Track suit trousers

 

I have been making these slowly for a long time, probably since early April.

These are made using the Melissa Fayre " Make Your Own Activewear " book. I used  the loose fitting bottom block which I needed to lengthen by several inches. I had not made any of the bottoms patterns before and I thought they looked short but could not find a measurement for height so I actually measured the pattern against some existing clothing I have and it seemed short by about 3 inches. It could be there is a height measurement somewhere in the book but I wanted to get on with these and its been a while since I sat down and read the book through. Otherwise I pretty much followed the directions in the book. I am so happy I went ahead and lengthened the pattern though because otherwise I would have wasted this fabric.

Fabric was some I bought months ago from one or other internet company and was sold as fleece though its more "sheen suit" fabric with a shiny side and a fleece side. I sewed some of the seams with a twin needle to keep the stretch - ie where the zips needed to be added and the inside seams with the overlocker so the end result is not as tidy as I normally aim for - on the inside that is because from the outside they look fine. Not to worry. Nothing is going to fray and it does not look bad inside just not RTW if you understand me.

The zips I had already, which were bought as part of a multi pack from amazon, and they are slightly longer than the book calls for, but worked anyway and the mesh used for the ankles and the inside pockets is just some non-stretch mesh I bought in a Minerva sale. I have loads of colours of zips but used the pink since they are the least useful for "normal" fastening zips being as I rarely wear pink. 

Not that it looks that way from this outfit!

These took quite some time for me to make though. The ankles in partcular took a while - not because its difficult really but because I just needed to understand what was needed to achieve what I wanted to do.

 

 I originally intended to take these to Scotland with me. They would have been good for that because it was mostly cold and rainy weather but I think the velcro fastening on my waterproof jacket would have ruined the sheen fabric, so in a way its better to finish them and wear them somewhere else first. I went to Scotland end of May so you can see how much longer it has taken me to complete these!

They have also not just sat there - I have been doing something most weeks. They have some very fiddly bits that I needed to work out slowly - like pocket zips. 

Have you made this pattern and if yes how did you find it? 

I found it much more difficult than I expected but am interested to find out how other people have found this one and if there is something  might have done better. 

I am very pleased with the end result and intend to make some more similar ones. 

Also having zip pockets is really truly amazing! 

I have enough of the same fabric to make another pair but have not yet decided if thats what I want or if I would be better off to make a matching top. I am sure it will work out one way or the other anyway.

 

I am though, very happy to finally finish these, because they have been taking up space for a long time now, with me just doing a small bit and thinking lots on what is meant in the directions. All in all, though they took me a while to finish I think they are quite straight forward to make it was just that I had not made anything similar before.

I suppose really it means with the jumpers I have recently also completed that I am getting ready or Autumn and Winter now then. For once I am ahead of the game not behind it!

Ah pink top was made from an old dress here:

https://brackencrafts.blogspot.com/2021/06/planning-my-sewing.html  and its part of my current aim for making some basic tops. Goes well with these trousers though thats an accident really😀

Thanks for popping by

Bracken

1970s Alafoss Lopi Icelandic style jumper in mohair

  

My Mum bought this pattern I think in the 70s or possibly very early 1980s though 1970s are most likely. 

 

She never got round to making anything from this book and until recenty its held no interest for me either but I kept it just in case - as we do!

 

You can see the mens jumper here and the womens cardigan - I made the womens jumper which is not pictured.

I decide though I have never knittted a full jumper in the round - I really hate circular needles - so perhaps this would be a real challenge for me. So thats it then. Had to knit an Icelandic style jumper.

I actually thought it would be very difficult to do the plain bit that makes up the body and most of the sleeves but I knitted it late into the evenings when I needed a rest from the white lace and later the purple cotton jumpers. So the plain knitting did not get too boring and tedius.

 

I would knit a couple of rounds a night and so it got done. Also something I never considered is being in the round you can stop anywhere so long as you use stitch markers this is easy to knit alongside something else more interesting. And being able to stop where ever makes it so easy when you are doing it at the end of an evening and sometimes cannot easily get to the end of a row and need to force yourself to stay awake!

 

Possibly it turned out a little too long but then I tend to deliberately make longer winter jumpers. At least with jeans and over knee boots it will be very warm! 

Its a bit hot worn when these photos were taken with shorts on a sunny day in July!

When I finished the purple cotton I was at the point where I needed to just join it all together to do the yoke so really it go knitted sort of in the background with no real effort until the final yoke bit. This was heavy! I tried to do a few rows each night but there are lots of stitches because its the top of front, back and sleeves and you need to concentrate to stay in pattern. I ended up just doing one row some nights.  I actually do have one extra row in this to what the pattern said and decided not to unpick but to carry on - I forgot a decrease so did the extra row to do it meaning I have one more row than the pattern in the bottom purple bit, but otherwise its perfect with no errors. And surprisingly straightforward to knit! The hardest bit for me was getting my head round the bit where you must leave X stitches for under arms on each side and then make sure the front and back are correctly lined up so the pattern works properly on the yoke. Its not difficult. I just cound not get my head round it but next time it will be easier.

In fact I am about to begin a second one in a more modern design from Ravelry. Its first language is not english meaning its been translated, so I decided I needed to do my first version with an english pattern with good instructions so I could understand the construction. 

But I am happy with how this has turned out: 

Its far too warm for today but will be brilliant come winter and will possibly even be good for a "Christmas Jumper" - something I am actually not in favour of since its such a waste to have a jumper for one day of the year or even a week, and not wear again - many people really do just throw them out every New Year.

The one part I have yet to master is continental ribbing. Its much faster once you get the hang of it I think. But having tried to get the hang of it, since the pattern directed me to use it, but for me, as a learner its not as easy as english knitting, so I ended up with a mix along the body hem/ ribbed edge - which if you look closely you can see the difference. But then its a dark colour and so I think doesn't matter because this is a massive learning curve for me. Also I am rubbish at grafting - done under the arms - and I need to learn this for the next one I do in this style so have some YouTube watching to do in the next few weeks of lunchtimes I think, and also I needed to darn in the ends where you start in the round - again rubbish at this. My end result is amateurish and messy - I am used to leaving a long cord and using it for sewing up the side seams but of course there are none when you knit in the round. But I will get better and I love the fact I spent an hour at most sewing this up round the fold over neck edge, under each sleeve and the ends of the yarn you cast on with. Fast!

The yarn is all second hand mohair from various sources - charity shops and Ebay. All meant to be knitted on 5mm - 6.5mm needles and this pattern uses 5mm for ribbing and 6.5mm for the body so is ideal but its meant to be in some sort of Alafoss Lopi wool yarn. They are still going too so you may be able to buy the actual recommended yarn for this but mohair is lighter and nicer ( for me) to wear. I had to buy a new 6.5mm needle because my current circulars were all too short for this. Its also a great way to use up odd balls of yarn left over from other projects which the yoke has made use of. So all I had to buy for this was the circular needles. The rest came from the stash and the dark french navy blue has been in the stash since 2014 before I even returned to knitting, so its time I used it.

Have a good day and thanks for visiting my blog,

Take care

Bracken

Gooseberry polenta charlotte - vegan cakes

 

OK so I am not very good at food photos. To be honest I do not usually cook cakes with polenta either but I do seem to blog about it. Possibly cos its an experiment so I find that interesting.

Not yet anyway. Its not really something I decided to aim for but this was so nice in taste I decided to share it. Its up to you if you fancy making it. Sorry we ate half before I decided to blog about it!

We grow gooseberries and every year I struggle to find ways to use them. I make gooseberry chilli jam, gooseberry sweet jam, gooseberry wine and this year I intend to have ago at Gooseberry beer and my other half is currently using some to flavour gin though not to make liqueur because we still have loads of damson liqueur which we made for Christmas last year and do not drink it due to the sweetness and soon we will have this years crop of damsons to deal with too! I still have some of last years crop in the freezer!

So I made gooseberry jam/ pie filling. This is the bottom bit and when it cooked  the jammy bit has risen up the charlotte to mix a bit so maybe next time I need to make the jam and then add some whole uncooked goosberries? Or maybe apple pieces? Something with more structure and less jammyness.

I used some of this jam to make icecream (might tell you about that if it works!) and some for the base of this charlotte. The top of the charlotte is polenta cake similar to the one I made last year but I forgot the lemon. To be honest I thought it was lemon juice makes it rise but since I forgot it and it still rose it must simply be the bicarb. I will have to try a lemon version and take better photos - before we eat it!

It does taste good tho despite the rubbish photos and my decision to use gritty polenta. In all fairness I think its better with just the fine type of polenta!

Heres the recipe for the charlotte topping:

Dry igredients
175g of a 50:50 mix of fine polenta and gritty polenta
175g of plain flour
 2 tea spoons of bicarbonate of soda
1/2 cup of vanilla sugar - I make my own but a bought sort would do or just use ordinary granulated or caster sugar

Wet Ingredients
1 cup of sunflour oil
1 cup of soya milk

Other optional ingredients
 2 lemons - zest and juice  - which I forgot!!!!
 1 generous tablespoon of dessicated coconut

 Mix all dry ingredients first including dessicated coconut if using. Mix wet and dry ingredients vigourously with  a wooden spoon until well mixed.

I cooked the base which is just gooseberries and sugar in the microwave. It was bubbling hot and jamlike then I added spoonfulls of the mix over the top while it was still hot and cooked again for about 5 minutes letting it stand for a few minutes half way through the cooking. You will need to adjust the timing depending on your own microwave. I checked it was cooked by using a sharp pointed knife and it came out clean. If its not quite cooked the knife will not come out clean and will have smudges of mix on it so cook a couple of minutes longer.

Serve with (vegan) whipped cream or custard or just eat as it is. 

Enjoy!

Bracken

Bat print lounge shorts

 I made some basic elastic waist lounge shorts a few weeks ago and they have been very much worn so I decided to use some fabric I have had for ages to make a better job of these.

This is poly cotton printed fabric sold as halloween fabric. I bought it two or maybe 3 summers ago and its still unused and taking up valuable space so this seemed a great idea. 

Unfortunately, I cut them out late one night, I was tired and the print is one directional and I got it wrong. 

They still work and my other half seems to love them but I did find the print directions slightly annoyimg. Still despite the mistake they are better worn than stashed away as fabric. 

Because there are two fabrics - black on white and white on black I originally cut two pairs but then had the idea to use them like this so I ended up sewing up two harlequin legged shorts which hopefully does help to slightly hide or at least make the print directions less important!

This is also not the first item I have done this with. 

You would think I would have learned!

 

I still love my gypsy top from several years ago despite the print directions on that one!

Well maybe not a complete disaster, because if something gets worn  I would say its actually a success. 

I need to try to remember these items next time I cut things outin a hurry!

Have a good weekend

Bracken

Purple cotton hand knit jumper

This has taken me ages to sew up. I finished knitting it more than a month ago. I hate the sewing up part but decided I really should get round to it because I am nearing the end of another jumper now and its still there waiting for me. So I spent the entire morning sewing this and here it is.

Though the sleeves are a bit too long really.  Usually I aim for that with a winter jumper because I seem to pull them over my hands. Possibly its to do with having Raynauds and the yarn keeps my hands from going numb.

Its the exact same pattern as my orange fluffy jumper but this time I measured the length right so its not cropped. I actually think its better in a less fluffy yarn, though the pattern is made for mohair apparently. The yarn is Drops Paris 100% cotton and was bought new which is of course very unusual for me who usually buys Ebay second hand yarns Its a lovely dark purple ( darker than it looks in these phots actually, which I can see me wearing loads and is meant to be an aran weight hence I can get away with knitting this pattern. It does though feel quite a loose knit but I think personally I prefer to have looser and softer than that very tight hard feeling knitting you often get with cotton hand knits so that doesn't bother me, though of course it will wear out quicker than a tighter knitted one would. Its also less likely to get as dirty as the white one I made in cotton. I wear that for half an hour and it looks mucky! Hence I do not wear it very often which is a shame bearing in mind the effort that went into knitting that one.

 I really like knitting this. It is not a difficult pattern like the white cotton jumper I knitted - that was seriously difficult. I mean arans are easier than that pattern! It really stretched me to say the least. I enjoyed knitting this pattern though, because its not too simple - as in you do need to concentrate but its easy to find where you cock up and correct it as well, when you forget where you are so its a very rewarding thing to knit. Also its relatively easy to keep in the pattern as you increase at the sleeve seams which gives it a nice all over pattern not the usual stocking stitch sides and I like that. 

I may knit a few more of this one, because I enjoy it - but in other yarns. Its very effective but not too simple (like the blue one - I got bored knitting that one) and not too difficult like the white lace. Also which I have not shown here but you could turn this over because its just as good on the reverse giving two different patterns for the one instructions. I may try that next time. So I suppose it suits my ability. I won't repeat this jumper just now though because I need the variation of knitting something else, but its a good one for me to remember I think.I am on a roll with knitting right now as well, and don't want to spoil that. Having been unable to get going for years, I do not want to go starting something, get bored and stash it half made, because if that happens I am likely to stop knitting again and it could be 25 years or more before I start knitting again. It was actually 28 years the last time that happened, and if I had not had an operation I probably would still not have started up knitting again.

I am so happy how it turned out. I had the idea cotton would look good in this pattern and yes it does. Its from a Sanda magazine for the 80s - see my older post for details on that https://brackencrafts.blogspot.com/2020/01/orange-fluffy-jumper.html

 

I have more of the purple and the white cotton yarns and also a few balls of pale blue that I picked up yesterday in a charity shop in Coventry and some bright green I bought via Ebay, so I could make another cotton jumper or cardigan but I feel its getting too close to autumn now and if I make something else I probably will not wear it till next year. So I think its now time to do Autumn knitting and put the cotton back into the stash. I much prefer the softer yarns you make winter jumpers from rather than knitting cotton which feels so coarse on the hands and weighs far to much for my wrists.

My next jumper(s) then are Autumn / Winter ones which I need right now when its cold because I squashed the ones I already have into a vacuum storage bag so until I open it and get them back again I haven't any, I have only summer jumpers/ clothing. I do not really want to go delving into my winter clothing right now so they are lost for the next couple of months so I reckon time for a nice fluffy( maybe) winter jumper. As I mentioned I have one half made but its at the last few rows - its in the round too so very little sewing up.......... but I will show you in a few weeks.

 I am now though deciding what to begin. I usually start the next one before I quite finish the last one because when I am tired and need a rest, I can just do the ribbing which I find really tedius. Its not so bad though if done between other " more concentratey" things. Sometimes I even knit the ribbed edges for a differnt jumper before finishing the first one and then do the intersting bits all at once.

Well this one will be a good on for the end of summer and into autumn I think and hopefully will still be good for next spring.

Thanks for popping over have a lovely day

Bracken

90s style Burda short skirt with self drafted 90s style halter neck top

After the success of my recent skirt and top that I made a few weeks ago I decided to use my other piece of scuba - also 1m only of this - to make a similar outfit. This is a tie dye star scape print so pretty summery fabric. I decided I should use it now rather than store for yet another winter and dream about what I can do with it!

 Yes a bit of a cop out repeating something but on the other hand I really like wearing it so why not have two the same. I had several identical except for colour versions of this in my youth and wore them till last year when they were just past it so time to replace. Also I suppose really both the other items were really muslins for this 😁

Being self drafted this top was a real experiemnt when I made the first one but I now have 4 of these so time to stop perhaps. At least for this summer anyway. This one is just a little bit longer than the previous versions. Though I may have to add a plain black halter neck on at some point. Though I do not particularly need a matching black short skirt because I already have several.

Anyway, again this is a fast drying polyester/ lycra scuba so great for a holiday outfit. 

I do not really have that much to say its the same as the previous version really. All overlocked and then twin needled on the hems. Both feel and look good with my grey sweatshirt.

Have a great week and thanks for popping by

Bracken

Leopard print RaRa skirt

I have had my eye on this Burda pattern for ages. Its 129;06/2014 and has a shirring elastic ruched basque. Thats what scared me really but a blogger ( sorry I do not remember who) writes a few years back she found it easy to do which inspired me. Then I had to wait till I got the right fabric. This is not quite the same as the Burda version because I had scraps of fabric to use up left over from a different project so was constrained by what I had available and the weird shapes of the bits of fabric as well. So Burda had a basque thats almost twice as long ( Burda double it, I couldnt do that)  with three ruffles and I have just the two ruffles so the only thing thats actually the right measurements on this the the main skirt pieces that you sew the frills to!

 

Despite that its definitely inspired by the Burda version.

Using the shirring is very easy, unless like me you have arthritus in the hands. Then its pure hell and this small amount took me three sittings over 5 days, having a rest between each day to recover the use of my hands. I actually sewed more rows than Burda and I did not pull it in which they suggest. It gathered enough not to need the elastic I added at the edge anyway. 

If you are young and / or do not have arthritus this is a great way to make a skirt, though I am usually someone who avoids this style when buying RTW cos the elastic always fails and the skirt does not last very long next to one with a fitted basque. For the scraps I have though, for this summer, I am very happy with it.

Its edged with a cheap stretch elastic. I used a walking foot and was very careful not to stretch it because obviously being a non-stretch woven stretch lace is not really ideal but its what was available and it works well enough I think.

.

 There is some narrow elastic right along the top edge as well to stop the "frilly" edge you get from shirring. Thats just my choice rather than Burd's suggestion - though to be perfectly honest I found the instructions so confusing I just ad-libbed. 

Fabric is a silky woven viscose so very frayey and light weight but is ideal for summer. Its slippy to sew and I made the frills very uneven but it doesn't seem to show so I think probably I am the only person who will realise that. 

All in all I really do like this skirt.

 I very much enjoyed wearing this anyway😊

Have a lovely day and thanks for popping round

Bracken

1996 Burda Style skirt

 I really wanted to recreate a look from my 1997  summer holiday clothes when I was still "young".

Despite my age I decided I can still wear this style and its the perfect holiday outfit when its nice weather.

 

I searched for weeks in all my hundred-odd ( I kid you not!) Burda Mags to find this pattern which is a very simple A line mini, and its this style that what I wanted to recreate. Despite owning so many patterns its a surprise to find the one thing I want is really hard to find. Possibly because its so simple you could easily self draft?

But I really wanted an accurate fast and easy pattern I can use and be reasonably sure it will work not one of my experiments because I had very little of this fabric and may not be able to get more and not every experiment works lets face it - thats despite not wanting to cock this up and waste time.

I also have hundreds of free patterns from all over the internet but it ended up that the only one thats the right style is a Burda girls pattern from 1996.

 

Though I bought my outfit which I have copied in the summer of 1997 from New Look in Newquay, Burda Style have it in the January edition of the previous year. It was a common look then though. Its style 133/ 01/1996  .

 

I already recreated the halter neck top a few weeks ago so now here I also have my matching skirt. I think I am getting into matching separates! You can read about that one half way through my #MMM21 post here:

https://brackencrafts.blogspot.com/2021/06/mmm21-22nd-may-to-31st-may-and-holiday.html

This is not at all pattern matched because I had a metre for the entire outfit so it just had to be made from what there is available which I have to say is really far more environmentally friendly that wasting loads of fabric to make it all pattern patch though in this case its a shame because it would be a very easy print to get to match up. Still maybe next time if I manage to get something similar in this kind of fabric.

I was in my early 30's when I wore the original of this design, so not a kid and this fashion was, in 1996 -1997, an adult look as well as child's!

In the Burda magazine though it is in child sizes - though they are really teen sizes so nearly adult though not as big a range as normal women sized patterns. This though would be an easy one to grade up.

Burda show this in satin which was a common look in the 90s but I had a T shirt jersey skirt to match my halter neck. And a few more photos this time with Roger the dog.

This whole outfit is actually scuba so ideal for camping because its a quick dry fabric and very lightweight. Burda make it with a side zip. I just used elastic because thats what my 90s version had. Perfect! The girls sizes actually go bigger than me too so I will have to start looking more at the childrens section. Kids clothes tend to be less fussy and more fun I find. More my style. Its practical and easy to wear.

The pictures are taken by St Piran's Cross. This is in the sand dunes of the Quarry fields near Crantock in Cornwall.  Unfortunately the photographer was not at his best that day so here is an old photo of the cross from the last time we visited it.

We went there years ago as is seen by the date on this photo, and we have looked for the monument/ relic every year since, but never found it. Its my now long dead lovely Ronnie dog's head you can see there. If I had not already take a photo of this relic I would have doubted my own memory of ever finding it at all, because there is also a modern cross there and thats all we have found since - till this week. The modern one is a War Memorial cross there thats easy to find but this ancient relic is more hidden, but this is the original photo from 2006 so I had proof we did really find this place even though it has eluded us ever since then.

Possibly we could not find it because of the shifting sand dunes? I cannot see any other reason for it. This time we also found the ruined church and St Piran's Oratory as well so a bonus. I never noticed them previously but you can see the church ruins in the background of this old photo. We found them by accident this year as well.  This year you can see St Piran's Cross from accross the dunes if you happen to be in the area so its easy to find it!

Have a good week

Bracken