Plans

I'm hoping to get back behind (in front of?) my machine soon

Initially I wasn't going to make any creative plans for 2025. Both Christmas Day and my birthday earlier this month were completely taken up by having to deal with family issues, and this is only going to happen more frequently, and for longer, in the future. Indeed, part of the reason why I knit so much now is that it's far easier to take that with me when I have to be away from home than taking my sewing. So with all this in mind, there seemed no point in planning any projects.

But then it struck me that this was being a bit defeatist. Yes I may not get much done, but surely it is better to have some plans and accept that they may be derailed, than to not even try. So, with the understanding that these are very much aspirations, here we go.

Historical sewing
The success of my Victorian toile has definitely made me want to revive my 1874 ensemble project.

The ultimate aim

Realistically, there's no chance of me completing the whole thing in a year, but I would like to get the under layers done. I've decided that I do want to make a new corset using this Truly Victorian pattern, as the Laughing Moon one has too little waist definition. After that, the next things to make will be the bustle cage and petticoats. All of these can be done as challenges for the 2025 Historical Sew Monthly (along with a couple of other things, if I really get going), and I'm hoping that this will spur me on.

Stash
I say it every year, and every year I fail dismally - I really want to sew from my stash. The stash shop definitely helps in reminding me what I already have, but not going into fabric shops would be a bigger help. This wonderful Tom Gauld cartoon appeared in The Guardian last year, and I did give serious thought to building something similar for fabric storage!

Painfully relatable

I seem to be having a bit of a confidence crisis about getting things to fit properly, which is putting me off sewing at all, so I need to find a way to address this. Also, I have come to the conclusion that some of the fabric in the stash will never be used, either because my tastes have changed since I bought it, or I should never have bought it in the first place. So there will definitely be some stash reduction this year, as I rehome several lengths with people who will actually use it.

Part of the stash shop - two more used, and one rehoming candidate

Knitting
Having finished both my other projects, I have finally started my Poppy jumper.

The kit for Poppy

I went with my plan to knit the sleeves first, so that they are not waiting for me at the tail end of the project. With 2.75mm needles for the ribbing and 3mm needles for the rest, this is the finest gauge knitting that I have done so far, and it's going to take me a long time. I suspect that another project (with bigger needles) might get picked up for light relief. Even double knitting would feel chunky after this! Which brings me to

Waiting to ambush me

Squirrels
Whether I plan my year down to the last week, or take a more relaxed approach, I know that a squirrel project or two will always come along to disrupt things. Let's just see what 2025 brings, and be grateful for anything that I do get done.

Knitting revisited

You know that feeling when something you think only happened quite recently turns out to be far older? I had that this week. It's been horribly cold here in the UK, and my Raynaud's has really flared up, so I've been wearing my trusty wrist warmers. I thought that they were a couple of years old, but it turns out that I made them in January 2018, so a whole seven years ago!

My third project, so long ago

Anyway, useful though they are, there are a couple of things which get slightly irritating with prolonged use. They are quite long on me, so they get in the way with full-length, close-fitting, sleeves. Because they are just knitted in stocking stitch, they tend to roll at the ends, which causes even more problems with sleeves. And the simple funnel shape means that if I wear them low down my hand, they act like webbing between my thumb and forefinger, which is a nuisance, but if I wear them pushed up then more of my hand is exposed.

Brrrr

None of this is at all the fault of the pattern, which is designed specifically for a beginner knitter. But my knitting has improved over seven years, and I reckoned that with a few tweaks I could make the design work better for me.

In the original, both warmers are knitted identically, and the only difference is where the top edge is sewn together to create the thumb hole.

The original pair before sewing up

I decided to knit a left and a right, by splitting the shape along the line of one set of eyelets so that there were separate thumb and finger sections. I also shortened the pattern, and added ribbing at the top and bottom to stop curling. Completist that I am, I even knitted the initial central column of eyelets to mirror one another; 'yo, k2tog' for one, and 'k2tog, yo' for the other.

The difference is barely visible, but it makes me happy!

My first draft of the amended pattern was surprising accurate for a beginner, and I only had to make a couple of changes as I went along.

The new pair before sewing up

The end result was better than I had dared hope. The length is just right, and I get plenty of hand coverage without losing thumb movement.

All boxes ticked

The versions side by side

Needless to say, the weather started to get warmer just as I was finishing them, but I'm sure they will still get well-used. The project has also boosted my confidence in how well I understand knitting patterns and how I can adjust them. I'm still a long way off the competence I have with sewing patterns, but it's definitely a start.

Off to a good start

I did it! I finished my Lothian shawl, which was my Scottish 60th birthday present to myself, a whole nine days before I turn 61. I'm sure that for some people this would be regarded as cutting it fine, but for me it's a triumph. (This is probably not something to be proud of, but it's how I am, and it's unlikely to change now!)

First make of the year, completed on 3 January!

I spent both Christmas and New Year at my mum's, and a lot of the time was passed just chatting and knitting the final border rows. I still can't knit anything too taxing and hold a conversation, and this is excellent pattern for having something to do while not being anti-social. I decided early on to weave in the ends as I went, and this was definitely a wise choice.

So many ends to weave in!

The pattern for the border consists of two rows of each of the first four 'route' colours, separated by two rows of the background colour. Then one row and the bind off are knitted in the fifth 'route' colour. However, because I was using variegated wools, I decided to do something different to give the shawl a clearer edge. I knitted two rows of the fifth colour, two rows of the background, and then one row and the bind off in a plain grey.

My border

As ever, there was a bit of a difference between the unblocked and the blocked shape.

Unblocked

Blocked

One thing which only became obvious once the shawl was blocked was the colour difference between the two skeins of the background colour; the second skein is slightly lighter. Fortunately, the change occurs at the start of the first 'route', so it isn't at all obvious on one side of the shawl.

Spot the skein change

Because the background yarn is grey with dashes of yellow/gold, and three of the contrast yarns are yellows with odd speckles of grey, there is a fuzziness to the overall colouring which I really like. It certainly captures the notion of a grey Edinbugh sky with glimpses of sunlight through breaks in the cloud, which was exactly what I wanted.

As I explained here, the pattern really appealed to me because of its connection to Edinburgh buses and their routes. I wore the completed shawl today when I went over to Liverpool, and realised that its yellow and grey colour scheme is a fairly close match to that of Merseyrail, the local train network. So I have made something with links to both my birth city and my adopted city - perfect!

When you match your mode of transport

2024 review

I know full well that there isn't going to be a sudden burst of productivity in the next two days, so I can safely write my review of the year now. Not that there is a huge amount to review. A combination of increased family commitments (which are only going to grow), and a disinclination to sew (which I hope is not going to grow) has made this a sparse year.

So. Much. Blue. (And a bit or orange/brown)

Being able to sew practical solutions to problems always gives me a great deal of satisfaction, and my tote bag and yarn holder have both seen a great deal of use.

What dressmaking I have done this year has all been from tried and trusted patterns, partly because I just couldn't muster the enthusiasm to alter, and possibly regrade, a new pattern. My experiments with Simplicity 1777/4463 continued, this time with the V neck option (left). I made another Grace dress, with no variations from its well-worn predecessor (second right). And after a long period in my pattern drawer, old favourite New Look 6000 made a triumphant return (right).

On the plus side, all of these were made from stash fabric. On the minus side, the stash grew because I haven't used any of the fabric I bought this year. I do also have several works in progress, as starting a project and then running out of steam has been a theme of the year.

Shameful

My proudest sewing achievement was one which I had to finish because it was part of a course I was doing, making a toile from what turned out to be a very well-drafted 150-year-old pattern.

The fashion plate and the toile

While I may not have sewn much, I have definitely expanded my knitting repertoire. I had my first go at lace knitting with the Dahlia shawl, and loved it. I also learned top-down construction on the Confidette bolero, and then went on to make not one but two Express Line cardigans, for myself and for my mum. In total, I think that I knitted up about 2,160m of yarn (1.34 miles!) in completed items. Not bad for someone who could barely knit a couple of years ago.

There are lots of things which I would like to do next year, but I have too much else going on to give myself the pressure of setting goals. I do want to finish my Lothian shawl before my birthday, but that’s about it.

Knitting update

My sewjo is still feeling shy and elusive, and is rarely sighted. Matters haven't been helped by the fact that I've been knitting to a deadline, which was an alarming experience. But I have finished my mum's Christmas present with a whole two days to spare, so can breathe a sigh of relief!

(I should add at this point that Mum isn't online at all, so I can talk about her present here without any danger of spoilers.)

Completed, phew!

As I mentioned in a previous post, Mum had asked for a longer version of my Express Line cardigan, so I measured a favourite RTW top of hers when she wasn't looking, and worked from that. Happily, the pattern has top-down construction and no waist shaping, so it was easy to lengthen. Mum also favours more jacket-like styles, so I just did a short bottom ribbing for interest (the pattern can be knitted without ribbing, if preferred), but using the same size needles. I also fixed the slightly too short sleeves of my version by knitting two more rows, but those were the only changes I made.

Comparing the two

Meanwhile, I have continued to work on my Lothian shawl whenever I'm at Mum's. I had to stay there for a couple of days recently, to take her to medical appointments, so got quite a lot done. I've just finished the second set of five 'routes'.

Showing all 10 'routes'

After this, there is one eyelet row and three plain rows of grey, and then I am onto the border - two rows of each of the route colours, interspersed with two rows of grey. At present it's bunched up, even on my longest cable, but I'm looking forward to the transformation when it is blocked. Hopefully I will get it finished before my birthday after all, and that will be two of my three projects done!

The shawl so far

Finally, although I haven't started my Poppy jumper, I've been unable to resist practising colourwork. I've knitted another swatch, this time following an actual pattern.

This really could get addictive

This time I was more consistent about carrying over yarns at the back.

Tidier

My fabric use review of the year is going to be terrible. I think that I may need to calculate my total yarn use for the year, in an attempt to redress the balance a little!

Winter 1989

It's full-on 'running around doing stuff with no time for anything creative' season for me just now, so here's another rummage through my Vogue Pattern Book archive. Last Friday I went for Christmas lunch with my former work colleagues (most of us are retired now), so I thought that I would look at what I could have been making from Vogue patterns when I started that job, way back in December 1989.

Party like it's 1989

There are fewer evening clothes than I was expecting; perhaps the assumption was that readers would have already finished their party frocks - or at least chosen the pattern and supplies - by the time this issue came out. I'm intrigued by the 'new attitudes' to evening dressing; if frilly sleeves and large bows don't count as "excessive embellishments", then I hate to think what does!

2409 by Albert Nipon, and the new rules of the game

This bears some resemblance to New Look 6000. I wore my latest version on Friday, so I was on trend - for 35 years ago!

2408, by Belville Sassoon

This is very similar, apart from the ginormous sleeves. Clearly the combination of pleating at the waist and a faux-wrapover skirt was A Thing.

2405, by Ungaro

I did have a party dress very like this in 1989, albeit with a straight hem, and not made from a Vogue pattern.

7614, in velvet and taffeta

I also had a couple of work dresses with the same silhouette as the white two-piece top right. What I definitely didn't have though was a workplace in the style beloved by the Vogue Career line. Chic minimalism definitely wasn't part of the décor in the I.T. department of my local electricity board!

Dressing for Vogue Career land

Something else which I didn't have was a wardrobe of beige. I'm guessing that this was 'quiet luxury' for the late eighties, but there's a lot of beige in this issue.

Beige

More beige

Even more beige

Stop it now

Ooh look, grey

I must admit that as someone who favours deep, strong colours, this gives me the heebie-jeebies. But that's the beauty of making your own clothes; your colour scheme is limited only by the fabric available.

A tale of two Hollies

When I saw a picture of a Pierre Balmain 'Holly' dress on Kerry Taylor Auctions' Instagram, I assumed that it was the annual repost of the dress which I fell in love with in 2015. But it looked a little different, and when I read the text I discovered that this is another Holly dress, and it's in the Passion For Fashion auction this coming Tuesday (10 December).

The dress for sale, and the original image from L'Officiel

I still have all the images of the first dress stored away, so I thought that I would compare the two. (All images, apart from those of my own dress, are copyright Kerry Taylor.)

Front views

From this, it's obvious that the dresses are very different shapes. The 2024 version is longer, and looks less full-skirted. The short, bell-shaped, skirt appears to have been a feature of Balmain's 1955 dresses, as it also appears on the 'Medallion' dress sold by Kerry Taylor in 2022.

Why yes, I 'would' like to recreate the Medallion dress one day!

Of course this difference may just be because the client for whom it was made was a different shape from the owner of the 2015 version. However, the dress currently for sale has a narrower and deeper front neckline, and wider shoulder seams. The difference between the necklines is even more obvious at the back.

Back views

The differences are explained in the condition report on the Kerry Taylor website, which states that the dress has been heavily altered. The report speculates that the upper part of the dress may have been damaged, and the lower section used to make a new dress. If so, it has been very skilfully done, given that the embroidered leaves on the bodice go over the princess seams, as on the 2015 version.

The princess seams on both are nigh-on invisible

The embroidery is, rightly, described as "superb", but there is no doubt that it differs from the dress sold in 2015. This is perhaps best illustrated in the side view.

The side seam is more apparent

Unsurprisingly, I have never bought a dress from a couture house - the nearest I have come to that is watching Mrs Harris Goes to Paris - so I have no idea how much the client can influence the overall look of their purchase. But there is no denying that the embroidery on the two versions is very different. The most obvious variation is in density. It's apparent in the two images above that the leaves on the 2015 version are far more tightly packed, with some overlaps, and the berries more bunched. Of course, the more widely spaced leaves of the 2024 version may be due to it being made from the lower section, where there are fewer leaves. Equally, some of the berries may have been snipped off and redistributed.

Another difference is that all of the leaves on the 2024 version are a broadly similar shape and all, with the exception of those around the neckline, point downwards. The dress sold in 2015 had a number of different leaf shapes, and they were orientated in different directions.

The actual design of the leaves is different, too. On the 2015 version, the central spine is indicated by a slight gap in the embroidery, whereas on the 2024 dress it is embroidered in silver thread. Also, all of the 2024 leaves are made with one side in a more blue-based palette and the other side more green and gold, whereas in 2015 there were some leaves entirely in the cooler shade, and less densely embroidered.

Close-ups of the embroidery

I should add that none of this is in any way meant to denigrate the dress currently for sale, it's just that having spent far longer than is normal studying the dress sold in 2015, I was fascinated to explore the differences. The idea that there are different versions of the Holly dress out there pleases me immensely, as I feel that my version has elements of both of them.

My version - this remains my proudest sewing achievement

And yes, I did base my jewellery choices on the L'Officiel image!

Update, 10 December: Despite being unlabelled, heavily altered, and having an estimate of £200-£300, the dress sold for £2,400. Clearly I'm not the only one who loves the Holly dress!