Tag: knits

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A bright floral tee and extremely boring trousers

From the most OTT extravagant coat to the most boring (but necessary!) trousers… You never know quite what you’re going to see here, right??

But I really, really needed more trousers, and ones that I could wear with a number of different tops. I only have 2(!!) pairs of trousers that still fit me (the brown linen Bobs and the Belleville Jeans, since the black linen Bobs disintegrated) so this was a necessary sew for my wardrobe. These really are truly boring, but one that I will wear over and over again (or at least until I’m well enough to fit back into the smaller pairs that are in storage).

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A celestial Gina tee

I own the very first Fibre Mood magazine but for some reason I’ve never made any of their patterns before. But when I saw this latest issue I bought it immediately and as soon as I got home from Cornwall I traced off four patterns from it – I want it all!! I even splurged on the viscose/wool jersey shown on the cover!!

To ease myself in to a new pattern brand, I thought I’d start with one of the tees. You can either buy the whole Fibre Mood 03/24 magazine like I did (and trace off the patterns from the sheets), or you can buy any of the patterns individually as pdfs, too.

I’m going to make the other tee for comparisons’ sake (also against a recent Burda mag tee), but I started with the Gina tee. It’s a boxy tee with slight, cut-on sleeves and cuffs and a wider than usual neckband.

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A Cheery Bamboo Versatili-Tee

I’ve been sewing quite a lot of “blanks” recently – basic tanks or tees. Some of these I’ve used as vessels for heat set vinyl (like the green and black IWTV ones), but others I’m keeping plain.

I’ve not got too much to say about this particular teeshirt, but I think it’s nice to share wardrobe workhorses as well as fancier makes, because often these are the sort of garments that get worn most of all.

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A green cotton Axis lingerie set

By my count, this is the 5th(!) Sophie Hines Axis Tank + Threshold Shorts runderwear lingerie set I’ve made in the past year. When I find a combo as comfortable and wearable as this, I go all in.

The fabric is not actually leftovers from the Thankful tee I made last year, as you might expect, but actually a 0.5m remnant I bought from Lamazi Fabrics recently for a fiver (bargain!) that is an exact colour match to my previous tee, despite buying the cotton jersey from different shops over different years. I’m not sure why this delighted me so much, but it does!

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A babygrow for an ultra-fast baby

I’ve known my friend Vicky through Run dem Crew for years now, and have run many, many miles alongside her on our Tuesday night sessions. She’s a good friend, and outside of the Crew has run multiple marathons and ultras, too. Last summer, she ran the Serpent Trail ultra with another good friend, and she ended up finishing on the podium as 3rd place lady!!

But even more incredible is that she found out later that she was actually pregnant when she ran it! So when she announced she was going to have a little pre-baby pizza & beer get together with our running friends, I knew I had to make her a babygrow. First I thought I’d upcycle a Run dem Crew shirt for the little speedy baby, but then I saw another friend mention on Twitter how happy he was to see the Serpent being run again this year and I got in touch to a) find out if the race even had teeshirts, b) if he had one, and c) if he could send it to me to refashion. It was Yesses all around so I got cutting!

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The Kinetic Tee pattern – out now!

Please welcome our newest sewing pattern – the Kinetic Tee! This one has been so much fun to develop and draft – it’s an asymmetric tee but due to some (ahem) clever drafting, it’s quick to cut out AND to sew up, and feels really great and comfortable to move in, too.

Move in a workout tee that really sets you apart from the team! This loose fitting asymmetric tee has plenty of interesting seaming in the front and back with slash openings at the left shoulder and right front clavicle. Choose from either a cut-on short sleeve, or dropped shoulder long sleeve in twisted or straight options.

Inspiration

How to add hand mitts or a turtleneck to the Winter Base Layer

I absolutely love the Winter Base Layer for cold weather exercising – I’ve both run and cycled in mine and I get so many compliments whenever I wear them! But with a few simple steps you can also change both the sleeves and neck to make it even more versatile.

Today I’ll be showing you how you can use the hand mitts from the Surf to Summit Top pattern instead of the included thumb cuffs, and also how to extend the neckline into a turtleneck (aka polo neck) if you’d prefer.

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My feather-print Winter Base Layer top

So I’ve already shown you two versions of the Winter Base Layer top but both are really similar, both in colourblocking and for using the exact same base fabric. But this design is so much more versatile than what you’ve seen so far, and I wanted my second version to be a little different! So I changed up the way I played with the colourblocking and used some different fabrics, and I love this version just as much as my merino one!

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My merino jersey Winter Base Layer top

Yesterday I talked all about the version of the Winter Base Layer top that appears in my “Sew Your Own Activewear” book, and you can tell I really liked it because I ended up making myself one that’s almost identical!! As much as I love my athlete models (and you know I do!) it was tough gathering up such gorgeous activewear fabrics and then making all the book designs to the measurements of my models, not for me! So once I had a bit of breathing time and the weather cooled down a bit, I knew I’d need a few more versions of this top to add to my own running wardrobe.