Attempt at visible mending

A much loved Patterns 4 Pirates Tulip Tee (2021? white long sleeves). Is looking sad. 

The round neck had stretched out, and there are a couple of stains I can't remove. Ah well, I don't particularly embrace visible mending, but will give it a go as a can't spoil um project. 

Cut off the neckband just above the decorative topstitching, to use as applique. (Yes, I did have a couple of scraps leftover, but they are now brighter and thicker than the much-washed tee)

Cut neckband into step pyramids, one large and central-ish over a few small stains, one small over a stray spill. Glue stick to hold temporarily, then machine darned to hold in place and to add texture*. 

I want to turn the neckline over. However there are a couple of neckband millimetres trapped in the top stitching, and I think they might literally come out in the wash. So do that later. 

I'm OK with this experiment - rustic rather than grungy - but it feels a bit young in style for me. Nevertheless, I'd rather wear this than something that looked unwashed. 

* Did I say that this year I'm leaning towards more texture than pattern or plain. Especially in the 'dribble zone'. 

Not 2023 Me Made March.

Although I told myself last summer that I'd do a sort of Me Made March, 'pledging' to wear the cold weather clothing and assess it,  that just isn't going to happen. However on the last day of the month, I did a pre-run on the warm weather changeover. On the fly, trimmed various loose threads, assigned a few garments for recycling, put aside a couple of items for stain treatment (now done). Grabbed some easy alteration candidates, namely a pair of trousers to lengthen, a long-sleeved tee which rubs at front underarm, and an unlined jacket which I can probably let out at high hip. 

I didn't try on anything this run, but did take group photos whilst everything was out, to remind me what I have (after various acquisitions and discards last year), and as a memory jogger for what I think can easily be improved. 

I have worn the winter clothes at least once, all except one formal jacket (liked, but a wardrobe orphan) and the ice spike overshoes (luckily not needed). The everyday items are in regular rotation, chosen according to weather and activities for the day. 

Yet again, the summary is:

You have plenty of winter clothes, my mouselet, but they don't necessarily work with each other. 

There are no too-small items, and little winter formal wear. Excellent! 

Some items which don't suit me or fit me well have nevertheless been worn a lot. What they have in common is warmth, movement ease and sitting ease.

Too many old favourites are looking grey, pilled or otherwise tired. Some can still be enjoyed secretly as underlayers or pyjamas.

I need to think what can be given a new lease of life, and get rid of anything really unsalvageable. 

2023 February roundup

February has also been a quiet month, craftwise.

The second revised TATB Freya (slightly lower neck, a 5/8" neckband) is finished and in regular wear. I would like to make more of these, but also want to revisit a drop shoulder tee and/or try a v-neck version. Decisions, decisions. 

I returned to the woven shirt pattern, a much altered Burda 8957, which I'd used for Mrs Mole's fit-a-long. This time in blue gingham salvaged from a man's large shirt - and so only the lower sleeves were finagled rather cut out properly. A much smoother process and an even better result. I'm still tweaking, those last eighth-and quarter-inch changes, to balance a more fitted look and enough movement ease. Almost ready to finish the hem before a day's test wear. 

Not much knitting done. The final legwarmer is in my daybag but not getting much attention. 

DD and I made paper chickens together. Crepe paper and cardboard, from an Ann Wood pattern. A lovely afternoon. 

Repairs and alterations? Fixed a torn placket on a rugby shirt, a couple of popped seams and  missing buttons. Added a tiny key pocket to an unpocketed pair of joggers. Added a triangular gusset to the neckline of a rarely worn tee - it's friction at the underarm again - but haven't done an all-day test wear yet. 

Next month there are some non-crafty projects, so I have left out materials for hopefully quick and easy makes. 

2023 January roundup

A quiet month, craft wise.

Finished and delivered the Aran merino legwarmers for J's birthday. She wore them first for tea and cake in another town with someone we've been friends with for decades. Railway heating can be unpredictable. Sorry, no photos before they were posted to her. 

Picked up the sewing baton for a few days, retraced the TATB Freya tee, and applied what I'd learned in the fit along.

A few tweaks letting out at various seam allowances. I'm pleased to be homing in on a better fit.

I even cut out a second tee after adjusting the flat pattern by 1/4" here, 1/8" there. The main change will be to remove the collar and drop the neckline half an inch. Even though this is half the height of the original, my neck is still too short for this style. 

Repairs? A couple of popped seams fixed for DH. Also repurposed a much-reduced Santa sack as a laundry bag. (Our old one was beyond another salvage). The sack was turned inside out to the plain side, and French seamed for added sturdiness. It's now tidy enough for the bedroom. At some stage I'll add tabs to fit it onto the old metal frame. 

However, some household projects and a small software development task have jumped the queue, and the sewing machine is back on its shelf for now. 

So, apart from an odd half-hour hand-knitting on the ribbed DK legwarmers, that's it for January. 

2023 plans and thoughts

 

Having realised there is no plan yet for 2023, I've dug out the 2022 plan. And guess what? The themes are similar.

Every year I aspire to complete items from the queue, polish my techniques, improve my fitting, and learn lots of new things. These are not SMART goals, but saying them out loud helps me choose projects that will take me in the right direction.

Sewing machine. The engineer has been unavailable due to health problems, so it has been making do with regular cleans. Haven't yet got to play with the new feet I was given last autumn.

Using up, adapting or finishing off:

Bonus legwarmers for the friend who had to wait till mid-January for her first pair. These are just k2p2, 40 sts on 4.5mm needles. I'm getting bored with them, however they are a good project to take to knit and natter, or for a regional train journey.

The Finchdale jumper. Sleeves are too tight, and I may consider a higher neckline. Good job I crocheted the sleeves in to test the the fit. 

Still too many odd balls of yarn, though these are now big enough for toddler-size rather than newborn projects

Revisit the fitting project, which got put down in order to knit for the winter.. I haven't even made another woven shirt from nicer fabric, despite having a much much better pattern now. I have used what I learned on the Tilly and the Buttons Freya tee, but haven't blogged it yet. Both of these patterns will replace worn out garments.

Finish summer handbag from 2021 course. If I think I'll be going anywhere to use it...

I'm pretty up to date with repairs. Refashioning? I've inherited a handful of event badged polo-shirts. They fit well on the donor. He doesn't often wear short sleeves, so just putting a pocket over the logo won't work for him., Can I refashion them to fit someone smaller? Or make two from three by extending the sleeves?

Wardrobe holes (still):

More long sleeved t-shirts. I'm still tweaking Freyas (Tilly and the Buttons) and the Mica (Laela Jeyne OOP) which has a v-neck rather than a high neck. I might also have another try at Tulip Tees (Patterns for Pirates), which is a good drop shoulder option with little waste.

Formal-ish dress to replace double jersey Freya (now too small)

Another pair less informal trousers. There are some nice inherited suiting lengths waiting. And a shirt length that goes with the linen.

A denim skirt or pinafore - the fabric piece is not quite long enough for jeans.

More cycling shorts as undertrousers, maybe wear them under the denim skirt. I have three pairs, but only one will survive the spring clothing sort.

Pattern test and make up the mouse quilting fabric waistcoat. 

Masks again - rarely worn nowadays, unless there's a prolonged visit to a confined place. However the original batch are looking really scruffy.

Replace at least one pair of tired joggers.

Looking backwards to 2022

In the colder months, I usually knit rather than sew. In 2022, I recorded 32 finished knitted items. A couple of scarves and wristwarmers for me, but the others were gifts for friends or donations to people in need. About half were newborn hats, donated to K's maternity ward. The bonus was that they were nice portable handbag-sized projects. (I'm saying little about the still unfinished Finchdale jumper, except that it's much better in the upper body than my 2021 jumper. Thanks to Mrs Mole.) 

Because of weather conditions - a late cold snap and a mild early summer - Me Made 'May' stretched on for weeks. I succeeded in assessing all the summer clothes and the formal wear. I got rid of some wardrobe orphans and badly fitting stuff, then reluctantly parted with some worn out favourites. It was also surprising how many small repairs happened during these weeks :) Some charity shop finds were adapted during an unusually hot spell in late summer, some of DH's clothes were mended too, a temporary chair cover fitted, and a whole load of things around the flat fixed, painted...

With new garment sewing, my search for well fitting basics continued. All of the following have been much tweaked for my unique shape. Elasticated trousers - Simply Sewing 8 - now good enough. PJ top and derived summer cardigan - traced ancient Rtw - good enough. Cycle shorts as an extra layer - Patterns 4 Pirates Peg Legs - improved. Camisole as an extra layer - So Zo vest - improved. Fitted tee - Tilly and the Buttons Freya - hugely better than Rtw, but needs more work as there's still some friction at the armscye. Loose fitting tee - OOP Laela Jayne Mica - very comfy though I need more practice on the V-neck binding. 

However, the big sewing project was working on a woven shirt/top pattern, semi-fitted but enough movement ease, with set in long sleeves. I'd spent a long time using Pattern Maker 7 software, trying to get suitable measurements and customising the macros to generate a 'fitting shell' with a bit of ease. I felt I'd made good progress and made a comfy summer top with some inherited fabric. Not my colours, but a real step forward. 

Then a great opportunity. Mrs Mole of 'Fit for a Queen' blog, launched a series of tutorials on fitting by reading the lines in a gingham trial garment. Not only that, when I'd asked a specific question, she took the trouble to teach some better ways of measuring, and to recommend some really appropriate pattern adaptations. It's also reassuring that someone experienced knows how to adapt for my own spine curve, rather than expecting 'perfect' posture. It was well worth the number of test-shots to achieve the best fit I've ever had! I shall be using what I learned even more in 2023. 

Top things I learned.

Fitting: I need a bigger back wedge, placed at the yoke line, plus a smaller wedge at front yoke, as well as one above my tum. 

Measuring skills: Use the metre stick to establish a side line. If I'm going to wear an underlayer, I need to measure when actually wearing it. 

Drag lines: Point to the problem. How much adjustment will take practice. 

Fabric choices: 2022 favourite was a low contrast print (the duck tee) which reads as plain-ish from a distance but the texture hides the odd water splash etc. 

Knitting: After trialling different crowns on all the newborn hats, I'm now happy to choose an appropriate one for different size people and personalities. 

Reasons for redoing. 

Apart from brain-slips, size and ease were the main stumbling blocks. 

I can help myself by doing a tension piece in each new yarn. And unless playing fabric Tetris, bigger seam allowances. 

Remember the hip/abdomen area doesn't just need to look good in the fitting mirror, it needs to recover well after reaching up, down or out. More ease or more weight tends to help. 

Techniques

Cutting , marking and stitching are all getting better.

I'm ready to use nicer fabrics for the improved patterns - and I have more enough things to refashion for early trials of other basics when I'm ready. I've learned magic loop knitting which gives me more options. 

    

December 2022 wrap up

Not a lot to say about December that wasn't covered in the previous (legwarmers) post. 

The Terracotta pair for H were delivered before Christmas because of a cold snap. She got a bonus pair in grey acrylic after Christmas as I worked out a panel-based pattern. 

The duck egg merino pair for J occupied a long train journey at the beginning of the month, but were so slouchy they were unpicked and restarted. So I've bought some Aran weight merino so I could get a pair to her in time for her birthday in January. 

The Finchdale jumper continues slowly. After assembly, the sleeves are a bit tight over winter tees. And there's more ease in the front yoke area than elsewhere. Note to self - detailed notes in my diary. 

A productive month in non-sewing terms, though. The flat continues to improve. Pre-Christmas clean done. And lots of nice social things too.