When I went home to New Zealand in June, it was mid-winter there and the shops were full of lovely cosy winter clothes. But knowing of my new-found sewing obsession, instead of exploring the world of wintery RTW, my aunt took me on an outing to the most amazing fabric shop. Oh that place. I could have spent days (and many many hundreds of pounds) in there. It was massive, and had such wonderful things - different than a lot of what I see in Britain. But the best part was that they had loads and loads of gorgeous merino and wool-blend fabrics, in all sorts of patterns and types. I got a beautiful petrol blue merino wool sweatshirt fabric - looks just like a normal fleece-backed sweatshirt but it's WOOL so it's freaking toasty as can be. I heart it. I just knew it would be perfect for another Astoria jumper...and so it is! Ta da!
This time I added a good couple of inches to the length, so it's perfect now. It sits just at the top of my jeans/trousers' waistband - no unfortunate stomach flashes, and just ideal for wearing around home. I'm in absolute love of the colour and I'm pretty much already living in this. Next time I go home, I will be bringing back a bloody suitcase of merino sweatshirting I think!
I also got some crazy teal wool with ducks on it. That sounds mad. It is a bit. I'm not really quite sure what to do with that. I love it, but it's quite bonkers. I think a wee capelet or something would work, but I may not have bought enough. A winter skirt, perhaps. And I got some super soft and drapey jersey wool fabric in purply grey colours. I desperately want to make another Moneta out of that, but no matter how I place the pattern pieces, I cannot make it work. I bought too damn little *sobs*. Until I can reoncile myself to making something other than a Moneta with it, it'll stay in the stash too.
But I have had one more NZ winter wool fabric win...and that's with this new dress!
I love this so very much. It's a thick tweedy sort of fabric with wide woven colours in blues and purples and foresty greens. It frayed like an absolute bastard, so I decided to underline it straight away. I had initially thought I'd line it normally, but the underlining worked really well - made the fabric so much more usable. There were still stray threads ALL over the house before I was done, but hey ho!
The pattern is a Colette Laurel although it doesn't really look it. I really need to revisit my sizing on that pattern because I always seem to end up taking out about 3-4 inches overall. Hm. Anyway, when removing the excess width, I decided to add a bit of waist shaping and flare the skirt ever-so-slightly, and I'm glad I did. I think the shape works. I had to do my normal back dart adjustment (all the way up to the neckline) but I think it looks ok and it fits bloody perfectly! I asked the kind folks on Instagram about this excess shoulder fabric/zip ripple business I keep getting and the advice was to stabilise my zip allowances. That may well prove a winning tip, but I'm unconvinced that was the problem in a dress like this. The wool fabric here is the thickness of a coat, and I underlined it so it's really really thick and stable. I think in the new year I might sign up for a fitting class somewhere and see if I can't find some more answers to this...
Anyway. I also added cap sleeves AND...(drumroll please) I finished the neckline and armholes BY HAND!! Boom! *does victory dance*. This is seriously noteworthy because hand-sewing anything gives me a freaking headache and I loathe it with my ever fibre. The loathing stems from my total incompetence, but still, the hatred is real. However, I will begrudgingly admit that the hand finish really does look better. DAMMIT!! Now I'm going to have to hand finish everything aren't I? Doom...
So. Those are the main things I've made lately. Doesn't seem like much, and it's not but that's because work has been craaazy this past month. I don't have huge plans for December, with the exception of Christmas bunting (which I failed to do last year), and a dress of some description to wear on Christmas day. I have yet to decide on what that dress will be...will I go all out kitsch-festive, or be a little more classy? Who knows...tune in soon to find out!
This time I added a good couple of inches to the length, so it's perfect now. It sits just at the top of my jeans/trousers' waistband - no unfortunate stomach flashes, and just ideal for wearing around home. I'm in absolute love of the colour and I'm pretty much already living in this. Next time I go home, I will be bringing back a bloody suitcase of merino sweatshirting I think!
I also got some crazy teal wool with ducks on it. That sounds mad. It is a bit. I'm not really quite sure what to do with that. I love it, but it's quite bonkers. I think a wee capelet or something would work, but I may not have bought enough. A winter skirt, perhaps. And I got some super soft and drapey jersey wool fabric in purply grey colours. I desperately want to make another Moneta out of that, but no matter how I place the pattern pieces, I cannot make it work. I bought too damn little *sobs*. Until I can reoncile myself to making something other than a Moneta with it, it'll stay in the stash too.
But I have had one more NZ winter wool fabric win...and that's with this new dress!
I love this so very much. It's a thick tweedy sort of fabric with wide woven colours in blues and purples and foresty greens. It frayed like an absolute bastard, so I decided to underline it straight away. I had initially thought I'd line it normally, but the underlining worked really well - made the fabric so much more usable. There were still stray threads ALL over the house before I was done, but hey ho!
The pattern is a Colette Laurel although it doesn't really look it. I really need to revisit my sizing on that pattern because I always seem to end up taking out about 3-4 inches overall. Hm. Anyway, when removing the excess width, I decided to add a bit of waist shaping and flare the skirt ever-so-slightly, and I'm glad I did. I think the shape works. I had to do my normal back dart adjustment (all the way up to the neckline) but I think it looks ok and it fits bloody perfectly! I asked the kind folks on Instagram about this excess shoulder fabric/zip ripple business I keep getting and the advice was to stabilise my zip allowances. That may well prove a winning tip, but I'm unconvinced that was the problem in a dress like this. The wool fabric here is the thickness of a coat, and I underlined it so it's really really thick and stable. I think in the new year I might sign up for a fitting class somewhere and see if I can't find some more answers to this...
Anyway. I also added cap sleeves AND...(drumroll please) I finished the neckline and armholes BY HAND!! Boom! *does victory dance*. This is seriously noteworthy because hand-sewing anything gives me a freaking headache and I loathe it with my ever fibre. The loathing stems from my total incompetence, but still, the hatred is real. However, I will begrudgingly admit that the hand finish really does look better. DAMMIT!! Now I'm going to have to hand finish everything aren't I? Doom...
So. Those are the main things I've made lately. Doesn't seem like much, and it's not but that's because work has been craaazy this past month. I don't have huge plans for December, with the exception of Christmas bunting (which I failed to do last year), and a dress of some description to wear on Christmas day. I have yet to decide on what that dress will be...will I go all out kitsch-festive, or be a little more classy? Who knows...tune in soon to find out!
