Crochet: Amazing Technicolour Dream Shawl

This is the blog post that didn't want to be written. Don't ask me why - I love the shawl that I have to show you today, and I enjoyed making it, so it's not down to any lack of enthusiasm. It's been finished for over a month, and I've had the photos ready to go for more than a fortnight, but for some reason whenever I sat down to talk to you about it I wasn't sure what to say. Writer's block is a bit of a melodramatic term to use for this little blog of mine, but that's what it felt like. Has anyone else had that problem?

Anyway, I decided that I needed to just get on and write something, so here's my amazing technicolour dream shawl...

The pattern is the Flower Mosaic shawl which appeared in issue 64 of Inside Crochet. I saw it on the cover when I was browsing the craft/sewing magazines, and instantly loved the riot of colour. I didn't have a crochet project on the go at the time, so I ordered the yarn and got started.

The shawl started off life back in April as this pile of balls of Scheepjeswol Cotton 8. The original pattern uses more colours, but there were some in there that I wasn't so keen on so I decided to limit it to 12. That's the minimum number that the pattern recommends, and I'd agree with that - you wouldn't want to have less than this if you want to not have 2 flowers of the same colour too close together. For reference, the colours I used were turquoise, light blue/green, fuchsia, purple, pink, white, grey/blue, cobalt, petrol, canary, orange and red.

The shawl is made up of 1,035 little flowers, which are joined together as you go. Joining as you go is definitely the best way for me to make projects made up of lots of individual motifs - I have a pile of various crochet squares that were destined to become a blanket which are testament to the fact that I get bored of projects that are going to involve lots of seaming at the end!

1,035 seemed like quite a daunting number at the start of the project, but it was surprising how quickly the shawl grew. I mainly worked on it in my lunch breaks, so lots of fairly small chunks of time, which were perfect for this because it was easy to pick up and put down and each flower was finished pretty quickly.

I had a self-imposed rule that I had to weave in the ends from each day's flowers before I could start doing more flowers the next day, because if I'd finished crocheting and then had to weave in 2,070 ends then the shawl would have been left neglected in a corner with the offending ends staring at me in an accusatory manner whilst refusing to weave themselves in.

I had to go up from a 3mm hook to a 4mm one to get the gauge used in the pattern, but I think my gauge might have decreased as the project went on because my finished shawl is still smaller than the dimensions stated. That's no surprise though - I obviously take all my stress out on crochet and make it super tight. When I did my crochet course, everything I made turned out smaller than it did for everyone else in the class! Hey well, better to transfer the stress to the crochet than having it fester inside of me!

I just have one problem with this project - I need to work out how to wear shawls more elegantly! Whenever I put it on, it just looks a bit of a mess. I need get better at that though, because I seem to be drawn to shawl patterns much more than scarves for both knitting and crochet. Has anyone got any tips for me?

Made Up Initiative: shirt dress refashion

I'm sure that by now most of you will have heard of the Made Up Initiative launched by Karen of Did You Make That, and that your blog readers and social media feeds are filling up with completed challenges. Are you taking part? Here's my contribution!

I'm always happy to get behind a good cause like the National Literacy Trust, even more so if supporting it also involves some sewing community fun. As I was going to be away for part of the fundraising month, I didn't want to set myself too big a challenge and instead pledged to tackle a project that I knew I wanted to do, but otherwise might have been pushed aside - refashioning a denim shirt dress that I picked up in a charity shop. Here are the before and after photos...

I feel slightly like I've done what magazines always do when they're doing makeovers - the before shot was taken in a rush on a gloomy day, whereas the after were taken in lovely sun and with pretty accessories. This wasn't intentional though, and was more due to the fact that I needed to take the before photos so I could get on with the actual refashioning so didn't have the luxury of waiting for better lighting.

As I said, the dress came from a charity shop and cost me the princely sum of £3. I knew when I bought it that it would need some alteration because it was 3 sizes too big for me, but the denim was so gorgeously soft that I thought it would be worth the work.

It seemed like a good candidate for my Made Up pledge because I always have good intentions when it comes to refashioning, but tend to get distracted by new patterns or fabric and the refashioning gets neglected and forgotten about. This would give me the incentive to actually get it done!

Here's a brief summary of the changes I made:

- Added 1 inch tucks at each of the 4 waist darts
- Removed the arms
- Took in the side seams of the bodice
- Trimmed away excess fabric from the shoulder, tapering to nothing towards the underarm
- Finished the armholes with bias binding
- Chopped 3 inches off the bottom and re-hemmed the dress
- Replaced the dark metal buttons with rainbow beauties (these ones!)
- Added backwards buttons at the waist to prevent gaping

I'll admit that this was largely done based on guesswork! The tucks at the waist were inspired by the ones on the Sew Over It Vintage Shirt Dress; I really like the shape that they give (my version's here), and I thought that doing something similar would be a good and, more importantly, easy way of taking the excess width out of the waist. I basted them first just to check I wasn't being completely insane, and thankfully for me it worked brilliantly.

The sleeves/shoulders definitely needed work, and I decided that the easiest thing would be just to get rid of the sleeves entirely. Plus that gives me the option of wearing it on its own in the summer or layering it with t-shirts pinafore-style when it's colder.

I judged how much to take out of the side seam by putting the dress on inside out and pinning where I wanted the stitching to be on one side and then mirroring that over on the other side. Possibly not the most scientific way of doing it but it worked!

Sewing all the new buttons on was probably the most time-consuming part of the whole process but I'm glad that I did it. There wasn't anything wrong with the original buttons, but with them and the denim both being quite dark it wasn't exactly an exciting combination. The rainbow buttons are much more fun! They're refusing to be photographed close-up, but hopefully you can see them a bit in the photo above.

All in all, I'm glad I chose this as my Made Up pledge so that I had the incentive to actually get on and sort out the dress. It feels lovely to wear, and I have a sneaky suspicion that it'll become a real favourite in my wardrobe. Maybe I should take that as encouragement to get some more refashioning done!

Butterick 6217 Blouse & Veronika Skirt

Today you get the second (and final) installment of blog-photos-that-I-took-on-holiday, which sees me twirling around the picturesque surroundings of Alnwick Garden showing off a Butterick 6217 blouse and a denim Veronika skirt.

I got some funny looks when we were taking these photos - you could see people wondering why we were focussing on me instead of all the pretty plants and landscaping - but I've got to the point now where I don't mind as long as the onlookers aren't the kind of people who are going to start shouting comments at me. The average garden visitor tends towards the more decorous end of the scale so I was safe here!

Anyway, back to the sewing itself...

Butterick 6217 is one of the Patterns by Gertie line, and it instantly appealed to me when it was released because I liked the shape of the neckline. I then realised it needs very little fabric, especially if you make view C as I did here, so it seemed like it would be a good way to use up some of the larger remnants I have from other projects. Regular readers may recognise the fabric I've used here as the leftovers from the Vintage Shirt Dress that I made earlier this year.

I made this a couple of weeks ago now, so some of the details of sewing it are a little hazy in my mind, but I know it was a quick project and I didn't make any notes in the notebook I keep by my machine so I assume it was all relatively straightforward and pain-free!

I really like the shape of the blouse, although it's worth noting that to get the fit shown on the pattern envelope you'd definitely need to size down. My measurements put me ever-so-slightly above a 16, but when I made a toile of the 16 it was bordering on tent-like. I sized down to a 14, which fits nicely but I still feel like my version has more ease than shown on the envelope.

The photo above is meant to show the nice shape created by the darts in the back before I tucked the blouse in for the day, but in reality I just think it makes my back look odd!

Now, on to the skirt! This is my second version of Megan Nielsen's free Veronika pattern (version 1 here), and I can tell already that this one is going to get worn a LOT! I don't wear trousers really so denim skirts do the job for me that jeans do for most people, but this one will be a particular favourite because it has the practical goes-with-everything side, but at the same time is also beautifully twirly and fun!

The fabric is a lightweight denim that I got a couple of months ago from The Splendid Stitch. It doesn't seem to be in stock anymore, which is a shame because it's the perfect denim for this kind of skirt. I'd definitely recommend ordering from The Splendid Stitch though - Amy has put together a gorgeous range of fabrics, and dispatched both my samples and fabric order really quickly.

I don't think you'd want to make a circle skirt in any old denim. I know I've worked with some which would be far too stiff and heavy, but this one really is a different kettle of fish. I did cut the inner waistband and pocket linings from a thinner cotton just to keep down bulk, but for the rest the denim has great drape and the finished skirt is gloriously swishy as I walk in it. The only problem is it makes me want to twirl about excessively, which is probably annoying to those around me!

For this version of Veronika, I stuck with the narrow waistband but also added on the scalloped pockets too - they're lovely deep pockets and have proven quite useful when trying to hold down the skirt on breezy days! I also added my own simple belt loops on the waistband, because I knew I'd want to wear belts quite a bit with this skirt.

In case it's not already obvious, I'm really pleased with how these both turned out! I'll definitely make more versions of B6217 as I identify suitable candidates in my stash, and I know this version of the Veronika skirt will become a bit of a wardrobe workhorse. In fact Veronika may fast be becoming a TNT and at some point in the not-too-distant future I'd really like to try a knit version. Have you discovered any TNTs recently?

New Look 6723

How are you all today? I'm feeling nice and rested still after spending last week on holiday up in Northumberland with my family. Obviously I had to make a couple of new things to take with me, which means that I can treat you to some different photo backdrops for my next couple of posts, starting with this version of New Look 6723...

It's a pretty pattern with a princess seamed bodice, full skirt and a sweetheart or higher neckline, and sleeveless, short sleeve or three-quarter sleeved options. Oh, and a lined bodice - which is definitely my favourite finish.

I bought the pattern partly because I decided that I'd like a couple of dresses with slightly lower necklines. As is probably evident by now, I love my Emery dresses but their one downside is that I can't wear my necklaces (nothing posh, just pretty!) with them. So I was definitely going to try the sweetheart version of New Look 6723 first, and it's summer so sleeveless seemed like a good option.

The fabric is Gütermann Long Island Rose. I got it from Weaver Dee when they had it half price, but they don't seem to have it in stock anymore.

It surprised me a little when it arrived - I was expecting the print to be smaller scale and the background to be navy, whereas it's definitely a grey-blue and in some lights looks much more grey than blue. It's a lovely quality cotton though, and the more I looked at it the more I thought that it was probably actually nicer than what I thought I was buying. Surprises are good when they're nice surprises!

I made a couple of changes to the pattern. Firstly, the sweetheart bodice has a centre front seam, which I assume is to make it easier to get a nice point on the sweetheart shape. I didn't really want a seam there breaking up the fairly large-scale print though, so I chose to cut the bodice on the fold instead. I reinforced the stitching at the centre point, and cut as far down into the seam allowance towards the point as I dared, and that's produced a perfectly good shape as far as I'm concerned.

I also added pockets as I'm fairly prone to hay fever-type sneezing fits so it's always good to have somewhere to put a tissue! I just stole the pattern pieces from the Emery dress - nice and simple. I know some people don't understand the fascination with pockets, but I definitely find that I miss them when they're not there.

The pattern uses a lapped zip, but I had an invisible zip ready to use so I went with that option instead. That meant that I had to do a couple of the other steps slightly differently, but that mainly affects the finish on the lining not the actual dress itself.

When it came to picking a size, I tried out my theory I mentioned in my post about my last dress of sizing down in the shoulders to avoid underarm gaping. I made a size 14 at the shoulders, grading out to a size 16 from the bust downwards and it worked a treat - no underarm gaping in sight!

Other than that, I just needed to make my standard adjustment of adding length to the bodice (although only 1.5 cm, so less than usual).

I like this dress a lot more than I was expecting to when the fabric arrived. It's really pretty, but I think the grey in the background dilutes the sweetness of it a bit so stops it from being too girly and twee. I love the shape as well - so much so that I'm thinking of cutting into some prized Liberty lawn for another 6723. What do you think, should I do it?!

Sew Over It cowl neck top & simple skirt refashion

Today's post brings you the excitement of two finished projects for the price of one - a Sew Over It cowl neck top and a simple refashioned skirt, which go quite nicely together even if I do say so myself.

This outfit has been brewing in my head since I found this skirt in a local charity shop a couple of months ago...

I loved the butterfly print and the fabric is beautifully silky soft (it's 100% cupro), but it was too small for me. The skirt had generous pleats though, and was pretty long, so I knew there was enough fabric there to make it work for me and that it was worth the £5 price tag.

It came home with me, where I hung it on one of the hooks on my living room wall so I could ponder what exactly to do with it. Unfortunately it looked quite pretty and colourful hung on the wall so I started subconsciously treating it as some odd form of art instead of a project that needed attention. Really, that was a waste though so I decided to make a top to wear with it, that I wasn't allowed to wear until I could wear it with the skirt. I like these strange little self-imposed challenges!

So this is the top that motivated me to attack the skirt...

I actually bought the fabric (it's a viscose jersey from Guthrie & Ghani) with the intention of making an Agnes top, but when it arrived it was so lovely and drapey that I thought it might be better suited to the Sew Over It cowl neck top instead - I'd bought the pattern on offer when it was released but hadn't got round to making it, so this seemed like a good opportunity to do that.

It was a nice simple project, and sewed up pretty quickly. I did ignore the instructions a bit though - they have you sew the shoulder and side seams of the top and then set in the sleeves, but I sewed the sleeves in flat and then sewed the sleeve and side seams in one, which just seemed easier to me.

If you're making this top, it's worth bearing in mind that it's a more loose fitting style than lots of knit tops. I made a size 12, which matches my measurements if I'm trying to flatter myself slightly rather than being completely honest, and there's still plenty of ease. I'm happy with the looser fit, but I think I could have gone down a size and still ended up with a top that fit me fine.

If I'm being picky, the PDF could be a bit better - it would be good if there were instructions about which pages you don't need to print if you're only making the top instead of the dress, and there are 6 blank pages that you don't need to print off at all. I can see why they're included in the PDF to make it easier to draft, but again there could be instructions about not printing them. Those are minor niggles though and don't affect the actual pattern at all.

They didn't really cloud my experience of making the top either, and I can definitely see myself making other versions at some point.

So, I had the top and now I needed to refashion the skirt!

I unpicked the waistband, and with all the pleats released there was masses of fabric to work with (I ended up chopping about 10 inches off the front and back at one side). I then washed the skirt fabric, left it quite wet and hung it up to dry by one of the side seams to encourage the pleats to fall out. Magically they did, and the fabric didn't really even need ironing before I got to work.

I decided to keep it simple and make a gathered, elastic waist skirt, and used this tutorial from Handmade Jane. As a bonus, I've also got side seam pockets in mine, mainly because the original skirt had pockets so I thought I might as well use them! The only other thing I needed to do was shorten the skirt - it was that horribly frumpy length favoured by older ladies, and I think the hem had been altered before because it was a bit uneven - so I took about 6 inches off, rehemmed it and that was it!

I'm glad I finally got round to cutting the skirt up and doing something with it - it's definitely better as something to wear than just something hanging on the wall to look at! It may have only been a simple project, but I really enjoyed hacking apart the skirt and making something new. It's inspired me to think of various possible projects for taking part in The Refashioners - is anyone else going to play along?