September 2019 | Mismatched Buttons (A Monthly Journal)

Slow September

After the pressure-sewing of finishing my outfit for Frocktails, my crafting in September was much slower, more measured, more varied and much more relaxing.

Ceramic Pinch Pot Course

To ease back into making, but with a slightly different flavour, September opened with a delightful ceramic pinch pot course for my dear friend, Ruby’s 30th birthday. (You can check out her beautiful sewing and various crafting here: @allknitghtsewing.) This course, run by Janina of @neensmadethis, was a super-fun way to spend a weekend afternoon. Janina runs two different courses—one with a speckled clay that she partially glazes with a white glaze and one using a black clay. For this workshop we used the speckled clay. I wish I had taken more in-progress photos, but as you can imagine, a pair of hands covered in clay doesn’t make for easy photography.

As usually in these situations, I flapped and flubbed my way through it. By two thirds of the way through, I couldn’t get anything to work and had resigned myself that I was going to come away with nothing, when things fell suddenly and marvelously into place.

I finished two pleasingly-formed vases that I was completely besotted with, handed them back over to Janina for drying, bisque firing, glazing and firing again (convinced—ever the pessimist—that they weren’t structurally sound enough to survive these processes) and, a few weeks later, picked these two little beauties up from Ruby.

Retreat to the Castle (Castlepoint, that is)

So nice, I did it twice, this was the second sewing retreat I’ve been on and I really hope it becomes an annual event. It was lovely to get away for a weekend for some serious relaxing with like-minded crafty folks. Emma of @emmas_atelier expertly coordinated seven sewists for two nights at Castlepoint—a small, beach-side community in New Zealand’s Wairarapa.

This bach was perfect for us, easily accommodating seven people, seven sewing machines, no fewer than three overlockers, and projects and craft-baskets/bags/boxes galore, and we still had a commodious space to sit and relax in with beautiful views overlooking the beach and sea.

On route to Castlepoint, Kirsten, Ruby and I took the opportunity to stop in Greytown to visit Miss Maude’s newly-established bricks-and-mortar shop.

This was such a magical experience! I’ve long been an online customer of Miss Maude, spending far too many hours pouring over her luscious, moodily-toned website. To visit her shop was to step into her website made three-dimensional.

The Odd Fellows Hall signage offers a charmingly-idiosyncratic entrance for this shop of high-quality fabric and haberdashery, all set off with black-painted fittings and fixtures.

I was comprehensively overwhelmed, at once wanting everything and not able to decide on anything. In the end I opted for some buttons that perfectly matched the fabric I’d brought on the retreat with me, and a metre of jaunty, striped yellow and white jersey, and it was such fun when Kirsten and Ruby, in turn, decided they’d like some too, promising some excellent matching tees for the future.

For the retreat I had decided to bring some long-stashed Green Smoke mid-weight linen from The Fabric Store, from which to cut and (if I was quick enough) sew a Kalle Shirt (by Closet Case Patterns) and a Wiksten Jacket (by Wiksten). I made good headway on my Kalle Shirt but, although I got it cut out, no headway at all on my Wiksten.

Our couple of days were spent in chat, relaxing, eating, reading, walking and, of course, sewing. It was blissful.

Green Smoke Kalle

The only sewing project I finished in September was completing the Kalle Shirt I started while on our sewing retreat. I’ve been wanting to make a second Kalle since finishing my mid-winter, sunshine-Kalle a couple of months previously.

For this Kalle, I used some long-stashed Green Smoke mid-weight linen from The Fabric Store. This colour truly is something special: somewhere between a green and a blue with the beautiful, shifting qualities of smoke.

As with my first Kalle, I made a version A—the cropped length—size 12 with a band collar, hidden button placket and inverted pleat. I also used my cropped back modification from my last Kalle. And this shirt has gotten so much wear since I finished it. Although I am besotted with my first version, this second version has a much higher versatility. The colour pairs gorgeously with so many garments in my wardrobe, particularly my Teak duck cotton canvas Persephone Pants, which became close to a uniform for my last term of teaching this year.

As for the design this is such a great-looking shirt pattern that offers so many options. I definitely plan to make more of these, and next up will be another linen one, this time in bone and with my first foray into real collar territory. And for summer? Maybe a tunic length in some flowing something something is on the horizon…

Thanks for reading along! October’s making escapades coming right up!