More swatching

When will I ever learn? Needless to say, describing fixing the damaged cushions at my local community café as a "'little' job" turned out to be tempting fate. More damaged cushions have sprung up like mushrooms, and despite the kind help of one of the other regular attendees, there are still several to do. Getting on with the toile has been shelved until this is done, but I did find time for a bit of knitting.

I knitted up a second swatch for my 1915 shawl, this time using 4.5mm needles, which equate to U.S. size 7/old UK size 7. Unsurprisingly, when blocked it came out larger than the swatch knitted on 4mm needles.

4mm swatch on top of 4.5mm one

It also felt, and looked, like a far more open knit. As the pattern states that "Closeness of texture is the feature which makes this a generally useful shawl", I decided to stick with the 4mm/size 8 needles specified in the pattern, even though the swatch produced felt rather chunky.

Then I had the genius idea of trying to re-block the 4mm swatch to the gauge listed on the yarn label instead of just randomly stretching it! (I know, I know - I wasn't at all at my brightest when I first blocked it, so never thought about this). I marked out a 22 stitch and 28 row section, calculated the likely dimensions of a 33 stitch and 57 row swatch blocked to gauge as a belt-and-braces approach, and set to work.

Slightly different shape!

Blocked to the right size, the swatch has a thickness far more suitable for a shawl. It also retained its size and shape after handling, so I am confident that this is the right degree of blocking.

Once I knew this, I could consider the dimensions of the completed shawl. No size information is provided in the pattern, except that it should be knitted until it is 50" long, and then a further 45 rows knitted. This would equate to 56½"/ 144cm, which feels like a reasonable length for a shawl. However, the pattern is 219 stitches wide. In the gauge for my wool, this is 40"/100cm. Given that I am 64" tall, a shawl which would cover almost ⅔ of my height seems a bit excessive.

I folded a remnant to 100 X 144 cm to get an idea of the size. Obviously, fabric drapes differently from knitting, but it confirmed that this would be a big shawl. When I checked, I discovered that it's actually the size of my bath towels rather than anywhere close to my existing shawls.

So much fabric

It almost reaches down to my knees

Something that size was also going to use a lot of wool, and be quite heavy as a result. I wondered if the Capstan yarn suggested for the pattern was thinner than my DK wool, and so would produce a narrower shawl from 219 stitches. Combing through the booklet which contains the pattern for any clues, I found a section on the different Beehive products. Capstan was listed in the section of Soft Knitting wools. These were described as "4-ply yarns which are more tightly twisted than Fingerings", and of the four types available, Capstan was "slightly thicker". Double Knitting was a separate section, and described as "a thick 4-ply Fingering".

Unless I come across a skein of teens era Capstan yarn for sale somewhere, I guess I will never know for certain. But given that old yarns are generally regarded as being thicker than the modern equivalents (Lister Lee DK is described as more of current Aran weight, for example) and also the needle size of 4mm, modern DK still seems like the best choice for the project. So I will simply work out what width I want the shawl to be, and cast on accordingly.

Even so, it's still going to use a fair amount of yarn - more than will fit in one of the repurposed totes I use for my shawl projects. The clear-out which brought the Dress of Frump back to my attention also unearthed a cute but long-forgotten length of craft cotton and today, as a break from the endless cushion repairs, I made a new (lined, of course) project bag for the occasion.

Complete with wool

Another metre used

Hopefully I will be able to finally start on the shawl soon.

De-frumping

Well, this is not what I expected to be writing about this week. In fact, until Friday afternoon this wasn't even what I expected to be sewing this week.

Yes, one of those

For the last nine years Simplicity 1587, aka The Dress of Frump, has been the nadir of my dressmaking, the benchmark of disaster. Whenever something didn't turn out as planned, from faint disappointment to major calamity, I always asked myself, "Is this as bad as The Dress of Frump?". And the answer was always, but always, "No".

On Friday I was having a tidy up/clear out when I found The Dress of Frump scrunched up in a ball under a pile of other stuff. This was a surprise, as I thought I had thrown it out years ago. I guess it was reprieved because I really liked the fabric, so couldn't bear to get rid of it. Out of curiosity, I tried it on. And it didn't look as bad as I was expecting. Although to be fair, over nine years it has come to be so hideously unappealing in my memory that anything which didn't actually cause the mirror to crack was going to look better than expected.

I still really like the fabric, and started to wonder if there was any way I could fix the dress. The material had been distinctly off grain and, instead of just living with it (hardly an issue with a floral print), I had tried, and failed, to correct it - and ended up with a very wonky garment. On top of that, the design of the skirt did me no favours. A skirt yoke may suit some people, but I am not one of them, and the gathering of the lower skirt just looked skimpy and messy.

There is nothing appealing about this look

Also, some of the gathers stuck out weirdly.

All of the centre section sticks out

On the bodice, the yoke was probably too long, but the main thing was that the pleats were all over the place.

Messy

This was hardly surprising, as the neckline turned out to be longer on one side than the other, and the pleating wasn't remotely symmetrical.

Three small on one side, two large on the other - why?

Somehow, I had even sewn in the centre tab off kilter.

The tab seam and the yoke seam do not line up

I have no idea what I thought I was doing here

There are other, smaller, issues, but I came to the conclusion that what made the dress look so bad overall was that the biggest faults are right in the centre front. So, on the basis that the worst I could do was ruin an already bad dress I didn't even know I had, I set to work.

I started with the skirt, unpicking the section of the seam which joined the yoke to the gathered lower section. Then I pressed out the gathering, and started reattaching the skirt out from the centre, but flat. Once I had attached the centre third of the skirt, I folded the excess fabric into inverted box pleats. I would have preferred a single deeper pleat in the centre, but the curved shape of the yoke made this impossible - I had to place the pleats where the yoke edge was more horizontal. It took some fiddling to get them to hang straight, but I feel it's a neater effect than the gathers.

A smooth skirt front, and the pleats line up with the bodice gathers

Encouraged by this success, I tackled the neckline. This was a lot trickier, and with hindsight I wonder if I should just have fixed the wonky tab and left well alone with the pleats. Once unpicked, they really did not want to be pleated back up in a slightly different way. But eventually, I got everything back in place. Finally, I added some shoulder pads to raise the yoke-bodice seam a little and add support to the sleeve heads.

Not great, but better

The end result is still not brilliant, and things like the uneven hem were impossible to fix without ending up with a shorter dress than I wanted. But it's a lot better than it was, and worth the effort to get it more or less wearable.

Definitely improved overall

My next 'little' job is fixing some damaged cushions from my local community café, and then I can get back to what I was meant to be doing this week - making a dress out of the 1986 toile.

Aristoc

Something of a diversion this week. I recently read this article by Katie Thomas of What Katie Did, about the (possibly terminal) decline of the British hosiery industry. Among other things, it mentioned that Aristoc had gone into receivership. I don't think I've ever bought anything from the Aristoc brand, but I did vaguely remember seeing some of their advertisements in Vogue Pattern Book (Aristoc was always a high-end product, so it made sense that it should advertise in a Vogue publication), and of course I had to investigate. Sure enough, they were one of the very few non sewing-related brands which advertised in there, and did so for a number of years.

Although the pattern book became a standalone publication in 1949, the first Aristoc advert didn't appear until 1952. As this article explains, the company's output had changed dramatically during the war years, so it may have taken some time to return to stocking manufacture. The prime position of the advert, on the outside back cover of the magazine, suggests that Aristoc was willing to spend heavily on advertising. There is minimal information however, just the tagline "the aristocrat of stockings", with no explanation of the different colours of packaging.

June-July 1952 issue

The next advert, a year later, has a similar image, albeit drawn rather than photographed. There is also more copy - including the suggestion that stockings are still in short supply. The text of the logo has changed to white text on a black background, and will remain this way for some time.

June-July 1953

Another year later, and the tagline, logo, and drawing of two hands are still there, but the emphasis is on the male viewpoint.

June-July 1954

This continues in the second advert of this series.

August-September 1954

Unusually, this advert is repeated in the February-March 1955 issue, but on the inside back page. From this point on the adverts are always inside the magazine, but they are always a full page.

Later in the year, a very different approach appears. There is information on some of the different stockings available, along with their prices. There are also stockings "from as little as 8/11d" (107 old pence), but no indication of which ones are this price. For comparison, this issue of Vogue Pattern Book costs 24 old pence, as does a Butterick pattern for a "nightie, brunch coat and lounging outfit", an ordinary Vogue pattern costs 42 old pence, Paris Original patterns cost 102 old pence, and a yard of Marchington printed cotton costs "about" 155 old pence. Despite this hefty price tag, the copy makes reference to young women liking Aristoc stockings.

October-November 1955

I don't know how much research was done into the effectiveness of advertising in the 1950s, but 1956 sees a reversion to the minimalist approach, and the faint suggestion of maturity.

February-March 1956

But later in the year, it's all change again. There's a younger feel, the start of the "fashion looks to" slogan, and both the frame and the font of the logo are less formal. Price information is back, but in line with this being a quality product, it starts with the high price; "16/11 to as little as 6/11".

August-September 1956

The next advert is similar, but has lost the stocking and two hands image which has appeared in some form in all previous versions.

February-March 1957

After this comes a similar look but more formal; a tiara and jewels, but no stocking imagery at all. Its main purpose seems to be imparting the news that Aristoc is now an associate member of the British couture organisation, IncSoc. In line with this, the old logo is back.

October-November 1957

Then, another change of direction. Away from the inside back page, black and white rather than colour, and back to youth and informality. There's a new logo - a black shape over a shadow of the fancy frame, and a very slightly different typeface.

The latters are the same width, but slightly taller

The "fashion looks to" slogan is still there, but also "fully fashioned stockings fit the best!" - presumably a riposte to the arrival of stretch stockings.

August-September 1958

Unusually, the next advert appears in the next issue of the pattern book. This time it's an illustration, but still younger oriented and with the "fully fashioned" slogan. The logo has lost the frame and has a new black shape which reflects the word within it. The pricing now mentions that this is for a pair.

October-November 1958

Two issues later comes a similar advert, but prices are now in ascending order and a smaller range - "8/11, 10/11 and 11/6".

February-March 1959

Then prices disappear, along with most of the copy. The male interest looks rather more raffish than his mid-fifties predecessor - perhaps it's the moustache!

October-November 1959

The cusp of the 1960s sees a simpler image, harking back to earlier adverts. The frame is back in a sketchy form and there is a new slogan "on the heels of fashion".

December-January 1959-60

Frame and slogan are short-lived, as the adverts return to the inside back cover and colour. There's more copy, and prices are back to descending order and October-November 1958 levels. This seems to be aimed at older women again?

April-May 1960

Next comes a softer image, with the logo in a toning colour rather than black.

October-November 1960

I've come to the conclusion that if you spend a lot of time looking at older magazines you will, sooner or later, come across an advert which makes you wonder, "What were they thinking?" The Jaeger tubas were my top example of this - until now. Consider all the Aristoc adverts that have gone before this point. They vary wildly but there is, still, a degree of continuity. But then, we come to this.

February-March 1961

The tagline "the aristocrat of stockings" has gone (although to be fair, there is not much aristocratic about this image). Also, why is model in bright pink to emphasise that shade goes with mint green? And in case you were wondering, the knight in shining armour is not about to start a snowball fight - the round thing he is holding is part of the bridle of his cardboard horse. Obviously.

Someone was clearly so pleased with this image that it appeared again in the next issue. Now with the tagline back and the shadow frame. Not that this improves things much.

April-May 1961

A couple of issues later, everyone has had a lie down and the advertising returns to something like form. Wildest dreams are no longer being fulfilled, instead Aristoc will to "put spice in your life". The tagline and frame are gone again but prices are back, still at "from 12/11 to 6/11 a pair".

August-September 1961

The next advert is very different, but then it is for Christmas. It shows what I assume are packets rather than stockings, and "the aristocrat of stockings" is back. The lowest price has dropped to 5/11, and the reference to pairs has gone.

December-January 1961-2

After this, there is such a long gap that I assumed Aristoc had stopped advertising in the pattern book. But eventually I found this. No longer on the inside back cover, and back to black and white, at first glance it doesn't even look like a stocking advert. It's back to the younger feel, with the slogan "part of your make-up". Possibly there was a tie-in with Elizabeth Arden? The white script on black is now part of the lily of the valley logo, with the main reference being black script on white. There are no price details, and the "aristocrat" reference is part of the copy.

April-May 1964

The next advert is similar, but the tagline is back, the lowest price has dropped even further to 4/11, and the slogan has changed slightly to "Part of your Fashion make-up". Possibly the “girls in pearls” reference is again pointing to the idea that this is a high-end product?

October-November 1964

Elizabeth Arden is replaced by Susan Small in an advert which actually shows stockings. The tagline and white-on-black logo have both gone, but the slogan “part of your fashion make-up” remains. The price range has increased, "from 4/11 to 15/11" - 59 to 191 old pence.

Winter 1965-6

Sadly that seems to have been the end of Aristoc's presence in the pattern book. I looked through issues all the way to 1970, but there were no more adverts. Which is a pity - they took so many different approaches over 14 years that I would have liked to see where they went next.

It was all going so well . . .

Remarkably, I had managed to get through almost five months of the year with only one fabric purchase - and that was made up as soon as it was acquired. Obviously, this was mostly due to circumstances rather than steely self-restraint, but I take my wins where I find them!

Then, I called in to my local fabric shop to look for some material to make a black skirt. I didn't find anything suitable but, perched right at the top of the craft cottons remnant bin and calling to me, was this.

Resistance was futile

I had recently worn my first version of Style 1271 to an event, remembered how much I liked it, and was already thinking about making another. (There is something just not quite right with the second version, and I really need to work out what it is and fix it, as I love the fabric.) And this stripy design, with its (to me) faintly mid-century vibe, seemed ideal for the job.

Nothing whatsoever to do with making a dress, but I was taken with the colour details on the selvedge - so much nicer than just dots.

Charming

I spent a lot of time looking at the colours on the selvedge, because I had the idea of making a jacket from plain fabric, with a collar made in the dress fabric. Of course getting an exact match to the background colour was hugely unlikely but after an extensive trawl of the plain cottons remnant bin I found something close. I don’t know exactly which pattern(s) I will use, but I'm thinking of something like this.

The idea

So, the Stashometer has taken a hit.

It was inevitable, really

I do have a couple of half-done items on the go, and my historical sewing plans will use up some more stash fabric, so there's hope for the right-hand column yet - provided I actually get on with some sewing.

Swatching the shawl

I have tried a few bits of sewing this week, but of course whenever I automatically reach for my phone to take a snap to show Mum, it brings me up short. So it has felt safer to concentrate on knitting for a while. Even then, I don't fully trust my powers of concentration (drying a plate and putting it away - in the fridge - is just one example of why!) so for now I'm sticking to the low stakes effort of swatching a new knitting project. As this is going to require a few samples, it is keeping me occupied for a while.

I have picked up my historical knitting project, a shawl from this 1915 booklet.

Shawl and booklet

It is described as having a border of plain knitting and a centre "worked in a simple vest pattern". I have no idea what a vest pattern might be, but it is definitely simple - only four rows long, and worked in alternating blocks of three knit or purl stitches. What there is not, however, is any indication of tension. It's knitted on size 8 needles, which equate to 4mm/U. S. size 6, and was to be knitted in 'Capstan' wool.

4mm needles suggest DK yarn, and I found this 100% Blue Faced Leicester in my local wool shop, in a shade which seemed suitable for a teens era shawl.

Emu Gold in shade Slate Fell

Supplies were very limited, so I bought a skein in a different shade for swatching experiments. First, I knitted a stocking stitch swatch, just to check the gauge. It came out a little bit large once blocked, but that's not a problem for a shawl.

First swatch - almost no concentration required

Next, I knitted a sample using the stitches for the actual shawl - a plain border and a patterned centre. It soon became obvious that when I changed from knit to purl stitches, there was a gap.

Laddering to the left of the knit blocks

I found this article on how to fix the problem by knitting the first purl stitch with the yarn passed opposite way round the needle than normal.

Examples

It fixed the laddering, but seemed to transfer the problem from the first purl stitch to the last knit stitch instead, so I'm not sure if it's worth pursuing.

Wonky knit stitches instead of laddering

The stitches did even out a bit when blocked. I wasn't aiming for a specific size, I just stretched it what seemed a reasonable amount but not excessive.

This is the only shot which shows the wool colour accurately

The vest pattern is the same on both sides, just the columns are reversed.

Both sides of the swatch

The finished piece feels quite thick, especially when folded double like the illustration of the shawl. The yarn also feels thicker than any DK I have used previously, but that might be because it is wool rather than synthetic or mixed fibres. I couldn't find any information about Capstan yarn as far back as 1915, but it does seem to have been an Aran weight yarn from at least the 1960s. Certainly the name suggests sturdy knitwear for seafarers! Aran yarn on 4mm needles would surely have produced a very dense knit.

Having drawn a blank on 1915 yarn, I turned to Ravelry to see how other people are using my own yarn choice. There are currently three shawls knitted in Emu Gold on there, one knitted on 4mm needles and two knitted on 4.5mm. So my next step is to knit another patterned sample, but this time on 4.5mm needles. I can also try to improve my vest pattern knitting while I’m knitting it. Thank goodness I bought that extra skein!