One last project

Talk about cutting it fine! This afternoon I finished one last item for 2023. It's another version of New Look 6070.

New Look 6070 (now out of print)

I made my first version way back in January 2015, so almost nine years ago. I hadn't worn it for a while, mostly because I didn't think it would still fit. But I tried it on, it fits, and the John Kaldor crepe still looks brand new, so it is now back in regular use.

Then I discovered in Deep Stash a bag of lengths of stretch velour from my dance costuming days. Most are long pieces, but there was a green piece which was shorter, so I decided to try making a version of the dress. Some of the creases from long storage just wouldn't budge, but I was able to cut around the worst of them.

Because I'm not used to working with stretch fabrics, I stay-stitched every edge which I thought might stretch.

I got through a lot of tacking thread in this project!

I also lined the dress, to give it a bit more stability. I had lined the original version, but was able to just sew the bodice lining to the neck facing.

My usual approach to adding linings

However because I was using velour, I dispensed with facings for this one. I ironed the interfacing onto the lining, and sewed round the edge to keep it secure. The bodice and lining necklines were cut to accommodate turn of cloth, and the velvet rolled in nicely when the two were sewn together.

Sewing fabric with a pile requires a different approach

Somehow, I made a complete hash of the zip. In several recent makes I have sewn the zip in too high up, and not had room for a hook and eye at the top. With this dress, I overcompensated. Really overcompensated.

*facepalm*

I wasn't that bothered, as this is really just a wearable toile, and a second hook and eye filled the gap perfectly.

And here is the finished dress, looking very festive.

Not bad for a last-minute project

Especially festive in this shot, where I appear to be wearing a Christmas tree on my head!

#sewnshownseated

Because both the velour and the lining came from stash, this meant that I was able to get the Stashometer down to a gain of under 20m.

It's looked worse at the end of a year

In fact, if I remove the 2022 purchases which I carried over, I actually used more fabric than I purchased! Yes it's a bit of a fix, but I'm taking it. Now to repeat the trick in 2024.

Green!

A Happy New Year to all.

Meanwhile, back at the 'simple' pattern tweak . . .

The last time I posted about my plan to add a decorative panel to my next Wondrella cardigan, I was about to knit a second gauge swatch, this time including the cable pattern I had chosen for my embellishment.

I duly knitted it, and blocked it.

(Over) stretched out to gauge

It . . . didn't look brilliant. The yellow towel underneath was clearly visible in several places, and the sections where there was only a single purl stitch either side of the cable looked especially stretched. I soaked it and reblocked it, this time to what felt like the natural amount of stretch. The result was very close to the original stocking stitch swatch in terms of length, but way off in terms of width.

Comparing swatches of the same number of rows and stitches

The overall difference was about three stitches, but the stocking stitch sections had come out exactly to gauge. The reduction was all in the cable section. The fact that cable knits tighter is probably well-known to experienced knitters, but was news to me. So, I knitted yet another swatch, this one three stitches wider. I added an extra purl stitch to either side of the cable, and a single extra stitch to the stocking stitch section. Once blocked, 23 stitches (instead of the original 20), came out to the desired 10cm.

Second attempt - much better

This fixed one problem, but added another. The front shoulders would now be three stitches wider than the back shoulders, and as the two are joined with a three-needle bind off, the number of stitches need to be the same. The three extra stitches needed to be removed as part of the neckline shaping.

I figured that I could lose one in the initial bind off. For the others, I drew a diagram of the neckline, and marked a straight line along the edges of the 'stitches'. Then I added a second straight line, ending two squares across. I used this line as the basis for the new neckline.

Redrafting the neckline

Then, of course, I had to work out the knitting instructions for the new shaping.

Row by row instructions

Once all this was done, I could consider the positioning of the cable design on the cardigan front. First, I drew a basic schematic of the cable on tracing paper, marking which were the right side and wrong side rows.

It makes sense to me!

Next, I drew out a shortened version of the cardigan front, complete with the altered neckline. The pattern repeat for the cable is 12 rows, so I removed 60 rows from between the top of the ribbing and the start of the neckline. Again, I marked the right side and wrong side rows.

Because I wasn't going to draw out another full-size pattern like this

Once I had both drawings, it was just a case of moving the cable design around the 'front' until I found a position I was happy with and where the Rs and Ws lined up. Then I copied the cable markings onto the squared paper.

Shortened version, with ribbing and cable drawn on

Knitting experts would probably be able to tell at once whether or not this plan is workable, but I am not in that camp. So, I am going to knit a (hopefully, final) test piece starting with ribbing, then a few rows of the front and finally the neckline shaping. Yes, it's more work and yes, I am longing to just start knitting, but I reckoned that it is better to find any flaws in my plan before knitting about 90 rows of cardigan.

Working out the row-by-row knitting instructions for this latest test involved combining instructions from 1 - the original Wondrella, 2 - the new neckline, and 3 - the cable design. My brain was ready to explode by the time I was done! But I now have something to keep me occupied over Christmas (and also a vastly increased respect for designers of knitting patterns!).

Christmas 1951 in Vogue patterns

The general rush of festive stuff hasn't left much time for sewing or knitting this week, so instead here are some features from a new-to-me Vogue Pattern Book, December-January 1951/2.

Vogue Couturier 653 on the cover

The first one is on party dresses, shown with swatches of suitable fabrics. The dresses range from full-length gowns, through knee-length dresses for luncheon parties, cocktails, and theatre, to more casual "Easy-to-make" looks.

Vogue 7550, and a wild cocktail hat

Vogue Special Design 4237 (on left) and others

Vogue 7520 (on left, with the hat at a different angle) and others

Vogue 7497 and 7269 (on right) and others

7497 looks like knitwear above, but is actually a blouse

The latest batch of Vogue Paris Originals is shown over two double-page spreads.

l-r, Patou, Schiaparelli, Lanvin and Fath

l-r, Paquin, Dessès, Griffe, Heim

Vogue Couturier designs get a more extensive feature, albeit mostly with drawings instead of photographs. Although Couturier patterns are only described as "the height of fashion" rather than the work of named designers, many of them are the same price as Paris Originals patterns.

653 again, and 654

l-r, 571, 601, 648 and 650

l-r, 652, 647, 611 and 602

l-r, 638, 649, 656, 651 and 655

There is also a section on gifts to make, mostly toys, knitwear, and lingerie. Given that the December-January issue came out on 16 November, I can't help thinking that readers would have to get a move on to make much of this for the festive season!

Matching set

Not much to report this time, as a lot of the week has been taken up with things festive. But I did finish my little home furnishings project.

This pouffe came from my grandparents' house, many many years ago. I had made a basic cover for it, but that was also a long time and a couple of houses ago. Not only was it now looking very sad, but it didn't go with any of my current décor. So I used the leftovers of the chair cover fabric to make a new one.

The pouffe without any cover

It's very simple; just a wide tube elasticated at the bottom, and topped with a circle of fabric which was backed/strengthened with some more scrap cotton. I sewed a cord trim round the edge just to liven it up a bit. So now my cosy mid-century winter corner is complete.

Now I can, literally, put my feet up

It's a net-zero project as far as the stashometer is concerned, but I've added it for completeness.

Well in the red

Now I'm wondering if I can squeeze in a final stash project before the end of the year, just to bring that figure down to below 20 metres!

And the winner is . . .

I have (I hope) selected a suitable pattern for my next cardigan from the auditions process.

What name is inside the envelope?

Some of my original selections didn't even make it to the first round. They were all 16 stitches wide, and when I tried laying the samples I had already completed onto my blue Wondrella, I realised that this was going to be too wide.

Out of curiosity, I did try knitting up one of the wider patterns. But after frogging it for the third time I gave up!

Beyond my capabilities, for now

One of the samples I had already knitted is 13 stitches wide. Not only did this seem a bit too much, but the pattern is directional. I'm considering doing the pattern on the sleeves as well as the front, but the sleeves are top-down while the body is bottom-up, so this sample had to go.

Not quite right for this project

This diamond pattern with twisted stitches is pretty, and very easy to knit, but doesn't show up particularly well in this marled yarn - I think that it would work better in a solid colour.

This gets a bit lost

The ukuleles pattern was another one which I had knitted already. It's narrow, and shows up well, but I didn't feel I was knitting the shapes very consistently.

Ukuleles, banjos, lutes - they're all in there

Of the samples I had already knitted, this left the chain links (or, as I always think of it, 'the sausages') as my favourite. But there were still a couple of cable designs left to try.

Chain links, or sausage links?

This one was far too wide, but I liked the central element of narrow and wider twists, and wondered if I could just knit that section.

Definitely got potential

Because I'm new to cable knitting, it took a couple of goes to work out which parts of the chart and instructions I could ignore.

Trying to block out the bits I didn't need

But I got there in the end, and it was worth the effort.

Well hello!

This immediately became my new favourite pattern - sorry, sausages. Not too wide, shows up well, not directional. The only one issue was that I wanted something which was symmetrical across the two fronts, not the same. (At this point, I offer my apologies to any experienced knitters who are reading this and thinking, "Oh for crying out loud, it's simple.". As I say, I'm a knitting novice and cable is a whole new subsection of what is still a fairly new area.)

In the meantime, I did one final sample of basic cables.

Twists in both directions! What witchcraft is this?

These were a bit too basic, but I did make the exciting discovery that the direction of the twist depends upon whether you put the cable needle to the front or the back!!! Groundbreaking*. Armed with this new knowledge, I went back to the instructions for the previous sample and made a couple of changes. And, voila!

At this point, I did take a moment to bask in my triumph

So now, I am knitting a swatch the same size as my original one, mostly in stocking stitch, but with the cable band included. Hopefully it will not affect the gauge, and I can start knitting.


* - I joke about it, but I am really enjoying all of this. I have been sewing for more than 50 years, about 90% of my entire life. So while I may come across a complex pattern or a tricky technique, the opportunities for me to learn something totally new are few and far between. Starting from scratch with a new skill is exhilarating.

Home improvements

Does anyone else find that they use their home differently at different time of the year? No? Just me then. In the summer I like to sit in a big armchair in my living room next to the patio door, so that I can make the most of the light. In the winter months however that location, even though the door is double glazed, becomes a little chilly, and the light is less good as the sun doesn't rise above the neighbouring buildings. Then, I prefer to sit by the radiator at the other end of the room!

The armchair doesn't really fit in that space, so instead I use this mid-century chair which I bought absurdly cheaply at auction. Among other things, it's perfect for winter knitting - because chair arms plus long actual arms plus short torso is a messy combination!

Front view

From the side

Like most mid-century furniture it is well made and still sound, but the fabric is a bit worn and has acquired some mysterious stains, and the seat could use a little more padding. Last winter I just put a fleece throw over it. I had intended to reupholster it over the summer, but that was one of many projects which somehow just didn't happen. So as an interim solution I bought a foam pad to boost the seat, and a suitable remnant, and set about making a plain loose cover.

I've done this before, albeit over 30 years ago. Plus, I can remember watching Mum make loose covers when I was small, so I knew the basic principles. Obviously, it helped that the chair is a simple shape. I measured the various parts of the chair and cut out fabric pieces with very generous seam allowances. First I sewed the front back and the seat together, and pinned this onto the chair wrong side out so that I could pin on the base section. Once this was sewn on, I could pin on the back.

Pinning the back section on

And seen from the back

Because the back narrows slightly from the top, I had to insert a zip down one side.

Super-exciting zip shot

Once I was happy with the fit, I could trim off the excess seam allowances and neaten the edges. This gave me the basic cover.

Starting to look like a cover

Next I needed to do cut-out sections around the legs, so that the excess fabric could be pulled tight underneath. Originally I was planning to just turn the edges under, but the fabric is quite loosely woven and I felt that it needed reinforcement. So instead, I went for a dressmaking approach and added facings made from scrap cotton. (Actually a discarded toile which had in turn been made from an old bedsheet - serious recycling!)

The facing sewn on and trimmed to shape

Turned to the wrong side and sewn down

The right side (with bonus mystery stain on the chair)

And here is the completed chair.

Lacking decorative detail, but clean

And well-padded - result!

The underside does need a little work to tidy it up, but I'm very pleased with result. Plus, there's just enough of the remnant left to re-cover an old pouffe to match, which is now my next project.