The Knitted Sweater Cape by Cleckheaton Patterns

Watch your step ... you don't want to trip on all these CABLES!

Today I'm sharing my latest KNITTED creation, a stunning sweater cape pattern by Cleckheaton Patterns.
I'm pretty sure if I was a super hero this is exactly the sort of cape I would wear. Who wouldn't appreciate a super hero that was both fashion forward, and warm?!!!

DETAILS

The pattern

When I first saw this pattern by Cleckheaton I gasped out loud. I had been looking for a sweater pattern that was a bit more modern and something that I would get a lot of wear out of. This design is the perfect combination of both fashionable and comfortable. 

I loved that the pattern was also interesting and challenging enough with all the cables down the front and back panels to stop you from getting bored, cause knitting takes a lot longer than sewing!

The Yarn

A stunning superfine merino also by Cleckheaton in the limited edition colour way 'blush'.

This 8ply/double knit yarn was so soft to the touch and has a beautiful tight twist to give the finished knit a beautiful defined and neat shape.

Features

Both the front and back of this cape have a cable panel feature which really adds such a lovely touch to the garment.

The pattern comes with two neck options, a simple round neckband or a roll collar. Both look lovely but I loved the drama of a big roll neck and it's super snuggly and soft.

Most of all I love the timeless cape silhouette which is both comfortable and warm

You could wear this top with a long sleeved top underneath, or just by itself like I have done. Because it is knitted in a wool yarn, it is breathable enough to wear on a cooler day, but warm enough to keep you toasty on a really cold day.

The sweater is made up of four panels; a front and back and two side pieces. These were then all sewn together once I wet blocked them to the appropriate size. Once pieced together you add the collar by knitting in the round. I used the magic loop method to add mine.

Conclusion
I am SO pleased with how this turned out! Not being an experienced knitter I always worry about how the piece is going to turn out, especially after putting so many hours into it!

I love the shape, the size and the colour of this and I've already worn it out a few times. My very first outing was to take photos in front of this amazing flower wall that just happened to be set up at a shopping centre in Melbourne. Now I only ever want to take photos in front of flower walls. HOW CAN I MAKE THIS HAPPEN?!!

To read more details you can head over to my Ravelry page and check out my other knitted garments.

I hope you all have a lovely week! xx

Winter Lace Dress - Laurel by Colette Patterns

So I'm another year older now. When did that happen?!! I remember I couldn't WAIT to turn 18; boy did that backfire ... now I break into sobs of gratitude if by some fluke I get asked for ID.

I like to claim the whole month of May as my birthday. Sorry, not sorry.

Me: 'Husband dearest, can I eat the last piece of pizza'

Husband: 'You've had every other piece!'

Me: 'But it's my birthday MONTH'

*Sound of husband banging head against the wall*

I also half seriously think that all this Me-Made-May-Mania going around is in my birthday honour.

Awkward. But hey, look! I made a dress!

The Pattern

It's the Laurel by Colette Patterns in a straight size 10. A great easy pattern to whip up, with lots of different variations. A great wardrobe filler, a flattering cut and a great first pattern for beginners.

Fabric

Lace from The Fabric Store and underlined with a cotton poplin. The lace is gorgeous and I normally love sewing with lace, but this one was an a-hole to sew with. It was a thin, super stretchy cheap lace that I purchased because, hey, I love lace and it was pretty. But I should have known better. It took so much extra time cutting this maddening fabric because each piece kept stretching out like pizza dough, and not in a good way. Great. Now I'm hungry.

Alterations

Amazingly, I didn't have to make any changes to the structure of the dress, I just sewed it up in a straight size. The changes I made were just in the finish of the dress.

I underlined the dress as per the instructions,  but made the underlining hem slightly shorter than the lace hem so that I could feature the scalloped edge. I cut into the lace fabric to create a scalloped edge, as the fabric didn't come with a scalloped edge. I featured it on both the skirt and the sleeve hem.

I annoyingly didn't buy enough of the lace fabric (another reason I wanted to punch the lace in the face) and so had to either lose the sleeves or cut the dress shorter. Wah! After scooping my heart off the ground, I decided to sacrifice the hem length which made the dress pretty teeny tiny. Perfect with leggings as a sort of long top, but not so appropriate with out.

Pattern matching and underlining

I took extra time carefully cutting out the lace so that the pattern on the lace matched down the centre front and back of the dress and the sleeves. I also made sure that the scalloped edge matched around the entire width of the hem. 

It's so worth the extra effort and makes the dress look cleaner. The simple shape of this dress really allows for perfect lace matching as the lace pattern doesn't get lost in a gazillion seam lines.

The pattern comes with great underlining instructions. Underlining is great for laces, sheer and light weight fabrics. You can also check out my own underlining tutorial here.

My thoughts

I love the classic 60's silhouette of this shift dress. You all know I'm a little bit crazy for Mad Men Fashion, so there was never any indecision over whether I would make this dress. Speaking of Mad Men, did you see how amazing all the dresses were in the Mad Men Challenge? Amaze-balls!

Even though this particular lace fabric was a menace to sew with, I'm really happy with the end result. The colour and the drape are really nice, and it's a bright happy shade to cheer up my recently dusted off winter wardrobe. As you can see in the pictures, when it gets dark and gloomy outside I rebel with colour.

Styling

For those of you who are wondering how I did my hair, I used this tutorial from my pinterest to get the effect.

The necklace is a handmade, hand painted wooden piece that I purchased from the Sew Little Time shop on Etsy. I'm a little bit in love with this store at the moment. Who wants to buy me something? It is my birthday MONTH *cough* 

I've seen so many amazing Laurel dresses around lately. It amazes me how you can have one pattern, but with different fabric and a different seamstress you can end up with a completely different looking dress. It tickles my creative fancy.

So what do you think? Have you made this pattern? Are you going to give it a go? Is it your birthday month too? (It can't be, it's MINE ... just kidding-ish)

In all seriousness though, I love birthdays and I'm proud to be getting older. It means that I'm still alive. With each extra candle, each extra wrinkle, each extra grey hair we are given the opportunity to make more dresses. How lucky we are. 

Huon Pine - Burda 7739 + Brooch give-away winners

 

Hello young lovers, where ever you are ...

I'm currently working on a pretty little sewing project which I can't WAIT to share with you guys. (Seriously, I have a real patience issue). It's a bit labour intensive so it's not yet finished, but it will be soon!

So I thought I would share with you a project that I made last Autumn and is an old favourite. In fact, I'm wearing it now as I type (minus the umbrella). It's the lovely cute little dress pattern #7739 by Burda,

But before I get all detaily on you, let's talk ...

Brooch give away winners!

Three winners were randomly chosen using http://www.random.org

A big congratulations to the following three readers who have each won a brooch!

The lovely Anna from AnnaBanana

 The lovely Zoe from ZoSews

 The lovely Fran from Lovely Little Sweetpeas

Congratulations ladies! I will be contacting you shortly with details.

Do not despair if you missed out. You can buy your own fabulous brooch at Ruemiraldi's online store.

So back to the dress! The dress is named Huon Pine because the beautiful buttons on the dress are in fact Huon Pine from the beautiful state of Tasmania in Australia. 

My wonderful friend Theresa had made a trip down to Tasmania, saw these fabulous buttons and brought them back for me. Isn't she the ace-est?

The buttons were so interesting and unique that I instantly went scouting to find the perfect dress to go with the buttons. Check out the middle button, it sort of looks like the map of Australia. Coincidence much?

After searching through pattern books I found a Burda pattern # 7739 which looked playful and cute, and would perfectly showcase the beautiful buttons.

I made version A with the bodice in a size 12 and the skirt cut as a 14 from the hips down.  I shortened the bodice by two cm's to give it a more obvious empire waist.

I used coating fabric for the dress, which was not exactly my most inspired moment; the dress gets hot really quickly. But it's great for those really cold days.

I like the little pleats at the front of the dress and the Peter Pan collar. The dress isn't lined, the instructions are easy to follow and it's a great pattern for a beginners.

I made the epic mistake of inserting an invisible zipper into this incredibly thick dress.

Twice.

As you sewers will expect, the zipper couldn't handle the fabric and broke.

Twice.

Suddenly my brain started working again and I bought a heavy duty zipper and inserted my first centred zipper.

Success! I learn the hard way apparently. My disclaimer was that I made this a year ago and so my sewing brain was still quite under developed (it's a thing).

Look at me hiding my face in shame!

This is one of the easiest dresses that I've ever made, but it sure gets a work out in the cooler seasons. It's lovely.