Tag: wool

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Winter workout wear – Dymar & Steeplechase

Despite having an incredibly full activewear drawer, there were a few items I was missing to bridge the gap between my current size (as I’m losing the huge amount of weight I gained while bedbound with Long Covid) and my pre-Covid activewear size. Namely, comfortable activewear I can ebike in over the winter and still look casual at my destination! Plus, due to the risk of catching illnesses inside, when I meet up with friends during the winter, we need to sit outside so the warm layers do double duty even when I’m not on the bike.

Two merino Dymar tops

I bought the FibreMood Sports issue as soon as it was published, and the Dymar top was one that instantly jumped out at me, despite being cropped. This is the same issue as the Denver sports bra that I made last year, if you recall. You can also buy any of the patterns individually from FibreMood or The Fold Line.

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A modern Hamilton Spencer jacket

Settle in, because this is an epic post! Which partially explains why it’s taken me so long to post about this jacket, considering I finished sewing it in mid-December (also partially explained by the grim winter weather making it really difficult to take photos. I eventually gave up and just took some indoor shots instead!)

Our story starts back in 2020 when the Costume Industry Coalition launched a fundraiser for their members who were out of work with the theatres closed in lockdown- the Hamilton Spencer Jacket sewing pattern. I’d link to the pattern but their website domain is 404ing and their Etsy Shop is “taking a break” so I think they might’ve disbanded…? I think I paid around £20 for the pattern, which I viewed more as a donation than anything.

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A waterproof camo Carly (Rae) Jacket

I actually sewed this jacket before the broderie anglaise dress, but I’m already wearing it a lot in the cooler summer evenings. It felt at the time like I’d been sewing this jacket for forever, but it surprised me to see that it had actually only been a month (7 April – 9 May). With Long Covid I really have zero concept of time anymore…

And this jacket was single handedly responsible for the return of my sewing mojo! I saw it promoted as part of a recent FibreMood magazine and I just had to buy it as a standalone pdf right away because I LOVED it!

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A wool waist pack for cycling

When swapping over my wardrobe from summer to winter recently, I realised that I have way too many clothes. Even after getting rid of 8(!!) bags to the charity shop collection, I still have a full wardrobe full of clothes that I adore and really want to wear. Which is great, but it means that I don’t really need to sew much, and I started thinking more on what I should make that would really serve a function, and trying to concentrate on needs rather than wants.

One of the needs I recognised over the summer is that I don’t really have any small bags that I can take with me when I cycle, when I don’t want to carry a full bag, and what I’m wearing doesn’t have enough secure pockets. So I settled on a waist pack (aka “bum bag” or “fanny pack”) but one that I could sew in a more casual fabric so it’d look nice when I arrived, rather than screaming “I cycled here”!

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My vintage-inspired BIRTHDAY merino cycling jersey

Happy “over a week late but still my” birthday to me!! If you aren’t following me on social media (I mean, why not??) then you may have missed the absolute frenzy of renovation/building work that’s been taking place over the last few months. In November and December, the builders made us a new kitchen, bathroom, and utility room, and then after a short break, have spent all of February and May creating our Saloon (bright living/dining area, where these photos were taken!) and Snug (dark living room) and corridor. Considering these didn’t even have finished walls or subfloors (or lighting!) when they started, the transformation has been incredible.

But it does mean that for infection control reasons, I couldn’t be anywhere near them while they’re here working (we have a very small but self-contained back cabin we stay in). We’re grateful to be in this position, but it severely limits my sewing time before you even consider the sheer amount of dust, lack of cutting table, fact that large sheets of plywood and doors would randomly block access to my sewing room and omg did I mention the dust?!? So my planned birthday make was not finished for my actual birthday this year, which just happens some years! And it doesn’t diminish it in the slightest.

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Mustard wool pleated shorts

Now that I’m staying at home all the time (and will continue to do so until there’s a vaccine, to be honest) I’m finding a need for shorts in my wardrobe that didn’t really exist when I spent the majority of my week in a climate-controlled office. I absolutely l-o-v-e the denim Pietra shorts I made at the start of the summer but I thought I’d branch out and try a different pattern for some stretch wool suiting that I bought at the same time as the linen denim I used in the Pietras.

I bought this lightweight, mustard wool blend suiting from New Craft House (now long gone, as nearly all their fabrics are fashion industry deadstock) and it’s absolutely perfect for these shorts! Some people think wool is only for winter, but it’s a great year-round fabric if you get the weight right, and this isn’t itchy in the slightest, either. I overlocked all the edges of my pieces as soon as I cut them to prevent fraying, but I constructed this on the sewing machine.

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A reflective wool jacket

Buckle up, because the story of this jacket starts four years when I received a remnant of Dashing Tweeds “Urban Shadow” tartan coating from a friend for Christmas. Now, if you’re not familiar with Dashing Tweeds, they’re a really cool company who’ve revived old tartan and twill patterns and modernised them with great colours and even some reflective threads woven in. The remnant I received was one of these “Lumatwill” designs, and has reflective threads running along all the horizontal yellow lines in the design.

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Two winter trousers

I made two pairs of trousers last winter and never quite got around to taking proper photos of them, let alone blogging about them, what with the frenzy of book launch posts, then getting sick. So for completeness’ sake, and because they’re both great makes, I wanted to be sure I documented them properly.

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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.