December 2019 | Mismatched Buttons (A Monthly Journal)
(I’m going to try something a little different with these blogs, as I find the depth I’ve been going into each project has been a hindrance to me getting around to writing them. So from now, I’m going to try stick to a general outline of the month and then listing very key details, rather than too much narrative writing. For projects that I think require a little more depth, they’ll be given a separate post in A Self-Covered Button. Right! Let’s see how this works!)
Why Howdy!
Ah, December. For Northern Hemisphere folks, December in the antipodes is very much The End Of The Year. Instead of sensibly having a mid-winter holiday with Christmas (if that’s your bag) and New Year festivities separated off from a summer holiday, we down here like to crunch all that together (finishing the work year, doing all the assorted EOY socialities, Christmas shopping and various festivities planning, travelling to see family, having a summer vacation etc etc etc) into one stressful season, and forego a proper mid-winter break. Seems efficient, huh? [Insert massive eye roll.] December equals the month when everyone is trying to jam everything into the few weeks before Christmas.
In our little family, we decided to go for added complication this year when my partner phoned me from a South Island hospital to say he had taken a tumble from his mountain bike and broken his collarbone. He had rather enjoyed (at some tramadol-influenced level) the rescue helicopter out of the bush, but otherwise, it was a meh start to an already stressful period. However, I’m unequivocally grateful the injury wasn’t worse, and he that was very well covered by our public healthcare system—from the emergency response, to the assorted hospital and GP visits, and ongoingly as he rehabs with physio therapy. Our public healthcare might not be perfect, but that it’s there in moments of crisis is a very profound relief.
Given how much ended up going on in December, I’m really quite amazed at how much I got around to making. So, without further ado…
Wiksten Jacket Refashion
This began life in 2018 in a slightly different form, with some mustard Atelier Brunette double gauze but I didn’t love how the lining and the shell competed with each other. So to a quick refashion, which took over a year to complete! I think the Atelier Brunette will become a shirt in the near future…
Fabric | Green Smoke mid-weight linen from The Fabric Store for the shell and patch-worked taupe cottons from my quilting days.
Pattern | Wiksten Jacket from Wiksten Patterns
Size | My measurements at the time put me at a large and I’m now a medium, I went for a small and it was fine. There’s oodles of ease. Have a looksee at the finished garment measurements if you’re wondering about downsizing
Key modifications | None.
Final word | Wiksten is a good, solid pattern, although I did find edge-stitching the outside of the collar on the machine (first step on page 13) didn’t get the results I was after. I resorted to hand-sewing it with a slip stitch: it gave me the control to get the finish I wanted. While I love the idea of the Wiksten Jacket, I don’t find myself grabbing it very often if I’m going out. This might be a summer thing, and as the weather shifts to autumnal I might find myself wanting its transitional-season weight. It is, however, a really great working-at-my-desk-all-day garment: a nice, comfortable, breathable weight that I’m planning to compliment with some loose-fitting pants and tees. As always, I’m a die-hard fan of The Fabric Store’s linen, and the gorgeous smokey-blue-green colour of Green Smoke is not exception. Love sewing with it, love softening it with wear.
Cult? Squad? Gang? Coven?
Whichever, it requires a matching tee!
Perhaps it was the hint of spring in the air that meant, on a trip to Miss Maude Fabric in Grey Town with Kirsten and Ruby (of @kirstensewsthings and @allknightsewing), all three of us decided what our lives really, really, really needed was matching striped yellow and white tees. So, each of us armed with a metre of this generously wide jersey knit, we went off to create our cult tees, with a future coven meeting in mind…
Fabric | Torpedo Little Stripe jersey knit from Miss Maude Fabrics
Pattern | Astair Tee by French Navy Now
Size | I made a size E, which is where my measurements put me.
Key modifications | I cropped it by 3” and omitted the split-hem and pocket.
Final word | I live in this tee. When it’s in the wash I wish it were dry already, and when I’m wearing it I dread that it will soon need a wash. I plan to make several more of the Astair Tee, maybe trying the split-hem and adding a pocket. With its simple shaping and all-in-one sleeve, I would highly recommend it as a quick-to-make, beginner-friendly pattern. And the fabric is a joy and delight. It’s a lovely weight, and is holding up really well to continual wear—especially continual tucking-into-pants!
Also, how simultaneously awesome and low-key-alarming does the cult look?
Cult tees with Sister Ruby (l) and Sister Kirsten (c)
Pinch-Pot Course
(aka Coven Meet-Up)
Very briefly, Kirsten, Ruby and I, along with a bunch of other excellent humans, gathered again with Janina of @neenmadethis for another of her charming pinch-pot courses. Everyone made such beautiful things out of the black clay Janina provided us.
I made an almighty cluster-cuss of everything I tried over the course of an hour and a half, until what I can only describe as ‘something’ finally came together in the last half-hour. After thinking that nothing would work, I’m delighted to come away with this glorious mushy-looking collapsed vase.
Petal Pouch Teaser
Keep your eyes peeled later in the year for this blog post to drop on Miss Maude’s blog! In the mean time, here’s a sneaky preview…
“It was when I was due to go on a sewing retreat and in a mad flap of last-minute packing that I realised the thing I really, really, really needed was a tools and notions pouch, and the fate of the needlecord was decided. Teamed with some leftover denim from my stash for the outside of the pouch, the needlecord would be the pouch’s lovely, soft insides. While chatting to Emma from Miss Maude about this plan she suggested the Petal Pouch by Anna Graham from Issue 1 of the ever-so-luscious Making Magazine, Flora. And so it begun!”
Blog post for Miss Maude, due autumn 2020
Audrey Denim Jacket, a beginning
And so we arrive at the carry-over project. On the final days of December I toiled up an Audrey Denim Jacket by Seamwork. I’ve had my eye on this jacket since it came out, and can’t wait to take you through to the results … in the next blog post!
