the best laid plans - future projects and cashmere sweater.

at the beginning of the year, I went through all the fabrics,/stash, and acquired charity shop buys and I made a plan to try and get through them.  Stash is about 12 x  half, 1 and 2 metre lots with 1 x 3 metre piece.  I divided everything by colour and then drew up some' little ladies' and had a plan for each month pretty much until August, and beyond.

For the most part this has been helpful to keep me focused and I can still update each month if any better options come to mind.  For all the remakes I have been doing - 50% have been trouble free and straightforward, and the other 50% have had to have a re-think, where there was insufficient fabric for the pattern (happens the most), or the design didn't look right for the fabric.   Of these, most will go according to the new plan - however some do not. and these few are the ones I spend an obscene amount of time trying to make right before they work or I admit defeat...

May is not going to plan, at all, and I am having a week of it at the moment.  Two patterns I tried out on a whim are going a breeze, and one pair of trousers are going decidedly south (so they are being put away for the next while as they are breaking my heart) - and yet the piece I was supposed to be doing was still on the mannequin last Thursday waiting.....

its a pink cashmere sweater that came to a standstill - which is why this post is being posted a few days late............When I got this sweater, I saw cashmere and the quality felt okay, and the size a little big, it was stained and had a hole in the underarm seam, and I bought it for 4euro.  When I got home, it went straight to the basin.   I am not too squeamish but I was surprised by how grubby this jersey was.   I did Home Ecc/Domestic Science in school, and amongst other things (like cooking sheeps heart.....), in one class we were taught how to wash a wool sweater.  At the time, I thought the nuns were leading me to a life of indenture and servitude and was not very impressed, whereas now I realised the value of these lessons (although I will pass on the sheeps heart!).  After laundering the sweater (and the dash of vinegar in rinse) it came up a treat and the cashmere got back its buttery softness - ah bliss!

I cut it to make a cardigan, trimming very little from the neck, cutting up a centre front, taking about 4 inches from sleeves and hem.  I hand hemmed using an 'internal'  hand sewn zig zag stitch to keep it flat.  the thickness of the cashmere concealed the stitch (which was just as well as the thread is not an exact match.   

My original idea was to crochet and sew on an elaborate trim in orange like a matador jacket, for the neck, front and hem edges and the cuffs - a bit of a grandiose idea, and I even dyed some left over mixed-silk yarn (daft I know) from the poncho last year.  I crocheted a swatch in red and a swatch in orange as I was unsure of the orange, and in the end I didn't think either would work as  'the elaborate border' so went the more conservative route of a simple trim.  

Also as the yarn was originally 2 shades (and the yarn was made of 2 fingering weights, one linen pale, and one silk which was darker? I had to later separate them and used the darker silk yarn (and a 2.5 hook).  I stitched a blanket stitch on the inside in same colour embroider thread to hold the trim.   The cardigan is trimmed with some rows of single stitch, then one row fillet, and some single stitch.  I added a line of shells to the cuff.  A very simple re-do, but takes a bit longer with a 2.5 hook!

Meanwhile.....................

The other piece that fell by the wayside this month is my planned  galatzine coat.  I was going to use some dress linen but think the weight is too light.  I did a toile (the toile was cut from the lining pattern as it was intended on being the lining) from a sheet and put it in the orange dye (its pretty awful and came out a very lurid shade.).  The toile has a lovely fit, but as the entire coat is cut on the bias I will think about it some more, If I interline it, I could lose the quality of the linen, and I wanted a lighter weight summer coat.  I did put a post on we sew retro asking if anyone had made it (no one had) and there was the suggestion of just going for a heavier weight which I am now reluctantly agreeing with....I am thinking of trying a simpler coat with the linen.....

refashion sweater to summer sweater with crochet trim

I got this jumper in a charity shop last year.  I can never resist a fine knit wool, this has some silk and rayon in the mix so its light and warm.  Its also got the style neckline I find odd, its neither a polo, or round neck, but I figured I would 'road test' it over the winter and decide its fate.  As its so light, I thought it would make a great 'transition' wear sweater (or as I am so cold blooded most probably a summer sweater).  I didn't over-think it too much, and thought a simple border would work.  I had some double knits in stash, and would have preferred a 4 ply or fingering, but the double knit wasn't as heavy as I thought it would be (and I also need to shrink the basket of half balls of yarn).   I had this 'nico' cotton a few shades - dark red, hot pink, cream, and taupe.  Originally I was going to use the dark red and then do the red with taupe, and then figured the taupe on its own could look well.  It co-ordinates perfectly.

I trimmed the sweater, and cut the sleeves a bit shorter, and cut a neckline.  I was a bit nervous cutting the neckline as I didn't want to trim too much.  I tacked a hem on all edges and did a blanket stitch edging with matching linen thread (I would have preferred buttonhole thread but the linen thread matched perfectly).  The first line of single crochet was stitched to this.  I did some 'single crochet together' on the neckline rows to tightened the neckline a bit and finished the border with a row of picot.  I don't know if this is too fiddly, but without it seems a bit too plain, and it can be easily undone.  It was relatively quickly done, over two evenings by the tv catching up on recordings (so didn't feel too much of a slacker).   Really happy with sweater.  Always a good sign when I wear it straight away................

stripy tee - with crochet panel

gosh - these 1euro buys....... currently I am on a self-imposed charity shop buy ban (unless its so so essential - are coats essential?)  as I have to work through what I have!  This tee shirt was bought as I wanted to try out a crochet panel on a tee shirt which is pretty much what I did.  Crochet tends not to photograph easily, as the background colour (mannequin) tends to glow through!

I cut the front out, and had some circle motifs from a project some time back that I was going to use, but when it applying them, I had gone off the idea of the circles as 6 were slightly too long for t, and 4 too short.  I decided to make a panel instead.

So after cutting the front, I was to do a blanket stitch, but the jersey was a bit mobile, so I machined a hem line, and then did the blanket stitch in button thread.  I then single crocheted (or double in uk terminology) around the edge.  I was to work into these crochet stitches but at this stage I had changed my mind about using the motifs, and crocheted a panel instead as it would also be easier as it would be even both sides.  If I was crocheting up the tee shirt, I would have used my side stitches.

The nice bit about crochet is it is so portable and a good few rows were done in the hairdressers!  I ended up hand-sewing the panel on as when I crocheted it in, it looked a bit lumpy.

The pattern is quite simple.  The fillet stitch  could also be threaded with colour ribbon, or the panel could be made in two halves with extra rows of single (uk doubles) at the centre for buttons and button holes to make a cardigan out of a sweater.

Pattern link is available here 
and for email subscribers - the pdf link should be at the bottom of the email

pillar to post, cardigan to poncho

Some years ago, I learned how to crochet properly.  and the one thing about crochet, for me at least is, it instills patience, and shows that all mistakes can be undone.  Another nice thing about crochet is that you are making the garment and fabric up at the same time and if you crochet in the round, you can try on as you go and wear when you do the last stitch!  

Crochet turned out to be easier than I thought, the big bit is learning to hold the yarn correctly, its like the tension control of a sewing machine, (thanks to Collette Burke for showing me that) and after mastering that and the chain stitch, my sister Eithne (a left handed crochet-er) showed me the double and treble stitch - all you need is to know are the 2 stitches, and everything else is a variant after that.  

I was very precious of all pieces crocheted at first but over time, if I didn't wear them, they were frogged and remade to something else,all garments becoming functional storage for yarn!  It is not to difficult to unmake a homemade item, but its a bit trickier to undo a store bought, so I rarely try.  When I saw this cardigan in the charity shop I was drawn to the quality of the yarn , the cardigan was a bit pulled in places, and also.had a stain, but when you unravel yarn, these parts can be taken out then.  This cardigan yarn was quite luxurious being a mix of cotton, silk and linen, so it would drape well (cotton) and have some warmth to it (silk) and yet have a coolness (linen) - the best of all three, so worth a try.  

It came apart well enough, there was some yarn lost due to a strange stain on sleeve that didn't come out.  The cardigan was machine knitted with two shades of yarn (you can see there is a small piece beside the balls of yarn), the darker yarn stayed at the front and the lighter to the back so when it unravelled, I got the two yarns together so its more of a tweed effect.  I could have split them back into two, but that would have halved the amount so I thought the tweed would be fine for a multi-functioning poncho wrap, and perfect for my sister Eithne who is blond and suits these shades, and also dislikes wool (in scarves as they can be scratchy), and likes the drape of cotton, and has some very early morning starts this winter.

so with the help of buttons,  its now a shrug, poncho, cardigan, scarf combo.....................the photos below were taken in natural light, so are slightly darker, whereas the ones on top were taken with flash so are lighter.  the silk in the yarn reflects light easily.

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