Autumnal Textures

I finished this pumpkin colored sweater in 2024, but only just got around to wearing it.  And part of the reason is that I wanted a classic brown skirt to pair with it.

So now that I have added a brown skirt to my wardrobe, there shall be lots of sweaters to pair with it.

As for the sweater, I am very pleased to have a pumpkin colored cabled option in my collection.

I am also feeling the need to jump into another cabled knitting project.  I just love a textured hand knit!

But seeing as it is already February, I should probably not start another knitting project.

I could, however, think about perusing my older knitting books and magazines to see if anything inspires me.  There are plenty of skeins of yarn in my sewing room that could use some attention.

Then again, looking through all those patterns could encourage me to buy new yarn, and that's the last thing that I need.

As for the color choice, I am thrilled to have a pumpkin sweater of my own, but I am not entirely sold on the Autumn color story for me, personally.

The brown and the tweed are another story - more of those, please.

I am also reminded that I could use more navy or deep blue colors as wardrobe basics . . . and there are always more colors to play with in that stash of fabric mocking me from upstairs.

Sweater:  Made by me, Raglan Cable Knit
Skirt:  Made by me, McCalls 8542
Earrings:  Vintage
Boots:  Calvin Klein "Dawna"

Covered in Cables

I do not have a lot of orange in my wardrobe, but an orange sweater immediately takes me back to high school and reminds me of a friend that was very fond of her pumpkin colored sweater.  I decided that I needed my own hand knit version.

The pattern is a vintage one from the 1970s that I found online.  I love a turtleneck, and the textured cables seemed like an excellent choice to pair with this lovely tweed yarn, aptly named "Pumpkin Pie."

Going through old photos of this project, I am realizing that it is the final knitting project for which I had a bit of help from my wonderful Valentino.  He was not much of a lap dog in his younger years, but he did love to sit with me for the last few years of his life.  So now I have even more of a reason to treasure this sweater.

Most of the sweater patterns that I have come across with turtlenecks come with raglan sleeves.  I wonder why that is?

This project came together easily.  My brain deals well with a knit pattern that keeps everything nice and lined up in a vertical column.

The yarn is from Knit Picks, and it did not give me any grief.

I have also come to realize that I prefer to knit sweaters in pieces rather than in the round.

I wouldn't say that seaming those pieces together is my favorite part of the process (which may be odd considering my affinity for hand sewing) but I certainly don't mind it.

Maybe working in separate pieces reminds me of sewing a garment together which is why it makes more sense to me than making something from top to bottom in the round.  Short rows, for instance, are something that drive me mad, and considering how often they are used to make sweaters in the round, that may be part of the problem.

But however it may have been constructed, it's safe to say that I have added another cozy hand knit turtleneck to the collection.

And I really love the look of the oversized cables.

If I didn't have at least four other in-progress knitting projects, I might even cast on another before Spring weather puts me off knitting with wool.  But I should probably get back to the unfinished items that are already started.  Only time will tell if the temptation of a new project is too much for me to concentrate on one of the other knits projects that could use some attention.

A Classic Silhouette in Wool Flannel

I was recently contacted by Longan Craft about another collaboration.  And while it may not be the most showy choice of textile, I decided that a wool flannel was the perfect fabric for a classic brown skirt that I have been meaning to make for years.

I have a bunch of sweaters that pair wonderfully with a brown shade, but I never come across the right fabric.

This wool blend has enough body that it makes an excellent choice for a skirt.

I did decide to line the skirt in a rayon for a couple of reasons.  First, a lining helps hold the shape of a garment.  It adds a bit of weight, which is great for a skirt.  And perhaps most importantly, I anticipate wearing the skirt with a a pair of tights, and I just hate when material sticks to my tights - this eliminates that issue.

Because I was fully lining the skirt, I decided to only pink the raw edges.

A standard zipper was installed by hand (pretty standard for me these days).

This pattern is not drafted with a lining.  But adding one is probably the easiest alteration to make to a project.  I simply made a duplicate skirt out of my rayon lining and then dropped it into the skirt, wrong sides together.  Those layers get basted together at the waistline before installing the waistband.

To secure the layers together along the zipper, I hand stitch the lining to the zipper tape.

I also like to add loops at the waistline so that I don't have to use a hanger with clips that will leave marks on the waistline.  Adding a couple of pieces of ribbon in the waist seam is easy enough.  

My biggest issue is remembering to grab a piece of ribbon before I have completed by waistband.  It's rather embarrassing how many times I have had to seam rip the waistband at the side seams to add my ribbons!

I did remember this time around, thankfully.

Everything went together smoothly for this project.  I would say that the pattern is a great option for someone with minimal sewing experience.  The directions are not as detailed as some contemporary pattern, but as long as you keep track of which piece is which, there are just a bunch of vertical seamlines and a waistband to contend with.

The pattern is technically a 1970s pattern, but a classic gored skirt is pretty timeless, in my opinion.

I did have to even out my lining hem, but the flannel is very stable, so it didn't need any trimming.

This is, without a doubt, my least favorite part of the process.

But now that the garment is finished, I can forget about sitting on the floor with a ruler and a bunch of pins . . . until the next project with a shaped skirt and a drapey fabric.

And I guess that's about it.

I would definitely be up for making another version of the skirt should the right fabric come along.  Because you can never have enough fit and flare skirts in the wardrobe!

2025, A Year in Review

Butterick 7036 / Swing Coat
Simplicity 2126 / Vogue 2060

Happy New Year!

Vogue 1773 / Simplicity 1644
McCalls 8556 / Vogue 7186

I always like to run through all of the items that I have managed to post on the blog for the year.  The idea is to do a year end summation, but I rarely manage to get everything together before January.  Most of these projects were sewn during 2025, although a couple were finished in prior years, but I never managed to post them until last year.

Anna Dress / Vogue 7186
Simplicity 2841 / Vogue 7083

I do feel that I have done a better job using the fabric and patterns that I had on hand for 2025, which is always nice.  Here is hoping that I continue with that trend.

Honor Roll Top, Vogue 9249 / McCalls 9340
Vogue 1923 / Butterick 3417

And there are a few projects that were technically finished in 2025, but are not yet photographed and/or blogged.  I finished a sweater over the holiday, and I pulled out another unfinished knit project that still needs one sleeve finished and all of the ends woven in.  So perhaps 2026 will be the year of the sweater . . . there are quite a few other UFOs in the yarn category that have been ignored for years and years, so it would be great to get through a few of those.

Vogue 2785 / Vogue 2064

It has been over a week since I have accomplished any garment sewing, and I'm antsy to get back in the sewing room.  My hope is that I manage to finish a coat in the next couple of months, so I better get to it!

Cabbage Roses

Sometimes it's the projects that rattle around in your head for years that are the most satisfying. 

And, more importantly, when you give an idea a bit of time to breathe, sometimes the process becomes more streamlined.

I knew that I wanted to do something with the remaining pieces of this upholstery fabric after making the skirt a few years back.  And I really did hope that I could squeeze a jacket out of them.

I had a couple of patterns in mind, but nothing was perfect.  I was also going to have to make some significant alterations, including adding or changing collar pieces. 

That was going to be a lot of work, and I couldn't be sure that I would be completely happy with the outcome.

I forgot about the remaining yardage for a while, until I happened upon a box of forgotten vintage patterns.  Simplicity 2841 was exactly what I was looking for.

It's embarrassing to admit that I had a box of patterns that I forgot about, but maybe not that surprising considering the amount of them that are stashed away.  But the double breasted 1960s silhouette was exactly what I had imagined to pair with the pleated skirt . . . which reminded me of the abandoned upholstery fabric remnants that I had put away.

A resolution that comes up for me again and again is to use the patterns that have been stashed away for an extended period of time instead of whatever shiny new design gets released and distracts me.

I have been slightly better about that, although there is always room for improvement.

Thankfully, a new pattern often reminds me of a stashed fabric, where an older pattern may require a bit of fabric shopping.  Funny how that works out.

For the time being, however, I really do want to work with the items that I have on hand as the sewing room is getting rather crowded.  This project just happened to use vintage fabric and a forgotten vintage pattern.  And it doesn't get much better than that!

Jacket:  Made by me, Simplicity 2841
Skirt:  Made by me, Butterick 6556
Shoes:  Miss L Fire
Necklace:  Estate Sale