Loungewear flares

 

Ok so really this is not at all an original thing to make, but I have already worn these three times and washed them once so really so far they are a very good idea because besides they fit my Fae clothing theme being a lovely watercolour type of print of smudgey florals, they're also a style I enjoy wearing, and they are comfortable which matters at this time of year when you need warm comforting food and clothing to combat the often vile wet weather outside. I actually waited quite a few days to get these trousers photgraphed due to the cold rainy world outside!

These trousers fit the comfort bill fine, and work well as loungewear, which I can still wear out and about and the fabric is nice enough I felt OK to go to a coffee shop at the weekend with a mate and not feel out of place.

On top of that the fabric has now been in the stash more than a year so needs using up. I have also just cut a dress out of the same fabric which pretty much uses it all except for a few small pieces which I need to be a bit inventive with I think if I am to find a way to use them. More on that when I get an idea!

Like the multi coloured flares I made a few months back these are made using a free yoga pants pattern that I have been grateful for the chance to use for a long time now. Its the best stretch flares pattern I  have come accross and being free is a wonderful bonus.

This is the link to the pattern: https://siloandsage.com/2015/03/06/free-yoga-pants-pattern/

Also like the last few versions of these I have widened them a bit to make the flares wider. Well the pattern was released years ago now in a world with straight leg trousers so with changing times this updates it and its just so simple to add a few cm to the side seams. 

Hopefully I will find time to sew up some of the baby clothes I have been cutting out. Once I do I will post about them.

Enjoy your weekend and here's hoping its a sunny one regardless of where on planet Earth you live;

Take care

Bracken

Velvet loungewear with a faerie theme for 2023

Well last week I explained how I really need some new tops after clearing out all my old stuff to charity and what could I do when searching through my stash but make another of these velvet hoody cowls. For my New Years sewing plans I had on my list more loungewear in the faerie theme similar to my last year's makes that I have been so into wearing. Made of course in stretch velvet. Well really why spend your life making clothing you do not like to wear? 

Much better to make things you really like and enjoy wearing. I had intended to be sewing this sort of clothing starting straight after New Year but life just got in the way. Its been a really hectic January and no time for sewing at all so this has of course moved now to February sewing. Well thats fine.

This is a top though where the previous versions are dresses. I used the sleeves from the A symetric velvet dress - both patterns are Burda style magazine patterns so you have to trace them, but I had already done that bit last year so this is a kind of cop out in some ways. But it does use up lots of fabric from my over large stash.

This version also though has no hoody lining and a pullcord round the hem of the hood which I think makes a great addition to ring the changes. The back of this fabric is a sort of grey marl so I cannot see the point in lining. I did do that previously with some of this velvet but I really do not want to buy more fabric right now so this uses what I have stashed and does not in any way at all add to the amount of fabric I already own which buying hood lining fabric would have done because there will be offcuts to store. And anyway its a nice looking reverse so why cover it with a lining that just makes the hood weigh more?

Unfortunately the bottom hem seems to roll a bit. Probably I made it a bit too narrow? Still I can live with that.

The second  top is made from left over bits of velvet from my A-symetric dress made last year but the sleeves are actually from a different patterned velvet used in the dress above. The pattern is McCall's M6612.And its got a high low hem. This hem worked better. I have yet to work out why this worked but the pink hem rolls over. Could the high low be why it does not roll?

The cuff-mitts come from the Make your Own Activewear book by Melissa Feyr. Though as you can see one cuff lies a bit weird. Must have sewn it or cut it a bit off grain. Never mind!

I actually sewed both tops at the same time so feel I am finally getting my crafting mojo back. Its feels satisfying to have actually found the fabric - from my stash, cut it out and sewn it up and it worked!

And its been a while because I made very little in January and not a lot in December. 

 

 I do like the miss-matched velvet in this dress though so will try to salvedge more garments now from the other offcuts, especially of velvets, because I think this top is not just cozy, comfy and warm but also surprisingly stylish and I really like this idea of mixing similar types of fabric in different patterns. 

Its something I would never have bought odd fabrics to achieve but works well. Similar to the 2-Tone dress I ended up making from some 1m bits of fabric I just bought with no idea what to make from it and in the end 1m is not enough fabric to actually do much with. That dress was also a success so maybe I am currently being a bit too conservative in my approach to making garments? Just a thought anyway.

I also dyed my hair this week and I love how its looking when its half way dried:

Very Fae I think and goes well with these tops. I intend to add a darker pink at the ends but have yet to do that. Its easier to do just one colour at a time when you do it at home. This is rose gold blonde and I did this colour a few years ago and enjoyed it. I just felt I need a new look for my new wardrobe.

Have a great week and see you soon,

Bracken

Buddy baby socks finished and a new knit project

 

I  have had a really slack week and just never got round to posting last week. Sometimes you just have to give in to life though and it means things like blogging ( which I truly enjoy) have to slip. I did carry on knitting though and I finished my socks.

These are my finished Buddy baby socks size 6 months. I mentioned them a couple of weeks ago now but have not had time to write the post and I do like to keep a record of what I make and anything that goes right or wrong when making. I aim to make more of these - maybe in the next size up. It was a great feeling finishing something like socks in just a couple of weeks which for me is incredibly fast. Though of course these are tiny being for a 6 month old baby but never mind that. Its still a finished item. 

The original post on these is here. I made them as part of a winter knit along which I have taken part in for the last two January's. Its really nice feeling part of something spread accross the world with many other people who have a similar interest despite you never meet any of them but you really do feel connected and after the trials that always happen over Christmas and the lead up to the holiday season which is always it seems full of stress I find it so good to just do something for me.

Of course these socks will not fit me but it was satisfying doing this project and taking time to just craft and do what I wanted to do.

I also realised I do not do a proper SSK( slip slip knit) which has become an international thing and I do an old fashioned slip one knit one pass slip stitch over which gives me miss-matched side decreases. Not sure you can see well here but its something I intend to fix on future knit projects now I understand the difference. So at least I have learned something.

I have also just started a new knit project and you could not get more different to the Buddy baby socks. 

Its going to be a jumper ( for me) and its a fluffy mohair mix yarn but I wanted something a kind of khaki colour not bright. For me thats not easy because I tend to collect and stash bright colours of vintage yarns. I did though have some of the grey left over from my nordic style jumper and have two similar green yarns so mixed together they seem to give a look which fits what I am aiming for. I actually have 1 more ball of each of the greens than those shown above because I am already knitting them into the jumper. So in all I have 9 of the moss green Emu yarn which is 25g balls  and 6 of the Tropicana ( tweedy yarn) which is also 25g balls. I have no idea what fibre the grey yarn is. I bought it off Ebay on a whim and it did not tell me what the fibre is but there is approx 340g left so hopefully these three yarns will provide enough for the jumper I aim to knit.

I have owned this knitting magazine from when it came out. I used to subscribe. That was back in the 1980's though:

I never actually ever thought I would knit such a simple design but this jumper is going to be based on the red jumper here:

Of course its early days yet but being knitted on huge 7mm and 8mm needles I am hopeful to get this finished before spring is over. Well you never know. Its so far taken me 2 evenings to achieve the amount knitted so far but I have to take into account I am not able to knit every day. It just does not fit into my current life and work so its not going to be the case it will grow 7 days a week. Still never mind. If I can get this done by June that will do nicely. 

I really like how the green and grey works together though and will enjoy wearing this.

Sometimes you do not need to show off your knitting or sewing skills though which I kind of feel I get a bit obsessed by. I kind of get into this mind set where I feel I should knit cables or lace etc just because I can. And cables and lace makes for an interesting project but the problem is I actually like to wear simple to knit tops like this will be. I want to wear a  nice basic loose knit fluffy top for spring and this will perfectly fit that description assuming it works out the way I think it is going to. 

This is also hopefully a nice quick project to get me back into crafting because I feel I have not been making much so far in 2023. Its mostly just been finishing off WIPs which is valid of course but not very inspiring really - for me personally anyway. There is kind of a relief when I get rid of something that has hung around in storage for ages but its not very inventive really and I need to make some new clothing to freshen up my wardrobe. This is especially the case now I had my huge clearout over the past motnh - mind you I have space now!  But I want to fill it with things like new tops since mostly what I threw was shoes I never wear (and I mean never ever) and tops that have become old and worn. I am though now finding I just have a few tops and keep having to grap them out the airing cupboard before they are really aired because I do not now have enough clothes to wear without constantly doing washing, Or thats not quite true. I have loads of clothes still but a shortage of seperates. Tops in particular. So you may start to find tops appearing on here over the coming months. 

Have a great weekend

Bracken