Last Coat Before next Winter

I felt the need for a new colour.
I had been wearing my blue coat (February's post) most days and although I love its colour I needed a change.

As I began to cut the fabric the weather suddenly became warm and I feared that I may not get a chance to wear the coat before next Winter.  But it has turned cold again, even a few snow flakes this morning and I am the proud wearer of my new coat.

This is a medium weight woolen fabric.  The label on the bolt of fabric described the colour as charcoal, which led my eyes to see it as a charcoal.  When I unpacked the fabric  at  home I was delighted to discover that it was really quite an aubergine-purple colour. 


The pattern I used is Simplicity 2812 from their project runway selection.
 

The style of the coat was more complicated than I was used to and took me quite a while. 
I am still learning how much wearing ease to include above my own body measurements.  I like my clothes to be fitted but not tight.  The pattern sheet indicated an ease of 16.5cm for the waist which I reduced to 12cm.  This I still found a bit much, but thankfully the belt makes the coat more fitted.

The collar and cuffs are covered with a lovely silk fabric.

silk collar

The buttons are covered with the same wool as the coat.

I have taken a break from sewing and have begun to paint on silk again.
Although I have named this blog lilli's sewing and knitting I will expand my posts to include my silk paintings soon.

Thanks for looking, have a nice day!

Two Long Coats

During the weeks around last Christmas when the weather was very cold I sewed two long coats.

Me and Molly

Brocade  coat

I used the Buttrick  B5295 pattern for both coats. The coat is a simple design.  The front and back sections are  one piece each with darts giving it shape. The style of the coat has quite wide shoulders and the sleeve heads have little pleats which make the shoulders even wider.  This is a problem I am often having with coat patterns.  Other than decreasing shoulder width and increasing the length a little I stuck to the pattern.  Except that I have no pockets, which in hindsight would have been useful but I think the coat looks better without pockets.

The blue coat is made from a heavy weight wool, the outer surface of which has a lovely velvety texture.  Blue, in all its many shades and tones, is probably my favourite colour to wear and I am wearing this coat very often. 

The coat has a notched collar and three buttons which I have covered with the same wool fabric.

I sewed a little back tab onto the back to nip the coat in a bit more at the lower back.  Because the wool is quite a heavy weight I had difficulty pressing the darts to become really flat, like a factory made coat would be.  I suppose they have special irons/pressing machines, and I do not.  Neverthless, I don't think it really matters.

Something I really like to do is sew beads or other adornments onto clothes that I have made. 

collar decorated with beads

cuff decorated with beads

Brocade coat

This is another coat I made from the same pattern, a coat for a more special occasion.  A friend of mine has a beautiful coat made from a type of brocade fabric with fur trim around the collar and sleeves.  I looked in ebay for a coat like this but couldn't find one so I decided to make one myself.
I wasn't sure where I would get a similar fabric.  I had an idea of using curtain fabric and eventually found this fabric in the apholstrey section of my local fabric shop. It is not very heavy or warm so I put a layer of cotton wading between the outer fabric and lining fabric.
The "fur" around the collar I removed from a coat I bought a few years ago and it fits perfectly!  So that saved me a bit of money because "fur" is quite expensive to buy.

coat lining

Button detail

Cardigan with cable and matching Mittens

Today is February the 1st.
In Ireland today it  is St. Brigid's day -  the pagan feast of Imbolg, the festival of Spring. Making a St. Brigid’s cross is for some people a traditional ritual. They are hung by the door and in the rafters to protect the house from fire and evil. I didn't make this little cross, that is a project for next year.
                                                                                         

Today I have chosen to post up photos of a cardigan I knitted a few months ago.  The design is my own and the yarn is sirdar eco dk wool, in a medium beige and grey. I wanted to create a cardigan that was pleasant and comfortable to wear in neutral, natural colours yet with  something special - a continuous cable running in one unbroken strip around the waist. As far as I know aran style cables were first knit in Ireland by women for their fishermen.  I have great admiration for anyone who knits a whole aran style jumper of cables.  For me one cable is quite enough.

 

This wool is very warm while still being a dk weight and it kept me warm on many cold days this Winter.  So far no bobbles have formed and the cardigan hasn't lost it shape.  It wasn't particularly expensive either.

I first knitted the cable.  Then I picked up stitches along one side and knitted up towards the shoulder  and then picked up stitches at the other side of the cable and knitted down.  This means that the sides of the cardigan are seam-free and the cable is unbroken.  It also meant that I had quite a lot of stitches on one single row since I was knitting front and back in one go.

seam free sides

close up of cable at waist

close up of cuff

As usual I had some wool left over - one ball of beige and another of grey

mittens

While waiting for the wool for my next project (navy alpaca dk wool) to arrive I busied myself making mittens from this left over yarn.  I didn't have enough wool of each colour to knit both mittens.  My brother had the idea to make each hand a different colour but with the thumb the same colour as the other hand, which I think works well.  The cuffs are ribbed with little bobbles around the edge.
I began by using a mitten pattern from one of the sublime angora books, but as often happens I found the dimensions were a bit strange, so I altered the pattern a bit.

Purse with Frame Tutorial

I have just created a separate blog where I will sometimes post sewing tutorials and knitting patterns for those who are interested.
Here is the link for my tutorial on how I make the vintage kimono fabric purses: http://lilli-tutorial.blogspot.com/


They are not difficult to make but do require some practice to get right, so don't give up if your first one doens't turn out so well.  Good luck !

Vintage kimono fabric Purses

                                                        Sunlight 

                                             passes through a butterfly

                                                               asleep.

                                                                                                           -Ranko

9cm purse trio

These are some of the purses I have made using vintage kimono fabric.  I really like working with old fabrics, I like to imagine the women who may have worn these kimonos. Mostly the kimono fabric is from the 1950s or 60s and I would guess was worn by ordinary people. Kimonos are sewn from long pieces of fabric measuring only 35cm (14inches) in width.  The purses are made from panels of kimono where the stitches have been removed.  Mostly I buy silk kimono pieces but I have a feeling that some of them are perhaps a silk synthetic mixture.  The lining inside is a thin acetate.

I  learned how to make the purses online, but have since altered my method.  Purse frames come in all sorts of dimensions so for each type I make a new pattern. It took me many attempts -  many crooked and lop-sided purses to make a few that are symmetrical and fit the frame neatly.  Finding a strong glue that will bond fabric and metal is really important.  I use gutterman HT2 fabric glue, which you can also order online.  I am putting together a tutorial of how I make the purses for anyone who is interested in trying it themselves.  I will post it up here shortly.

Here are a few more purses:

12 cm purse

12cm purse i made for my Aunt

inside a 9cm purse

10cm purse

The poem at the beginning is by a Japanese Haiku poet.