I have just returned from a two-week holiday with Arthur staying down in Devon and it has been wonderful to actually spend some serious time together where he hasn’t been working and it has given me a bit more motivation to do “things”. Honestly, for the last 6 months, I haven’t had much motivation to produce anything, I don’t think I have sat in front of my sewing machine all year! Part of the lack of motivation to sew anything new come from the realisation that I actually want to downsize my wardrobe etc and creating new things for the hell of it seems stupid, but there are a lot of things that don’t fit my lifestyle or body properly that I should replace but since most of the things that I would be replacing are not good enough to sell in a charity shop I am loathed to get rid of them since they will just end up as waste, yet still have some life in them… 🙁 But I am slowly getting the motivation to make some new items for myself, just maybe a little more practical than my previous plans.
*Also, can we just take a moment to wonder at the fact that I had to just write 2022! Where has the last year (or two) gone? I keep being shocked by how much time has gone past, but it certainly seems like it has been going faster since I have been doing less work and fewer things to mark the passing of time. Hopefully, 2022 will go a little slower and I get to do more things during the year.
Knitting plans:
So I have been slowly getting some knitting done this year and have made some progress on my Make Nine plans for the year. I am currently knitting my own Riddari and have made a number of pairs of socks this year as well as finishing Arthurs Gansey, unfortunately, no finished photos as it got far too warm for him to wear it.
When it comes to new knitting plans I have decided to think about knitting a vest for myself as I felt that I needed a bodywarmer/vest a few times during the holiday and it is something that I don’t own already.
Whilst I am thinking that I would like a colourwork vest at the moment I couldn’t really find many inspiration images that were what I was looking for. I had been thinking a Fairisle style pattern but I think the Fairisle patterns that I have seen at the moment are a bit small. I really like the large scale colourwork idea on the Zante Knits vest but I’m not sure about the actual design (that and it is only in the testing phase atm).
Sewing Plans:
I have also been thinking about finally dusting off my sewing machine to do a bit of garment making for me. Some of these ideas have been floating around for a while and some are new ones that have percolated down through my conscious slowly over the last few years.
Pietra Trousers:
These are only 2021 Make Nine plans and as the weather is turning a little chillier I think now is time to make myself another pair of warmish trousers. I also want a pair with elasticated cuffs but I am unsure whether this will be the microcheck wool blend version or another pair.
Simone Overalls:
These are a pair of Zero Waste overalls from Goldfinch Ltd, which I have been wanting to make since she posted a picture of her test version on IG. I applied to test this pattern (but wasn’t chosen) and bought it on release day, but this was whilst I was away from home so I haven’t got around to making them yet. I haven’t looked at the pattern that thoroughly yet but I like the fact that I won’t have to print out miles of pattern pages and that I could make a pattern to my specific measurements or use the preset sizes in the pattern. I am intrigued to see how these fit on my body, I am not used to having much excess fabric around my waist but even if I end up not finding the pattern very flattering I think they will be very useful in the garden. I am planning on elasticating the cuffs and making this from some Ikea fabric that I am hoping to dye using plants from my garden.
Quilted Jacket/Housecoat:
This one has been in the back of my mind for a while but I haven’t really managed to work out what it was that I wanted. I have had a “housecoat” on my to-make list for a while so that I could wear something that isn’t my fluffy dressing gown around the house during the day, I tend to put my dressing gown back on after getting dressed as if I’m not moving much I get quite cold. Recently I have seen a lot of quilted coats/jackets making the round on IG with a flurry of patterns being released recently that would fit the bill, and have provided me with a load of inspiration which has reignited this idea. Ideally, I would like it to be knee-length, have wide enough sleeves that I can wear it over a jumper, have a cross over front and some form of a collar.
I am thinking that I might use the Jill coat pattern from Seamwork and make it out of a quilted material, that I end up making myself I think, I know that I have a load of scraps of fabric that would be able to be used for this but I am unsure what to use for the “middle” fabric atm. I don’t know whether to use batting or just some other fabric and make it a little lighter than it would be if I used quilt batting. Time to check out my deep stash, I think, for a material that I have enough of but won’t use for anything else. Either that or find the wool blanket I have cut into before.
Basic Tee’s:
I am looking to add some more basic Tee’s to my wardrobe and for this, I am planning on making at least one more Stellan Tee, in a dark green heavy viscose, and probably some Seamwork Ryans which is a nice loose-fitting tee that should fit with the more casual slant that my wardrobe is taking again. I have some rust coloured viscose that would be lovely, and I might try it in the leafy print that I made my Sirocco out of for a slightly more interesting casual tee. I think I am also going to try out the long-sleeved version too, but I haven’t worked out what fabric for that yet, I am def lacking in long-sleeved tops that aren’t tight fitting.
TBH that is probably enough stuff on my to-make list for myself for the moment, it is pretty ambitious considering I haven’t even moved my sewing machine in at least half a year! I am also going to add some mending to the list because that is something that I want to get to grips with as I think it is a really important part of having a sustainable wardrobe which is something I am definitely aiming for. I have some beige chinos that have been eaten away in places by battery acid (I think) so I am planning some visible (ish) mending on them with some Sashiko inspired stitching to hold some patches in place over the holes, but probably using various shades of beige so it is visible but not in your face visible.
I also have a very thin knit jumper that needs some mending. I spent a while to find some suitable thread to use to darn it, but have yet to actually summon the courage to tackle it as I might need to borrow my Nans magnifying ring to actually be able to see what I’m doing! On that note, my green jumper that I inherited from my Grandad needs more darning to keep it from getting more holes in it, one day it might be more darning than original jumper. I also have some holes to mend in a small wool blanket that I own.
These two photos show the relative gauges of the two inherited jumpers that I need to mend. The green jumper is being mended with two strands of 4-ply sock yarn that is actually thinner than most 4-ply yarns, I would have liked to only use one strand of the yarn but it kept pulling apart so I had to use two. And as you can see the jumper on the right is a much finer gauge, (they are on the same darning mushroom!) the mend you can see on the jumper is a single strand of the reinforcing thread that came with the Lang, Yawoll sock yarn but this was still a little too thick and kept pulling apart so I had to source some very thin wool. Wish me luck with this repair!
Wardrobe reduction seems to be a common thing atm. I reassessed mine and found little that needed to be made/replaced so I understand your situation entirely. You do seem to have found some interesting things to be getting on with
Yeah, I think there is a lot more awareness of overconsumption etc and with a lot of us not really going out anywhere near as much as we used to the need for large wardrobes is reduced. Hopefully, I have found some interesting enough things to motivate me to actually make them…