Pixie hat/scarf and matching Very easy upcycled Padded Gillet

 

I was going through my numerous patterns, many of which I have never used - I have had this pattern for years..  Its a Faery costume pattern and its even got wings if you wanted to make some. I do like costume patterns because they tend to be considerably cheaper than similar styles in more ordinary looks - you need to check out the line drawings - and often they are half the price of "normal" clothing patterns yet really have the identical designs just different fabrics.
 

So I collect costume patterns because it often tends to be cost effective next to their normal counterparts but the bonus you get with a costume is all the tiny accessories such as hats and bags that you find the same line drawn pattern in the conventional pattern collection does not have.  Though with this particular pattern I think perhaps thats actually not the case since I have yet to see a bolero like this one either.

I really bought the pattern for the bolero jacket but so far I have never got round to making that. Its probably a good one for spring.  I am not sure how well it will work for every day wear but I must make that. It could be nice for going out somewhere so I will be keeping it in mind for the next few months.

But after the success of my pixie hat which I made for a friend's baby I got inspired to make this hat/scarf which is sewn not knitted but its very simple to make from scraps I had from last years hoody and sweater cape tops.

Anyway its the hats that struck my interest. I rarely get round to making accessories but decided I should try making at least one hat this winter. There are two different hats on this pattern. Thinking about it, I actually made the other hat for my Christmas elf/pixie hat. That was just a it of fun though. I am wearing this one and the attached scarf works really well. For some reason despite the local radio station tells me its now Spring, but the temperature here has plumetted the last few days.

Accessories are a really good way to get rid of smaller bits of fabric and also to make your other clothes more stylish and thats as well as keeping me warm now its getting much colder.

And after all this year has, besides being inspired by Faerie fashion, been very much about using what I have rather than buying even more fabric and I have to say despite I still have enough fabric to go another year (at least) without any purchases I have still been successful in this. 

I never used to understand sewists when they went on about reducing their fabric stash - well now I honestly do get it. If you are not careful it gets well and truly out of control. Its also quite satisfying to realise you are spending nothing because the money was in most cases spent several years ago, and using up what you have. Having a  stash as big as mine meant I was  almost part of the fast fashion industry or more than I want to be. Buying more every week or month is not viable.

Sewing for me is a way to make my fashion cheaper, more original and to waste less because I tend to keep even smaller left over bits and find uses for them. Just increasing the fabric stash week after week is really not helping with any of these aims. I also found I was buying and dreaming rather than actually sewing things up. Now I am actively sewing again though as ever my head is full of more ideas than I will ever get round to making!

Back to this hat - if you happen to own this pattern and like me never get round to using it then go for this one. The built in scarf not only gives it that little extra fashion-wise but its also so easy and fast to sew this up, as well as being practical, and I have to say I found this a very satisfying make. I made the largest size but will go down a size next time because its just a bit too loose but otherwise this is a great hat/ scarf.

I am even now trying to decide what other accessories I can make. Before this I have always knitted things like hats but sewing is much faster and I could do with ringing the wardrobe changes with some other hats. I need to search through my patterns and see what else I have because hats are not something I really buy patterns for, they just kind of come with other things. Well accessories in general in fact.

So then the Jacket/ Gillet/ Cut Off - well the neame seems to change every 10 years or so. Not sure quite what these cut-off coats are meant to be called so I will go with the medaeval Gillet.

Sewing wise this is a complete cheat garment. This is upcycled so takes minimum effort and skill to make.

Having said that its exactly what I wanted to make, so its saved me in money, and in time and effort. So nothing wrong with that.

I decided a few weeks ago I need a cut-off or gillet for over my jumpers when dog walking so I can keep the wind out. Its all I need to be warm most of the time so I originally wanted to buy some quilted fabric and make this. 

Then my partner had a clearout of his wardrobe for a charity shop that was collecting and amongst what he was throwing was this rather horrible jacket. It seemed more like the lining out of those 2 or 3 in one jackets than a stand alone garment.

Sadly, I never thought to take a photo of this original jacket before I cut the sleeves off it, but probably you can see what it was like from this anyway. 

 I did not want to unpick the sleeve seams which normally I would have done because of the stuffing that makes this padded. I want to keep all that padding firmly in place. The sleeve seam is therefore still intact around the outside of the arm-hole.

We think he got given this jacket one Christmas years ago. Its never been worn so is actually brand new just old and has been taking up room for several years.

I decided that although its a much larger size than I usually wear it will go brilliantly over my larger winter jumpers. These are the ones I tend to wear for dog walking. That is when its cold but not rainy. Jackets tend to feel more constricting so I do like this kind of cut off.

And bonus: inside this jacket there is a very large pocket big enough for an extending dog lead!

So all I need to do to make this work is to bind the raw edges on the arm-holes. 

Voila!

I have lots of left over fabric in my stash but due to my rehash of the sweater cape this fur was near the top so easy to find. It also looks much better than some offcuts I tried so thats what I used. Of course I am also clearing stashed fabric here which is a bonus. So I decided to use the offcuts off faux fur used for updating my sweater cape to cover up the armholes where I had cut off the sleeves. Simple strips of faux fur worked perfectly for covering the cut off sections and covering up the raw edges. There is no shaping to the furit is just a wide strip of fabric sew first onto the front edge togive a nice neat edge to the outside and then folded under and sewn down inside to get rid of raw edges. Ziz zag stitch used for both. Also since there is no shaping to the strips of fur they actually stand out slightly to give a kind of short sleeve  which I like. Gives a slight bitmore style  think.

All in all I am pleased with this gillet / cut off jacket and its exactly what I wanted to make. Being upcycled has advantages other than the effort and time to make it in that it is great saving something from going to landfill - although maybe it would have gone to charity and been a fund raiser? 

But in this country its a sad fact that our charity / thrift shops send huge amounts of clothing to landfill due to the fact they simply cannot cope with the amount of stuff people send them. So I feel no real guilt depriving them of this one garment especially since we sent 4 large bags anyway ad have even more stuff to sort out and probably will get rid of some more. Its amazing how much you collect if you do not get round to having clearouts for a while.

And it did not cost me anything in cash, and not that much in time really. The main time costs were in working out if and how to make this wearable and if I would still want it afterwards. I did spend about a week considering this. The actual sewing was probably about 30 minutes. 

So this is a cheat when it comes to sewing but I do feel some satisfaction for reusing something that was otherwise just being thrown away. And importantly it serves my purpose perfectly - I am also not so sure any patterns I own would actually give me this same fit which I get from a mans coat and its what I was envisaging when I thought about making this. 

I tend to be a bit boring really and mostly use "women's" patterns for me and "men's" patterns for my partner. That in itself is something I should probably address from now on. It widens my choices by quite a lot!

Its hard isn't it to get rid of this gender conditioning, that we nearly all have, even when you are well aware of it being an issue?

I did consider re-covering the collar or adding strips of fur down the front edge but in the end I think the amount of matching fabric bits I still have of this fur fabric will make some kind of coordinating item to wear with this so thats my next aim. Besides I actually quite like the simplicity of just the armholes having faux fur on this gillet.  Its all too easy to go OTT with this kind of upgrade and the hate the results. I have done that before several times. 

Now I am going out with my dogs to wear my new gillet over a warm jumper and stay warm.

Thanks for visiting my blog. Have a great week,

Bracken