MANSWAP #5 – The actual Plan
I have taken a little break recently, but that has given me plenty of time to firm up my plans for Gus’s SWAP. This involves a wardrobe of 11 items that I have to complete by the end of April this year.
I announced my original garment plan in a previous post.
I have since fine tuned it. The colours have come out a wrong. They just all look the same – dirty, brownish/greyish shades. Really they are varied and rather subtle.You will see them again when I make the outfits up.
Essentially we have white, grey, grey-blue, yellowy beige and dark green. The bomber jacket will be made with painted silk. I have illustrated this with the piece I am creating for Brenda but I intend to get Gus to paint his own fabric. The bomber jacket will be the stand out piece in this collection. Menswear is a bit more boring than womenswear – most men just wear blue, black, grey and white. This introduces a little bit of colour but is big on neutrals. For the bomber jacket I want to use all the colours in the collection so that the jacket goes with all the bottoms – funnily enough Brenda’s colours are quite similar, but I think we will have yellow rather than red and pink.
The shirts are white at the moment but I haven’t bought the fabric so we can go a little off piste with the shirts in due course. Although I have put down the Make My Pattern shirt I haven’t toiled it, and may need another brand. I am actually starting to sweat a little in case those damn traps trip me up again. If I struggle too much I will revert to T or sweat shirts, or even do more knitting. Knitting as opposed to fitting? I wonder.
Anyway this is the plan. I will leave Gus to react to it.
- Long sleeved Shirt
- Short sleeved Shirt (adapt shirt pattern by shortening the sleeves)
- High waisted jeans
- Corduroys
- Smart shorts (adapt trouser pattern by shortening the legs)
- Work trousers
- Summer Tailored jacket
- Winter Tailored jacket
- Bomber jacket
- Alpaca “Lore” jumper (already completed)
- Polo neck jumper
Eleven garments, seven patterns. The SWAP rules allow 8 patterns so I can use one more if my plans change.
The fabrics seem to photograph better if we put them all together – denim from stash (selvedge denim and shirt fabrics not purchased yet. Silk for bomber will be created at the end).
That’s it for now.
I have completed one sweater, with one pair of brown corduroy pants and the green polo neck in the works. I hope to have at least one of these done by next week.
Secret #Stitchingsanta
The idea behind the Secret Stitching Santa, organised by the talented and dedicated Sheila of SewChet, is that a variety of sewing and knitting bloggers make or buy presents for others. I did it last year and made a life long friend – Megan of Pigeon Wishes who used to live round the corner from me. Last year my Secret Santa present went to Lancashire to Navy Blue Threads. I was delighted when she made a lovely jacket from some of the fabric I sent her, but mortified when I realised that the book I had covered with hand printed fabric for her was actually last years diary. She forgave me, thankfully.
While I love this kind of stuff I am horribly late with getting organised for Christmas so felt overwhelmed by the very special gifts that my Secret StitchingSanta Caren sent to me.
She writes of her own excitement when her gift arrived and I felt very similar.
Like most people I had not received an actual surprise present for years – since I was a kid really. At Christmas I often use it as an excuse I tend to buy a few nice things for myself around Christmas time (this year I bought a coffee coloured bra, some Jo Malone perfume and a bag for my knitting needles) but discourage others from giving me gifts as I have more than enough of everything I want. I encourage “consumable” presents from family (and they didn’t disappoint – especially Charlotte’s home-made biscuits). My daughter gave me waterproof over trousers in purple – an excellent choice, and my daughter in law Bianca gave me a very useful toiletries bag – perfect for my swimming kit – shampoo and moisturiser.
But the present from a stranger was the envy of all the family, especially the grandchildren who thought the large, nicely-wrapped parcel was bound to be for them. “No it’s for me!” Caren lives in Lancashire, and here I was just a few miles away opening her present in the same county – the parcel had been down and up the motorway before I came to open it. It was pretty exciting, once the kids had finished ripping open their own presents, to have the a tiny tot wobble over clutching “Grannie’s present”.
They asked if they could open it. They couldn’t believe their eyes. Nor could I! Inside the box there were a dozen smaller presents, many wrapped individually. So many colours and details. It really was an astonishing gift.
I really couldn’t believe that someone could have taken so much time, trouble, thought and kindness to put this gift box together (even the box itself is a proper storage box that I will certainly reuse). Clearly a person with so many different craft skills – a handmade card; Mr and Mrs Penguin; a personalised, embroidered, crazy patchwork stocking; two gorgeous vintage button trees with bells; some absolutely unique wine holders with special red and green Christmas hats. Including the wine! And chocolate in the stocking! Plus some nice sewing materials – patchwork pieces in coordinating browns, adhesive fabric (another great idea I had never seen before), embroidery threads, and super useful crane scissors. And finally from Tiger – the nice Danish shop – special Christmas tea, a metal tea maker and a pack of coverable buttons. And a Christmas cracker! Caren must have blown the budget as well as spending hours on the making.
What can I say? My whole family were flabbergasted. So much thought, time and generosity – and so many things I will enjoy for months to come. I have already decided to make little purses with the patchwork fabrics. The wine bottle ladies are such fun and once we have drunk the wine I want to put them on to other bottles, so that they can keep on making me smile. The trees, and the penguins, will be packed away with my Christmas decorations and will feature on next years tree, but I will keep the scissors in the stocking in my sewing drawer where I will use them most days.
Caren is not a dressmaker, and doesn’t come from a family of arty, crafty types, but after attending a patchwork demo about seven years ago she began to experiment with making
“cute and quirky hand-made items. I was sewing by hand for over a year before I ventured onto a sewing machine, then there was no stopping me! I have made many lap quilts…and four full sized double bed sized quilts, all quilted by hand”.
Despite not having done art or sewing since school Caren taught herself to draw and paint as well and she sells many of her art works through her Etsy shop.
Finally I wanted to show you our Christmas dolls, and their recipients, although I was careful to refer to them as “little guys” with the lads. All three grandchildren named the dolls after themselves, appreciated and cuddled them. Making and giving creates a wonderful feeling. Thank you Caren, thank you Sheila and thank you to my lovely family who made Christmas so very special this year.
How to make your own dressmaking fabric by painting on silk
Happy New Year – I am back! We were away for Christmas and New Year, without access to the internet.
What do you do when you can’t log in? It’s a challenge, I can tell you!
This is what I did
- read some books
- enjoyed our new home in the Cotswolds
- spent time with the family
- went to the gym/pool, often with the family
- did some knitting
- and painted a piece of silk for Brenda, which I will write about later.
Anyway since I showed a picture of what I made for Brenda on Instagram a few people asked how I did it, including Stitched Up Sam. I often use hot wax but this is not essential, and it involves a piece of equipment that not everyone has (or dangerously heating candles on the stove – not recommended). Below I explain how to do it with the minimum of special equipment.
I am absolutely not an expert but I have done a term of silk painting at the Mary Ward Centre, and I have made lots of painted silk linings. Two years ago one of my SWAP dresses was made from painted silk. If you search painting on silk images you will see lots of professional looking work and art. My way is the quick and dirty way.
As you can see from the photos above I am far from a proficient painter. I just choose some colours I like and sort of daub them on. I was thinking of peonies when I made my dress fabric, although Clarinda Kaleidoscope asked me if they were peaches. I didn’t even plan out the flowers on this one – you can see how they are sort of randomly spaced. I was very aware with the bodice that I didn’t want blossoms on my bosoms, so I avoided that – but the design is not well-balanced.
I have improved a bit since this effort and made a nice, small piece of painted silk on another occasion. I intended to use this for my SWAP last year, but that plan fell by the wayside.
You will need
- A piece of natural 100 per cent silk. Any silk will do – I have used habotai, crepe, satin and stretch silk with elastane. White or natural cream is the best colour but you could use a pastel shade if you want. Get at least one metre. You can cut out or draw out your pattern pieces first if you want to get the design to work perfectly (eg pattern matching or motif placement). But I will assume you are just painting the whole thing.
- Some silk paints eg Setasilk, Javana silk paints. You can make every colour from Red, Blue and Yellow. But I find black is useful for darkening. To make colours lighter don’t add white – just dilute them more. You can get these paints on-line or (in the UK) Cass Art shops stock them.
Setasilk silk paints - At least one decent quality paint brush. I have two – a fat one and a thin one
- A paint mixing tray or just some little pots
- Some water
- Something to cover the table and an apron. It can get a bit messy, but the paint will wash off floors etc if you get to it quickly. When it dries it goes sort of rubbery, but can be rubbed off.
The process
- You could work the design out first, but I can’t be bothered. I just choose the colours I like and then go on instinct. If you choose the colours you like to wear you are not likely to go wrong. You can always make a small handkerchief or headscarf practice first.
- You can mark your cloth with pins, washable fabric pens or tacking. This makes it easier to plan the pattern placement. I find getting the midline in (where you would normally fold the fabric for cutting on the fold) and then regular spaces is helpful. With Brenda’s fabric I just kept folding it in half to get the markings in a sensible place – that way there was no waste
- Some fabric may need washing first. I don’t normally bother.
- I start by putting one motif in a specific place eg midline at the markings. Then add a similar or different motif to its left or right or whatever to build up a balanced pattern.
- Start with the lighter colours, and let them dry before adding the next colour. Or not. If the colours are wet then they bleed into each other, which is a nice effect. Another thing you can do is wet the fabric (with a paintbrush) and paint onto this. This creates a sort of water-colour effect which is very pretty.
- If you are doing this on a table under lights it will dry fast so by the time you get to the end it will be dry enough for the next colour
- The proper way to use the paints is to dilute them. But I am lazy and I like strong colours so I often use it from the pot. This also ensures consistency of colour.
- If you mix colour you will get a more muted look. You can create greys and browns but if you want exactly the same shade throughout the piece you have mix it up in advance.
- When painting say purple, I start with blue with a dash of pink or red, paint with this colour, then add more red so the purple gets redder. This means I have several purples creating a nice, varied effect.
- That’s it. Just keep going until you like what you have created. I like to leave some white in a design, but you don’t have to. If you don’t like the effect you just keep adding more colour. For example with Brenda’s i messed around a lot with the brown/turquoise section to create a sort of malachite look.
- Once you are happy with the design you need to fix your paint by ironing with a hot iron, according to the instructions. I think it take maybe ten seconds? I just keep going over it for a while and it seems to fix just fine.
I hope this is helpful. Let me know if you have any good tips, or if you have a go.
A Handmade (Minimalist) Christmas
I am not very good at Christmas. I don’t like the pressure. I don’t like the unrealistic expectations. I don’t like the excess.
On the other hand I do love my family, and I really enjoy spending time with them. When you have the delight of four generations together that is something to celebrate. I love the smell of a real tree, I enjoy Christmas pudding, mince pies and Stollen. A few extra days off work is a treat, the many generous gestures made at this time of year, and pure delight of children are to be enjoyed. But the need to make an extra effort can be too much for me, and others.
This year I have just about managed to send cards to my board members and team, with a bottle of wine or cava. I have dispatched a gift to my #sewingsanta giftee. And I got a parcel back – from Bolton! How exciting.
I have arranged Amazon vouchers for the children to they can get what they want. For my mother we got a DVD about Queen Victoria, which she accidentally also asked my cousin David to buy for her. So we can watch it twice over Christmas. The grandchildren already have, we feel, as do their parents, more than enough toys. So many it can be burden to look after them all and they can take over your house. So Nick and I decided to make presents for our three grandchildren, but to keep them at Rainshore (our home in the country) so they can be played with there. Maybe in a different environment we can contrast a different style of life, and play, to contrast with the instant hit from brightly coloured, plastic commercial toys that they also enjoy.
This year we made dolls. I have already described the process. Nick came to a second workshop with me so we now have three dolls. The “Ted” and “Maia” dolls sit alongside dolls our fellow workshop participants made. As it was my second workshop I had time to do the hair and make a pair of dungarees. I cut these out freehand – not perfect but they will probably do.
Since then I made outfits for the “Kit “doll, and the “Maia” too – although Nick still has to finish her hair before Christmas. He is using up some left overs so Maia will have three different shades in her hair, and a long fringe. Ted’s hair is dark brown (and includes alpaca and cotton); Kit’s is a lot lighter (as IRL) and made from untwisted, organic wool. One of the most fun things about making these dolls is to create the hair from yarn. Mopsa admitted she has what she called “a yarn habit”. Some of her own dolls have amazing hair – soft and lofty thick non-plied yarn including mohair. These yarns seem only to be available in America. Kit’s dungarees match my CC fold skirt, and Maia’s dress matches one I made for Esme.
It was interesting attending a sewing course with my husband. I had originally bought the course for my friend Meddie, but the date wasn’t ideal for her. So Nick took her place. It was actually an amazing thing to do together. While I am more than happy to go to courses with complete strangers (who soon become good friends!), it was fun to go out as a couple. We had a nice lunch on Broadway Market and then had tapas for dinner too. It was a lovely, productive day and I was grateful to Nick for being a good sport and coming with me.
I was suprised how good he was at sewing. I had no idea he knew how to do it! Mopsa is a great, patient teacher, and with a little guidance Nick produced the most competent work. His doll is delicate and beautiful with green eyes, a sweet coral mouth, blondish-brown hair. And one leg shorter than the other – but we are all a little asymmetrical, aren’t we? But overall I think his proportions are much better to mine. My Ted’s head is probably a bit big.
I also enjoyed working with my 5 year old grandson Ted. He made a very nice special Christmas card, using collage, felt tips, paint and glue. He did lots of writing inside too. And my dear step daughter Charlotte sent home a big bag of chocolate biscotti. Ted, Nick, Kit and I ate them straight away. We couldn’t wait. Below, caught in the act of scoffing the lot.
Going for a home-made Christmas (I absolutely cannot bring myself to buy Christmas tat from shops, ironic or not) Ted and I also made the decorations for the Christmas tree. It was lots of fun and I like his attitude to colour and style.
We used air dried clay and Christmas biscuit cutters. And then painted them with inexpensive acrylic paint. Ted made some of his own shapes too which are even more charming. We hung them on the tree with a few reindeers Nick had made. And then on top of the tree I put the sock monkey I had bought at the Advent Fair. This is lovingly made by Jackie Parsons of Boo Peep Kids. He has silver, removable wings at the back.
Finally we decorated the tree. The tree takes pride of place at Rainshore. Yes it is finished. Sort of. There are quite a few issues that still need fixing but we have lit the fire, slept the night there and we will use the oven very soon. I don’t want to share pictures until it is actually finished, but it is very exciting indeed.
The preparation for Christmas has been a bit stressful but now we should be able to relax a little and enjoy it. We don’t have internet in the new house, and it is very intermittent at my Mum’s. So I am not promising to post over Christmas/New Year.
“What the hand makes, goes back to the heart”
Silk painting commission
Some months ago I noticed I was getting a fair few comments from Brenda, in Oregon, USA. She appeared to be reading my blog (all 750 or so posts) from start to finish, and commenting on several. I was flabbergasted. Most people treat a blog like a magazine or newspaper, reading the latest posts, but having very little time for the old news. I am like that myself. Even with the blogs I enjoy I rarely go back to the very beginning, although of course I do search or read back as my interest takes me. But I was so touched by her interest, and commitment, that I emailed her directly, and we started “talking”. Mainly about our printing, dyeing, surface decoration experiences. She, for example, has lots of knowledge about eco-printing with leaves and other plant matter, natural printing techniques, and quilting and sewing and knitting. And as we talkied a bit more about ourselves I found her an intriguing and kind person. I followed her on Instagram @bmarksor. So it was a bit of a shock when she wrote to tell me that she had breast cancer, and that she would be off line for a while. I wished her well and hoped for the best.
Well of course I carried her in my mind for a week or two as I knew she was waiting for detailed results, the prognosis and the treatment plan. Although I have never had cancer myself, like many people, I have been close to lots of people who have. Surgery, chemotherapy, tests, sickness, pain, worry – much of our experience with cancer is negative. So after a week or two I reached out to ask her how she was doing. Thankfully Brenda was happy to talk about what was happening and I appreciated her openness and willingness to share her horrible experiences in a way that made them bearable – for herself, her family and her friends. And she allowed me in, and we have continued to talk about losing her hair, and feeling exhausted, and preparing for surgery, which will take away her breasts.
During this time she has displayed a very strong character, a scientific interest in the treatment and its effects on her body, the social and personal issues associated with her condition. She has a very positive view of life and her future that I find encouraging and inspiring. And in the midst of this she has been focused outwards, and amongst other things has been following my SWAP plan! She wrote offering me some beautiful fabrics that she had bought to make smart work wear for her job as a lecturer. She is off work at the moment and is probably thinking that even if she goes back to this job she won’t want to dress so “corporate” in future. So she kindly sent me swatches of all her fancy fabrics (about 10 of them) and asked me to take them all, or to select which I would like to receive, as a gift. I was overwhelmed but I offered to pay for the postage as I had a feeling that it would be prohibitive.
In between her treatments Brenda went to the post office and weighed her parcel, and gradually we agreed to take out items that were too expensive to post. Instead I proposed that Brenda, when she has recovered, comes to stay with us in London, or by the lake, in England. I hope that she will do this – it was not an idle offer! In the meantime we agreed I would make her something and she suggested that I paint a piece silk, so that she can make up a special outfit for afterwards. Last week a parcel arrived that included a beautiful piece of blue wool to make trousers for Gus, some high quality natural silk, inspiration pictures and some stones. I will write about the stones, and the blue wool, on another occasion.
Brenda will be a different shape after the operation, and the chemo has diminished her appetite, but Brenda is able to think positively about being cured, and putting some creative energy into making a new wardrobe. In the same way that when she lost her hair she made some lovely hats she plans to make a special dress that will flatter her and make feel good about herself. And I get to help and play a part in that! What an honour. But also, what a responsibility!
My task is to use these pictures as inspiration. The Alabama Chanin stencil designs are, as she notes, “botanical, movement, medium scale, could be beautiful in brush strokes”. I find these images a bit scary – for my attempts at stencils see here. I generally paint flowers (and leaves, but they are a supporting act for me), but the AC seems to be more about stems and leaves. And the patinated copper jewellry (which I love) is also leaf shaped, and the peacock feather motif is elliptical. Again my natural shape when painting is somewhat rounded.
The colour inspiration is also a little bit worrying – I think we are going for green and purple scheme, with brown, blue and turquoise. But also there is something in that first swatch that is talking to me which is the warmer gingery brown/beige and the cherry red. I think these two colour provide a useful bit of contrast, alongside white. Brenda can certainly wear deeper cool colours but I also want to get some lightness into it as it is silk.
I am excited about this commission which will be challenging. I want to create something that Brenda loves and can use to make a gorgeous dress. At the moment she is suggesting I create the bodice and she will create the skirt, but what I am thinking perhaps is to paint say half the length of the fabric, then batik wax the painted areas, and dye the fabric say dark green, or brown or navy, so that there is a nice plain section and the patterned section with the same background colour. I think it would be easier if I knew the pattern or shape Brenda was planning for the dress but it may be too soon for her to decide.
I can’t wait to get started but I will let it brew in my mind for a little while.
MANSWAP #4 Making a tailored jacket for Gus
The two jackets
You may remember that I started with the idea of making a 1940s vintage jacket for my son Gus. I toiled it twice and made a number of alterations. On the third iteration, discouraged by the amount of work I was having to do, I listened the wise words of my esteemed followers and commentators. I ditched the old pattern and bought a new one – Vogue 8988. I would like to make this up in grey wool, and beige linen – a winter and summer version.
This pattern is labelled “Plus Difficile” if you speak French or prefer metric. Or really don’t want to admit that this means making it up will not be a breeze. Tres difficile.
Anyway I did the first fitting, having added extra length. I am not sure why I did this. I didn’t have Gus here very often, so I looked at the measurements I had taken. Anyway, long story short it was long. Tres long. I can’t even bring myself to show you photographs.
But I pinned it up and started fitting the bodice (leaving off the sleeves and collar). And do you know what? All the issues I had with the 1940s pattern reappeared here. So much for men’s bodies changing over the decades! My son is awkward to fit, whatever the period. His parsnip shape means that an average jacket is tight across the chest, and won’t close across the CF, but is baggy across the waist and hips, especially in the back of the jacket. To fit Gus properly we need to take width in from across the back of the jacket especially in the (sway back) waist area, and add it to the front of the jacket to accommodate the broad chest.
I made the following adjustments:
- shorten by 5cms
- add additional width (2.5cms) across the front chest
- take in at CB and side seam by about 1cm each, tapering slightly for the waist
I altered the pattern and recut the shell. I am now on Toile No 4. Or “Toilet” as Kim’s autocorrect calls it! And here is a close up of the problem area.
Now apart from just being too small (still) the issue of the traps re-appears. You can see how the neckline is lifted away by the thickness of Gus’s traps.
I had the realisation that Gus is the archetypal “97-pound weakling” who has done a fair amount of gym work. Inherently he is a skinny lad, but his upper torso strength is considerable. He can even lift me up bodily above his head (that shuts me up!). You can see in the old cartoon ads that I grew up with that Charles Atlas has the same big traps. I wonder where he bought his jackets! Come to think of it he always seems to appear without a shirt – maybe he couldn’t find one to fit.
When he tried the toile on Gus and I both noticed, that apart from just being too small across the upper chest we have the neck-and-traps issue. I was at a loss. Gus gave me some advice.
“Just post the pictures and one of your sewing friends will tell you what to do”.
Well, it’s not a bad idea. Here are some more.
The other, related issue seems to be that it is too small.
Gus’s chest is most definately 38″. The toile does sort of fit across the actual chest line, so in that sense this pattern is the “right” size. But I think i need to cut the jacket in a size 40 chest to get sufficient width across the shoulders which are bigger than an average 38″ man. I don’t know why this didn’t occur to me previously.
Unfortunately because I had already cut the pattern down to 38″ I had to buy the pattern again. I know. I am an idiot. But £12 is a good price for learning such an important lesson. When working with someone else’s body don’t assume anything. Trace off the pattern, then play with it. That way you can make further adjustments. Actually I realised that I would always rather make something smaller, than adding width to a pattern. Also that getting a good fit across the shoulders and upper body is the most important place for me, and therefore it is likely to be the most important place to fit on someone else. If the upper chest and shoulders fit well then the other alterations are easier, I think.
So I now have to make up the 40″ chest toile and have a look at that. The solution to the shoulder shape maybe to leave this seam open, just marking the stitch line, and then to fit it on the body. Along with Gus I request any good ideas please!
Sweater #2
In other SWAP news Gus has decided on a different, but rather similar, pattern (to the one he chose previously) for his jumper. This is a 1960s pattern rather than a 1940s one, and maybe the styling is a bit more Steve McQueen. I got the pattern on Clitheroe market for 20p. It’s an amazing pattern. The jumper comes in about 12 sizes and you can have set in or raglan sleeves. My goodness you could do two for everyone in the family, and in so many different colours. The pattern is designed for a synthetic yarn but I swatched some lovely dark green cashmere from Colourmart and Gus really liked it. I will make a start on the jumper after Christmas. I am still hopeful that I may be able to do one pair of trousers before Christmas (a second SWAP early bird), but if not I can always start on the jersey.
2016: The Hits and Misses of the Year
Lots of bloggers are doing this – looking back at what they made in 2016 and describing what went well and what did not. I don’t know who first “hit” on this idea, so I am sorry if I “miss” acknowledging them.
I have made about 30 items this year, plus four sweaters, and three hats. I enjoyed it very much and, as ever, I learned a lot. So how do I judge “the best” from “the rest”, and distinguish between the OK and the truly abominable?
I have objective information, via Instagram, of how many were liked. And while this is not totally reliable, as people like for all sorts of reasons, perhaps perfect strangers have less inhibition than people who comment on the blog. And I am not the most reliable at posting what I make, especially when it is a bit rubbish. With the blog I can explain, and learn, from my mistakes. With IG it is mainly visual – you don’t want to accidentally get likes for things that are “a fail”. But IG does provide a bit of fast feedback so I will include this information if I have it.
The hits
The hits are a mixture of genuinely liking the garment, and enjoying wearing it. Some I have worn occasionally and some frequently, so for me it is not about frequency alone. It is that I have pride in my work, and I feel good in the item.
I think my all time favourite this year is my hand painted, silk organza, “Six Nap” dress. I copied a shape, but made it my own. I loved doing the painting and I feel joyous when I put on this dress. I have only worn it a few times, but will again. I like it as it expresses a side of my personality – exuberance? (351 IG likes)
The second love is the silver leather skirt. It’s a simple skirt that didn’t take long to make, although the leather was expensive. I used a Cardin pattern and I felt this 1960s space age designer was so right for the fabric. It is almost mirrored and it is a skirt that gets me noticed. However I wear it quite often with very plain items – a navy or chocolate brown jumper, thick tights and boots or masculine shoes. And, for more formal work events, a dark jacket.
My grey haltner neck/off the shoulder grey dress was another sucess. I made the pattern myself. It is a simple princess-line, fitted dress, with a nice neckline, in a sober light blue-grey. I wore this last week for a cocktail party in the Shard. I wish I had underlined it to avoid the obvious hem (and the strapless bra was a lacey and lumpy), but I think this dress suits me. The zip is a silver separating zip giving a bit of interest at the back.(252 IG likes)
My first attempts at casual were a big sucess; my Birkin flares and my Lorelle jumper. I have worn these two items at least 30 times each. I love them together, and I love them apart. Very comfortable, easy to wear, flattering and very me, I feel. Neither are perfectly made. The jeans zip gave me a headache royale, and I the top stitching is a bit in your face (it is grey, but looks like white). But I like the styling, the shape and general look of the jeans. As for the jumper the subtle zig zags are just great and I like the way it sits nicely on my shoulders. (263 IG likes). Overall I love both these items and could live in them.
And two other slightly strange items are the floral hat and the cling film bodice. The bodice because it just fit perfectly and that was a suprise and a delight (most of the glory belongs to Pia of The Overflowing Stash. And the hat. Just because it is gorgeous. I haven’t worn it (yet). But it sits in our bedroom and looks at me, and it makes me happy with its glorious colour, its draped, folded beige Japanese wool-cotton, and its outrageousness. I have worn the navy one (last weekend actually), and the Schiaparelli Mad Cap often.
The items that didn’t work, or I don’t care for, or I have to alter or throw out are as follows:
The Perry Ellis dress is a fun dress but does nothing for me. The fit is loose all over – it is a long column and I am not. The only shaping comes from the sash. A frank commentor wrote:
I am surprised that you fitted it to your self so badly – do you not have good fitting skills. The armhole is way to low for you and you could have vastly improved the fit in neckline and across the bust. I look at alot of your photos and question your skill. I see glaring errors in fit across everything you make – your pants are the worst. Maybe some time to improve your skills would be worthwhile for you.
And talking of pants we have two here – neither of which fit. First are the disastrous cling film trousers – without Pia, Marijana and I made a bit of a hash of them. And then I used sweatshirt fabric for some drapey silk pants – the Designer Stitch Lena pants. I would have to include the pink sleeveless peplum jacket that was a waste of good fabric and zip. I lined it with a slightly too heavy fabric and it really looked stupid without sleeves. I had already made this self drafted top in grey and have worn that one a fair amount. The worse fail of the year was my pink YSL dress with the sequins. If I cried over failure this one would make me weep.
Anyway I am not sure it should be hit or miss. That sounds like I am shooting a target and making clothes is much more than that, at least for me. I think love and hate overstates the hate part. Most of the “failures” are learning experiences that I am very glad I had. Mainly because I now know more about what shapes suit me, how fabric behaves and how colours work. I think I would rather divide my home made clothes into “treasured” and “recycled”.
Moomins in London
A few years ago Nick and I went to Finland, to the wilderness, close to the Arctic Circle. It was full of snow and ice, the freshest air imaginable and the clearest skies. We had hoped to see the Northern Lights, which never appeared for us, but we cross-country skied. We walked in snow shoes. We climbed an ice wall with picks. We went out, pulled by Husky dogs and on a Skiddo. We played Frisbee and hockey in deep snow, sledged, and laughed our socks off. We built an igloo and I caught a fish in the ice. It was like being a kid, and such fun, and I still hold such a sense of achievement.
We also fell for the Moomins. I really loved the naked Hippo-like creatures with a retro feel and I wanted to buy a whole set of mugs at Helsinki airport. (But I didn’t). I had tried the stories as a youngster but didn’t really get them. I re-read a couple as an adult and found them both charming and profound. Not really children’s books at all.
So I was excited to read about an exhibition at the Southbank Centre which will be our Christmas treat, ideally with Ted, in the run up to Christmas. I love Scandinavian design – strong Swedish/Danish approaches, and our new home in the country has very much been influenced by Scandinavian style. We hope it will be a place we can truly experience Hygge – the log burning fire, the underfloor heating and the fact that it is built for comfort within a natural setting is all part of our thinking. On Nick’s birthday later this month we are planning a meal cooked outside (sadly without snow).
But the real reason I wrote this post is that I recently learned more about Finnish author Tove Jansson who both wrote and illustrated the books. Apart from the Moomin books she was a talented artist. I love the beautiful soft colours, the moody interiors and the femininity of the paintings. They remind me of Gwen John (the sister of Augustus), although Tove is on the scene 50 years later.
And of course, as ever with artists, I was interested in her clothes and appearance. She was precocious, drawing and painting and even publishing a book as a child. She was productive and driven. I love the pictures of her in her studio, surrounded by her wonderful art. I love her pleated, pocketed trousers, her little jumper and serious footwear. I love her slicked back hair and reticent look. Her wonderful flared pants and open-necked shirt in the second picture are also beguiling with a relaxed but industrious feel. And finally, at her summer-house in Finland, where people swim naked in the sea, enjoy the sun shine and being outside in fresh air she wears an amazing flower headdress. a chunky silver necklace and quite possibly the same shirt she wore 30 years earlier. What a beautiful woman – so much talent, so much experience, and quite a lot of sadness.
In the lead up to Christmas here is her recollection of Christmas in Finland and Sweden (her mother was Swedish). Uniqlo and Moomin have collaborated for years, so if you fancy a T-shirt or nightgown you can find an inexpensive one here. On the other hand Finnish designer Tuomas Merikoski’s latest collection was inspired by Moomin. He says “All the characters have very different personalities – some nice, some not so nice, some intelligent, and some not…it’s these differences that make a balanced society”.
PS. From this week I will be dropping my Friday posts and blogging just three times a week. One or two posts will cover SWAP and my other sewing/knitting projects, and one or two will cover general topics of style, art, fashion, exhibitions and history, like this one.
MANSWAP #3 – The Trouser Pattern
The trousers
Thank you to (grumpy) Karen who suggested I tried Make My Pattern. I was sceptical, to be honest. I have nice vintage men’s trouser patterns – why would I want Aldrich blocks?
Then I looked at the website and discovered it is a brilliant concept.
Joost de Cock has, apart from a memorable name, created a site that allows you to print off patterns (mainly for men) with your own measurements. He has not only digitised Winifred Aldrich’s basic trouser patterns, he has devised an algorithm to create the right dimensions, and he offers the patterns free. It is an amazingly generous offer.
But does it work?
The pattern
Joost offers a standard male trouser block and a slimmer, fitted trouser block. As my model is slim I went for the more fitted look. After a little puzzlement I typed in Gus’s measurements and ran off the pattern – on A3 paper, which is half the work. So far so good.
To test the pattern I made up a basic toile, omitting the pockets and fly. I put a (dark green) zip in the CF which is not very beautiful but it allows the trousers to be fitted. I used some remnants of an Ikea curtain for the waistband and ironed on some interfacing.
Fitting
You can immediately see the trousers are too long. That’s my fault as I measured the length generously. The waist is a little bit big too. But overall Gus was pleased with the rather old-fashioned, high waist look, which came to exactly the right spot for him – about 2cms below the navel.
With the back view you can see there is a little wedge that can come out of the CB waist band and about 1″ down where Gus is fairly flat. I pinned this out.
Once I had pinned up the hems and taken out about 1cm at the CB I think the fit is pretty good. Once the pockets, belt carriers and fly front is in these will look quite classy I think.
Gus’s back waist is higher than his front waist. This is something I might fix, but overall for a straight “out of the packet” experience this was second to none. Gus liked them. Even more surprising my daughter Esme gave them the thumbs up. Unbelievable.
Sewing with a Plan
Gus and I think we can use this pattern, as it is, for two pairs of trousers. The trousers will be one pair of cords, one pair in linen. We discussed the shorts and I suggested we might need a different pattern – perhaps slightly fuller. Esme argued that the waistband should be lower for shorts. In the end Gus prevailed. He thinks shorts should mainly look like cut down trousers. And he likes the high waist and wants it as a feature on his four pairs of trousers (cords, linen, shorts and jeans). So, apart from the jeans, we have the bottoms sorted. Not bad for just over one hours work.
Construction
Joost provides very detailed instructions for making tailored pants. For me they look a tad too detailed, but they are written for beginners – men who are being encouraged to make their own clothes. I think they are great for this purpose and there are some videos too, which I haven’t watched. When making pants for myself and Esme I wrote a post on the order of work part 1; and 2; I think I will refer back to this as it is slightly shorter. When I mentioned that Makemypattern trousers seemed promising Sue Stoney admitted her husband wore nothing else. No other under pants I mean.
My next knitting projects
While I am engaged in making a small wardrobe of clothes for my son Gus I will still want to make a few things for myself, but there is no pressure.
Some will be sewn, of course. I am not yet at the stage of conceiving a knitted skirt or dress. Nevertheless I did like the skirt Kari-Helene of Purl Alpaca was wearing when I met her. Here she is, plus the pattern. The third photo is from my Vogue book. It is a 1953 mohair skirt – rather wonderful I think, especially with the deep V necked sweater. It is very gathered into the waist – maybe there is too much fullness in it. It would need a slim waist and deep belt I think.
For me the main area of knitting action (at least for now) is the upper body – T shirts, long sleeved jumpers and a jacket. But mainly the pullover. These items suit my more relaxed life style to come – our home in the country is nearing completion and in the winter months it will be jeans and a jumper. Or as Lynn Mally taught me (to avoid saying elasticated waist trousers) “pull-ups” with a pullover – eeek – all that pulling! What about “pull ons”? What are those (shoes?) or pull-offs? I remember my mother using “roll-on” (deodorant), and wearing “roll-ons” – a kind of elastic band to which the stockings were attached, providing a little constriction in the stomach/thigh area.
Anyway I thought I would show you a few patterns I am impressed by, and seek your views, you amazing knit-people.
I have come across Anketrick, a Berlin-based designer, who makes soft, light weight patterns that appeal to me for wearing inside, in the warmer months, or under another jersey. While it is cold in the UK at the moment we rarely get snow and to be honest the main issue is the short, grey days rather than actual cold. This is one reason why I love a little colour, and if I make any of these up I shall probably avoid the neutrals. I am also playing around with the idea of just making a very simple sweater with lots of different colours – remnant yarns and bits and peices, but to date I have not created very much waste, more or less using up all the yarn that was specified for a project.
Next up are the chunky patterns, with texture. I have not done any cabling, although the Lorelle does require the most elementary moving of one stitch to another line, so a bit of proto-cabeling I guess. But I really want to have a go at this style of knitting, as part of my learning. (I have got a stranded colour/Fair Isle style top on the go, but will report on that after Christmas). My friend Bridget sent me a photograph from Purl Soho of their botanical sweater which is rather wonderful, but I am not sure this is the right look for me. I think it would be ideal on a straight figured woman. I was encoraged to try on the Mayan jumper by Tracey of Purl Alpaca and it is a nice top. I wanted it to come down quite a bit longer and would want to create a dark brown version, but I think this may be a good introduction to cables.
Finally I come to the designer patterns. I was very interested in the Perry Ellis designs and Erica sent me a pdf of the short pink cabled top from her book – thank you! In the meantime the book arrived and I have seen some lovely projects there. I especially like the red cardigan. I have been feeling quite anxious about doing a cardigan and a collar but this is such a gorgeous item (with the hat and lipstick), I might have to give it a try.
Anything else?
I am not yet reaching out to sock patterns, but I am keen to have a go at hats. I love the idea that for people who come to stay at Rainshore there will be a coloured hat to suit them, when the venture out into cold weather. I am not sure what is a good wooly hat style to go with, that will suit all the people in all the sizes. I am not that keen on this sort of jelly bag hat myself, and find it rather unflattering. Also it doesn’t really cover the ears very effectively. So I am still researching that one.
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