the crafty traveller: July 2014

Thursday, 31 July 2014

Crafty | Brocade Trews | 11/2013/110A

HUZZAH!!

Now for something completely different... some trousers! Slacks don't get worn much in Crafty Traveller land (no reason other than I feel more 'me' in skirts), but that's not to say I don't like them. In particular, last autumn's trend for brocade trousers tickled my fancy quite considerably.

Burda describes these trousers (11/2013/110A) as being a “straight legged shape [which] looks good with a variety of tops”. It’s a simple style – fly front, side pockets, straight legs, cuffs. Made up in a brocade, they look quite smart. The length of the leg is cropped (tide out as we’d say in NZ) and actually looks alright in reality.

The fit was good for me – I always find Burda good – the only problem being that I made these in more of an aspirational size rather than my actual size. This was because of fabric shortages more than anything – I promise!

This fabric was purchased on my trip to NZ back in January/February. It was exactly what I was looking for, but they had very little left. I purchased the last 1.5 metres, and it is only 110 cm wide, so things were tight from the get go. I actually ended up cutting it on the cross grain as I had to fold the fabric in half along the long (cut) edge and pretend that the short edge was the selvedge. It worked fine, notably because it was perfectly perpendicular to the straight grain and because of the nature of the fabric (a tight weave).

The material is weird. The gold bits are actually metal, and it kind of stinks. I have NO IDEA how I will wash these trousers. The stuff also frayed like billy-o so as soon as the pieces were cut out I used Mum’s overlocker (I was still at home at that point) to serge all of the raw edges.

Returned to the UK, sewed them up, tried them on and realised they were a tad too small in the puku region. (Puku means tummy in maori – there is a really cool children’s book about a little boy with a big puku and his friend Moata Moa: Pukunui ). As a result, there are puckers around the top of the legs/c.r.o.t.c.h area due to insufficient ease.

I really liked the crisp finish to the trousers sewn/shown by Burda, but this fabric (and the metal in it) just does not stay pressed. So, to get the look I wanted, I sewed centre seams down the front and back of each leg.

I am happy with how they turned out, and will be even more happy once they fit a bit more comfortably!

Friday, 18 July 2014

Travel | T in the Park, Wind Farm & the Pentlands

These are some of the reasons I love living in Scotland: renewable energy (which makes me feel secure), beautiful scenery and taxing walks within 30 minutes drive and festivals. What's not to love? Only the distance to NZ.

Whitelee

Pentlands, south of Edinburgh

Kasabian, T in the Park

Blue sky, T in the Park

Bastille, T in the Park

Cracking strength, balance and viewing spot, T in the Park

Paul Weller, T in the Park

Artic Monkeys, T in the Park

Thursday, 10 July 2014

Sewing | A Parisian Dream | Vogue 1102, 2960 + Mrs CT patterns

In December 2012, I bought some cotton/spandex material from the Goldhawk Road. I had no plans to get material for a dress when I went down there, but I just couldn't pass it up - it was lust at first sight! A wee while later, I saw a lady on the train to Glasgow wearing a trenchcoat from this same material, but my mind had already been set on a dress with a fitted bodice, boat neck and full skirt. I had originally planned on the back being two triangles that closed at the top with a button, with a big triangle of exposed flesh below the centre-back, but then I thought about suntan lines.... and reverted to something more normal. I used a couple of patterns - Vogue 2960 for the back and Vogue 1102 for the front.

The back consists of two sides exactly the same, other than there being loops for buttons on one side and buttons with an underlap on the other.

The skirt is simply two rectangles sewn together, with a series of box and knife pleats. The box pleat at centre back is only sewn on one half - the other half is closed via a dome at the (underside) edge of the pleat. If I'm splitting hairs, I think that the back straps would be better if they were slightly longer/if the dip of the bodice was slightly lower - it would be more flattering if it didn't end at my widest point (exacerbated in the photo above where I'm doing something odd with my shoulders and arms, but it was the only good one of the back). Objectively though, I'm not bothered by it at all - I've been wearing this with a black cardigan to work anyway.