0 Brennan Cardigan and Vintage Skirt

This post is a two-for-one deal!

I made the skirt AND the cardigan.

The cardigan is the Brennan cardigan by Julia Trice and the skirt is a vintage skirt I've made before. I made it when I was just starting out sewing!

The skirt was a project that seemed simple and turned out to be... not.

I opted not to line it but I probably should have.  It needs a slip to stop it riding up. Also, I should have graded it up a size or two so it skims instead of clings!

After I made it up I realised it was quite clingy, so I let all the seams out a bit, which was a total pain!

I also made the mistake of getting my (ever-reluctant) husband to help level them hem WITHOUT wearing a slip. 
Which meant it rode up on my butt, which meant the level wasn't level at all.
So then I had to re-level it! This time wearing the slip.
I drafted a hem facing this time (I wanted to preserve as much length as possible, having chopped off too much initially!). Hem facings are a bit more effort, but it also means no pesky easing-in of hem excess. Yay!

Hand-picked zip strains open a bit, I think the skirt still wants more circumference.

It's funny that my previous version sits so much better.  I think that is due to the lining but also due to the navy crepe having more natural give to it. This wool also has a more grabby texture.

This skirt isn't my favourite but well, at least I finished the dang thing.

Bonus though, I can be part of A Stitching Odyssey's vintage pattern pledge!

Onto the cardigan:

I love the bobbles :)

I felt like this project would never end! After already knitting most of it once (out of a different yarn) and frogging it, it's no wonder. But I was okay with how long it took, I don't knit to speed through projects, I just enjoy it.

I'm not sure I'm convinced on the button band method, but I really wanted to try it as it was different to the usual method of picking up and knitting ribbing.
The button band is constructed as you knit the body, and is formed by a slipped stitch selvage which adds sturdiness and prevents curling.
One drawback of this method is that you have to knit the buttonholes as you go- yup, you better stay on top of counting your rows, eep!
It did kind of make it a pain to knit.

I think I like it best worn open.

Knitting the button band like that also means you can't just adjust the length on the fly like I like to do.  I adjusted the length to my preferences but it wasn't really worth the hassle- working out all the rows in the pattern was a pain.  Oops, I'm great at complicating matters...

Speaking of complicating matters, I decided to try out short-row bust darts. I know what you're thinking..."But your boobs aren't big enough to need bust darts in your knits!"
Well even though I don't have a large bust, I always find that my muslins for sewn garments tilt muuuuch lower in the back.  This is from my sway back I believe. I've also been told I have a tilted waist, though perhaps this the same thing as a sway back? 
Anyway, the point is, I need more length in the front than the back, regardless of the fact that I have a small bust. 
So I added short rows.

Also, I added a few extra decreases at the back, on the way from the hem to the waist, to account for the greater slope there.
And I'm really pleased with the results!

On previous knits, I always had a case of "back pooching". Or in the case of waist-length knits, it being longer in the back. 

Agatha: longer in the back

Peabody: pooching

Not today friends, not today.

Yeah, I'm sure it'll bunch up when I do things like move, but it's quite satisfying anyway.

More fiddly details: I hand-stitched ribbon on both fronts.

Sorry for the lack of guts photos in this post, I forgot to take 'em and I'm too tired to do it and add them in. Use your imagination? lol.

I've been trying to figure out my ideal length for a cardigan and I'm finding this slightly long, so I'll probably go 1.5" shorter for my next one.

The yarn I used is a superfine merino and that makes it very soft. I'm wondering if it's too soft! It feels lovely to wear but I'll be interested to see if it bags out over time.  If it tries anything funny, I'll think I'll stabilise it with crochet across the shoulders and down the side seams, as shown in this link. The fabric is actually slightly sheer so you can see dark colours underneath it. 

I just wore an old pink knit singlet (or "tank top"? to Americans), that I clearly need to replace with something much better. Like delicious silk. One day...

I like the idea of making this cardigan again. The bobbles are just so sweet.

Bonus pic: This is what I look like when my husband starts quoting Rick and Morty at me and making me laugh.

Detail: Brennan Cardigan and Vintage Skirt

0 Knit for Victory: My Victorious Cardigan

Alright dudes, BRACE yourselves, this is a full-on post!! While writing this post I realised I had a lot to say, and maybe it's only interesting to me, but I left the waffle in!

This is my completed Knit for Victory Cardigan! Knit for Victory is the 40's themed knitalong hosted by Tasha of By Gum by Golly.

This skirt, one of the first things I ever made... I need more skirts like this as I paired this with my Miette cardigan too. So unoriginal!!

When I first wrote about my plans, I had found a version of my pattern from both the 60s AND the 50s, and reasoned it looked very 40s, so I was sure there was a 40s version floating around. And I found it- completely by chance! I got this book out from the library over Christmas, and happened to find not only a version of the pattern from the 40s, but a picture of another modern knitter wearing her version. What an amazing coincidence!!

This vintage pattern was pretty sparse on the details (and I think most vintage patterns are). So I had to spend a while reading it and figuring out how it was constructed. I even drew my own half-baked schematics to figure out what was going on. So from the start I knew it would be a challenge.


I did a LOT of maths for this project:
-Figuring out decrease rates for arm and waist shaping

-Calculating the original pattern's ease

-Altering ALL my stitch counts to fit my different gauge and custom ease (I estimated how much ease I wanted by looking at previous knits I'd made, and also by pulling numbers out of thin air. lol).

-Spacing the buttonholes along the button band 

-and the biggest doozy of ALL- Creating my own custom sleeve cap shaping using lots of calcuations and even trigonometry! Yup, busting out the Pythagorean theorum is now what I do for a hobby apparently! That's nuts.
For this bit, I used Tasha's post on sleeve cap shaping, and this resource she linked to ended up being the main information I used. And, it took me forever. And, it was kind of fun actually.

Cackling "Victory is miiiine!"

I also changed the construction in many ways for this project:
-I changed the front from being knit in one piece with a faux buttonband, to being knit with an opening for a REAL buttonband. This meant picking up stitches and knitting the band once the body was done. I decided to go with a moss stitch button band to echo the texture of the seed stitch body.

-I knit the front and back as one piece, unlike the original pattern which had side seams.

-The original pattern has a seam under the bust connecting the ribbing and the bodice, meaning they are knit as two different pieces. I knit it all as one. This was a little tricky as I slowly transitioned the stitch pattern from ribbing to seed stitch, to mimic the diagonal shaping of the original pattern. As the ribbing was knit on smaller needles, I had two sets of circular needles in my work at once!

-I noted that the bodice piece was slightly gathered into the ribbing. As I wasn't sewing together two pieces, I decided to mimic that by placing increases under the bust in my transition zone. I did this very scientifically by holding it up to my body and eyeballing where I thought I should make those increases.

Boobie gathers!

-I lengthened the sleeves to full length.

-I added decreases to the ribbing from the high hip to the waist. The reason for this was that I have relatively large hips, and I didn't want it to be either too tight on the hips, or too loose at the waist. I realise ribbing is such that it expands and contracts to fit your shape, but that ability has limits.

I tested this up by holding the knitting (placed on scrap yarn) up to my waist after I'd cast on and knitted a bit of the bottom. It still looked a little loose at the waist so I feel like adding shaping was justified. In any case, it doesn't seem to have hurt the garment.

-I changed the shoulder shaping (originally done with bind-offs), to short rows, which meant I could seam the shoulders with a 3-needle bind-off (I know that sounds like gibberish to anyone who doesn't knit, but it's a good technique!). There are lots of tutorials floating around, like Tasha's or the free Craftsy class on short rows.

I know what you're thinking... that seems like a LOT of work, just for a knitting project! And yeah! It is! But I actually really enjoy stuffing around changing EVERYTHING. It's a challenge, and I love customising things for my tastes.
Here are my notes on Ravelry.

This was the first project I've done that involved lots of seaming! Even though I eliminated the side seams, I decided to do the sleeves vintage-style, and seam them. I can see why knitting sleeves in the round is so popular these days, but I definitely found pros and cons to seaming!

Pros
+stable: It adds sturdiness to the knitting, and could see how it might stop it stretching out with wear or in washing. I have heard that negative ease garments don't need seams so much, but I can see this being useful on the side seams of a drapey, positive-ease project.

+enjoyable: seaming is kinda zen like hand-stitching. I found it quite fun and satisfying, but I can see how the novelty could wear off, especially with multiple seams on a large garment!

+avoids knitting in the round: I'm not the greatest fan of knitting in the round in a small circumference, as I'm still pretty slow and clumsy, and I can get tension issues too… knitting sleeves in the flat was a nice change.

Cons
-time: yeah, it does take a while! I would love to compare which method was faster overall though, as I think the knitting portion of the sleeves went faster.

-fiddly factor: I found the sleeves pretty nice and neat, but seaming in the sleeve cap wasn't as smooth. Still, overall, I don't think you can go too wrong if you have a nice clear tutorial.


Wow, I sound like I'm almost a convert to seamed sleeves huh? It was nice to try out anyhow.

So, I think I see why they designed this as a fake cardigan- it looks much nicer buttoned up I reckon. Otherwise the gathers poof to the sides. Plus, my button band is a skosh wavy, but I was too lazy to sew ribbon behind it (it doesn't look that bad, right? Right??). I had an idea to try stabilising it on the back with crochet, but… it didn't work.

Open...

I quite like it half open though!

Funnily enough, after the gargantuan amount of effort I put into this, I don't think this is a super versatile piece, but I guess that wasn't the point. It was a good challenge, and I enjoyed knitting it. I think it'll go best with vintage-style skirts and dresses, so OBVIOUSLY I need to sew more of those!

If only I was as inspired about my sewing as I am about my knitting right now!!

In fact, I have the perfect fabric to pair with it, but it has stubbornly remained in fabric form rather than becoming a dress at this point.

By the way, the girdle action on the original models is quite stunning. My waist is gargantuan in comparison, haha!

This is me sucking in to get that vintage sihouette, lol!

"Ahhhh, as long as I don't breathe or move, this is working out great!'

In any case, I consider my Knit for Victory cardigan to be a victory! Thanks Tasha for hosting it, and I can't wait to see everyone else's vintage-style knitting projects! :)

Detail: Knit for Victory: My Victorious Cardigan

0 Vintage Simplicity 3831: The Meet-Up Dress

For our recent meet-up, the goal was to wear a new garment, made from something aquired from the meet-up before that!
I knew it would be a challenge as I'm a very slow sewer.
I definitely put a lot of pressure on myself to finish it on time.  I DID get there.... but I'm ambivalent about sewing deadlines.  They can cause stress (and this one did) but I have to admit, it got results!

Thanks to Kat for taking pics of me :)

This time I made something from a bed sheet that was actually quite wearable, unlike the really bad Pendrell.  (Ugh, now why would I link that fail?)  Bed sheets, you have redeemed yourselves.  However I don't know if I'll be lucky to find another one this lovely (I don't browse op shops much).  What a beautiful print!

The pattern was Vintage Simplicity 3831, given to me in the swap.

I was actually impressed by the instructions- quite clear, which I wasn't expecting!  The pattern only had holes for markings which was new.  I traced the bodice pattern pieces, and joined the dots, heh :)  I knew I didn't want to slash and hack the vintage pattern to bits so tracing was the way to go!

There was loads of hand stitching- the hem, the sleeve facings, the waist stay (which was new to me, eep!), a hand-picked zipper, and lots of hooks and eyes!!  (5 pairs in total- top of zipper, 2 on the waist stay, and 2 on the sash).
 

The waist stay.

The waist stay took forever, since I hand sewed it in.  Plus I didn't really know what I was doing, lol.  But I think it helps hold up the heavy gathered skirt.  Well, I hope it does after all that work.

Detail of the hem.

Some seamstresses seem to think zig zag inferior, but I reckon if it's good enough for ladies 50 years ago, it's good enough for me.

The one thing I'm not so sure about is the kimono sleeve seams under the arms.  They have to be clipped, so I couldn't zig zag.  So they're kinda unfinished and exposed... any thoughts, people?  I'm wondering about them fraying.

Oh, and for some reason I went to the trouble of matching the centre back seam print.... There's not much point in such a full gathered skirt- you barely notice at all!  So much work for so little gain.

Centre back seam on skirt

Okay, just one more detail shot.  The hand picked zip.  So invisible.  So happy!  It sits perfectly together, except it gapes a little at the waist seam (conveniently forgot to take a picture of that bit!).   That seems to be a problem zone.

I made three toiles, which I'll probably post about as I experimented with fitting.  I'm glad it seems to have worked out!

Sans cardy and hat.  It would also go great with Miette, don't you think?

It's definitely not as practical and versatile as some other pieces I've sewn...  but I am so proud of it!  Ooh and I also got a compliment from a waitress as she walked by, "I love your dress!"  That's the first compliment I've gotten in the wild... feels good :)

My last dress made me feel like a real dunce of a seamstress.  This one was a breeze in comparison, so I actually felt competent which was nice.

Hopefully more of my future projects are as enjoyable as this one... who knows, maybe I'm getting better at sewing??

Detail: Vintage Simplicity 3831: The Meet-Up Dress

0 Finished! Vintage Skirt Pattern!

Well, after much procrastination I finally finished my skirt!  And I'm surprised to say I quite like it!
I used an old pattern from the 60s I found in an op shop.  
And guess what?  That's one finished from my "Till Whenever I'm Done Palette Challenge" :)

Somewhat awkward pic!

During the construction of this skirt, I really wasn't sure if I'd end up liking it.  There are loads of bits where I just felt like I messed it up.  The lining was super fiddly (urgh, lining fabric is such a pain, so slippery!).  The lining hem is all puckered and gross, and the zig zag seam finish isn't the nicest  (but I really can't think of any better way to do it without an overlocker)

Hemming was a real chore, the flared skirt had so much to ease in, so that was a bit puckery and gross too.  I used seam binding and catch stitching.  What's the secret to a good flared hem?

I messed up one more thing- It said to ease the skirt into the waistband, but I couldn't get it not to pucker.  There was just toooo much to ease in!  Since there are 8 gores, if you are a little off on each, it really adds up.  That's what I think happened.  Either during cutting, or sewing, or both.
What's stupid is on the original muslin, there were puckers too.  So when I added some width to the waistband, I left the gores the same, thinking that would fix it.  But it wasn't enough!
Dumb puckers, I dislike them so much I'm seriously contemplating getting the seam ripper out and doing some surgery.  What a pain!

All in all, I felt like a real novice on this project.  I need to get better at this sewing stuff!  I'm a little hard on myself, I know....

Let's focus on the good things now.
-The zip went in like a dream!  I used a method I found in my 70s Reader's Digest book.  It's hard to explain, but it was different to all the sewing instructions I'd found on lapped zips so far!
None of that stupid bump of fabric I seem to get at the bottom of the zip.  Yay!  (I could post a photo of the zipper instructions if anyone is interested).

-The skirt has the lovely flare at the bottom that I so wanted!  Mandatory twirling pics!

Fabric:  It's made in a polyester viscose blend crepe.  This stuff has a really nice drape, but it's the type of fabric that likes to pick up every bit of hair and fluff around!  I would love to use wool crepe, but couldn't find any.

I wonder if I'll make this skirt again!  I think it is a really cute style.  I'm also thinking I'd like to have a go at the little blouse (isn't the scalloped collar sweet?  At first I thought it was weird, but it's grown on me).

Here I seem to have inadvertently copied the model's pose from the envelope!  Hey, even my hair is similar!

Channeling the envelope..

Wow, I felt like I put a load of pictures in.  But I'm going to be honest-  I love seeing other bloggers put lots of pics in, so I shall too! :)
I also got a picture without my top tucked in.  Which do you like better?  I'm not sure!

(Taken later in the day, hence different light)

Ahh, feels so good to complete a project :)

Detail: Finished! Vintage Skirt Pattern!