Sometimes I plan my sewing in advance. Other times, I see a pattern or a fabric and I just instantly want to make it. I can’t even say exactly what it was about the Thorndike Tank (the Cashmerette Club pattern for July) – it’s just a basic woven shell top, really – but when it dropped it just felt right to sew it.
It didn’t hurt that I had the perfect fabric already in my stash – 1.5m of Mind the Maker “Splash” viscose in Mint, bought from the Village Haberdashery (RIP) in June 2020 for £30.
This might possibly be the world’s longest UFO!
I bought this fabric at a fabric shop in San Cristobel de las Casas when we toured around Mexico in 2013! To my credit, I tried to turn it into a skirt at least twice, with the latest iteration using a Burda magazine pattern with a scooped hem and loads of shirring at the waist. I did the shirring at the Sewing Weekender in 2018, back when it was in person! But no matter what I did, it just looked deeply unflattering.
I’m posting a bit out of order here, but I wanted to make sure I posted about this Cashmerette Irving Dress because it’s the May 2025 Cashmerette Club members pattern, and I want to give you all a chance to grab it before May is over. This one is a breezy, casual dress for knits, and as soon as I got the email about it, I knew I wanted to make it!
I’m still very much sick with Long Covid, and I didn’t want to waste precious “standing energy” piecing the skirt pattern pdf pages since it’s mostly just a gathered rectangle. So instead I only printed the bodice and pocket pattern pieces, and chalked the skirt pieces onto my fabric itself (shortening the skirt from 75cm to 65cm so it’s just below my knee).
I had only just ordered 2m of this black Broderie Anglaise Jersey from Veratex Fabrics (95% poly 5% elastane) for £6/m during a big sale when the pattern launched, so it was clearly Meant To Be. (As an aside, I’m not sure I’ll be ordering from them again as they took 10 days to give my order to the courier, and gave zero response when I enquired about the shipping to their official customer service email address…)
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.
