More adventures in knitting

I have started a new knitting project.

New pattern!

If the yarn looks familiar, that's because it's the leftovers from my blue Wondrella - out of an abundance of caution I had bought far too much. My original plan was to use it up on this project, but then I decided that it was time to work with some better quality wool. This was duly swatched but, when I came to cast on, I had a crisis of confidence about my ability to do it justice. So, I reverted to plan A.

The pattern is Confidette byTasha of Tasha Could Make That. Like Wondrella, it's a design which I could happily have in several colourways, so that pure merino will get used at some point - once I know what I’m doing.

Confidette is a top-down knit, which is perfect for someone like me who has to shorten the torso of any sewing or knitting pattern. It came out some time before Wondrella, but I was put off by the fact that it uses short rows to shape the shoulders. Fortunately, Tasha has recently added an excellent video on short row shaping to her YouTube channel (you can watch it here), and once I watched that, I discovered that it was less scary than I had imagined.

Even so, I still managed to end up with an extra stitch somewhere on my first attempt, and had to frog the whole thing. Possibly trying a new technique late at night wasn't the best idea! A second attempt the next morning went far better. I'm fascinated by the shaping it produces, and the fact that it's barely visible. (One of the things which I'm loving about knitting is that it's all new to me. Sewing is my first love, and always will be my 'thing', but there's no denying that having made my own clothes for over 40 years, I'm fairly familiar with most of what's involved.)

The curved edge is like magic to me

I bought a paler blue for the contrast edging, but it will be some time before I need it.

Even more blue

So for now, it's on with knitting the back.

Normal service will be resumed . . . soon

Warning: contains references to bereavement.

No sewing, knitting, or otherwise creating this week, I just haven't been in the mood. Today, 19 May, would have been our twentieth wedding anniversary.

Obviously, it technically still is my wedding anniversary in that 20 years ago today I said "Si" to a stream of incomprehensible Italian (we had been provided with a translation of the vows beforehand and A, who spoke Italian, had confirmed that it was accurate!) in a fifteenth century palazzo on the Grand Canal in Venice. But a wedding anniversary really requires two people.

I'm very lucky to have a comfortable life and supportive friends but still it's been a difficult 15 months, with a lot of dates that I would far rather weren't significant. Ten years since the first symptoms, the diagnosis, A's death, the funeral. Today is, thankfully, the last of the big, round-number, anniversaries.

And so, we carry on.

Old and new

I'm combining a new-to-me method with some tried and trusted favourites.

My big worktable on which I do my cutting out is temporarily out of commission, so I'm having to use my dining table instead. Obviously, this gets used for lots of things, and if I want to do any cutting out, I have to clear it first. So to minimise the time spent clearing things off and putting things back, I have decided to try batch cutting. The intention is to cut out the pieces for three separate dresses at once, and then sew them.

My starting point

I know that lots of people do this, possibly for the reason for which I'm giving it a go, but I have never tried it before. Given my fondness for squirrel projects, I have always been worried that I will end up with multiple cut-out but unsewn projects lying around. So I will have to be disciplined for once, and actually do the projects I have planned!

To improve the (limited) chances of this actually happening, I am sticking with patterns which I have used before and which I therefore know I can make reasonably easily and quickly. Like the Grace dress, the existing versions are all in heavy rotation in my wardrobe.

First up, Simplicity 4463. I have found that I greatly prefer this, with its simpler skirt, to its reissue version 1777.

The original illustration

It's very much a winter dress however, made in a thick, slightly fluffy, cotton. I decided that I want a summer version as well, and I am going to use a cotton lawn which has been in my stash for a while. I originally had other plans for it, but decided that it would be perfect for this project. As a slight change, I am going to make view 1, albeit all in the same fabric.

The original plan

Butterick 2535 is another easy-to-wear 1940s dress which gets a lot of use. (My taste seems to be moving away from full-skirted dresses, and I don't think that it's just because of all the ironing involved!)

I haven't decided on sleeves, yet

For this I'm using a cotton print which is, gasp, not blue! I rarely wear brown, so I'm not entirely sure how this will turn out, but I do need to try other colours occasionally.

Another fabric bought because I liked the print

Finally, Style 1271. I don't feel that view C of this has really worked. I don't know exactly what the problem is, but it just feels frumpy. It has been put aside while I consider how to tweak it. View B, however, always gets compliments when I wear it.

My versions of B and C turned out very differently

I wasn't really planning to make another one of these, but then I spotted this remnant, which I thought would be perfect. The stripes are across the fabric, but I will cut it out with the stripes running lengthwise.

Jaunty!

It's going to be a challenge to cut out, as there isn’t a lot of fabric. At least that has limited the damage to the Stashometer.

It was going quite well!

I must admit that even I am dubious about how well batch cutting will work for me, but here goes!

A new 'Grace'

Some things are slow burners.

Exactly five years ago next week I finished making a Wardrobe By Me Grace dress. As I wrote at the time, I wasn't totally enamoured of the end result. It was nowhere near Dress of Frump standard (my benchmark/nadir for dressmaking failures), but it certainly wasn't my new favourite dress, either.

To be fair, I did describe it at the time as a "good basic dress", and over time it has become one of my go-to dresses. The drawstring waist means that it's always comfortable - and a doddle to iron, as well. It always looks smart, and can be dressed up or down. And it has pockets. In short, it's had a lot of wear over five years, and while it still looks perfectly presentable, I decided that it was time to make another one.

I suspect that part of the design's allure is its late-1970s vibe. The band collar, shoulder yoke, and lack of darts or waist fitting - these are all details regularly found on my beloved 1979 Style patterns. So when, while documenting some more of the Stash Shop, I found a length of cotton which I had bought simply because the print was so utterly 1970s . . . well, it was clearly a match made in heaven.

1970s details, meet 1970s fabric

Happily, I had just the right amount.

The layout did take careful planning

There isn't a lot to write about the construction, except to say that I was glad that I'd noted the first time that all the work is in the bodice, as it seemed to take forever to complete. I reinforced the pocket edges again, this time using selvedge from the fabric. I also lengthened the skirt back at the centre, which made it easier to get the hem level.

One thing I really like about this pattern is that it has proper sleeves with cuffs, a detail which is vanishing rare these days. To my delight and astonishment, I found the perfect buttons in my button tin.

Right colour, size and number - it's a miracle!

And here is the finished dress. I was a little concerned that the cotton poplin might hang more stiffly than the viscose I used previously, but it is fine.

With pockets!

One thing which has changed since I last made this dress is that I now take seated photographs. So here is Grace, seated.

#SewnShownSeated

I may have had my doubts about my first Grace, but I have none about this one; it is undoubtedly going to join its predecessor in the 'heavy rotation' category in my wardrobe. Plus, it's a few more metres out of the stash.

Another 3.5m gone