cutting, but the ties needed a lot of levelling up when I pinned them together in pairs. By some miracle, they all looked fairly uniform after I turned them through which was a relief.

Photo showing off the points of the ties

Sewing

The Sophia cami came together really quickly. If I had made in a more stable fabric, it probably would have taken half the time! There are some really lovely details, like French seams on the side seams which I would have done even if the pattern hadn’t suggested as this fabric frays. As with a lot of lingerie patterns, the seam allowances are small which is great for using less fabric.

Finishing

Apart from wanting a bit more length, the top fits well and I’m looking forward to wearing it to bed. I’m tempted to topstitch the ties as, in general, they can be unruly when trying to iron. I also think that if the ties are topstitched, I might get away without ironing it at all! Always a bonus :o)

I think my tension was a bit too tight for the topstitching on the cami as it’s sitting slightly “proud”. I think understitching the neck and underarms instead of topstitching would sort that out, but also keep everything where it should be.

All it needs now is some Tap pants to match! I still have some of the main fabric so I’m hoping to make some bottoms to go with my new pj top.

Thanks for reading :o)

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Sewing Room Tour

2nd Jul 2021 yorkiemouse4 Comments

Hello all! Something a little different today. I thought you might like to take a little tour of my new sewing room. We moved house in March 2021 and I’ve been lucky enough to commandeer a whole room for sewing!

First up is where my machine lives. I like to sew near a window so that I get as much natural light as possible. However access to plugs meant I couldn’t sit directly below a window. The little drawers in my desk are really handy for keeping scissors, thread spools, pins etc to hand. The only chair we had was a dining chair so I whipped up a cushion to make it softer to sit on.

Alongside my machine is a tall cutting table. I love this table as it’s set at my standing height which means I don’t need to bend over to trace (#teamtrace) patterns and cut fabric. I bought a bar stool for perching on when my feet get sore. Sorry it’s a bit untidy in this photo – I snapped it after I had been cutting some fabric and didn’t tidy up my glass or the pattern instruction booklet.

With the help of my Dad and his handy tool kit, we modified the table to store rolls of fabric at the end. It’s rare that I have rolls but I picked these up really cheaply at a market. Longer term, I can store my Swedish tracing paper on the rack as the make I get comes in long rolls.

You may be able to see the little plant on the end of the table. Over lockdown, I became an enthusiastic “plant Mum” and have added a little one to my sewing room. I sometimes chat to the plant to bounce ideas around but he doesn’t ever give his opinion!

The rolls of fabric lead me on to my stash storage. I like having my stash ‘on show’, rather than neatly tucked away. Easy access and visibility helps curb my spending as I can see what I’ve got. I’ve got an amazing vintage dresser that I picked up at a local furniture charity shop. It needed some love and attention so I gave it a coat of bright yellow paint and it’s fabulous now. I’ve got a basket of remnants on the top shelf, cottons and viscoses on the middle shelf then jersey on the bottom shelf. The small unit next to the dresser has all of my paper patterns, although some larger patterns are hanging on a vintage wall hook.

The some loose baskets on the floor are mainly filled with yarn and fabric scraps and they tuck neatly under my cutting desk when I haven’t been rifling through them.

Every sewist needs a good ironing board. Mine is in front of the mirror at the moment. The cover was getting a bit tired so I replaced it with the same fabric I used for my cushions so that everything matches! The full-length mirror is so useful if I’ve making a toile that requires lots of fitting, or when taking outfit photos for #memademay.

And that concludes my sewing room tour. I hope you’ve enjoyed it and got some inspiration for your sewing/craft rooms. Here’s a few pictures of me in the room wearing a recently knitted scarf and a new jumper.

With the “tour” over, I really want to credit Daddy Mouse for making this amazing Sewing Room for me. It was a total surprise gift for my birthday and it’s so cute and detailed. He sent some “construction” photos through which give a good idea of scale if you’re not sure how big ‘Lego Hannah’ is (she’s a standard Lego person). Some of pieces are miniscule – e.g. the tiny French curve. It’s even got a battery powered light…essential for sewing!

If you’re interested in buying a kit, they’re from RoboTime but in the UK, my Mum found this one on Amazon by searching for “DIY Sewing Room”.

Thanks for reading :o)

Sewing · Uncategorized

You Can’t Buy This

23rd Apr 20219th May 2021 yorkiemouse4 Comments

Hello! It’s been a while. After a busy few months of house-moving, I’ve finally got my sewing space set up and I’m raring to go. Plus, I have the ultimate comfy dungarees to wear whilst deciding where to put pictures up and endlessly relocate plants until I find their favoured growing spot.

By Hand London released their Leo pattern a few weeks before we moved and I fell for them. The pleats, the tie straps, the elasticated ankle…the crotch (not something I thought I’d ever type). I loved the pattern but wasn’t sure whether they would suit me so I waited until a few versions started popping up to see them on different body types, then clicked “buy”.

I ordered a print-out from The Fold Line, who managed to get my pattern to the new house a day before me. The excitement of our new home was heightened by the realisation that I already had crafty post in the building.

Viscose linen dreaminess

I have already used this viscose linen from Lamazi Fabrics and love how it feels, plus it’s very well behaved when sewing. I don’t really like pure linen because it creases as soon as I look at it but the added viscose means this fabric barely creases. I wore my grass green Kew Skirt a lot last summer and the idea of dungarees in the same fabric appealed to me, particularly when they have such voluminous legs to emphasise the drape! The texture of this fabric is dreamy and looks like it should have quite a weight to it, but it’s actually really light.

I also used some bias binding from Sea Salt that I’ve had in my stash for years, and some Sea Salt remnants for in-seam pockets.

Fitting

As this was such a new pattern, blog posts were limited but fortunately there were a few by petite sewists by the time I came to trace my pattern. In terms of adjustments, I:

took3″ off at the leg shortening line
took 2″ off at crotch shortening line
sized down rather than up according to the finished garment measurements. The hip measurement is the key one so I can get in and out as there are no fastenings
added in-seam pockets

I also added two labels as dungarees are a great canvas for labels. “Room For Cake” (Pink Coat Club) is an understatement – I could get a starter, main and pudding in these dungarees. I also put a visible KATM label on the bib, which inspired the title of this blog. Anybody who grew up in the 90s is likely to know MC Hammer, his infamous “Hammer pants” and his hit “You Can’t Touch This”. His song was already on loop in my head whilst making my Leos due to the style but when I spotted this label, I changed the lyrics to You Can’t Buy This!

Gadget alert

I love a gadget, but also recognise that a lot of them aren’t essential. My Dad is still trying to convince me that his “pineapple corer and slicer” is the best gadget but I keep referring him back to the knife block.

However…..I’m totally converted with loop turners. After spending over 30mins turning my first strap manually, I ordered a set of loop turners. When they arrived, I turned the remaining three loops in the time it took the kettle to boil. Converted!

I’ve been wearing these dungarees on and off since they came off my machine and they are so comfortable. I’m glad I took some of the length (depth?!) out of the crotch as I think they would have swamped my petite stature otherwise.

Thanks for reading. If anybody needs me, I’ll be singing MC Hammer. :o)