Baby Alpaca Cardigan

I've been making this for nine months, I should be wearing this 24/7 and I am not. I've worn it twice in two weeks... I don't know if it's worth it at all, but I had a nice time knitting it, so, what the heck!

I bought this baby alpaca wool in Wool and the Gang, in one of their great 50% windows, with free shipping on top. So the price was more than fair for this quality yarn. 
I followed Ann Budd's Top-Down Sweaters book to make it, in a pattern I came up with: knit 5, purl 1. This gives some vertical lines that are only visible on the wrong side, or if the right side is stretched. I made it with cabled needles, so it does not have sewn seams anywhere, and that is so nice. 

I made a 1x1 rib strip for the front opening, with buttonholes and big beautiful buttons I bought in the Barcelona Knitting festival past November 17th, where I also bought the yarn for my next project, which I have already begun.
Unfortunately, I made a miscalculation, the gauge turned up to be 6 instead of the 7 stitches the 1/4" that I had set my calculation for after the first test sample. So the jacket ended up being too big, and I realized that after steam blocking it!

I do not understand why I did not try it on properly before steaming it, or maybe I did and I don't remember, who knows... the fact is that I decided, after reading some advice regarding alpaca only, not to immerse it in water to block it. I read in several places that alpaca is very unstable when wet, prone to get bigger... I had just a had a nasty experience washing a superwash merino pullover and spending one week trying to reduce it back again to its knitted size. I managed to do it with much patience and patting, but I did not want to relive that... so I found this great video and others, saying that pin your piece down and steam your hot iron over it without touching, was the best way to block alpaca. When it dried off and I tried it on I realized it was more than a size too big. I then checked the gauge, and it was 6 rather than the intended 7. So I pinned the cardigan down, wrinkling it to be 10 cm smaller in circumference. I steamed and steamed, patting it down to shrink it, and I could do it! I also sewed a ribbon from shoulder ridge to shoulder ridge passing all the way through tha back of the neck, to contain the cardigan from stretching because of the weight. Alpaca is weighty, specially this big a cardigan.  

Another drawback was the fact the the cardigan left tons of little hairs on the clothes under it. I had to clean and clean them every time I wore it, plus cleaning itself too, hanging it in the wind, etc. It still leaves hairs, but I expect they will eventually stop.
All in all, a discreet success. Only time will say if it is a really useful piece of clothing. Cardigans have the advantage of being able to be worn open or close, depending on the temperature you are in, but they have the inconvenience of having to match not only the bottom, but the top under it as well... 
As I said before, I am now into the following knitting project, a tight merino/moire/silk pullover, which I am greatly enjoying. Also following Ann Budd's bible. 

See it in Ravelry

Long Flowery Viscose Dress

 I bought this viscose jersey in Porto last summer, in Feira Do Tecidos. I bought 3 metres thinking about the Sirocco jumpsuit I'd seen around, but finally I changed my mind and opted for a long dress. Jumpsuits can be an annoyance to go to the toilet and are tricky in terms of figure... I have an inverted waist, so I chickened out. And I am glad I did, because this has resulted a wonderful long dress. 

I used an old patten from BurdaStyle magazine (best fitting patterns EVER) I had used in two previous occasions for shorter dresses... I've looked back in my blog, and they are not here, so they must be previous to my blogging. 

I planned to use the wrap bodice for the Sirocco jumpsuit and then some jersey darted pants, so I stuck to the bodice and sleeves from Burda, and used its skirt too, but making it long to my feet and A shaped, as much as the fabric permitted. 

I also added some ease at the top of the skirt, and the gathered it a little bit. The pattern had fitting darts in the back, so I gathered that extra fabric too. 

I added some belt, knotted at the back, put some elastic thread along the neck opening to prevent it from gathering.

The result is a stunning dress, comfortable, wearable, classy, cool... I love it. I wore it to work in my school and also for Sunday activities, like the Barcelona Knit Festival, where I bought some gorgeous wool your hear soon enough about. 

Green Linen Orla Dress

Big thanks to French Navy for the Orla Dress free PDF pattern!
I've been looking for this kind of casual, comfortable and yet shaped dress, and after some failure, I have finally found the one. 

Similar to the Hinterland dress, but more fitted to the waist, the Orla dress has the perfect amount of gathering at the waist, the perfect waist height and skirt length, at least of my body type and taste. 

I made one small modification: giving a little more ease in the bodice sides, maybe a couple of centimetres in total, and a big one: cutting it at the centre front, and adding a button stand for buttons and buttonholes, to imitate the boho air of the before mentioned Hinterland dress. 
The only thing I don't like about this pattern, and it is not a minor one, is the sleeves. They have too much ease at the cap, and it was impossible to smooth all that into the seam, specially in this thick linen, so I had no other option but pinching it. The angle of the sleeves, how they hang, is totally off. Luckily, linen is so wrinkly. that both pinching and of angles are covered. 

These pictures were made in bad conditions, my tripod missed the piece holding my phone, and they all suffer the barrel effect, I look slightly wider than in real life. Also, I took them after working all day at my school with it, but that is natural! Anyways, the feeling I have wearing the dress (I can't see the back of my sleeves, haha...) is far better than these pictures. 
I totally love it, specially in this wonderful green linen I bought in Coimbra this past summer.

Red Japanese Cotton Menorca Dress

I finally got to take pictures of this wonderful summer make. I made it in less than a week for our trip to Portugal in July, as I listened to the wonderful Where the Crawdads Sing. 

This is the third rendition of a rubbed off pattern I made two summers ago and again last summer. Now I realize I am kind of in love with it. 

I could not say which of the three I prefer, since the three of them are made with lustrous cottons, they are fresh, comfortable, becoming to my figure... perfect. 

This one travelled for 18 days all pressed up in a bag in a cross country trip. I wore it in two or three occasions, folded again and put it back in the bag. When I got home, I took it out, gave it a little shake, wore it again, and it was perfect! 

That is how nice this Japanese cotton is! I bought it, only 1 m is enough for this pattern, in Goldhawk road, in London. There was a small shop with several Japanese cotton at good prices. They are worth the last penny. 

In the Folds Playsuit

Peppermint Magazine has some free patterns and this is one of my favourites. It is a short jumpsuit, lovely labelled "Playsuit", and the name honours the design, for sure! 

It has a playful, young, relaxed look that inspired summer, travel, and all things lovely.

I used the printed linen I bought in Porto this summer (already sewing my stash, good girl!), which is perfect for the make in terms of drape, hang, texture and pattern. 

I just downloaded the pattern, put it together, took the seam allowance off, and cut the fabric with it. 

This design has such a relaxed fit, that I did not even use with tailor tucks, I just cut 2cm seam allowance all around, just enough to make self-encased seams. 

It resulted perfect at the first fitting, so it was a perfect pattern for me. I only altered the shoulder straps, which were too long. One cannot as anything else to a pattern, to be sure!
Thank you!

 

Fabric Shopping in London: september 2019

The excuse to visit one of my favourite cities was a concert. Coffins, from Japan, were playing in London, they never come to Catalonia, where I live, and we had never seen them before. We love visiting London from time to time, and I needed some fabric for next season sewing projects. Sadly, I cannot find good quality fabrics in my area. There is shops in Lleida and Barcelona, the nearest cities, but they are mostly polyester fabrics, and I do not do polyester. 
So, London. I had been shopping here before. I know Goldhawk road and Walthamstow market, which are lovely if you have plenty of time and not prefixed ideas of what you want. But I had only one day and a very specific list, so I targeted the best shops in London (for my budget and taste).
We woke up saturday morning in our small studio in Soho. My boyfriend was to come along to carry the backpack and patiently give me advice when need it. He has very good taste and sometimes I even follow it, ha ha..
Thanks to glorious Google Maps, we moved around London as natives (+looking at my phone screen half of the time!). So, first of all, we took bus 38 and went to Islington to pay a visit to Ray Stitch. 
In my opinion, the best fabric shop in London (for my taste). It has a little of everything and all is selected with great care and taste. Excellent denims, organic jerseys, Japanesse cottons, woven cottons, excellent wools... I bought 4 fabrics and spent 80 pounds there. Before I left, we walked to Sew Over It, only because it was nearby. I do not fancy the fabrics they've got (too much polyester for my taste), but I bought a couple of patterns. 

Next, we took an overground and made a beautiful trip to The Village Haberdashery in West Hampstead. I love the C. Pauli cotton jerseys they have there, but I found the shop was not very well stocked. It has got the same fabrics it had when I visited it 3 years ago, nothing new (booooring). They had run out of organic black interlock (whaaaaaaaaaaat?????!) and did not even know it. So, I was a little bit disappointed, although I bought 2 gorgeous fabrics.

Then we took the underground to go back to Soho to have lunch in our studio. After one hour, we went to Liberty to drool over the spectacular designer clothes. I fancied some Missoni pants, but they were 3000 pounds, and I did not carry change, haha...

Then we spent one hour trying to decide about what fabric I bought (typical in Liberty). I was tempted to buy some silk for a blouse, but it was 80 pounds and I was starting to feel guilty. So I bought some cotton and we left. 

MacCulloch and Wallis has an excellent website, but the shop is chaotic. I do not like how they have the fabric exposed... or maybe we were starting to feel tired... but some of the products they have on their site are not there anymore... and it is really difficult to get inspired by hanging swaps and mountains of fabric rolls, that you can only see the tip of... I wanted some nappa leather, but they did not have light brown... and now I regret not buying some other colour, since that is lovely. I finally bought some twill for my saint of a boyfriend. 
We visited The Cloth House, and I could not buy anything in spite of loving all their fabrics. I could not find organic jersey, though.
Finally, we visited Broadwick Silks, but they were also out of red or blue silk jersey (apparently, their website is not up to date neither!), so... saving more money there! 
Well, I had a glorious day fabric shopping in London. It is a great excuse to move around the city, which looked great with its parks, trees, gardens, gorgeous houses, interesting people, pubs, shops.. I love London and its culture. 

Clock wise: Naomi Ito Cotton (Ray Stitch), Liberty Tara Lawn, organic purple sweatshirt (The V. Haberdashery), organic ribbed jersey (Ray Stitch), khaki twill (MacCullock and Wallis),  red gingham and black stretch denim (Ray Stitch), Lady MacElroy Checked Wool (The V. Haberdashery).

Wrap Black Linen Dress

I am super happy with my new creation!
I got this black linen fabric (awesome drape and softness, 12 Euros the metre in Coimbra) and I got an instant inspiration just when we got back home from Portugal.

 I saw this Bellbird dress and I thought it was just a perfect match. Of course I was not going to pay 20 dollars for a pdf pattern, so I started to think how I could copy it. (I am a pirate sewist, shoot me).

That night, I went to sleep and then I had another inspiration. I had this robe pattern, which I had rendered three times, in woven and jersey fabrics, because it was perfect. I had just the perfect amount of fabric, so I went ahead with the project.

First of all I removed (simply folding it) the folded neck band. I cut the fabric with 2 cm seam allowance all around, giving some more flare to the skirt sides (the fabric did not allow much, but it resulted enough at the end). I also cut some pockets, to be inserted at the seams, and a long 4 cm wide belt that was several pieces assembled, since fabric was sparse. 
It was a fast project to make, a wonderful fabric to work with. It was perfect at the first fitting, and I wore it happily to work. 

Linen wrinkles like crazy, and I think this design is very forgiving, it even goes well with them.
I love it!

Red Recycled Nylon Bikini!

Well, I needed a bikini.
Since I make all my clothes (but bras, socks and stockings), I had a project. 
First thing was to get the fabric, and it was middle July, all my bikinis seemed to have started dying (I.E. Stretching themselves out of control), and I had to swim + get hold of by flying away bikini to keep it on. I tried to think up a way to make a bikini with natural fibers, which I always use, but even a crocheted bikini requires some elastic in the yarn, so to get the proper needed stretch, I had to go plastic. Then I was tipped about recycled fabric at Thefoldline FB group, and found Carvico's Recycled Vita fabric and Funki Fabrics, where they sold it. I bought 2x 0,5 m for a total of 32 Euros... The fabric is absolutely gorgeous... if it gets to be the durable they promise, it is a gem.

I used the free Acacia underpants pattern, with I love love love!
...and for the top part, I rubbed an old bikini off. I had to make two pieces of each to get it almost right. Bottom is perfect. I used organic thin cotton jersey for the inside gusset, but I did not line the rest, this fabric is thick enough to be discreet when is wet.
I had to repeat the bra because it was small and it squashed my boobs... and that was because the old bikini was veeery stretchy, but this new fabric was tighter. Then it was OK, but the elastic band I'd stitched along the V neck was too tight at at a -25%  rate. So I had to replace it by a -10% new band. 

Now it is almost OK... the only problem being that it either feels to tight at the neck tie or the elasticated V seams turn outwards (damn!), probably because I stretched a bit the fabric when attaching the elastic band with the machine. 
It is perfect when I swim, though... so I can forgive it not being 100% perfect.
Next one is going to be.

Fabric Shopping in Porto and Coimbra

 I am back from my road trip around the north part of Portugal. I love Portugal!!! Food is great, people are kind and calm, landscape is gorgeous, wine is delightful, weather in the summer is great... we could relax and simply enjoy our part of the summer there. We visited different places and towns, and we went fabric shopping in Porto and Coimbra.
In Porto I visited two fabric shops:

• Feria do Tecidos: cheap, too much polyester to my taste, but they have nice patterned viscose, both woven and jersey. A few silks and linens... I bought a flowery jersey viscose and some blue linen to make a play suit.
• Avenida 7: couture fabrics, wool and silk mainly. Expensive. I did not buy even a remnant.

In Coimbra there are more interesting shops:

• Coelho: small shop with nice fabrics, there is also a refined version I could not enter... the two sellers never offered me to enter that part, my touristy informal wear might have seemed not to prone on lace and silk. They lied when showing me the "natural fibers" I always ask for and thus lost my trust. They had a nice woven viscose at 12.00 E I did not buy. 
• I found then Tecidos de Coimbra. That was a shop worth a visit, yes sir! A very kind and knowing seller showed all the natural fiber they had in shop, they were grouped here and there: woven cottons, jersey cottons, corduroy, silk, linen, wool, denim... I spent 69 E in two linens (wait till you see my green one in a dress!), two corduroy pants amount of corduroy, and some thick cotton twill to make myself some rocker shorts. 

I am very happy with my fabrics. I was washing them and drying them in two days, and started making a linen dress right away, I have plans for all of them. In fact, I only bought items from my Keep list, to make pieces of clothing I already have designed in my mind.

I will go to London in one month, I can't hardly wait. 

Stripped Organic Jersey

This is another practical make. 
I bought this organic c. Pauli interlock in The Village Haberdashery. 


Check boyfriend's finger. He is a loose photographer!


I used my Universal T-shirt pattern for the trillionth time. 

Only thing to remark here is the neck, which I have made following Tilly & the Buttons instructions for the Agnes T-Shirt. I think it is a perfect method for jersey sporty neckbands. 
I am gonna wear this a lot. 

 Excuse my hair and appearance in general. It is Obscene Extreme Festival in the morning.