October to December 2023 roundup

Happy New Year! As I thought, my non-crafting project is taking much of my time and energy. (It's going well, though). So the sewing machine is only coming out occasionally. Betty (the Betty Foster master pattern mashed up with Burda 8957) has been put away till I can give it proper attention. 

The somewhat tested Successful Sewing 8 SS8 joggers pattern was tweaked again and make up in red fleece as Tai chi spares.The test wear was a success, the pattern retraced, and they have been worn often. So comfy in these winter evenings. To be made again in better fabric in the spring. 

Quite a lot of knitting, as it can come out and about with me. Bigger projects come out in the evenings, and at knit and natter. Small handbag size projects are for trains, lunch breaks, whenever I have a few spare minutes sitting. 

Teal Hermia summer cardi. Couldn't get a yarn order with the same colour, instead added more of the light stripes. Used every inch and it's still shorter than my preference. But it's done, my best fit at shoulders yet, and will be lovely with dresses next summer. 

Finchdale jumper. This wasn't as far from finished as I'd thought . Cuffs and 2.5" hip ribbing with side slit were (re)done this quarter. Also reknit neck ribbing with fewer stitches and smaller needles.  Have set the sleeves in and sewed in all the ends this afternoon, so it counts as a 2023 finish, right? As usual, it's way better at waist, high hip and over bust on me than anything I can buy, but I can quibble with neckline, shoulder width and lower ribbing width. Only quibbling - I'm looking forward to wearing it. 

Lots of small portable projects. I'm finally confident to use real wool for me, for family and for close friends who will care about the difference...

Blue merino legwarmers for a September birthday.

Kandinsky sock wool wristwarmers - for me. 

Reknit rainbow sock yarn mittens with less ease - for me.

Cherry tam for me. Ancient stash yarn, high percentage of wool. So cosy. As a bonus J gave me a Robin brooch, which perches beautifully on the fold line. 

Matching cherry legwarmers - needed to add green stripes  to eke out the length. By chance, H gave me a cowl a few months ago which goes well with hat and legs. 

Attempted tiny wristbands  with the last of  pale blue merino. Bother, they kept coming off with coat or jumper, so unpicked them and used the yarn to extend similar-coloured wristwarmers - for me. 

And for donation, mostly acrylic ...

Blue baby hat. 

Coffee and white preemie hat. 

Playfood egg salad - an unexpected group project at knit and natter. A thank you to the lovely cafe owners who plan a teddy bear picnic display. 

Crochet baby booties in pink/salmon/purple. 2 classic pairs done, and one toe up. Purple pair started, classic construction but some details which are new-to-me. Another rabbit hole to fall down while I see which construction works best - for me making them and my best guess at good for the baby and parent. 

Rainbow  crochet baby hat made with rainbow mitten leftovers. This was sock yarn, unlikely to felt, so I've risked donating it to the baby bank. 

Repairs 

2021 green joggers needed cuffs or similar. These had shrunk about 2" in length, and were a little draughty to start with. They're so  much warmer now. Comfier to sleep in too, because they don't creep up to my knees. Bonus, the green and blue trial tee, Freya v5, looks and feels good with this. 

2023 Petrol blue cords - taken in a bit more.

My shrunken rainbow legwarmers, 2018?, have had a few rounds added in Terracotta chunky wool. Bother, one hid in a trouser leg and got tumble dried. The Terracotta is necessarily the ankle end now. 

Fixed popped seams on cycle shorts (worn as an under layer in this weather) 

My non-crafty project probably goes on till Easter. So, while I fully intend to keep making things, I probably won't blog about them for ages. 

All the best for 2024,

Mouselet.

    

September 2023 roundup - fitting and knitting

We had two family trips away in September, the first to the Midlands, the second to Scotland. Which took me away from my sewing machine, but did encourage me to knit something portable. 

The legwarmers weren't quite finished by the end of the month, but were nearly there. It's getting cool in the evenings now (despite the unseasonable 30° earlier in the month) so these will soon be appreciated. 

No progress on the Teal Hermia summer cardigan. I didn't want to make an Internet yarn order till we came back, none of the physical shops visited carry that brand of merino. And now we're home, that colour seems to be sold out on the UK sites. Guess it will be unpicking time - serves me right for dithering so long. 

Sewing, I carried on with the Betty Foster toile (muslin). Three interesting things I've learned:

It hadn't occurred to me before to measure overbust when sitting. It's much bigger than when standing.

This design had a horizontal and a vertical bust dart. Given the flare in my ribcage (or is it the front of a swayback) I didn't need to stitch the vertical one. That explains why I can get away with about a 1" horizontal dart despite my C cup fitting. 

The shell has a very high neckline, elegant when tunic length. I was surprised it was quite comfy. Only need to drop front neck an eighth or a quarter inch. In practice, I'll probably go a bit lower and wear a scarf in the colder months. 

Non-sewing

A project arrived, which will take much of my time and my  space for a couple of months. So the good fabric has been put away till new year.

Repairs

Restored the  unpicked topstitching on new-to-me blue/black waistcoat (not quite enough fabric at hips to be worth taking up at shoulders) before donating. 

2023 Petrol blue cords, new-to-me, taken in at waist and back rise shortened. After a couple of of wears it seems I'll need to take another half inch in both places. 

Two tees let out at overbust height. This year's Freya v1, and 1995 black tee. All my long sleeved tees now have enough movement ease to sit and type without becoming painful at the underarm. Note to self. They had already been let out at the back of the sleeve cap. I need both adjustments. 

P4P White tulip tee (2021?). Used the last scraps of thick white jersey to replace the neckband. Much more stable and comfy now. It stays on my shoulders again. 

2023 August roundup. More tees and some learning.

Knitting

Teal Hermia summer cardigan. I have only enough yarn left for about 3 rib rows and I need 6-8. Three options involve lots of unpicking, curses, alternatively buy more yarn, probably online. 

Another blue baby hat finished, one more knitted from crown to rib. Trying a broken rib this time, but it's difficult for me to see to read the previous row. Would try the stitch pattern again knitted in the flat. 

Have had another request for legwarmers for a September birthday. Unlikely they'll be finished in time, but I have sorted out yarn, needles, and a plan (a combination of patterns) 

Sewing

Freya 2023 v5 from green French terry and blue floral leftovers. A can't spoil um project. It's just the right length and weight in this grey British summer, though a tad tight at the upper arm. The fabrics are ok together, the solid is a close match for the leaves. But the colour combination doesn't go with any of my trousers. Chosen often if I get changed once I get home. 

Freya 2023 v6 from duck print and white jersey leftovers. Not yet perfect, but definitely wearable in public. I still enjoy the duck print, so I'm glad it succeeded. 

Spent some time with scrap materials (from a damaged nightie) adapting the NS258 trousers to a simple skirt.  However, the intended wearable reclaimed fabric (from a black maxi skirt) was too narrow for any flare at all. And so near to the end of warm-ish weather, I decided not to make the pattern up in decent fabric this year. The flat pattern will feed the hip area of a woven top. 

Started fitting the woven top again. Remembering a long-ago comfy bodice, I dug out the Betty Foster master pattern. Any UK readers remember her from the seventies? It has narrower shoulders than 'usual' and a rounded shoulder alternative with the same 1.5" adjustment I need. So little change for me to the armscyes and above. Decades after I first tried this, I now have a better idea how to fit my high-hip area. So far, I've been playing with old damaged sheeting, and have a reasonable fit. Must remember I need more ease than standard at underarm, even if it looks loose when standing - I measured overbust when sitting and got a shock. Still to decide on initial style for neckline and cuffs, uncluttered for a busy chicken print poplin, compatible with some of my current warm layers, and ok to wear with scarves.  Then the plan is to merge the pattern with my intended Burda 8957 and make again in one of two plainer fabrics. 

Repairs and alterations

2023 fish scarf, added a button, less bulky than tying it. 

Added a lace modesty/sunburn panel for striped lawn overshirt.

Popped seams on green joggers and paisley stretch trousers. Ah, same place on both, so more thigh circumference another time. 

Popped seam on original duck print tee. Stress point at front armscoop. Again. 

Two pairs of new-to-me trousers shortened. 

Attempted refit of a new-to-me waistcoat abandoned, not enough fabric at high hip, so will stitch back on original lines and donate. 

Household repairs

Fixed damaged paintwork from leak in the winter and from maintenance work in winter/spring. Various small odd jobs, e.g. draught-proofing outer door, are finally off the list. 

Other sewing related

Wardrobe architect. I have reread this series, now on the Seamwork web site, and have redone the 2014 worksheets. Also looked at other planning capsule and SWAP resources, before summarising my preferences. An interesting exercise, which will inform future makes. 

Thinking about waistbands (after reading several articles about TDCO Top Down Centre Out trouser fitting). I've already used the idea of keeping a suitable band (reclaimed) for the skirt fitting, as well as putting some preference notes in my diary.

Experimented with horizontal seams in stretch fabrics, how to avoid overstretching. Partly I should 'let the feed dogs do the work', and partly the feed dogs can't work with too narrow seam allowances. I can use a more stable fabric direction on the underneath section, and if necessary use an additional stabiliser of some kind. 

2023 July roundup. Mostly tees

Not much knitting. The teal Hermia summer cardi is progressing slowly, four more rows to go, and then button band and ribbing. Cast on another baby hat for a short train journey, it's done from crown to start of the ribbing. 

But lots of sewing 

NS258 pleated trousers - sage linen. Added a pocket, and it's now a popular choice. 

Freya 2023 v3 from blue flowers and dots. Different fabric handling - keep mouse paws behind the needle when stitching for this cotton/lycra mix. Quite a few pattern tweaks such as adding sleeve cap ease for using standard furniture (too tall for me), and adding a centre back godet to try solve high-hip fitting problems. Worn several times already. 

Freya 2023 v3a. Instead of the planned matching skirt, the blue flowers and dots jersey became another tee. Remeasured myself, included the godet in the back piece, and did a small sway back adjustment. Still want to tweak the ease at underarm though. Tidy and comfortable. I like wearing this one. 

Freya 2023 v4 from reclaimed pj trousers. Some difficulties because fabric was well used and needed piecing. I'm happier with the front yoke (less ease), the front drape (bigger darts) and the abdomen ease (more and better distributed). In the first days of August, I tweaked the sleeves and overbust, but haven't retested the flat pattern yet. 

Repairs:

Replaced damaged button on red linen trousers.  

Button on DH's trousers.  

Coral double gauze overshirt, remove torn collar and used some of the fabric to reinforce the inside collar stand. 

Not done. Adapt men's trousers with damaged back hem for me using front hem to add to front rise. Oh dear, these were 34" waist, and, while I could fasten them, I would need another 2" to get the waistband to sit horizontally, plus at least 1" extra height in the front rise. Given that the pocket fronts are about to fray too, and the knees are distinctly pale, I simply salvaged the zip and binned these. 

Not done yet. Burda Easy 8957 v4 in chicken print poplin, planned with a scoop neck and a darted sleeve. I had been looking forward to sewing this, but got pulled into tee-making instead while the fabric was in the washing machine. Partly because, after years looking for a shirt that didn't rub at front armscoop, three came along at once (to charity shops near me). 

Unusually for me, I bought, in a shop, a sunhat with a bigger brim than my own. Saved my skin, literally, on an unscheduled trip. I'm mentioning it because my attempts at weighting the latest tee hem made me wonder whether next year I could try a bigger brim myself and stiffen it a little with binding. I like hats that can be stuffed in a bag, and my current pattern has the biggest brim that two layers of quilting cotton would support. 

What else sewing related? 

In my diary, I reviewed the flat pattern changes I'd made to NS258 pleated pants and changes so far to Burda 8957. It'd be nice to to do the same for my tee against the original Freya from Tilly and the Buttons before I file the pieces away. I'll say again that the original pattern gave me several well-worn garments, and was a useful stepping stone to working out my preferences. However I don't think I'm likely to go back to the negative ease trend, which was very popular when the design was published. 

I chose not to do Make what you need in June, since the last two months have concentrated on polishing patterns for two workhorse garments anyway. But I did make notes in my July diary about hmm... August? Not sure whether my notes are worth turning into a blog post, but it sharpened my thinking about needs using themes of Function, Fitting, Finishing and Fun. I can choose something from the wardrobe holes list for next month. 

Freya 2023 v4. still not a T&T tee

The last of this summer's tees. 

I retraced the v3a pattern ready to file for next time - well the sections were held together with pins and masking tape. Being a good software engineer, I had to make one more tee to test the tracing in case the bits had shifted, and to test taking another 1/8" excess fabric from front underarm scoop. Being a resource conscious human, I reclaimed fabric from a damaged pair of pj trousers (pink background, blue butterflies).  

Yes, I know it's an inch shorter than my preferred length. I used practically every undamaged square inch. And there's excess fabric at the underarm when hands are by my sides. I'd like to nibble it away if I can do it without affecting movement ease.

The piecing needed to reuse fabric tells me I 'need more practice' making horizontal seams in jersey - spot the stretch below front waist. Oh dear, another pathway for interesting experiments. First time using purchased stretch binding, always something more to learn, in this case to put the binding against the feed dogs. 

The overnight test wear tells me it looks better at front yoke than v3, and is really comfy.  No underarm friction sleeping or sitting, and flexible enough to reach the back of the kitchen worktop. Even this test garment, from last-legs fabric, was worth finishing. Hooray! 

EDIT: before I put the pattern pieces away, I compared them with the original TATB design. If I were to nibble away at the cap height as well as the overbust, it brings us closer to the original design, pulling the lower armscye and sleeve cap into the pit more. Maybe do this 1/8" at a time when I make winter/spring tees, so long as it doesn't affect movement ease. I don't dare shave anything off at abdomen height, otherwise the back won't drop again after I lift my arms.

Another EDIT: live dangerously, little mouselet. Since this poor fabric is already bruised and battered after years of use, let's experiment now. Can't spoil um. What I ended up with was taking in the front overbust in by 1/4", scooping a bit more at front armpit, and lowering the sleeve cap. Back overbust is unchanged. Interestingly, the upper arm is now a little tight, not restricted though, since the whole sleeve has narrowed as it moved up. So the flat pattern change was to pivot (a tracing of) the cap and raise the base 1/4". This widened the whole cap 2x1/8" at the base, which I trimmed off. Allowing the front to move in 1/4" each side, fading to nothing between underbust and waist.

And now I still have an incompletely tested flat pattern. Guess I will have to look out some autumn/winter fabrics. 

Still a work in progress. 2023 Freya v3

2023 v3 is really comfortable but not particularly elegant. Despite this being my umpteenth version of this pattern*, I'm struggling to find a fairly fitted version which allows reasonable movement.  The final picture in the collage is shows how I stand when using our kitchen worktop. A standard desk, too, needs a persistent zombie pose when you are 5'2".

 

* The distant ancestor was Tilly and the Buttons Freya tee. At each variation it has become more relaxed and the neckline lower. My earliest surviving version is still working well for formal occasions. It was a little black dress and underdress made for DD's graduation in December 2019. However, as my fitting was far from perfect, its intended negative ease was restrictive when attempting a range of activities.

The front is better than the back. As many people find, tees look fine at the back in the changing room, but ride up on the bony ridge at high hip as soon as you start moving around. This one is a little tight at underarm and bust. And guess what, I'd trimmed seam allowances too much on one of the iterations, so can't fix it on this version. I added a godet to the centre back which helped somewhat. Given fabric restrictions, it is now shorter than my preferred length. It does show my problem of  increasing fast enough as you go from waist to high hip, without letting the draughts in a couple of inches below that dratted ridge.

Verdict: Much comfier after  a round of armscye and sleeve cap changes, but still needs more practice.

I haven't helped myself by using old measurements - even though my weight is a fraction less than six months ago. The original measurements envisaged ease added later, whilst this time I wanted quite fitted. Your silly mouselet forgot to add in the bulk of a trouser waistband, again. On top of that, my posture does vary, depending how my back is doing. 

So... Ready for the next version, I've taken a new set of measurements using my most recent trousers. I used the bottom of this waistband as a landmark. Today the out seam on the trousers is tilting forward (it didn't a month ago, I checked the photos). Confession - I pinned the tee side seams an inch back of the trouser side seams and used them as my fixed lines.  I've added underbust and overbust front and back to my measurement set, which informs how much extra for sticky out shoulder blades due to sway back. This weekend it'll be time to trace the flat pattern and try again. 

Eagle eyed readers may have noticed I bumped the tee up the queue. I'd planned to work on the woven top  OOP Burda 8957 - last version comfy but poufy at the back - but realised I hadn't prewashed the fabric. Glad I waited. The new measurements tell me I need to increase back waist relative to the front. 

EDIT, Friday morning. I'm not allowing myself to cut fabric until the housework is done, but have done the Freya tee flat pattern adjustments. The paper fitting is promising. 

EDIT 31st July. V3a was made in the same fabric, without the godet. In fact, when I'd added a small swayback, the centre back seam was so nearly straight, I got out the ruler. I also moved some wedges of fabric from centre front, where it was pooling, to the sides where it was needed. Not just a successful test wear, it's been first off the dry washing pile to pair with the sage or coral trousers. So good that I retraced the revised pattern and made just one more tee . V4 was made from reclaimed fabric, pink background with blue butterflies. I'm even happier and think it deserves a separate post :)

2023 June roundup

I started June with a tidy of my fabric. There's a cabin-sized suitcase with autumn /winter fabric, mostly inherited but some of my choices, waiting for me to improve fitting and construction skills. A carrier bag with summer weight fabrics, mostly my choices, with a few for H, ready to join the queue. And I'm down to one carrier bag of leftovers, old sheets and garments for resizing, repair or just pattern testing fabric. There's a bulky overflow length, fleece to trial a better cardi or light jacket. Three decent lengths of inherited summer weights, that didn't suit either of us, went to a charity shop. That's about the right size fabric stash for me and my flat - the 'right' collection size is about personal needs and preferences. 

I talked about my summer clothes sort as a time-poor Me Made May in an earlier post. There are fewer garments altogether, fewer so-so items, and fewer orphans than in previous years. I'm very happy about that. 

Sewing wise, it's been an excellent month. One good garment for me, the linen pants in the previous post. A simple top for H, who agreed to let me practice fitting skills on her, and was happy with the result. I forgot to take a hanger shot before giving it to her, but posted a shot of pattern and fabric a few days ago. 

Four improving toiles, wearable as pj's because they are so comfy, but too thin, too print-flawed or too pieced to wear around visitors. NS258 pleated trousers in mint sheeting were v5, and have become summer favourite pj bottoms already. The picture is here, http://little-mouselet.blogspot.com/2023/06/a-tale-of-many-toiles-muslin.html. NS258 cropped island pair v4 are also fine for sleeping, but they're not always warm enough first thing in the morning when I'm doing daily jobs. Annoyingly, I'd already cut the flawed-print leftover of leftovers to trial Burda Easy 8957 v3 bodice, so the remaining scraps aren't enough to reach my ankles. I have a fitting post in mind for B8957, coming soon - it has already passed its night time comfort test and its morning task ease test.

The final toile, a relaxed descendant of Freya tee by Tilly and the Buttons, was a can't spoil 'um project. The bodice was from parts of a woodland print women's tee, with sleeves cut from a thinning man's white tee. It's promising - I've worn regularly as pj's with the mint trousers. However, with so much piecing at the back yoke, it's not a fair test of the pattern. Nor something I want to show off. 

All three patterns are in my back-to-basics list. NS258 pleated pants is ready for good fabric, though I want to retest the waist and and add back the integral pockets. The simplified version of B8957 semi fitted woven top is close enough for good fabric, though I haven't tested the collar/lapels as printed yet, nor frankenpatterned a cuff. The Freya descendant, relaxed long sleeved tee, is worth testing on new fabric now. None of them quite qualify for T&T status (Tried and Tested, Tried and Trusted, Tried and True - depends where you live). We are getting close. 

Knitting, not so much. The Hermia summer cardi is progressing slowly. I have had to stripe in an odd ball of similar weight yarn. One sleeve is done, the second a few inches above the cuff, the bodice down to underbust height. Even when I've carted it out with me, it's hard to pick up something this size for just a few minutes. I need to sort out another portable project. 

   

Repairs:

Zip in H's flowery dress.

Add waistband tucks to last year's summer trousers (and for a linen pair that stretched over the day, removed tucks and then restored them) 

Strap on cloth bag reattached for DD. 

Button on DH's trousers reattached. 

Stitch harvest mouse shirt lapel, to prevent finished inner edge showing. 

Restitched and patched a favourite shopper. Who wouldn't want to keep a mouse/woodland creature bag? 

Made a key leash so that the damage doesn't repeat itself. 

Unblocked the auto-defrost drain on the fridge.

Chose not to do:

After testing out a few ideas. Crochet cuffs in cotton/linen/silk. A beautiful odd ball of yarn, however it wasn't spun tight enough for crochet. Maybe come back to the idea when in the mood for knitting.

Shorten sleeves on flowery pj top. Knuckle length is actually warmer for sleeping with elbows well bent, though a pain in the kitchen at breakfast time.

Wardrobe acquired:

Two scarves from charity shops. One man made but soft, pale colours. one brown and white fish print with buttonholes (what!) 

I think I can say a productive month 

Happy sewing everyone.