Emergency Halloween trick or treat bags

Apologies if you read this a few days ago when I posted it. For some reason the photo corrupted. It was ok to view on a mobile but was not there on a PC. I am not at all technical so no idea what I did or did not do but its hopefully now fixed.

 

These were very fast Halloween bags for trick or treat.

The costumes were all sorted and only then was the realisation that we had no trick or treat bags.

So what to do?

Years ago I made a top which had skulls all over it. I realised if I hacked off the sleeves, sewed them across the bottom and added a ribbon strap then we have two small bags.

The edge of the sleeves was decorated with ribbon as a casing and elastic which I decided to leave alone because small children can easily put their hands in and hopefully it will mean they are less likely to tip the bags up and lose the contents. 

So this was really an emergency fix but it's worked out to be two very good little bags. Or so we all thought anyway and the Halloween outfits are all sorted after all.

Have a great Halloween

Bracken 

Black mesh multi media top

 

I have had this piece of mesh fabric fo years. I bought it from a seller in China and to be honest I got ripped off. It was off Ebay. Generally I do ok with Ebay but this was one of the not so good times. I would have cost too much to send back so I just kept the piece of fabric. I was ripped off cos it was meant to be 2m. I got 2 seperate pieces that were each about half a metre. So anyway - into the fabric stash they went. 

But then I found them and realised they would work well as a top layer over my thin black jersey that I used for my  high low nighties (which incidentally the back seam has now worn in and is flat and looks nice. I will have to remember to get a new photo and update that post.)

So this is a TNT pattern - so very fast to make. Its easy and I simply cut extra long sleeves because thats how I like them and cut the body front and back twice. Once in mesh and once in very thin stretch black jersey. The sleeves are also the same jersey.

I overlocked the black lining layer and left it at that though I did make sure it is slightly shorter than the top mesh layer.  I overlocked the edge of the mesh layer too and then sewed the body up at the shoulders. The hems were slightly tricky in that you need to measure and remeasure before seewing up the side seams because they have seperate hems and they need to line up to eachother to look ok but otherwise this was a very easy to make top.

The end result is a very lightweight and surprisingly warm winter top that will go with lots in my wardrobe. Its actually very cosy maybe because of that old fashioned string vest effect. They were supposed to be warm. 

I overlocked and twin needle hemmed the sleeves and round the neck. You can see the neck though its not shown to best effect due to me wearing over a base layer but I will have to get a better picture of this I think. You can see the neck anyway.

I think this will be a nice basic and slightly fancy top for my autumn winter look and being black is easy to wear with just about anything.

The pattern is Butterick 5562. Its the view with the huge fancy top collar but I just leave that off and you have a nice boatneck basic top. I have made most of the different views on this particular pattern and its a very nice basic tops pattern which I would recommend if you were after such a thing. 

The trousers are my most recent Camo version of the Lekala Sports trousers. 

Thanks for popping by,

Take care

Bracken

Halloween doormat

 

For some reason my original photo of this somehow corrupted so I have updated and hopefully this photo will work.

 

This is not a post about making anything but I just wanted to show you my new doormat. 

It's from Ikea so there will be millions of them but it's affordable and will at least in my house long outlast Halloween.

I just think this is so cool!

Have a lovely week,

Bracken

Short camo skirt Burda Style magazine Model 121 Burda Style 02/2011

I bought this Burda download in 2013 and never used it. I printed the pattern out the day I bought it so November 2013, I sorted the fabric for it about 3 years ago and put the pattern together 5 years ago. Buts it has just never been the right time to make this. Really like everyone I am getting older and I decided if I am ever ever going to wear this I really must get round to making it so here is a short scuba camoflage skirt with side pockets. Its quite on trend despite its an old pattern. And right this minute I feel ok wearing this.Maybe in 2 years I will feel too old. Who knows?

In fact my first attempt at this skirt as you can see in the first few photos was not quite right. I skipped over a zip because my fabric is stretchy and I really did not need one. I just added the facing. Thats a mistake. And thats after I spent a couple of days going through my huge pile of zips for the right one to use. Still its something I can use on a different item so will not be wasted. It would have been a waste using it for this skirt because it just does not need it.

However!!! it falls down! I kept hitching it up for these photos and after wards took it off because it was annoying me. It hangs wrong due to not sitting quite right due to being constantly hitched back to where it should be so I will be adding some wide hidden elastic inside the facing in the near future and we will see how that works. So there will be some later photos of this once I get this fixed.

I love the front pleat though partner says it looks like shorts.

Here again you can see the skirt is falling down.

Well as a sewist I will fix it but I thought I would show you this before I do because its always inspiring to know you are not alone when this type of thing happens and you are a sewist. It happens to everyone but it can be fixed.
I actually think this is going to be a really nice garment once I sort it out.

And I love the huge pockets which were so easy to sew. Though they are not expanding. It would be so easy to add expanding pockets though so maybe on a different version.

So thanks for popping over to visit and I wish you a happy week,

Take care

Bracken

 

Finally completed - grey green mohair jumper

 I started this jumper ages ago. Well February 2023 to be precise. Its taken me absolutely ages to finish this. Or even to get into knitting this.

It was started as a summery beach jumper but its evolved into a winter one instead.

I got a bit bored towards the end so finished the sleeves just in a grey band at the top. That was after I added stripes to the baby bunny jumper and I liked it so much, so this time I just kind of did it in reverse on this green one.

I did not actually try this on until we took the photos so I never knew if it was going to fit.

I decided on a roll neck which is so easy I must do this one again. I think it will be nice and soft and comfy to wear as well.

Its a lovely jumper, though as I often do, I made the sleeves a bit long. Not really a bad thing but they do tend towards not looking as smart as they might and I do like to double my clothing for both work and play to get as much wear as I can from things. Thats new actually. I used to keep the two worlds separate. Maybe its an old age thing to just become who you truly are all the time? 

Still its a lovely comfy jumper now I finally finished this.

The issue with this one was its just so boring to knit. I just could not get interested in it. I actually prefer this kind of plainer knit to arans etc but doubt I will even attempt another for a long while. 

I find arans so interesting - absorbing- is probably the right word. And so they are easy to knit ( for me). This kind of supposedly easy knit is a real bore. As such I just took an absolute age to finish it.

But now it is actually finished and I love it. When my parter took the photos he even commented on how its nothing like I usually make. Its just not. But it is what I would buy in a shop should I choose to pay for a hand knit. I do like arans and lace but this is just an easy to wear top and so its perfect for my current mix of clothing. It will go with most things. But will I start another? Not I think for 20 to 30 years. Its just too boring. So the next jumper will definitely be another aran. My own design I expect and this time I want to sort out the pattern properly so it makes sense to other knitters and maybe then I can even consider adding it to Ravelry. 

In the meantime I will very much enjoy this new plain jumper, savouring its plainness and loving it for its low key colours. But onwards I think to something more inspiring and bright. I have a storage chest full of interestingly bright mohairs/ fluffy yarns so thats what I will be knitting. 

Though I have also started a top down kids jumper which I hope will get finished. Its my first attempt at a top down so we will see how that one pans out.

Have a great week

Bracken

Blue brocade flares

I cut these out last Spring but never sewed them up. 

Does that make them a UFO?

Maybe! They have sat around for ages really. How long do you need to store a cut out half finished item for it to become a UFO? After all it is still an unfinished object!

The fabric is actually bengaline so it has stretch and so these ought to be comfortable.

I added a yoke to the waistband because these are made using a yoga pants pattern and they are low waisted if made in a woven. They come out with a higher waist if using jersey.

I did similar with my grey (bengaline?) trousers I made a few months ago and they have turned out to be very comfortable and I have enjoyed wearing them.

 These will be good for Autumn on nicer days and add a small bit of glamour to my otherwise pretty boring winter wardrobe so far. And of course they are also ok for work which is a bonus.

 

The grey trousers are trimmed with the selvedge fabric from this brocade so they are quite similar though look very different to each other.

I am hoping this pair is as much as a success as the grey ones. They will update my Autumn wardrobe a bit anyway and this blue almost looks like denim so should be easy to carry off while the fact they are brocade adds a bit of luxury and style.

Thanks for visiting my blog and hope to see you again soon. Have a great week,

Bracken