Sweater Mania

I'm having a massive shortage of sweaters in my wardrobe. Especially sweaters that I can wear with my high-waisted skirts. But you know how it is, basics usually end up at the end of the sewing list. Not anymore.

Before Christmas I decided it is time to overcome that sweater shortage and dug out my Colette Moneta dress pattern. Colette patterns have a great tutorial on their website showing how to turn the Moneta bodice into a vintage-style sweater.

I've made the Moneta once before (here) and struggled with the big sleeves. This time I substituted the sleeves with the sleeves from my Tilly and the Buttons pattern Coco - the sleeves fit me much better. I also copied over the armholes to make sure the sleeves will fit.

Although not perfect (yet) I'm more than happy with the result: three sweaters :) and all are made from leftovers! (Although not all of the main projects have made it to the blog)



Sweater No 1: Made from an orange sweater fabric (it has fleece on the inside) with beige rib knit for the waist and cuffs. The neckline is only turned and stitched with a zigzag stitch. I found it quite hard to find a color that goes with the orange and think my color combination is a bit retro (but very autumny). The sweater goes best with my Colette Beignet which I'm wearing in the pictures. I've made a Coco from the fabric, it is already photographed so you will see it soon.



Sweater No 2: I've made the Oslo Sweater (Seamwork) from this fabric and sadly didn't like the outcome at all (I think the Oslo in this fabric is just not my style). But I do love this sweater. For the waist and cuffs I used the wrong side of the fabric to have a bit of a contrast. Also I added a neckband to stabilise the neckline. For this version I made another change: I tightened the sleeves as they were massive on me. They don't look as massive on my version 1, because the orange sweater fabric is much more stable than this blue (ikat?) knit. This sweater goes best with my denim Delphine skirt.



Sweater No 3: This was the sweater I was most looking forward to. Because I've made a Coco from the fabric that I love (here). But for some reason I have not fallen in love with this sweater. It might be that I have troubles to pair it up with any of the garments I have. I'm wearing it in these pictures with an old H&M chiffon skirt. Lescha doesn't like this combination at all. I think it goes well together and the outfit looks very 1970s. This is probably enhanced by the rolled collar. So far I hadn't the courage to wear the outfit in public. Any suggestion what you would wear with this sweater?

In other news: As I said in my last blog post, we were house hunting for the last couple of month. Beginning of November we've made an offer that got accepted. However, the chain here moves rather slowly so we haven't moved yet. But because of all the house buying stress, I was depressed and not in the mood to look at my sewing machine at all (I'm one of these people who get easily overwhelmed with big projects - it reminded me of certain phases when I was sewing my wedding dress). Hence my absence from the blog. I'm much more relaxed now (probably because we can't do anything anyway) so I've made a couple of things that I want to share with you. Happy sewing ;)

A Purple Bronte Top

As soon as I saw the Bronte top from Jennifer Lauren, I knew I had to make it because I had utterly fallen in love with it and I still am. As I'm in strong need of jersey tops to go with all my skirts, the Bronte top is the perfect choice. Because of it's shrug-like shoulder detail it is much more than a basic top. And I like it :)

Excuse these back wrinkles, but the skirt was rotating around and so was the shirt!

Fabric: I used some purple light-weight jersey I bought in Walthamstow market. It was only £1.50/meter. Nonetheless it feels super soft and nice to the skin. I always have a hard time choosing plain fabrics, but this fabric has a pattern knitted into it and I like it so much.

Size: For the bust I cut a size 8 and for the waist/hip a size 10.

Worn together with my Burda flower skirt.

Alterations: I had made a muslin from an old jersey first and that showed me two fitting issues: I needed a swayback adjustment of almost 2" and a square shoulder adjustment. For the swayback adjustment I just took out 2" at the center back tapering to nothing towards the side seam. The shoulder adjustment was a bit more difficult and I ended up tracing the armholes (starting above the notches) and shoulders at a size 10. I then blended from size 10 to size 8 from the shoulders to the neckline. I hope this makes sense. I cut the neckband in size 10.

Construction: Thanks to Jennifers instructions and her sew-along a breeze :) I sewed the whole top on my overlocker and topstitched the hem with a twin needle. It took me only 6 hours from cutting to finishing Bronte. Which is fast for me :)

Embellishments: I used some buttons from my stash. These buttons actually come from Ukraine, where I found them in an old shed. So I gave them a good soak and scrub and now they are like new. But I like the idea that they came from somebody else clothes and have their own history. I might call them vintage buttons, haha.

Buttons from Ukraine.

Have I worn it yet? Once to take the photos on a super hot day. I suppose the fabric is completely made from polyester, because it wasn't breathable at all. But I don't mind in autumn to be a bit more warm! So I like it a lot! I have made already a second one which you will see soon :)

On another note, I'm going to move to Cambridge (UK) in August. So the next time will be stressy and it might become more quit on this blog. I'm even not sure if I can take my sewing machine with me for the first couple of month as I might be living in a flat-share, buh.

Are any of you readers from Cambridge? Can you give me any tips about places to live, fabric shops, sewing communities and want to meet up? I would be happy to hear from you :)

Yeah For Pink: Burda Kimono Top

Yeah for pink! Pink top, skirt and flowers :)

Pattern: Burda No 1 from Burda Style Special autumn/winter No5/2013. When I saw this outfit, I fell totally in love with it - with the top and the skirt. So today I am showing you the top, which I actually finished 2 month ago. The skirt I almost stitched up as well, just in time for the warmer weather.

Fabric: Some super soft and silky jersey which I bought in Goldhawk Road. It has an amazing drape and was only £3.50/m. I bought enough to make another shirt - probably a Renfrew.

Alterations: Unluckily, the smallest size for the top was size 38 and I am only a size 36 in Burda bodices. So, I graded the whole top down one size. I have no idea if I did it right, but I only measured the difference between the sizes 38 and 40 and then subtracted the difference from size 38 to get size 36.

Construction: I sewed the whole top on my overlocker, hardly looking at the instructions. The only thing I struggled with was the V-neckline. According to the instructions, I had to start and end attaching the neckband at the tip of the V and then somehow stitch the neckband together. After loads of swearing and hand stitching I managed to get kind of a V tip I could live with. If you have any tips about how to finish V-necklines of jersey garments - please share them.

To gather the sleeves and bust, I first basted with my sewing machine and then used my overlocker to attach the sleeves to the sleeve band. I finished the hem with my twin needle. Although the instructions didn't say so, I stabilised the shoulder and waist seams with clear elastic.

Do I like it? I do and have worn it already several times. It just makes me feel so relaxed and actually the top is the perfect garment for a lazy weekend. I have worn it already combined with jeans, a skirt and my weekend jogging pants.

Worn with my Colette Meringue.

Knitting: A Cropped Sweater for Winter

I finished another sweater! (No, I didn't make the skirt.)

Pattern: Andi Satterlund's cropped sweater for winter (which is a free pattern!)

Size: I knitted with 5 mm needles size XS for the bust and size S for the waist. To get size S at the waist, I just did less decreases. The sleeves are also size S - here I picked up a few more stitches.

Yarn: Cascade Yarns Cascade 220 in mystic purple and rose.

Ignore my bad posture...

Construction: The pattern is really straight forward and thanks to the many photographs easy to follow. I only had problems with the scalloping - I actually had to unravel it three times! It was my first time knitting with two colors and after my first attempt, the scalloped part was too tight and I had problems getting the sweater over my bust. On my second try, the tension was alright, but I had made a mistake when knitting the scallops. So I frogged again. Finally, my third attempt turned out perfect :)

Another difficult part for me were the sleeves! The armscye is shaped with short rows and when knitting the first sleeve I somehow miscounted the stitches. I ended up having only half of the required rows - I noticed it only when knitting the second sleeve. So, if you have an eagle eye, you will see that one of my sleeves sits much better on the shoulders than the other. I am only saying that to you :) I am not going to point anybody else towards it! I wet blocked the sweater, which enormously improved the fit of the scallops.

I do have a question though: Do I have to block a wool sweater every time I washed it? Or is it fine, when I just dry it flat?

Scallops! The ribbing looks also much nicer after the blocking!

Do I like it? Wrong question! I absolutely love it!!! The colors are my favorite ones. And the fit is just perfect :) The sweater goes perfectly with high-waisted skirts and even fits over my Hawthorn Shirtdress!

Have I worn it yet? I have! I wore it to work, but nobody noticed. I was a tiny bit disappointed :P But Lescha said it is actually a compliment because the jumper does not look home made :) Yeah, such a nice guy!

Ribbed neckline.

What's next? Winter is not over yet and I am still in knitting mood. I think I need another cardigan to go with my dresses. Next on my project list is the Agatha sweater, also a pattern from Andi - I just love her designs. I have the pattern already and was a bit shocked. I wanted to challenge myself and that's why I went for a lace pattern. But seeing the pattern, I am a bit scared! I will get the wool for my birthday (which is beginning of March).

Another question: The wool will be Cascade yarns. I am getting it in yellow. But I still have some red one at home from my owl sweater. Can I use the the red wool to make a swatch, or is it better to wait for the yellow one that I am actually going to use? I just thought they might behave differently because of bleaching or dyeing? 

What is she doing? I am holding the washing line out of the way :)

Owl Christmas Jumper

Just in time for Christmas, I finished my knitted Owl Jumper. I am a little bit proud because it is my first knitted jumper (and my 2nd knitted garment) and I even made slight adjustments to the pattern.

Here come the owls!

Pattern: Owls by Kate Davies. When I saw it, I just fell in love with it because of the little owls at the neckline. Having been an owl fan even before the owl-trend started, I just couldn't resist!

See the little black buttons? Love that detail :)

Wool: Cascade Yarns Eco + in Merlot. Because of the color, I think it is suitable as a Christmas jumper, hehe.

Pretty from the back as well.

Construction: It took me only one and a half month, so pretty quick and easy :) You can see my Ravelry notes here, if you are interested. It took me longest to knit the sleeves! They were so boring, but otherwise it was fun :) (It was no fun, however, to sew on 40 little 5mm buttons, buh, took me a while.)

Look me in the eyes, hehe.

Have I worn it yet? Nope, because the UK weather is quite warm at the moment. But I will wear it in cold Germany, where it will keep me warm and cosy.

Do I like the jumper? I love it! The color, the fit, the OWLS!

One more to go, just because :)

Last one!