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In Progress

Planning a tribute Wolfkiller cloak

Yes, this is both a big project AND yet another make inspired by “Interview with the Vampire“! Big enough that you’re going to get at least one In Progress post, in addition to the final reveal. I’m really excited about this one, though, and in a way that I’ve not been fired up for a long time…

The Inspiration

So what is the “Wolfkiller cloak”? In the second novel of Anne Rice’s Vampire Chronicles series, the (still human) Lestat heads out into the woods to kill a pack of wolves that were terrorising his village in 18th c rural France. After barely escaping with his life, the villagers thank him by presenting him with a cloak (and boots!) made with the pelts of the slain wolves. This scene is absolutely iconic, and it’s his wearing the cloak later in Paris that partially attracts the notice of the man who attacks him and makes him a vampire.

Now, because, in the show, they’re not adapting The Vampire Lestat book until season 3, no one was expecting to see anything of Lestat’s 18th c past, let alone THE cloak. But we got a surprise taste in episode 3 of season 2, as part of a 15 minute flashback sequence (entirely in French, too!)

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A trio of teeshirts

My final summer sewing this year came in the form of three separate teeshirts, all in the basic colours (pink is a basic, right??). Please forgive me that I’m not modelling these – I’ve had several utterly awful weeks fighting multiple infections on top of the Long Covid I’ve been fighting for the past 11 months, and I didn’t want to hold up posting about these!

None of these teeshirts took more than an hour of sewing time nor cost more than a tenner, but I guarantee you they’ll last years longer than anything bought at those prices!

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Wolf and bat plushies

Before I delve into my BIG sewing plans for Fall, I’ve got to catch you up on some smaller items I sewed over the summer, including two more plushies. No, I still don’t know any children… 🙃

Wolf:

First up is an adorable little wolf I made using this free pattern by CholyKnight. I just found it after some googling, and tbh this site has SO many free patterns available that I might go back to some others later (eyeing up the Ghibli ones…).

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Barrel-legged jeans

Multiple apologies for taking so long to post about these (both!). 11 months in and I’m still struggling massively with Long Covid, not just sewing in small bursts, but also less keen to take photos, or have the energy to sit up to write blog posts, etc… Anyway, I startred these jeans back in June, had them mostly finished before we went to Brittany in early July, and then they’ve been just waiting for a photoshoot for like a month. And yeah, I know these photos are weirdly dark and foggy but forgive me for not caring enough to retake them. I hate looking in the mirror or looking at photos while I’m sick, so I really don’t want to make this blog post wait any longer!

I haven’t been able to fit into any of my jeans since I got covid last September, so it was high time I filled that hole in my wardrobe, anticipating the cooler weather around the corner.

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Two more Pietra shorts

While many of my tops from before Covid still fit me, the same cannot be said for trousers or shorts. I haven’t been able to fit into my jeans (which were hardly tight pre-Covid!) since last Fall, and I really only have three pairs of trousers that fit comfortably, all of which I’ve made in the past few months.

None of my previous shorts fit at all, though, so with summer approaching I found myself in desperate need of sewing some more. We had a brief warm spell in May or June (? time has no meaning anymore) so I got my old favourite Closet Core Pietra pattern printed again. I’m sure you’re sick of hearing about this pattern by now, as I believe these are my 5th and 6th pairs of the shorts version alone! And this isn’t even counting the pairs of Pietra trousers I’ve made…

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A sporty navy skort

Even though my Long Covid means I’m unable to exercise or develop new patterns (as well as other work), I obviously still have a very keen interest in activewear so I was delighted and intrigued to get the chance to try out the new Cashmerette Wickham Skort pattern that was released this month to their Cashmerette Club members.

It’s a pattern for close-fitting, cycling shorts with an optional side pocket (similar to our Duathlon Shorts pattern), plus a skirt with a wide waistband. You’ve also got the option to sew them separately or together in the form of a skort. Since being stuck in bed ~20hrs a day for the past 9 months has caused my waist to be 20+cm larger than before, I can no longer fit into any of my previously shorts or trousers. We’ve got a short holiday in France coming up and I thought that this skort would be a nice option just for casualwear this summer even if I can’t exercise yet.

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Designer leather waist pack

A few months ago I visited a good friend who used to work in the fashion industry. Since she doesn’t sew anymore, she ends up gifting me with random jewlels from her stash that I graciously accept. This time around there were some small offcuts of an Alexander McQueen leather! It’s a pale peach-pink with a white crackle top, and the pieces were all fairly small.

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Many vampire bat gifts

First of all, I must apologise because I am SO far behind on blogging my makes, but I’m trying hard to catch up. The problem is that I have such limited energy for sitting up that I’ve got to ration it, and when I do, I tend to want to actually sew than sit at my laptop and blog! So I’ve got well over a month worth of makes to show you, and only two weeks before we go away on a short break, so I may just end up taking photos while we’re away to make it a bit easier.

In any case, today’s round up contains a LOT of makes, some of which stretch back into March, eep.

So many bat plushies!

It all started when I saw this BeeZee Art Bat Plushie pattern and posted it to my vampire Discord, where everyone went nuts over it. Which prompted me to buy the pattern and make it for myself, and then a few for friends, and now I’m at the point where I’m pretty much making these for all my friends’ birthdays, hahah!

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Black linen Bob trousers & a slate blue Versatili-Tee

I’m still not sure whether I actually like this design of trousers or not, but my previous StyleArc Bobs are one of like three non-legging bottoms that still fit and aren’t uncomfortable, so making another pair was a necessity sew.

My waist is 20cm larger due to being mostly stuck in bed for the past 8 months, but I hope to not be like this indefinitely. As a result, I don’t want to sew much for this body. I’m kinda thinking of this as a “loaner body” while my real body is in the shop getting fixed, so I’m basically sewing the bare minimum that I need, unless it’s something that will also fit my real body later (like teeshirts and the cropped Hamilton jacket I’m working on).