I enjoy trying out different crafts and learning new techniques and that includes making my own clothes, although I am really slow at it! I recently finished knitting a cardigan (which I have been making on and off since last August) and last year I made a jersey dress.
The cardigan I made was knitted using Drops Design pattern 164-13 'Green Forest Cardigan'. They have a huge collection of patterns, which are all free too! I used Sirdar's 'Sublime extra fine merino wool DK' yarn which wasn't the recommended yarn but it seemed to work well. I don't usually like yarn with wool content, but this yarn is so lovely and soft to knit with and wear.
The cardigan is knitted with circular needles and double ended pins for the sleeves (the first time I have used either of these). Once the sleeves are knitted you join them into the body piece on the circular needles - so there are no seams and I think this makes for a really neat finish. I also really like the decorative pattern on the sleeves and around the bottom. There's no rib around the body though, so I find that it does tend to curl up!
I was a bit experimental with the buttons, using an assortment from my collection. However, I think I may need to change some, as although I like the look of them, they are not quite the right size for the button holes.
This dress was made from the tea dress pattern in The Great British Sewing Bee Book.
I made mine in a stretch jersey. I had never sewn with stretch fabric before so chose a cheap, plain, sea green fabric as a test - I intend to make another dress in a more interesting fabric (possibly something from my Spoonflower shop). The stretch fabric was a little tricky to sew, but not too bad. I tried sewing the fabric with tissue paper to help stabilise it. I also found tips from Tilly and The Buttons to be very helpful.
To make it more fitted, I also made a simple belt using a long strip of fabric, to tie at my waist. I added these cute little flower buttons to the shoulder seams too...
With the Great British Sewing Bee having recently returned for a new series I'm feeling inspired to start my next project - I just need to decide what that will be!
Do you love sewing and knitting too? What are you making at the moment?
The cardigan I made was knitted using Drops Design pattern 164-13 'Green Forest Cardigan'. They have a huge collection of patterns, which are all free too! I used Sirdar's 'Sublime extra fine merino wool DK' yarn which wasn't the recommended yarn but it seemed to work well. I don't usually like yarn with wool content, but this yarn is so lovely and soft to knit with and wear.
The cardigan is knitted with circular needles and double ended pins for the sleeves (the first time I have used either of these). Once the sleeves are knitted you join them into the body piece on the circular needles - so there are no seams and I think this makes for a really neat finish. I also really like the decorative pattern on the sleeves and around the bottom. There's no rib around the body though, so I find that it does tend to curl up!
I was a bit experimental with the buttons, using an assortment from my collection. However, I think I may need to change some, as although I like the look of them, they are not quite the right size for the button holes.
This dress was made from the tea dress pattern in The Great British Sewing Bee Book.
I made mine in a stretch jersey. I had never sewn with stretch fabric before so chose a cheap, plain, sea green fabric as a test - I intend to make another dress in a more interesting fabric (possibly something from my Spoonflower shop). The stretch fabric was a little tricky to sew, but not too bad. I tried sewing the fabric with tissue paper to help stabilise it. I also found tips from Tilly and The Buttons to be very helpful.
To make it more fitted, I also made a simple belt using a long strip of fabric, to tie at my waist. I added these cute little flower buttons to the shoulder seams too...
With the Great British Sewing Bee having recently returned for a new series I'm feeling inspired to start my next project - I just need to decide what that will be!
Do you love sewing and knitting too? What are you making at the moment?
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