The Greatest Shawl on Earth: The Knitting and Stitching Show

Spending a whole weekend eye-ball deep in every kind of craft imaginable: heaven or hell?! I found it to be a bit of both. The Knitting and Stitching Show, held at Alexandra Palace in London, is enormous, hot and rammed with zombie-women with no sense of spacial awareness. On the other hand, it is filled with wonderful treasures for whatever crafty activity you wish to indulge in as well as lots of practical classes and workshops to learn new skills. 

I'm not a native to these sort of events, I went to something similar years ago at Olympia (or maybe it was Earls Court) in London with my old sewing group, but the whole thing was pretty off-putting in it's focus on cross-stitch and embroidery with a very traditional approach to it all. So what they hell was I doing at this Knitting and Stitching show? Well, in short, I was paid to be there!

I was freelancing for my former employers, TRAID, helping out with their 'Upcycling Academy' which aimed to spread the word about refashioning and reworking unwanted garments. The education branch of TRAID, which are responsible for going round schools and colleges and talking about the life cycle of clothing, realities of the textile industry and encouraging garment re-use, were running the space along with Fabrications (a crafty shop/workshop space in East London) and the charity War on Want who were promoting their 'Love Fashion, Hate Sweatshops' campaign. 

There were two large banks of donated clothing that the public could plunder for a small donation, and take their T-shirt or other garment over to the sewing area to customise and upcycle to their hearts' content. My role was to assist the budding upcyclers (all teenagers and children) by providing them with ideas on what they could do to the garments and helping them with techniques, the sewing machines and other equipment. At my busiest point, I was simultaneously trying to inspire and help ten reluctant fifteen and sixteen year old textiles students to rework their T-shirts (see some of them above). It was an exhausting two days, and pretty much all my time was spent here: 

When I did manage to escape for a break and wander about, there were indeed some great sewing related things to experience. My favourite part was bumping into some familiar faces. There was the ever-awesome Karen (proof below) who I bumped into at the Ray-Stitch stand moments before we saw the very lovely Joanne from Stitch and Witter. Seeing them was such a joy, and I was really sad we couldn't all just go for a coffee and chat for an hour or two!

The third friendly face I came across at the show belonged to Sussex-based seller Maggie (pictured below) who was manning her stall and selling her wares. Maggie runs a phenomenal buttons and notions business called Textile Garden, which has such an eye-watering array of products that I could only get to see her at the very beginning and end of the day, she was barricaded in by swarms of button-high shoppers the rest of the time. 

She really does have awesome stock, and every time I see her stall (she sometimes sells at the craft market I organise, Brighton Craftaganza) there are always some new fantastic items that I've never seen for sale elsewhere. I promise you I'm not biased, but in the interest of full disclosure, whenever I see her, Maggie always give me some free buttons and then I buy some more. She's like a pusher: the first hit's for free then you come running back for more!

From a sewing perspective (is there any other?!), what other treats were there to behold? Fabric-wise, aside from Ray-Stitch there were three or four other great stalls. One of the best was The Village Haberdashery (some stock pictured below and the patchwork packs pictured at the top of the post) whose selection of quality fabric was second to none AND displayed in a very appealing colour-story kind of way.

The village haberdashery was also the only stand selling independent sewing pattern company products. The selection included Sewaholic, Colette Patterns, Jamie Christina, Megan Nielsen and more for adults, and some amazing ranges for childrens wear including some companies I'd never seen before. 

I'm pretty out of touch with prices of fabric these days, so I have no idea if all the fabric stalls present were offering value as well as selection, but if I was a sewer who bought new fabric, my goodness I would have bought a whole lot of it. Aside from Textile Garden, there were other button stands worth a rummage and I spied some very cool trims and braids here and there.   

Magazines and books were also in ready supply, many offering discounts on the cover prices or subscriptions. 

If knitting or crochet are your bag, there seemed a lot on offer too including some really specialised yarns you probably wouldn't find down your local wool shop or market stall, although once again I can't judge if things were reasonably priced. I feel pretty hard for this cardigan pictured below. I'd prefer it in black, imagine how those sequinned cherries would pop out!

As I mentioned, there were also a wide range of classes, workshops and taster sessions on all sorts of topics you could book yourself onto either before the event on on the day to attend. Some of the major players in London crafting and sewing were there teaching classes, like Lisa Comfort from Sew Over It. But aside from the classes, one of the most fun non-buying parts of the show was the Unfinishable Tent. 

Part of a wider art project (oh you can google it yourself!), the outside of this tent and the curtains are formed of creative projects people have started (often decades ago) and for various reasons abandoned. It was so fascinating to see these altogether in this context. The inside of the tent contained transcriptions of interviews of the creators of these pieces, where they shared the back story about why they begun the projects and how they came to leave them unfinished. It made for fascinating and often very touching reading. Many of these projects were started to while away some hours during lengthy hospital stays, and despite vowing to complete them after they returned home, the crafters never could bring themselves to pick up the projects again. Other projects were started for an expectant infant, often remaining unfinished after that infant had grown up and had had infants of their own! 

So, the verdict?: I would definitely go again, but only if I was paid to be there or were given a free ticket. The crowds, difficult and lengthly journeys to and from, the heat and stuffiness of the venue; all would be difficult to overlook if you are someone like me who has vowed not to buy new stuff (aside from a few buttons here and there) but you had paid to be there. But it is nice to take a peek into the passions and interests of others and I was grateful to be given the opportunity to do so.

My Wedding Dress!

Ok peops, here it is! The most important, most photographed and most stressful garment I'll ever make: my wedding dress! Thank you to everyone who expressed a desire to see the pictures, here you are.

Style:

Those of you who have read my previous posts on the planning of my dress will know that I was always going for a mid-century retro look. By the time I'd narrowed down my research, I was definitely erring towards a wiggle silhouette made from a separate skirt and bodice and lots of shoulder/decolletage on show. Above all else, this dress had to make me feel special, so it didn't seem like a time to hold back on the sexiness or glamour! Pat's Best Man told me on the night 'a bride's job is to make other men feel sad you're no longer on the market'! Apparently.

Pattern:

I chose the Burdastyle bustier/bombshell dress pattern (pictured below) as my basis because it had the general wiggle silhouette, waist seam and tight fitting bodice I knew I wanted. I ignored the cups sections and proceeded with toiling the bodice (with frequent fitting help from the ever-amazing Rehanon) again and again until we achieved a really good fit. Instead of the faceted bust of the original pattern, I wanted to recreate a draped, gathered bust effect something like the white Modcloth dress pictured below (underneath the next paragraph).

For that I knew I'd have to attempt some draping using my own body as the mannequin. With lots of encouragement and pin-passing from Rehanon, I finally got a good shape for the bust panels. It was very scary deconstructing my draped bodice toile to make a the bust piece pattern, I can tell you!

As for the skirt, I was initially going for a draped effect like Gertie's bombshell version of this pattern, but it kind of, umm, evolved in a different direction. What I mean to say is that the gathered skirt toile to look very good and I felt unsure how to approach getting a nicer effect. Time for completing this dress was getting tight, especially with all the other elements planning a DIY wedding entailed, so I decided to go for a straight wiggle skirt. As soon as I took that headache away, I breathed a sigh of relief and knew I'd done the right thing. I love the sleek, straight skirt in these pictures, and I think it allows the gathered bust design to really stand out.

Fabric and colour:

My mum and I planned to buy the fabric for my dress and my best mate's bridesmaid dress in one of the fancy-fabric purveyors on Berwick Street in London, knowing that if we drew a blank, we still had all of Goldhawk Road to plunder. For my dress I went with an open mind, but knew it needed to have some structure, be a bit special (AKA, shiny or something) and red. I also had one eye out for a nice brocade. In one of the silk shops I was drawn to some fantastic red silk that had a vintage-y embroidered flower motif but it was very narrow and a squillion pounds per metre. The search continued...

In Borovick Fabrics, I found the most perfect red acetate duchess satin stuff (its official name escapes me) at about £30 a metre. Hurrah! I thought. I glanced at the other colours it came in and was instantly drawn to an incredible peacock colour that really shone out. The sales guy was really helpful and pulled   a long length of each colour of the rolls and held it up to me so I could see in the mirror which worked best with my colouring. He even dimmed to lights to create for me a night time effect, bless him! Both looked great, so he cut a swatch of each and we went off to have some lunch and a margarita to deliberate. Rather wonderfully, whilst my mum and I were staring at menus in the windows of potential lunch venues, I spotted Kat, the editor of the only wedding website I allowed myself to read: Rock n Roll Bride!

We thought and ate, chatted and drank, and although Mum was on 'Team Red' at the beginning of the meal, she'd switched over to 'Team Peacock' by the end. Uncharacteristically, I felt pretty relaxed about having to choose between them. I think it was because I thought both were so lovely, I knew whichever I picked would have looked fantastic. The peacock won because it was just so vibrant and special.

Construction:

My goodness this dress took some work. For example, the bodice is underlined in calico to give extra support and structure, and there was so much hand-stitching, including a belt section that I eventually removed. Following Gertie's Bombshell Dress class, I added boning to the lining, effectively making an inbuilt corset.

I made the whole thing in secret away from Pat because I didn't want to see it before our wedding day. I didn't even want him to know that I'd gone for a different coloured fabric than the red he (and almost everyone else) was expecting. I had planned to make this dress at work, but when the TRAIDremade studio closed down, I had to make it in our bedroom on my own with the door closed! I wish I had a pound for every time I said to Pat, 'Don't go in there'! I repeatedly vacuum the carpets and went around picking up tiny threads because the raw edges fray constantly.

Accessories and extras:

Early on in our engagement, I went to a posh vintage dress shop to try on some of their stock (even though I had absolutely no intention of buying anything) to get some idea. I saw an amazing head piece thing that was apparently called a 'bubble veil' which was basically some netting which covered most of the face only attached to a small fascinator/hat base. Then after attending a vintage-themed wedding fair in Hove back in the Spring with my friend Kirstin where we saw another, she declared she would make me one! She ordered heaps of supplied from Etsy and started playing about figuring out how to get the right look.

When I bought the peacock fabric instead of red, it was back to the drawing board a bit, because Kirstin had initially bought red netting because we thought it would show up well against my dark hair. She got some black netting and requested some of the fabric to cover the base, and she made me the most awesome veil that clipped onto my hair with a big hair clip.

I decided very early in in the wedding planning that I would do my own hair and makeup. Getting someone else to do those things seemed like an unnecessary expense when we were trying to keep to a small budget, plus I just didn't trust anyone else to get the kind of look I've spent years practising and feel most 'myself' with.

For my hair, I had to consider the placement of the hat/veil above anything else. I even got my fringe cut twice to get it to look correct with the veil. On one side at the top I made a victory roll, and on the other side I pinned the side of my hair up and towards the back so my veil had something to be clipped on to. The length of my hair was left to hang loose having mastered heated rollers to get relaxed, vintage-y curls.

My makeup was a variation of my usual 'going out' look, but with recently acquired additions of mac highlighter for the inside corners of my eyes and on the brow bone, greyish-brown shadow on my eye lids and a light tinted moisturiser/foundation to give a more even skin tone.

For jewellery, I'd wanted some vintage costume diamante pieces but my Etsy and Ebay hunts just weren't unearthing the right things. I thought a swallow brooch would be nice, but all the ones I found online were either too new and trashy looking, or old and beyond wearable. It was incredibly serendipitous that I found the perfect 1950's diamante swallow brooch at a local street fair in August!

I knew I wanted some dangly diamante earrings, but all the ones I'd found online had screw or clip-on backs. I wanted some for pierced ears but that didn't seem to be an option with the vintage earrings. New diamante earrings seemed to look quite tacky or were really expensive, so I was delighted when my friend Sarah leant me the perfect pair of dangly earrings for pierced ears. Hurrah!!!

I wore a pair of black heels that I love, are vaguely comfortable, and suited the style of dress really well. I wore them with some Pamela Mann love-seamed tights:

So there you go my friends! That's the low-down on my wedding outfit. Please keep your eyes peeled over the next few weeks for more wedding-related posts, there are lots of other handmade elements that made my wedding wonderful that I'd like to share with you all.

Refashion Friday Inspiration: Patchwork Back Button Shirt/ Blouse

Hello!!! I'm back! Massive thanks to the three super-talented bloggers who shared such awesome posts on this blog and generally kept my seat warm whilst I was away getting married and honeymooning. They did such an ace job, and in truth I'm a little intimidated to get back in the driving seat!

Now, I'm imagining that you'd probably rather be checking out pictures of my wedding dress and hearing about whether or not I bought half the fabric in NYC's garment district! My apologies but I require a little more of your patience, I promise I will start sharing those things from Monday, starting with the all-important wedding dress post. In the meantime, I'm going to get back on the blogging track with my regular feature: Refashion Friday.

So, please set aside thoughts of special glamourous dresses if that what you stopped by for, and instead take a look a these patchwork effect shirt/blouse remakes. They may look a bit crazy, but making something a bit crazy out of arguably the most boring type of garment out there (mens office shirts) fills me with glee! For these garments I used a really basic blouse pattern as a basis and cut up several unwanted mens shirts from which to cut out the various pieces. 

I cut the front of the blouses from the back of the original shirts by placing the centre front of the pattern on the fold, and similarly cut the back of the blouses from the front of the shirts incorporating the buttons and button plackets so the final garments buttoned up at the back. The original shirt hems were also included to skip the need to hem the final garment. 

The sleeves are 1940's style puff sleeves with a wide sleeve band. The overall fit of the blouses is fitted with waist shaping darts on the front and back, and that combined with the puffy sleeves and self-drafted Peter Pan collar produce an overall very feminine silhouette and feel which contrasts nicely with the traditional, male-centric origin of the fabric. If you ever checked out any of my previous shirt/blouse refashions, you'll know that I like playing with these gender contrasts when refashioning garments. 

I love the idea of wearing a garment like this to a job that requires you wear smart attire. It could be seen as a cheeky nod to formal working environment, plus you'd be sticking to the dress code rules whilst also bringing refashioning, sustainable clothing, creativity and 'hand-crafted' to the type of working situations that are rarely associated with those things. 

Normal service will be resumed shortly...

Guess what peops? She's baaaack! Yes, that's right. The lovely Zoe is back in old Blighty and normal service will be resumed here at So Zo very shortly. However, while Zoe is sleeping off her jet lag, she has very kindly allowed me to hijack her blog once again, (she's a diamond that Zoe!) to make a very short announcement....

Those of you that read my blog already, will be aware that I have been having some conversations with a TV production company. Namely about the possibility of addressing the lack of sewing related programming in our TV schedules, here in the UK. Well those discussions look set to go up a gear in the next week or two. In preparation, I have been busy gathering feedback from my readers as to their views on this subject, and what they would like to see included, if there were to be such a show on British TV. The feedback so far has been brilliant and every comment left, provides me with a little more ammunition to hit those TV execs with. So if you haven't already done so, please do pop over to this post on my blog, and take the opportunity to add your voice to "the call"; for some programming that finally caters for the likes of you and I. The humble sewists of the nation! Maybe, just maybe, we can make this happen!

Welcome back Zoe, and thankyou for letting me hijack your readers for a moment!

Guest Post: Kathryn... Considering Massive Collars

Today's post is by Kathryn from 'Yes I  Like That', a London-based blogger and one of the nicest and funniest ladies out there in blogland.

When Zoe asked me to do a guest post for her blog, a topic immediately came to mind. It's a very important topic which I think has been overlooked by the sewing world, and I hope you'll enjoy this serious exploration of it's possibilities. But what is this topic, I hear you ask?

MASSIVE GREAT BIG COLLARS

Now I know that there's a fair amount of peter pan collar exploration going on around sewing blogs, but I feel that there are still boundaries to be pushed. What really sparked my interest was a pattern I received at the Brighton Sewing Swap, earlier this year.

This pattern fascinated me. The collar is so big that it overlaps the shoulder seams to rest delicately on the top of the arm.

Simplicity 8664 led me to do some research into huge collars through the ages. Apparently a design feature like this is known as a 'pilgrim' collar, which seems to stem from American fancy dress costumes like these ones. (Incidentally, if you are interested in collar research, I recommend this amazing Wikipedia page which has an exhaustive list of every kind of collar known to man.) The pilgrims came to American in 1620, which was around the time that ruffs were being replaced by enormous lace collars for both men and women. You can see that in this famous portrait of The Laughing Cavaliar by Frans Hals.

You might think collars like this are sort of ridiculous, and I admit that they are, but there's a strange beauty to their exaggeratedness as well. I loved the delicate lacy white collars in the Louis Vuitton SS12 show, which totally reminded me of dolls clothing.

Pilgrim collars were big in the 1950s as well (in both senses). Here's an example, McCalls 8204. How fabulous are the hip pockets on this pattern?

Of course the 1960s are the natural habitat of the exaggerated Peter Pan collar. Here's a beautiful deadstock example from Etsy, which also features lace trim and matching white cuffs. It looks like something Wes Anderson might have put in the costumes for Moonrise Kingdom.

In the 70s, things started to a go a bit wrong. Not content with making flat collars bigger, pattern makers went a bit experimental and decided to grotesquely enlarge the shirt collar, which resulted in things like this:

This large collar is also from the 1970s, and it looks dangerously sharp. Although I have to confess I rather like the trousers on this pattern. That fabric is amazing.

In the 1980s the big collar hit hard times, and was forced to debase itself by appearing in patterns like this. Actually the dress on the far left isn't too bad, apart from being a bit sack-like, but things just get worse and worse going to the right.

In conclusion, I reckon the massive collar is ripe for sewing rehabilitation. I quite like the idea of sewing one in a very light lace so you can see the dress fabric underneath, or doing a double collar in two different fabrics. There's something fascinating about exaggerating the shape and size of a feature like this.

What do you think? Would you ever sew a shoulder-skimming collar?

Guest Post: Portia....Ideas for Conquering Winter Layering

Hellooooo to those that know me! To those that don't, my name is Portia and I blog over at Miss P. I'm a big fan of Zoe's so was super flattered to be asked to contribute a guest post whilst she's off in NYC being all romantic and newlywed! (Congratulations to the new Mr & Mrs So Zo ;)
So, while they're off being all lovey dovey Stateside, we here in Blighty have been experiencing a rather pleasant early Autumn. But with the days getting undeniably chillier, Like most, I've been giving my Winter wardrobe some thought. 

Now, I had a couple of problems.

1) I'm a big fan of layering, but not a big fan of the bulk that this can add. I like the contrast of different fabrics layered one on top the other, but not the way that shirt sleeves bunch up uncomfortably under the arms when I wear a cardigan over the top.

2) Add to that the fact that I had this vintage blouse that I loved but was 2 sizes to small for me. (The button plackets wouldn't even meet let alone do up!)

So how is it  that I am managing to wear said vintage blouse, layered with a cardigan without a bunched up underarm bulge in sight?

This is the vintage blouse in question. Cute huh? Pity it doesn't even come close to fitting me AND puff sleeves don't suit me at all. The key bits I love about this blouse are the cute embroidery on the placket, the shape of the neckline (and the cute button) and the horizontal pleats at the bust. So I devised a refashion that allowed me to keep those elements, adjust it to fit me and use it as a basic for layering under my multitude of cardigans. (I do love a cardi!)

Very quick and simple this. My favourite kind of refashion! . I simply cut the sides of the shirt off so I was left with a kind of bib. Then I finished the raw edges with bias tape from my stash....

Using the fabric I removed from the sides I made two wide straps and sewed them on to join the front and back of the shirt at the sides. So the finished arrangement is rather like a tabbard apron.....

Add a cardigan, et voila! I must admit, at first it felt a bit odd putting this on. ( I kept one button of my cardigan buttoned up btw, for security purposes!) It doesn't really resemble any conventional garment I suppose, and it's probably one of my more "off the wall" refashions! What would you call it? A "layering accessory"? But I soon got used to it, and it was great to layer up without all that twisting and bunching that occurs with sleeves. Didn't flash a bit of flesh all day, didn't get too hot, and no-one was any the wiser as to what I was hiding under my cardi!

This particular refashion is designed to wear with a cardigan, really because it's what the decorative panel at the front dictated. But it's kind of a spin off of my original idea. I was on the lookout for the perfect white shirt to create a collar accessory that I could slip under my jumpers/sweaters to achieve that layered look without the bulk. A bit like this combo from Modcloth. Because a jumper is not open down the front, I'm picturing a much shorter simple bib shape that would literally just tuck under the neckline.

So in summary, here are my top tips for for refashioning your way to winter layering with shirts, but without the bulk:

1) If the shirt fits, just remove the sleeves. That way you can avoid bulk under a cardigan/sweater AND wear your shirt in the summer too.
2) If you have a shirt that is too small but you still want to layer it, then this refashion could be an option for you. It solves the fitting AND bulk problems in one go.
3) If like me you like the layered look but tend to get a bit hot with too many layers; grab yourself a shirt with a cute collar and make yourself a little collar accessory that you can tuck into your jumpers/sweaters

I'm still on the lookout for just the right little white shirt with a peter pan collar!

Guest Post: Winnie... Adventures in Refashioning Much-Loveds

Hello everyone, I’m Winnie and I blog over at scruffybadgertime. I am so pleased to be able to guest here at Zoe’s awesome blog, thank you Zoe for inviting me & huge congratulations & the warmest of wonders in your married life together with Pat.

So, when Zoe asked me I felt I wanted to blog about something that would do her proud & show what an impact her blogging & inspiring refashioning & style has had on me. However, to be truthful I don’t do lots of refashioning/ repurposing, starting most of my sewing from scratch. I do have a mountain of intentions though! So I’m taking Zoe’s path & trying some for myself but developing it for an area that maybe I’m not the only one to struggle over.

I think many of us find it hard to part with some of our old favourites when it comes to donating to charity, even if our old favourites no longer fit us or have “had their day”. But how many of us find it easy to put things we’ve made into charity shops/ thrift stores? I know I struggle & it’s not because I think my lazy stitching & poor seam finishes will get found out! – I can cope with that. Am I sentimental to find it a challenge to give up a piece of clothing that meant something to me as I chose the pattern, looked up the yardage & carefully selected “the right” fabric? We all pour love, attention & many hours (even days) into some of our makes, but what do you do with them when you no longer wear them?

Or come to think of it, other handmade items, maybe made for you by someone you love,  that you totally recognise the skill, time & love poured into every minute dedicated to making it, but for some reason can’t bring yourself to throw away or pass on to charity.  Or something for which the fabric is right right right, but the make is wrong wrong wrong.  Instead it sits in your wardrobe or in a cupboard, passed over for some reason.  Maybe it is because it is just too “1980s darling” even for the recent 80s revival.  

Maybe you’ve changed weight/shape.  Maybe you were proud of it when you made it but through practice your skill level is oh so much better now & you always pass it over in favour of something that you feel better reflects your current standard of making?  Or let’s face it, tastes change & it is no longer flavour of the month….

It seemed appropriate to have a think about this conundrum because I guess that I might not be the only one who faces this challenge.  Yep, I have things in my cupboard & wardrobe that I made yet don’t wear (except maybe for me made months just to ring the changes a bit).  This being Zoe’s blog, queen of refashioning & repurposing, it felt like something to ponder & spring into action with some ideas.   

So, I have taken the three items above & given them a new lease of life.  Many of you are experts in refashioning, but being one who practises this infrequently, this has stretched me in new charming ways....

Easiest to tackle for a newbie, a dress in swoon-inducing fabric but being a good 10+ years old is far too short & has no hem left to let down (it must have been quite a short original style!)

I remember choosing this fabric & being totally head over heels in love with it.  It's got such a great drape & the colours!!  Zing! However, I suppose it could be worn as a tunic with leggings, but I don't do this much.  The dress still fits like a dream, so I don’t need to make any alterations.  All I did was to cut off a chunk from the bottom & re-hem at a hip length.  The back zip is still operational & I know I will get exponentially more use out of this in its new guise.

Second up, a dress with cute fabric but even though it fits, it’s just not doing it for me.  With the full skirt I know I can remake it into something by unpicking it & harvesting the zip.  I’ve taken my current fave, Simplicity 2154 & made it preppy.  I didn’t have enough fabric for anything more than the bodice, but that’s OK, I just found an old cotton sheet to use for the collar & bow.  Facings in this pattern are made from bias strips, or in this instance just some bias binding I already had.  

 

Another success, which I can imagine wearing both at work & dressed down with black jeans.  But what about the original dress’s bodice?  Not being one to waste it, I had an idea.  How about something practical?  I sewed up the centre back seam. Made the bodice & lining into a bag & sewed up most of the armholes to create ....

A peg bag!  Having a clothes hanger on hand I was able to work out the gap needed to secure it & sewed away.  To make the most of such a practical everyday item embellishment was in order with a lace collar & some buttons.  What do you think?

And last but by no means least.  That jumper.  It’s a classic 80s body-engulfing but exceedingly warm number.  It’s huge. It was knitted by Mum & it would have taken ages – I think the intricate knitting is what’s described as entrelac.  Do you understand that neither she nor I feel the urge to wear it now?  So with agreement by its creator and a spell under my overlocker later it is now rather a kooky cushion for my lounge...

You can see some velvet ribbon I used to tie up the edges just so that it is potentially removable.  I had trepidations about cutting through a hand knitted jumper – how quickly would it unravel?  Would it sew strong & straight?  Hopefully I can reassure you that it was easy – I literally secured the stitching line with pins (but you could always baste if worried) & stuck it under my overlocker.  The seams appear to be robust & are taking the strain of a cushion (& the cat sitting on it).  

What about the sleeves? A bit of chopping, reattaching a hem here & there & re-seaming later I have ...

What used to be called legwarmers in the 80s.

But now I think are referred to as boot toppers just to rid of that Flashdance/ Kids from Fame legacy.  Cosy!

Thank you Zoe for asking me over as I probably would have taken so much longer to get around to starting any of these - & the best bit?  I know I love them all & will get plenty of wear from them, even more so because they are much-loveds.