Thanks so much for all your enthusiasm over our new Lightspeed Leggings pattern! There’s also been a bit of *ahem* enthusiasm over our latest athlete model, Jason, so I thought it was high time you learned a little bit more about our cover star!
Jason’s houndstooth Lightspeed shorts & cycling jersey
Lightspeed Leggings sewing pattern – out now!
This pattern has been a long time in the making. I originally wanted to make a leggings pattern for men way back in 2014 after I’d released the Surf to Summit Top pattern for men. I made quite a few muslin attempts over the years but I kept getting distracted and discouraged by the lack of drafting information (anywhere!) for a close fitting men’s crotch curve, so it kept being put aside for other patterns ideas.
But I finally resolved to crack it, and I’m proud that the resulting pattern provides a comfortable fit for active men! There are front and back panels and a one-piece leg (so men can finally have crazy patterned leggings without a side seam getting in the way, too!), and the shorts length can be used equally well for base layers under shorts, too.
La Maison Victor magazine Sept/Oct 2016
The Belgian pattern magazine La Maison Victor is usually something I hunt down while we’re in France (the Eurotunnel Calais newsagent being an reliable stockist!). But LMV expanded last year into translating in German (on top of Dutch/Flemish and French), meaning it’s available in Germany now, too.
It wasn’t quite as easy to find as the many flavours of Burda, or even Ottobre, but the major train stations in Berlin seemed to stock it, and it was the only pattern magazine I purchased during our trip. Boxing up all of my pattern magazines when I moved into my new sewing room showed me how many I have already, so I’m a bit more judicious in buying them these days – there’s got to be at least one “Must Make!” in an issue for me to buy it.
Luckily, I know La Maison Victor always has a good range of patterns, excellent illustrated instructions (you really don’t need to speak the language, honest!), and beautiful presentation, and I wasn’t disappointed.
Adventures in and around Berlin
We’ve just returned from a fantastic week in Berlin! Last time we were there was in 2014, finishing a little mini-Eurail trip of Budapest-Vienna-Prague-Berlin with my running Berlin marathon (in my just-released Threshold Shorts pattern – my, how time flies!). This time I just managed to squeeze in a little sightseeing run around the Tiergarten and along the Spree, and it was wonderful how much more relaxed it feels when you’re not stressing about running a marathon!
To celebrate our 6th wedding anniversary, we booked 2 nights at Tropical Islands as a side trip from Berlin. Now, I have no idea why no one outside Germany seems to know about this place, and frankly, we were even umming and ahhing over booking it at all, because it was hard to tell from the website whether it’d be great, or just unbearably awful.
Burda magazine October 2016
Hoo boy. Last month’s Burda roundup sure divided opinion! Thankfully, October’s edition sees us deep into Fall fashion, with hardly a dirnd- oh wait… 😒
Another pair of cycling jeans
I’ve made a lot of jeans since I started sewing 14 years ago. I remember I made my first pair before we even bought the boat, which would put them back in 2006 or 2007, and I really haven’t stopped since! I’ve probably made at least 10-15 pairs over the years, with various patterns and weights of denim, but my most recent pair with cycling-specific adaptations have been one of my favourites, so I wanted to have another pair of those in my wardrobe.
The majority of my jeans over the years have been made with Ditto Fabrics’ super freaking amazing Italian denims, and this traditional, non-stretch, dark dye was bought when I last visited their shop in December. It’s no coincidence that we’ve got another trip to Brighton planned in a few weeks so I can restock then…
A matching silk hardshell clutch
When I make a nice dress for a formal occasion, I often like to create a small handbag to match the dress (or jacket!) as it just creates a more “pulled together” look, and it’s something I can do that RTW often can’t!
So when I was cutting out the silk noile for the Pamela dress you saw earlier this week, I realised I had a small rectangle leftover – perfect for covering one of the U-Handbag hardshell clutch cases I’d bought!
All the clutch bags I’d made previously had been sewn (a favourite being the Cake patterns wristlet), so a hardshell case involving lots of glue was totally new territory for me! Luckily, Lisa provides really great, printable instructions for these, and honestly, it was SO easy to make!
A watercolour silk noile dress
At my last shopping trip down to Ditto Fabrics in Brighton last December, I bought a great mix of spring and summer fabrics with a few cold weather ones thrown in for good measure. So far I’ve already sewn up a Fair Isle sweater (which I was too sick to blog about properly), that muted turquoise lace dress, a pair of cycling jeans (with another coming later this week).
But I’d bought a length of silk noile with a watercolour-esque muted floral print that the owner, Gill, was raving over, saying it made the most comfortable summer dress. It’s long sold out now, but Ditto have a few other silk noiles in stock. I knew I wanted to make a dress from it – preferably unlined to take advantage of the silk noile’s comfort and coolness, but I needed an occasion to actually sew it up. Luckily, two friends I’d know for years from Run dem Crew got married this weekend, so I had the perfect excuse!
A neon cropped tee
As you heard earlier this week, I bought this eye-wateringly n-e-o-n peach, 100% polyester pique jersey at Abakhan in Liverpool to pair with some grey scuba to make the Triple Triangle Dress from the new No Patterns Needed book.
But I really only used the pique jersey in strips to bind the armholes, neckline, and waist, so there was quite a bit leftover. Now, I must point out that this pique jersey is craaaaaaazy bright in real life. Like, “it hurts your eyes to look at it for too long” bright. So most women would probably shy away from both wearing it near their face and wearing it in big blocks of colour.
I am not most women.
A Triple Triangle scuba dress
Like my Donna Karan x Liberty shirt you saw earlier this week, this dress is another departure from my comfort zone. Yes, it’s made in stretchy scuba and in decidedly “me” colours, but it’s drafted from my measurements instead of a pattern and you can see my midriff!
This all began when I went to the launch party for the DIY Couture No Patterns Needed book back in July. The party itself was a total blast – it was basically a Who’s Who of the London sewing scene and I got to see loads of people I’d not seen in years, as well as meet plenty of new friends too, in addition to seeing a lot of the models from the book wearing the different designs. I bought the book on the night (and got it signed!) but I wanted to hold off talking about it here until I’d had a chance to actually make something from it.
Now, if you’re expecting an unbiased review, you’re going to have to go elsewhere – Rosie is a good friend, having bonded not just over sewing but cycling, London, helping people, teaching, generally having a good ol’ rant while we worked together behind the scenes on GBSB season 3. This is her second book, and I personally know how hard she’s worked on this, slaving over it even on the hottest summer days, for like two years now! She’s truly a one-woman show, devising all the designs, working out the maths so they fit any body shape, and doing all the illustrations and samples herself, too.