My Minerva Crafts sponsored make for February is this luxurious faux fur gilet. If you want to read the full article, things have changed slightly and you need to click on the link below which will take you directly to it on the Bloggers Network: –
https://www.minervacrafts.com/blogger-network/post/faux-fur-gilet
Let me know if it works and don’t forget to come back here and tell me what you think of it:)
(By the way – WordPress has just informed me that this is my 200th post!)
Time for another Sunday Sevens as organized by Nat over at Threads & Bobbins – seven(ish!) photos of your week outside the blog.
Well, I haven’t even turned the computer on this week and have a lot of blog reading to catch up on. Here’s my (very busy) week in pictures.
2. The Hens have started laying again after the Winter. They give us an abundance of different coloured eggs which get very dirty this time of year!
3. A lovely reader very kindly sent me a photo of her wearing the bobble hat that her mother knitted after seeing it on the blog. Hi Claire – love the cream Toft pompom!
4. No.1 Son agreed to pose for a photo in his hat (which he has actually worn a lot already!).
5. I made a pair of wristwarmers to match the bobble hat that I made for a friend’s birthday at the weekend.
6. Here is said friend – we took her out for a meal at Summer Lodge in Evershot.
7. The selection of 27 local cheeses was incredible!
8. Went to Wells farmer’s market with Mr H-L who is off work at the moment with stress. Days out were prescribed by the doctor, so this was our first one.
9. The hot mulled cider helped a lot as we wandered around!
10. A lovely few hours were spent in the Bishop’s Palace afterwards.
11. This is the Long Gallery inside.
12. We stopped in at Wells Reclamation on the way home.
13. Bad Hair Day at school in aid of Great Ormond Street Hospital.
14. We stayed overnight at Holbrook House Hotel just a mile away for Valentine’s weekend while No.1 Son looked after The Boys.
15. 5 course meal with champagne!
16. This was our suite of rooms – very nice (but not quite Summer Lodge!).
17. Breakfast Sunday morning before going back home to spend the day with The Boys.
Sorry it’s a bit of a rushed post but I was due somewhere else five minutes ago!
In the West Country the weather was awful this week and both the Saturday and Sunday football matches were cancelled. The dogs refused to set foot outside the front door and No. 2 Son didn’t want to go to the stables either which meant we had a rare weekend with both of The Boys and Mr H-L at home. This gave us the opportunity to do indoor ‘stuff’ (which doesn’t include technology) and I didn’t even turn my computer on – a reasonable excuse for my Sunday Sevens being late!
Hop over to Threads & Bobbins to see what Sunday Sevens is all about and how you can join in if you want to.
2. Mr H-L and No.1 Son worked from home a couple of days this week and this is what I rustled up for them at lunchtime. No wonder they’d rather not go into the office!
3. I spotted these beautiful crocuses (not ‘croci’ as it’s not derived from Latin!) on a dog walk at the beginning of the week before the dogs vetoed any further walks.
4. The dogs hate the wind and rain so much and this photo says it all really. Fifi climbed up onto the hearth and stared at us until Mr H-L obliged her by lighting the fire!
5. I managed to finish this month’s project for the Minerva Craft Blogger Network -a fur gilet with gold Paisley lining. A full blog post will follow next week.
6. I adapted the bobble hat pattern to make a beanie for No.1 Son in his requested colour, Olive Green. One row of cables was dispensed with so the hat was less pointed and more rounded like a beanie should be.
7. I was given this set of notebooks for Christmas, but they are so lovely I can’t bear to use them! They each feature a different vintage McCall’s pattern envelope on the front and back covers.
8. The inside pages are all different, too, some printed with paper pattern excerpts.
9. Yet another bobble hat was cast on, this time in navy blue for a birthday present for a good friend. Navy is NOT a great colour to knit with in the evening.
10. How do you get from a skein of wool to a yarn cake?
11. With a swift and yarn winder, of course! I treated myself to this quality wooden swift a couple of weeks ago to give Mr. H-L’s arms a break. 
12. The yarn winder was a Christmas present and, between them, they make short work of a previously tedious job.
13. I’m still managing to squeeze in a few rows here and there on the scarf to match my pink bobble hat which I made to match my Raspberry Pink boots:)
That’s all folks! Are you more productive in the Winter because of the enforced staying-in?
The other day I was browsing through the latest Love Sewing magazine after it obligingly popped through the letter box whilst The Boys were at football, meaning I could actually sit down for five minutes and read it without interruption.
The cover featured an inset photo with the model wearing a keyhole neck tunic which I rather liked the look of – not in mustard though, I can’t wear mustard.
After a quick glance at the line drawings, I thought I’d give it a go. Not being blessed with model-esque proportions myself, I don’t trust the photographs as I know it’ll never look like that on me!
I remembered some fabric that I had recently been given from a friend who was clearing out her studio which would be perfect for this top.
There were about four metres of thin, loosely woven cotton fabric which, according to the selvedge, was vintage Rose & Hubble.
The top came together pretty quickly and very easily. The neck keyhole opening was simply turned back twice to provide a narrow hem.
I narrow hemmed the bottom of the top, too, as it was such fine cotton.
I made some bias binding for the neck edge.
The pattern called for a continuous strip of binding around the front and back leaving a ‘keyhole’ neckline, but I fancied having ties at the front instead so extended the binding length accordingly.
The finished tunic fits my dressform pretty well. You can’t see the pleats because of the patterned fabric but you CAN see how low the front opening is!!
Sure enough, when I put it on, far too much cleavage was displayed. I do like how the front pleats are stitched down and draw the fabric in underneath the bust though, to stop the top hanging like a shapeless sack.
A vest top will definitely have to be worn underneath, which is a bit of a shame.
The shawl that Tajana made for me on a gift exchange (blogged about here) matches the blue in the tunic perfectly so, with a cardigan, it can be worn in the Winter too.
I’m not really a dark blue kind of person, but the shade is more Cobalt and is lifted by spots of red, white, yellow and green, so it feels quite cheerful and bright. The blue scarf stops the black cardigan from looking too gloomy, too, as I don’t like black next to my (almost) black hair.
Has anyone else made this top? What did you think of it?
Another Sunday, another Sunday Sevens, as dreamed up by Nat at Threads & Bobbins – click on the link to find out how you can join in.
2. It’s my own design so I’ll share the pattern if anyone’s interested.
3. More yarn arrived in the post, this time with two faux fur pom poms which are OK but nothing like as fabulous as the real fur ones from Toft. At just £2.95 for two though, they are good value compared to £8 each for the Toft ones.
4. Brown bobble hat (as requested by my daughter) already finished!
5. Beanie well underway for No.1 Son in his choice of olive green.
6. We had haggis for Burn’s night. It never looks particularly attractive but we love it the traditional way with neeps and tatties.
7. Saw lots of snowdrops in full bloom whilst walking the dogs.
8. Managed to grab this rubbish photo on my ‘phone of a kestrel that likes to perch on the shed roof. We get loads of birds of prey in the garden as we back onto open farmland – you should see the size of the buzzards!!
9. My son’s not the only one with an eye for a bargain – I snapped up this pretty little cabinet in a charity shop for £30. It’s going to house some of my vintage china.
10. The local parish magazine did an article on ‘entrepreneurs’ and invited me to put a piece together about my sewing school.
11. The Boys have progressed to jumping. Freddy’s little pony thinks he’s a show jumper and clears the tiny jumps with a foot to spare!
12. Bertie’s larger pony doesn’t put in quite so much effort.
That’s it for this week – I’d better get in the shower now before the Tesco delivery arrives. No doubt there will be a knock on the door just as I get in…
We live in a lovely little village, not quite a hamlet because, by definition, a hamlet doesn’t have a church.
We have a church. And a village hall. Nothing else.
The pub is a twenty minute walk away in the next village which is great in the Summer. Not so on a cold, wet Winter’s evening when you fancy a pint.
I digress. The point is, being a small community of just 91 dwellings, people are friendly and generous and generally get on rather well. (Remember those flowers?)
A few weeks back, I had an email from an artist living in The Old Stables asking me if I would like first dibs on some textile-y things as she was having a clear out of her studio. Of course, I jumped at the chance and popped round that afternoon to have a look. I ended up coming home with a car load of stuff from fabric remnants a few yards long to tiny 4″ squares of silk oddments.
After being quite strict with myself, I kept only what I knew I would definitely use and, with her permission, bagged up the remainder for the charity shop.
There was also a bin liner stuffed to the brim with feather cushion pads which is where I made a start.
No.1 Son is now twenty-three, has his first post-graduate job and is saving hard for a deposit for his own house. He is also amassing quite a ‘bottom drawer’ in readiness for his new home, the most recent being this cute little Edwardian armchair from eBay.
Anyway, amongst the things I found when rooting through the stash of goodies I had been given, was a square of fabric from Anthropologie. Possibly a (very large) napkin in its original incarnation, it was unused with the store tag still attached.
A little bit too ethnic for my taste, I asked said son if he liked it and would he like me to make him a cushion cover from it. Having received a ‘yes’ on both counts, I set to.
There was a small carrier bag full of bits of top quality wool tweed in several shades of grey which were pretty useless on their own, but which I could see (!) would piece together to make a nice back to the cushion.
See? They go together quite well.
I patchworked some strips together until I had a square measuring 20″, the same as the front.
Then, because it still looked exactly like what it was – scraps of fabric sewn together – I added some detail in the form of turquoise top stitching along all the seams.
It was still a bit ‘functional’ so I thought a few appliquéd swirls wouldn’t go amiss.
And a few more….
There, that’s enough. Now it looks more like a piece of textile art than leftovers!
Using some turquoise linen (left over from this dress), I covered some piping cord in a shade that would pick out the blue in the Anthropologie napkin. See, there was a reason for choosing turquoise?!
Piping was basted on first…
…then a random zip from my collection was inserted.
The zip was too long so I shortened it by sewing a new ‘stop’.
Sew round the remaining three sides, turn inside out and – TADAH!
A tip is to make the cushion cover slightly smaller than the size of the feather insert, then it stays nice and plump like this.
The turquoise piping ties the front in with the back.
Actually, there’s not really a front or back as both sides are deserving of top spot!
I thought it looked quite at home in our lounge and said as much – at which point it was “Thanks, Mum” and whisked off to No.1 Son’s bedroom before I got too attached to it!
Sunday Sevens is a weekly blog series devised by Nat at Threads & Bobbins whereby you share seven photos of your week. It’s a great way to keep blogging when you don’t have enough for a full blog post and we all get to know a bit more about the person behind the blog. Simple!
2. This gorgeous bouquet arrived “on behalf of all your friends in North Cheriton” – how lovely?
3. Home alone for lunch, this is my favourite way to use up ripe avocados.
4. Three down, two to go……it seems that everyone now wants a pom pom hat!
5. I WILL make time to transform this fabulous Alpaco/Silk laceweight yarn into a Summer cardigan in time for Spain in May.
This is the pattern I’m using which you can download for free at Artesano.
6. Mr H-L and I went for a pub lunch in The Nog Inn, Wincanton. The dogs instantly curled up in front of the wood burner. I made Mr H-L put his lovely wool coat on the flagstones for them to lie on:)
7. These camouflage trousers are a sample to show my eight year old boys what they will be making after they finish their back packs. Do you think flap pockets are a bit ambitious for a second-ever sewing project? That’s the great thing about kids – if you tell them they can do it, they believe you and just get on with it!
8. You haven’t seen one for a while, so here’s a typical lesson underway. There are usually four in each class, but sickness has claimed a few recently.
9. Saturday morning and these two landed on the doormat! Time for a break.
10. Brunch this morning. Don’t even think about mentioning the rights or wrongs of wine before midday. And who has heard the latest about black pudding being considered a superfood? Yay, recognition at last!
So, I’ve long time held this vision of a bottle green, crushed velvet coat with a dark red lining – as you do.
When you want something that specific you just have to make it yourself because there’s no way you’re going to find it RTW, unless you make a lucky discovery in a charity shop. Then, by the time you’ve paid ‘vintage’ prices, had it dry cleaned to remove all traces of mothballs and replaced buttons/repaired worn lining, it’s probably cheaper to make your own anyway!
This is the absolutely gorgeous crushed velvet that I chose from Minerva Crafts….
……and this is the dark red Paisley lining.
Design wise, the closest I could get to what I had in mind was Burda 6845, although I planned version A with a length somewhere between the two at just below knee length.
Three large and six small bronzed horse head buttons would match perfectly.
Order placed, a few days later this little lot arrived from Vicki (thanks Vicki!).
As I had been quite uncompromising in my choice of fabric, there were a couple of design issues I had to overcome to make this coat work, not least the fact that the pattern called for non-stretch wool fabrics.
Mine was crushed velour with a one-way stretch. And a definite nap.
Luckily, the stretch was widthways against the grain, which meant that the stretch would go around the body and not down the length – perfect. The pattern pieces could therefore be laid out as instructed. I was careful to double check that the nap went downward on all pieces, too.
I also had to use interfacing for stretch fabrics instead of the standard kind.
After checking all the sizing information, I started by altering the pattern pieces to fit, namely, the length – a 2″ shortening in the torso and a 4″ reduction in overall length.
Let the sewing commence!
*Warning: the nature of the crushed velour ensured that no two photos show the true colour. Trust me when I tell you it’s fabulous.
The first interesting bit came in the form of welt-and-flap pockets. Great fun! If you haven’t tried them before – do it!
Just look at that lining!
Admittedly, the inside isn’t so pretty, but that will all be hidden under the lining and forgotten forever.
There are no side seams on this coat, but a panel that connects the fronts to the back and sort of wraps around the entire side. Nice.
Main body done, now for the sleeves.
Invisible hand stitching holds the collar in place once you’ve found the roll line and pinned it accurately.
By the way, if invisible stitching isn’t your forté, any clumsy stitches are hidden in the pile of this lovely velour.
Sleeves went in slightly differently due to the seams being constructed in the wrong order – a printing error on the instructions.
For those of you (and I suspect there are many) that have suffered from a lifelong fear of shoulder pads since the power dressing of the Eighties, snap out of it now!
Look at the difference well placed shoulder pads make to the shape of the garment.
No shoulder pads….
….with shoulder pads.
There, consider yourself cured. (You’re welcome).
I was slightly disappointed to find that, having gone to the trouble of making faultless vented sleeve cuffs, they were fakes and no buttonholes were required. The buttons were just stitched on through all layers (once the lining was completed).
I know, I could have made buttonholes regardless of the instructions, but I didn’t.
Do you like the buttons? They’re a nod to country living and the fact that The Boys are so into horses.
Hmmm, it needs to be about a foot shorter, but I’ll deal with that later.
Lovely husband kept me fed and watered (or should that be ‘wine-d’?)at regular intervals over the weekend.
As the lining takes shape it starts to look a bit like a fancy nightie or evening dress.
A dressing gown, even.
View of the back showing the pleats in three places down the length. Always a nice touch in linings, it provides a bit of breathing space and ensures you don’t rip the lining when moving.
The back vent, front facings and hems are handstitched, again, invisibly.
I tend to favour a herringbone stitch here.
Time to insert the lining which is machined around the front opening edges and sewn by hand the rest of the way.
Just look at that brilliant colour contrast!
The lining hems (sleeves, too) all had the usual little overhanging fold for ease of movement which was good to see in the pattern instructions.
My machine can do fully automatic buttonholes which makes life easier.
I always do some test buttonholes in contrasting thread on offcuts before I go onto the real thing.
There – perfect!
And finally……TADAH!
I ended up cutting off another eight inches to get the length I wanted.
Oops – these were taken before I pressed the hemline:)
My husband likens it to a smoking jacket with that fabulous red Paisley lining!
I like it because one minute you present a sensible image in the very British Racing/Bottle Green but, with a flash of the lining, you’re a scarlet woman!
So, in summation: –
Fabrics = Faultless. Beautiful. Striking.
Pattern – to be honest, unless you are an ‘advanced’ seamstress as the envelope indicates, I wouldn’t recommend it.
Why?
Having said all that, it’s a great coat, the design is just what I was looking for and the finishing touches are good.
It’s nice and warm,too, but I still had to don a scarf and gloves for a few outside photos as it was bloomin’ freezing!
The hens insisted on getting in on the act, as usual.
And there’s the cheeky flash of red!
I love the Paisley so much that I’ve already got some more in the gold colourway to use in my next project – here’s a sneaky preview!
The moral of the story is to go for it. Just because a pattern suggests a certain type of fabric doesn’t mean that you can’t make something else work with a bit of careful thought.
And as for the mantra “red and green should never be seen without a colour in between” – pfft!
Sunday Sevens is a weekly blog series started by Nat from Threads & Bobbins. Why not pop over and see how you can join in?
Guess I’ll have to buy a darning mushroom:(
2. We had some late Christmas presents in the post all the way from America (thanks Robin!) – The Boys were thrilled as you can see from their expressions.
3. This beautiful pheasant has decided it’s safer in our garden than in the fields beyond. I managed to snap it on my iPhone on full zoom, hence the poor quality.
4. I’ve started another bobble hat for a cousin who saw it on Facebook and fancied a pink one.
5. Mr H-L’s father died on Friday. He waited until we popped out for lunch and we got the call whilst we were eating pudding. We toasted his memory with a glass of his favourite whisky.
6. I’ve got a bit behind with my sewing so spent all weekend up in my sewing room trying to catch up. It’s good therapy, too.
7. No, it’s not a dress, it’s the lining to my new green velvet coat!
8. Mr H-L has been keeping me supplied with refreshments. Not sure that red wine, Pringles and sewing are a good combination…
9. The hens decided that it was far nicer to be inside than wading around in acres of mud outside. They loathe the wind and rain and, if the door is left open for a millisecond, they’ll sneak in.
10. The dogs detest aren’t that keen on sharing their food with the girls so, as soon as they see a hen in the house, they race to their bowls and down the lot as fast as they can.
Sometimes not fast enough.
Right, back to the sewing room for me – just the hem and buttonholes to do!
I’m not sure when I first noticed the trend for hand-knitted bobble hats with a fur pom pom, last Winter I think, but I know I was grateful for its return.
As any child of the Seventies will attest, the bobble hat was a staple of our Winter wardrobe and was invariably knitted by Grandma whilst we made the pom pom ourselves the traditional way – with two polo-shaped cardboard circles.
Looking back at this vintage 70s pattern (above), why do I think the models look embarrassingly outmoded compared to the same style today (below)? I mean, the yellow cable hat is virtually identical in both photos and yet, somehow, the models look ‘cool’ in the modern photograph.
No doubt we’ll look back in another forty years and laugh but, for now, I embrace the return of the bobble hat.
The hat I had in mind had to be cable, which meant it had to be a knitting pattern rather than crochet, and it had to be written for Aran weight yarn because I had a huge ball left over from a jumper project.
So, having Googled and Pinterest-ed my way through hundreds of bobble hat patterns, I decided on the one above which is a free pattern on the Debbie Bliss website.
Sometimes I work straight from the digital pattern on my iPad but, in this case, I printed it out as it was only one A4 page long.
The tweedy yarn was Stylecraft Special Aran With 20% Wool in ‘Oatmeal’ which is a neutral, goes-with-anything shade of beige.
I chose an Alpaca fur pom pom from Toft in ‘Stone’ to match, rather than contrast with, the hat. It’s the lightest, softest pom pom you could ever imagine!
I gave you a sneak preview in my #sundaysevens post, but here it is again under construction.
The pattern called for straight 5mm needles which meant a seam would be necessary – I remembered to reverse the seam for the part of the ribbing that would fold back and be on show!
Can you knit cable in the round on a pair of circulars? I don’t know.
Anyway, before seaming I would normally block my knitting but this time I hesitated as I like the raised texture of the cables and thought blocking might flatten them to a degree.
I asked No.2 Son to model it for me so I could see what it looked like on the head without having been blocked.
I like it – so it’s staying unblocked:)
Ready for some photos?
Just look at the size of that pom pom!
I love the band of wide 2×2 ribbing.
The cables are suitably reminiscent of the 70s when they were the height of fashion and the fur pom pom brings it bang up to date.
A quick ruffle through with the fingers and all signs of hat-hair are banished!
Yup, this is a new favourite and I can see myself making several more in different colours to go with different outfits.
Has anyone else succumbed to the lure of the pom pom bobble hat recently?
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