Monday 11 January 2016

Cold weather sewing

The word on the street (as Huggy Bear would say) is that the UK weather is due to turn distinctly inclement. Phrases such as 'Arctic blast' are being bandied about by BBC weather people, which has forced me to bring a couple of knit garments straight to the top of my sewing queue. 

As easy as they are to sew, I do find sewing with knits a bit boring, which is why I've decided to liven things up a bit by trying out a new pattern. It's the Maria Denmark Karen drape dress - as chic and classy as my sewing pal of the same name.


I like the fact that the dress can perform equally well as a casual dress (with boots and a cardi) or tarted up a bit with heels for the evening. The detail that reeled me in was the draped section that artfully skims over the stomach - yes! The fabric recommendation is for a knit with 5 -10% spandex so I've chosen this lovely tropical French Terry knit from Girl Charlee UK - it's soft and drapey so should work well. 


Second on my cold weather sewing list isn't quite so exciting - it's a sweatshirt. Come back, come back, it's not that boring I swear! I was originally going to use this lovely Aran sweater knit fabric from Miss Matatabi  (the fabric has since sold out unfortunately).




My plan was to make this into a fab snuggly jumper for the cold weather. But then Annie from the Village Haberdashery sent me samples of the Alison Glass Andover Jersey knits and I was torn - so many lovely colours to tempt me! The pattern I'm thinking of is the Capital Chic White Russian sweatshirt which I've made once before here. I fiddled about with that version and amended the pattern so it should be a quick, easy sew. I do think that two different colours (one for the body, one for the sleeves) works really well on this pattern, so that could be the way to go instead of the cable knit. What do you think? Cable knit effect or baseball style? Or one of each?!

I already have a wardrobe full of handmade knits, so this little batch should be enough to see me through the forthcoming Arctic blast!  Have a good week. x

18 comments:

  1. I just made the Karen dress and it is truly flattering and would have been quick to make if I hadn't chosen ill-advised fabric. Anyway, I shall await yours with interest. I also have a few White Russians and like that pattern too!

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    1. Ah that's good to know, thanks. Your version looks lovely by the way! x

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  2. Definitely one of each for the sweatshirts! I am in LOVE with that cable knit.

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    1. I think I'm leaning towards one of each as well! x

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  3. Oh, I love the look of the Karen dress, I think it's exactly what I've been looking for.

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    1. Me too, I snapped it up as soon as it was released! x

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  4. I would say the cable knit as that is the kind of thing that I'm looking to make. But going for one of each sounds like a brilliant idea. :p

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    1. Yes, I'll definitely use the cable knit because I want to use the fabric but one of each is calling me! x

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  5. That'll be such a cute sweatshirt, what a great fabric. I desperately need to find something like that, it's such a great staple for any wardrobe. I love Capital Chic patterns too, such nice and clean design lines.

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    1. I liked the White Russian pattern, looking forward to using it again! x

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  6. I cut out a dress with long sleeves today and decided to line it too. Bring on the cold and my array of coloured thick tights. I will be interested to see how you sew with the knitted stuff, I have some and I made an awful dress so I will tune in. Jo x

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    1. Yes it doesn't look like the easiest fabric to pair off, which is why I'm keeping it as simple as possible. I really hope it works as I'd hate to mess up with that lovely fabric! X

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  7. Love the Maria Denmark dress, not come across this one before and I was doubly sold when I read about the draped, stomach area: the perfect January make :-)

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    1. The draped stomach feature was the deal breaker for me! I'm hoping it will cover up all my Xmas excess whilst looking chic (fingers tightly crossed)! x

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  8. I really love the dress,simple and chic. It will drape beautifully and look amazing and also be comfy. Yay! I don't check out weather forecasts because I get super annoyed when they are wrong. Like seriously annoyed- if it should be sunny and then it rains I'm not a happy bunny. I'm hoping for snow, after seeing some lovely bloggers in the USA with magical snows scapes. But being realistic it will probably just be cold and wet. In any case cosy sweatshirts sound just the ticket, never made one myself so intrigued to see how you get on.

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    1. That's my plan too for the dress! I'm obsessed with the weather, I hate being caught out but agree, it's a total pain when they're wrong (especially when they forecast good weather and it rains, I don't mind if it's the other way round!) x

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  9. Love your choices Jane! I need to do a quick repair job on all my leggings ready for the cold weather. I don't think my opaque tights are going to cut it when the icy weather gets here!

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  10. Oh yes, I read on the news that it is going to get really cold out here this week, especially on the weekend! That’s a nice knitted fabric and I bet it will look nice on a jumper.

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