Silver glitter leggings

 
I made two pairs of basic leggings for the Christmas and New year party season.

So these were made to be worn during the Christmas and New Year period - and they were.

The first pair I mentioned back at the start of New Year. I realy made these for New Year's day. The second pair were made at the same time but I just never got round to blogging them till today. I suppose that means I had a good time this year as well, due to not having time for much blogging.

They are both pairs though, very nice and glittery to take me through January, so I think they still count as part of my current wardrobe despite the party had to finish and we all had to start working again. This pair are the more handleable for every day life. Lots of people seem to go glittery in January so I am not alone and I want to make the most of both of these while I feel I can still get away with wearing them. For weekends I am still enjoying wearing these so rather than store them until next winter I have decided stuff it I will carry on wearing these now. Soon I think the silver textured pair  will probably have to go away until next year.  I just might manage to wear the glitter leggings though for a while yet. I will have to wait and see how my confidence manages to hold out wih regards to this glittery pair:

I must admit to a few misgivings when this fabric arrived- even to war over the holiday season. Well they are very shiny shiny but now in January they have brightened up my life somewhat amidst the rain and cold weather, so I am happy to have made these.  The first pair have a fabric that is textured and quite warm, The fabric is sold as 4-way stretch but has more stretch widthways than lengthways. It works well for leggings though:

The second pair are a thinner fabric that is a true 4-way stretch so could really be used for dancewear or swimwear. These are thinner so not so warm but defiitely they are the easier pair to incorporate into my normal life. I don't expect these to last as long but like them the best. The fabric is more delicate and has a few "pulls" already. They work really well with my pink teddy top though. 

And of course they also work with my Faerie theme. 

I have decided I like my clothing so much more after focusing on the Faerie looks I aimed for in 2022 so that will have to continue for 2023 as well. I am gradually working through my entire clothing collection and eliminating anything I do not really like to charity. 

So far its a surprisingly large number of items I do not want and still more to go through. I tend to store summer clothing in winter so I have not even begun going through that as yet. Its feeling like a job well done so far though.

 

Anyway, despite the rather "Abba" feeling these have turned out surprisingly wearable - so long as the rest of my outfit is a bit subdued. They really can work for every day life - even if not my working life - despite the glitter. Although I have toned down  what I wear with these for every day life.

 

I hope you are having a great start to 2023. I actually feel that so far I am getting things sorted out, at least wardrobe wise, so all the sorting out and disposal to charity is worth my time and effort even though it eats into my crafting time. Thanks for popping by my blog and see you again soom.

Take care, 

Bracken

#Winter Haven KAL -pattern Buddy - socks for baby of six months

Like last year I decided to take part in the January Knit Along with the Winwick Mum blog. I really enjoyed the KAL last year and it was great to feel you are part of something. And of course I made a new pair of socks. 

They were somewhat imperfect ( well very if you look at what they should have turned out like!) but have since become a favourite of mine and I really should now get round to knitting a second pair of them now I have some "proper sock yarn" rather than just stashed yarn. Still I have been very happy that despite I used doubled lace weight mohair and have worn them loads, one year later they are getting a bit thin but are still wearable and warm and so far have no holes in them. That is really unexpected though I suspect proper sock yarn may wear even better.

OK so this year's KAL I chose to use for the baby sock pattern "Buddy" which is designed by Winwick Mum for the West Yorkshire Spinners and is free in their website. Buddy came out at Christmas 2022 - or for Christmas anyway. Its on the  website if you wanted this pattern.  It actually got released in September so you could knit some Christmas socks. Me though, I want to use this pattern to knit some oddments of sock yarn up for a baby of 6 months. So I am knitting the 6 months size of this patttern. 

The one criteria for the Winter Haven KAL is you must either use a Winwick Mum yarn or a Winwick Mum pattern (or ideally both) to take part. I actually already had an order in for some Winwick Mum yarn and originally thought I would use that but these socks are so tiny - being for a six month old - and I have loads of small amounts left over from my other socks so in the end I went with using some Lang sock yarn instead but using Buddy so I am using a Winwick Mum designed pattern. I will I think probably make more of these anyway now I know they worked out and so can use the Winwick Mum yarn later when I have first made some full sized adult socks from it.

Unfortunately, I then had some issues with familly going in and out of hospital for the first two weeks of the KAL so ended up starting at the end of week 2 so not ideal but then there is no reason why you have to keep up with these kind of knit alongs so no worries and I want to knit these anyway. I started when I finally got time to do so.

So by the time I began this sock we were already half way through the 4 week long KAL.

 

I had a few problems understanding what to do with the turnover top cuff but I got it sorted. Not sure to be honest I have done this properly but it has worked so that will do. I just need to remember how I did this for sock number two. 

I have literally just cast that one on but bearing inmind I only began the first sock a week ago and its now completed and even sewn up I am now confident I can finish this second sock in a week or so. Also I unpicked the leg part below the cuff of the first sock 4 times before figuring out how to make that work so this second sock will hopefully be faster.

So this yarn is Lang and its left over from my lovely socks made a while ago. 

Now interestingly I have knitted a few pairs since then and all but one pair ( and that pair was still sock yarn) have been the same kind of yarn and the same needle sizes and stitch count yet my tension has changed quite a bit. Its now far more tighter and more regular than that first pair made in sock yarn and the socks fit better too. That pair were a bit too big. Weird but I must have just become a better knitter!

Anyway here is my baby sock - I have yet to knit number two sock. 

Its much better than bootees. I did knit bootees a while ago but in the 0-3 months size and to be honest I hate them. They are very fiddly to knit and they are just not right. Bootees have that under foot seam.These are "proper socks" and I think much better and at 6 months of course the baby I have knitted these for will be moving around so will be far more comfortable with no seam at the bottom of his foot. Unfortunately because the mother does not want her baby on social media ( totally understand that myself!) I can't to get any photos of this little sock on the baby (or only on the foot anyway) and he is not yet big enough to wear these so you will have to take my word for it these are for a 6 month old child. They are far too big on the tiny foot shown here but he will grow of course.This is the baby feet they will need to fit but he is actually in a smaller size right now.

I am certainly quite happy with this sock and will make a few more pairs from my odd bits of yarn. I decided to make the 6 month size to allow for me maybe taking a while to knit these but they knit quite fast probably due to their small size. You get the idea of how they will look though.

Hopefully I should get sock two done quite fast but that will I think depend on my familly. Hopefully for now at least the hospital visits are over.

Have you done much crafting so far in 2023? 

Or any other things you feel have been an achievement? 

I am feeling good right now that I will actually maybe achieve some good crafting projects this coming year.

Take care and have a great weekend

Bracken.

Very purple fluffy jumper

 

I knitted this to replace the blue one I made a couple of years ago. Its a similar fluffy mohair kind of yarn.

 

I took that blue jumper to Poland back in the spring of 2022 and decided to wash it on my so called hand wash function on my washing machine. I have never never done this before and I will never ever do this again. The washing machine was new so I had never tried out this so called hand wash function.

Anyway with both jumpers the yarn is meant to be handwash and this handwash machine program totally felted my lovely blue jumper up, shrank it and ruined it. I tried several internet fixes to sort this - soak in hair conditioner etc, but nothing worked. I managed to also ruin a black mohair jumper at the same time. I have not yet replaced that one. Its still on my to-do list. I do have some fluffy black mohair type yarn stashed that I picked up a few months back. I say mohair type because its from a charity/ thrift shop and has no actual fibre content on it but its fluffy and will do for this. I miss the black one. Black is just so wearable and the one in question that got ruined also had glitter. Ah I do miss that jumper! Maybe this year I will get round to making a black one?

This purple jumper then is made to replace something I liked a lot but ruined by accident. Knitting takes me a long time so its a massive project really.

Anyway one of the things that happens every Christmas is we need to use the dining table. Thats also under normal weeks my sewing/ crafting table so my crafting pretty much ends from whenever we finish work before Christmas until when we return to work afterwards. This year that was 23rd December.

So this year I finished off the half knitted purple jumper and now have a replacement for the blue one - although its not actually blue. I am currently on the lookout for blue fully yarn but so far have not found any. I actually love this very strong purple colour though it may turn out much harder to wear and mix with other clothing than the blue version was. Still I could not resist his purple yarn when I found it. This was also thrifted yarn.

It is actually easier to see the lace stitch on the blue one.

 

 Perhaps the purple is more fluffy?

 

I never saw how purple this is till we took the photos. It was quite sunny despite being cold so probably shows the colour really well.

 

 I deliberately made the sleeves long - probably should have included actual mitts in fact but they are just over long because then I am able to pull them down over my hands when its inconvenient to wear proper gloves. I have made several jumpers with over long sleeves. Its something I like though I must admit its rare to find any RTW tops with this. Still its one of the good things about me made clothing. The blue jumper also had uber long sleeves. 

Anyway despite managing to knit a second one of these - which seemed to take forever - I am still a little sad at my own stupidity with my blue one. I need to find some yarn in that sort of blue. It was more a saxe blue than a royal blue and seems hard to find. Though I will not knit the exact same jumper pattern again even if, or when, I do find that colour yarn. The purple one will be good but I will do something else when I find some blue. I suspect I will end up grabbing whatever blue eventually turns up in a charity shop. I live in hope to find some.

And if nothing else I will never get taken in by a so called "hand wash" program on a washing machine ever again. I suppose at least I am learning!

Thanks for visiting my blog and have a great weekend.

Bracken

Glittery check dress based on Ulla Johnson runway dress

 

 I made this a few months ago but never wore it due to this is a heavier weight, wintery scuba fabric and the weather then was just too hot.

Its perfect for now though and also a bit Festivaley I think. Despite Christmas has gone I am still feeling partyish this year and the silver thread ion this fabric just makes me feel happy.

The check has this silver glittery thread running though it which unfortunately you cannot see well on the photos.

I really wanted to make the Ulla Johnson dress here and thats what this hack of several patterns is inspired by:

Well I kind of got the sleeves right and the ruched bodice is not too far off  but when I attached my skirt it was far too long - like about 50cm too long so I had to alter and the easiest way was to hack off the bottom. Thats given my dress a more fitted look and less flowiness than the original. 

By the way the original is made from cotton - I assume a woven cotton so despite similarity of print - as in check - then its really very different. I already had the check scuba fabric and it just felt right to make this.

Probably I really should start modelling these clothes I make with "proper" shoes but they just get taken in real life and I live in trainers and walking boots.

The main bodice on my dress is Burda dress 04/2013#127 which is for stretch fabrics hence I cannot use this for a direct woven copy of this dress but the pattern shapes could help me to draft some non-stretch pattern pieces - or if I was to trace the Burda dress say 2-3 sizes larger would that make it work in a non-stretch fabric? The Burda pattern does actually have a centre back zip but my fabric on both this and my previous version is very stretchy so I just eliminated that.

I would also need to shorten the bodice because my version is far too long in the bodice next to the Ulla Johnson Version.

The original Burda design dress has different sleeves. This green dress was not well made though. I should probably make a new version. I got a bit confused as to what sewed to what on the green version and its not quite right at the bottom hem. At least I got that bit right this time. 

The newer dress is also a smaller size though to be honest I am wondering if I did right to do that because the looser dress is much more flattering ( doesn't show my bulges as much, Ha!)

The sleeves are from Butterick 5562 view B

I recently made a black lace top with these sleeves using Butterick 5562 view B:

 Sleeves are also Uber long like the Ulla Johnson version, though perhaps I should have added mitts?
 You can just about make out the glitter in the below photo. Its actually very glittery but does not show up well in the photos which s a shame.

Skirt is self drafted. Its a circle skirt so that was relatively easy. If you need to find a pattern for this - or rather directions how to make a circle skirt Mood Sewciety has this for free. There are also lots of other places for this around the internet.

 

Anyway I am currently enjoying this dress a lot so despite the skirt not quite fitting the look I intended I may well have to make another of these. Being scuba its also very comfortable and easy to wear. And of course has a lovely swirly circle skirt hem. Perfect for parties!

I would still like to have a try at making a cotton version thats a bit more like the Ulla Johnson dress but maybe thats a project for the spring. It cannot be that difficult to alter the blocks I used for the Vampires Wife dresses I made a couple of years ago and I do love this kind of challenge. It will take a few weeks to work it out I am sure, but its very tempting. Maybe I should include that on my New Years to-do list?

Have a wonderful weekend and thanks for visiting my blog,

Bracken

My 2023 New Year's musings

Its so far taken me three days to write this post. Its not a post I want to rush. 

Most though not all New Years, I try to review what I made last year, and also what I never got round to making despite planning, and also possibly more importantly to decide what worked, what was terrible and how I should proceed. I never so far make everything on my list but then if I did achieve that say part way through the year what would I aim for next?

But looking back at last year I realised I have made very little of what I had planned. I even traced a number of patterns yet never got round to making the planned item. In this respect at least my planning last year was pretty much worthless.

So to be honest after reading my last year's post I wonder if it is worth the effort of planning at all? 

But then you must start somewhere and the one year, in recent years, when I never made such a plan I seem to have expanded my fabric and my yarn stashes but never made very much, so for me the best way forward is this planning post. Also despite its inevitable I will buy more yarn and more fabric at some point, I do want to try to further reduce my rather huge stashes of both - and save money as well as space.

I know lots of bloggers do this kind of post. Its not just to fill that New Year gap where maybe you did not do much other than relax. There is a real purpose for most people. Similar I suppose to New Year's resolutions. Very few people in this world have much if any real free time, let alone money to spare, so plannning what you want and what is possible (though not always what is realistic I must admit) is a valuable useage of time. Its well worth spending a couple of days to work out what you wish to aim for over the next year or even just the next few months.

Before I can decide on this year's projects really I needed to look backwards, and to be perfectly honest I know that in 2022 I copped out, particularly towards the end of the year, and just made things I know will work having already used the patterns several times before. Partly this was down to a complete disaster using a pattern from Dotty Angel. Never again! I shall stay away from that pattern group. So after wasting my fabric on that project I then dumbed down my world rather more than I think really I should have done. I went safe. As in no risk at all. But then when this happens, as in a complete disaster, you lose confidence in your ability and this in turn means you make easy items and you don't learn anything either.

In some cases I made things recently that I have made possibly 20-30 times before. Well I know they work, and that I like those styles, but its very unadventurous really although I could argue and say "but I do like that particular style and have worn X and Y loads" so that kind of makes it worth it. But reallly those kind of items are fast and easy now to make, so should be interspersed with something a bit more challenging maybe?

Also, I have to remember I have literally tens of paper patterns and probably hundreds of magazine patterns I really want to use but never get round to. Thats kind of unacceptable both from a space point of view because I live in a small UK two bedroomed house, so its small by standards in many countries, and even in the UK its a small two bed so we lack space here for things like hobbies. That makes my keeping hundreds of magazines a real pain for my partner. He's nice about it and even bought me loads of magazine boxes to help keep them in good condition, but really I am aware I take up more room for my own hobbies than he does for his or even for his tools which he does seem to collect and not use often.

Then there is the money/ costs point of view. Even when its an old Ebay bought magazine from the 1980s its cost me money and I am not a wealthy person so cannot justify just owning all this stuff and not making use of at least 80% of it. Of course there is no way I will ever make all the patterns I own, but I should I think make at least one item from each magazine. I actually did start to do this but went off track. That was a few years ago. How can I really justify this without at least attempting to plan a new wardrobe and to use some at least of these new designs. That is NEW meaning anything I have not made previously so the style might date even back to 1968 which is my oldest Burda magazine.

If I manage to make 1-4 items a month which is probably my usual assuming I only have one very challenging project on the go at any one time, it will still take me probably around 10 years to use every magazine just once. Thats how many I now own and I stopped buying them regularly really 4 years ago. I must however admit to buying 2 mags in 2019, 3 in 2020, 3 in 2021 and 2 in 2022 so I do occassionally give in. Usually its when I go on holiday somewhere. Still thats another 10 mags in the last 4 years alone and I have yet to make anything from those 10!.

Ok so what DID I get round to making in 2022?

FAE THEME

I went towards a Faerie inspired theme with much of the clothing I did make in 2022 and I have been very happy with this and intend to continue in that vein at least for the rest of winter 2023. At time of setting this goal I had never heard of Fairy Core either but such is life and I still have no regrets. Maybe its a case of great minds think alike etc? 

I do not regret making any of the velvet fae stuff at all and have been living in it and loving it. Its changed the look of my wardrobe immensly. Its made me feel like me again after many years wearing second rate clothing from places like supermarkets. You know all that wearable and affordable stuff that everyone wears but is really boring and safe - but very work worthy I suppose. Though interestingly I have not had any adverse comments wearing this me-made faerie stuff at work so that really proves to me its possible to feel like me and do my day job.

 

I will probably make a few more similar items in a Faerie theme. Maybe more in cotton jersey since thats also very wearable and I have very little in practical cotton which works for summer. 

I actually love much of what I made the last year whereas thats not the case with quite a bit of the earlier stuff. Thats not saying I did not learn or achieve anything, and it was fun to just make things but much of it is not really "me".

I even knitted a pair of glitter mitts which are very fae inspired so that was actually a good look to aim for. These were an achievement having been on my to-do list since, I think, 2007. I have done a fair amount of knitting this year though I suppose, but mainly its been small items like socks and hats.

So, I have no regrets about the Fae theme at all, despite a receiving a few not so nice comments about it not being age appropriate for me to make Fae inspired clothing. But some people have no vision and no fun left by the time they get grown up. Stuff that. I want fun clothing that is also stylish and comfortable. I also need to try to use up the rest of my velvet fabric offcuts so I feel maybe a few similar tops or dresses coming soon. This could be good for January since its nasty cold, wet and windy outside the window while I write this and I feel it could be a good month to use up a lot of those velvet pieces on new items. Especially now I have decided how I really do like the ones made in 2022.

I did also make more knickers and bras and some vest tops but again its all very basic stuff I have done before so hardly counts. But its practical and uses up those spare bits of left overs which reduces the waste I send to landfill ( and it doesn't make my stashed fabric any bigger of course) and thats got to be good. I actually really need new "smalls". Not really knickers but smaller sleeveless tops so I will aim to make a few of them over the next few months. 

Same with basic long sleeved tops and leggings and flared stretch velvet trousers which I love to wear but they are relatively easy nowadays for me to achieve. These are some I really like from the last year:

Though there is no doubt about the fact I have been getting a bit too boring in my recent sewing so here we go for 2023........

Like last year I still really want to make this skirt from Burda Style 09/2014 which was the first new magazine ( as in not second hand off Ebay) I bought from Burda so I should use that one soon:

I have this pattern traced - it was difficult as well being large pattern pieces that did not fit onto my table, and I traced onto wall paper so I had to join the paper width-wise to get it to fit. I even have some stretch burnout velour which would look great and would work as a muslin, and since it was just 90p/m so as cheap as cheap gets this would be a great way to test if this fits. I had the fabric this time last year so there is actually no excuse for not making this other than my fear of it not working.   If the pattern fits then I intend to make a stretch denim version. Or at least when I make the pattern fit me is what I mean. I know already its too long and could be a bad fit else where. I also own some stretch denim for this purpose. So a real cop out for this pattern since its traced and ready to cut out, and I have two different fabrics ear-marked for it!

Similarly with these dresses from 03/2019 Burda style, that were on last years plan. I already have the fabric so really I need to make these. I have not yet traced these but the magazines have been lying around for a whole year in my sewing space while I consider them. The black dress on the left that is and the centre one in gold not at the moment the jacket. Though I may yet make the top based on the centre dress rather than the dress itself. That would be a safer way to test out the twist pattern.

 These will I think challenge me. 

I have a half made skirt with a twist in it that I have yet to finish due to getting a bit stuck on exactly what those Burda instructions want me to do to achieve it so thats on my to-do list. Its been stuffed into a box for the last 6 months because I got stuck on that one. 

This is what its meant to look like but I could not figure out that twist. Its from the November 2017 magazine:

Stretch Skirt A, B 107 | 11/17

Time I think to brave up a bit and get the thing made - or ruined if I cannot do it - but at least do something to attempt to make that rather than just ignore it for another year. Its all cut out and even partly sewn. I probably could even google to find a blogger who has actually succeeded in making this one who can advise me on what I cannot quite get. Thats assumng when I go back and read the instructions I cannot figure it out. Often if I take a break and go back it just seems to work. I really like twist patterns so should get round to finishing this one in 2023.

I did trace the top pattern below, but again I have yet to sew this one up and there is in that case no excuse because its not even a difficult one to sew. I have plenty of stashed fabric options ( including possibly velvet offcuts!) would look good in this style as well. Must get round to that one!

 

There is a long list of other things I aimed for last New Year and never achieved but I will gloss over it. 

These listed above are what I WILL make this year along with some more track pants - I have the fabric and zips for these. 

They will be a repeat but I will use them and they will still be a challenge because I found them hard to make last time around. And really you need to make stuff you actually want to wear as well don't you. I actually need these. Hopefully my second attempt will be better because this first pair were a bit imperfect really though despite that they have been well worn and loved.

And I want to make a few repeats of some of the Faerie inspired successes from last year. I am not going to make too many lists this year but just aim for this small number of new things to get me going and maybe then I can achieve them. And of course things will just come along that are not yet even considered here that I am bound to make.

CLEAROUT

I do also think I need a massive clearout of my older me-mades before I begin this years making. And I do mean a massive clearout.  Its time for a reduction in what I own because I simply have no room left and in the end why hang on to all those slightly or sometimes terribly imperfect garments I made, especially when I used a cheap fabric thats not really that nice to wear?

I used to be far less selective when buying fabric. Nowadays I tend to go for lovely stuff rather than what is cheapest. Though I do try to only buy in sales and I watch fabric until there is an offer on. Its rare that I give in and pay full price and if I can use a second hand item to make something new then I do.

I used to sew with anything and everything though just to learn and some of it was actually nice but most is really not at all nice either to wear or look at - look at the older blog posts to see what I mean if you want to- and its time to send it off to charity and make new - if I have not made new yet already. 

And finally in 2023 I want to get my wardrobe into containing the sort of clothing I actually want to be seen in. Thats this years biggest aim I think. 

To make a smaller number of planned challenging projects and to achieve that, but mostly I want to eliminate from my current clothing collection all my worn or just boring mundane items because just because its me-made that no longer means I need to carry on keeping it and especially now I am more confident ( well some of the time at least when I do not have a disaster), I can repeat things and make them better than I did first time around. I have tended to just keep it all - because I made it. Thats got to stop. Its no longer a viable excuse because I hardly own anything now that is not me-made. And what I do own that was bought I want to keep, so the rubbish must be eliminated.

After all I have a blog and while its still here ( I do worry Blogger may disappear!) I have a good record, or diary, of what I have previously made and how. 

So in the end I think 2023 is the year for me to skim things down, throw out my old clothing, or give to charity a large proportion of the things I have made, and to make new exciting garments, and of course I need to do some experiementing as well as the safe sewing I do already. 

I am not going to completely stop making my Tried and Tested (TNT) patterns though. I did learn this year that it is really good to have a few fall back patterns that fit well and are just very basic every day wearable patterns that when you feel depressed or when things go wrong with something adventurous then its great to pull one out and sew something you can rely on working.

AND I am going to aim to repair quite a few of those old patterns that have got a bit tatty. I clearly need to keep them for such times as when I lose my sewing mojo. Some TNT patterns I like to wear are seriously falling to bits so I could do with tracing them on to thicker stronger paper for future useage. No thats not really sewing but some are old patterns now that are harder to get hold of and even when still in print why buy new what you have already. I should just transfer them to better paper and store the original tissue pattern until needed. 

So thats another aim for this year. To trace and preserve those TNT patterns that I like very much that need repairs.

So thats my plans for 2023 then. 

If you actually read to the end of this post, congratulations!

I know its a bit epic blogwise, its text heavy, and a bit probably too information laden and picture light for a normal blog post, but this one is for me. I need this one to sort my head out and get my life going again in 2023 so I hopefully achieve what I want to.

If you did enjoy reading then thank you for wading through all that text to the end. 

Take care and I hope 2023 is going to be the best year ever for you and for me.

 Bracken