Valentines Red

I had a strangely productive week this week and finished off several items that have been waiting for me to get round to adding things like hems, so I used my twin needle machine to finish these off.

Black leggings x 2 –

I don’t know about you but I do find making the basic stuff a bit boring. With the recent snow I was cold and decided to make some more black leggings because I can then wear my skirts and dresses for work and not freeze. It is nice to have the option to wear a dress sometimes and not be just stuck in trousers. Generally I am stuck in trousers at work!


I made a pair of these basic black leggings a few months back and I love them. One of the dogs managed to rip a small hole in my first pair at first wearing which was very annoying.

The hole, which is still at the moment small enough not to notice, means that I do not feel comfortable wearing these for work in case this hole gets too big during the day so I need some more. Both of these pairs  are made from the same piece of fabric as the earlier pair because I liked them so much I decided to make a couple more pairs. I was originally going to save this precious bit of black fabric but what’s the point of that?

Its exactly the reason my stash keeps growing. I just feel this need to be precious about fabric and save it for some ideal use at an unknown future date instead of making use of it when I need it now.  Really, I should be happy that I had enough fabric to make a further 2 pairs which will get me through the rest of winter and into spring.

The black legging fabric is a 4 way ( or two way I am never too sure of classifications here?) stretch fabric. Either way whatever its called its very stretchy in both directions and is also relatively light weight fabric so ideal for leggings.

Tulip skirt – self drafted direction here:

I read a blog post that inspired this skirt about a year ago.You can find it here:
http://thelittleststudio.com/blog/tulip-skirt-tutorial

This was called the Tulip skirt but to be honest I always thought a tulip skirt had gathers at the waist and was tighter at the bottom - more like this pattern
https://sewoverit.co.uk/product/tulip-skirt-pdf-sewing-pattern/ but I think this is named such because of the petal like effect rather than the actual style.

I think this skirt does look like a red tulip. Being a red colour I reckon it works well for the looming Valentines day this year.

I like this very much either way. Mind you it would be more revealing to wear without leggings because of the wrap effect. I may make a second layer and overlap them next time for more coverage or even a contrasting circular underskirt.  I think perhaps my skirt overlaps slightly less than it ought to but I can make another to experiment at some point to see if I can sort this out. I am happy enough with this version for now. Though I seem to prefer the wrap more to one side rather than at centre front but that is something to be experimented with.

It has an almost dancer quality to it which I very much like and made me feel good wearing this this Saturday. It has a simple black elastic waistband and is made from football shirt type of fabric so it has a slight texture and a small amount of stretch but no lycra so this is a very stable knit fabric. Unfortunately ( or perhaps really I should be thinking fortunately) my weight has fluctuated and I am smaller this week than a couple of weeks ago when I made this meaning the waist band is a little too large. I will more than likely find I fluctuate back up again though so I am not too bothered if this is a bit big for now. Then with the red tulip skirt I am wearing a T-shirt that I started for Christmas – hence the red/green colourway, but have not till now got round to doing the hems.

T shirt - free pattern here:
http://www.itsalwaysautumn.com/2016/02/15/long-sleeve-raglan-sweatshirt-free-pattern.html

Personally  I reckon this is as good as any reglan Tshirt pattern paid or free and believe me I have tried loads of them because I love raglans!

The red/green T shirt is made from a light weight silky ribbed fabric. I really bought these fabrics for hems and edges but they work just as well as a top. The red is the same ribbed fabric as the green that I used for my Goth dress. The pattern is my TNT free pattern from here. Though I did not make a good job of the neck band this time around. It does not lie quite right.

Finally I made this sweatshirt a week ago and have worn it to work and its very warm and cozy.

This sweatshirt jacket looks just as good with work clothes but maybe even better over my red tulip skirt. See last email here

So,  I made 2 new pairs of basic black leggings, finished my floaty tulip skirt, finished my Tshirt and it all goes with my sweatshirt jacket as well.

And I actually wore this out to the shops with no coat in the snow and did not feel cold. 

Bonus!

You can see how frosty it was here:

What a productive weekend!

Bracken