Tag: knit

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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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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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A grey ribbed jumper

I was thrilled when The Fold Line included a free download of Paper Theory’s LB Pullover pattern in their advent promotion last year. I’ve made their Zadie jumpsuit (twice!) and their Block Tee (formerly “Kabuki Tee”) as well and worn them loads.

I’ve heard great things about the LB Pullover, too, but I balk at spending £11 for a really basic pdf pattern. I will happily admit that I was wrong though – this pattern is well worth the full price, even with its oversized shape and simple lines. It’s easy to mess up the proportions of something so simple, but this is expertly drafted.

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A Burda knit top with Old Hollywood glamour

It doesn’t happen very often that I see a design inside a Burda magazine and I instantly have to make it. But when I saw this asymmetric, high necked, surplice jersey top in the January 2024 issue, I just had to make it!

This pattern comes in two versions – I actually made no105, the top version. For some reason it’s not available to buy as a pdf but 104, the dress version, is. They’re basically the same and you’ll just follow the shorten lines for the top if you buy the dress.

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A gold ribbed polo neck sweater

Sometimes my garments start with a pattern, and I buy the fabric afterwards for it. Other times, I think up an item I want to sew and find the pattern and fabric to match it. And sometimes I start with a fabric, and think about how I’d most like to wear it and find a pattern from there. This top is one of the latter.

I bought the “Old Gold” ribbed jersey from Like Sew Amazing (£19.50/m) and I originally thought I’d make a sleeveless tank with a high collar, but when it arrived it was SO SOFT and I knew it should instead be a polo neck (turtleneck) sweater instead.

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A black raglan sweatshirt with a designer touch

Once I could finally sit up for a few minutes after the initial Covid infection had passed, I wanted an easy project to get back into sewing. Something that wouldn’t have too many pieces to cut out, and I could sew on my overlocker, and be something I could sew without having to concentrate too much.

The October Burda magazine was a pretty good issue overall, and I really liked the look of Burda 10/23 #112. It ticked all my boxes for this, plus I had everything I needed in my stash!

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A fun knit bat dress

I’ve done a bit of impulse fabric shopping while I’ve been stuck in bed (no jury would convict), but the one that’s had the shortest stay in my stash has been this bat print jersey. I saw it on a few Instagram accounts but then ended up buying some when it was nearly sold out everywhere! It’s Art Gallery Fabrics “Winging It” (95% cotton 5% elastane), and I bought my 1.9m remnant from Sew Sew Sew for £27 total (now sold out pretty much everywhere!).

The fabric is super soft with great stretch and recovery, but has some white show-through when stretched. It’s also a dark grey rather than a black so it looks a bit washed out even brand new…

I decided to pair it with the Named Tuuli (bodysuit and dress) pattern which I bought a few years ago, possibly in one of their great advent calendar sales(?) but never quite got around to sewing. IMHO this is a criminally overlooked pattern and such a wonderfully flattering winter knit dress!

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A bonus white and mustard ringer tee

When I was cutting out my white Issy top, I ended up with a decent amount of fabric leftover due to the single-layer fabric layout. Annoyingly, it wasn’t quite enough to cut out a whole teeshirt. But at the same time, I didn’t want to just put the excess back into my scraps stash as I knew I’d be less likely to do anything with it as time went on. I’m finally learning that I should use the excess at the same time to increase my chances of wearing it!

Luckily, white pairs with just about everything, and I found the last bits of my failed Rauha dress (most of which I turned into a vest top last summer), and the mustard bamboo jersey was a very similar weight to this MeetMILK Tencel jersey from Lamazi Fabrics (the Shell colourway is no longer in stock but other colours are!). I decided it’d be fun to combine the two to create a vintage-style “ringer tee”.