Tag: wool

A Pendleton Wool Jacket

emilyWools2 Comments
a woman stands, showing off her Pendleton wool jacket.

Here’s what I made with the Pendleton fabric I bought in Portland last year. This pricey wool was intimidating to cut into. After mulling it over for a year, I went for it with the Tessuti Tokyo Jacket. I did not have a lot of wiggle room with yardage, so I had to be picky about where I pattern-matched.

I added some length to the jacket so I could add a more generous hem (2″), and omitted the pockets. I hand-sewed the hem and the inner neckband. Because the fabric is so thick and dense, it was easy to hide the stitches on the right side–I can’t see them at all!

a woman shows the inside of a handmade wool jacket.

I used a bit of this fabric to make my belt bag last year. While sewing it, I noticed this material is prone to unraveling. To ensure the integrity of these jacket seams, I used a combination of french seams and Hong Kong seams. When I sewed this pattern in the past, it was very challenging to sew the french underarm seam’s sharp curve. Knowing this fabric is much thicker than silk, I used Hong Kong seams instead. I thought it would be a fun color pop to use the same finish on the center back seam. I went Bold with the bias tape, because 1. that’s what I had and 2. I think the unexpected pop of sea foam green brightens up the dark print.

the back view of a woman wearing a Pendleton wool jacket.

Belt Bag

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Here’s something a little different: A belt bag (or by its pattern name, the Fennel Fanny Pack). I spotted this pattern at Rhinbeck on my friend Kiyomi. It looked so good on her that she inspired me to make my own version. I used a little bit of the Pendleton wool I bought in Portland (and still have enough to make something else!!), and lined it with some yellow linen scraps. I spent around $20 on notions at Pacific Trimming, since I was picky about the zippers and buckle.

a woman models a handmade fanny pack.

I must say the pattern is pretty steep at $14. I appreciated how the DIY pattern pieces saved paper, but I wish I had a visual reference for how to orient the zippers once the pieces were ready to be sewn together. My front zipper doesn’t close at the same side as the main one. I had to seam rip this more times than I’d like to admit, and by the time I realized the front zipper was backwards I was not willing to do more surgery. The pattern does mention that you have to be mindful of the zipper placement, but I think an illustration would help reinforce this.

Finishing the interior seams with such thick fabric was beastly until I remembered that double-wide bias tape is accurately named—switching to it helped things tremendously. Despite my complaints about its construction, I really like this bag. I’m not quite sure I can pull it off, but I am trying!

a closeup of a pendleton wool fanny pack.

Bonus: here’s a cute lil’ gif of me unzipping the fanny pack:

a gif of a woman unzipping a handmade fanny pack.

In Praise of Color-Coordinated Outerwear

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Coordinated but not matchy-matchy.

I went to my first Rhinebeck this past fall. I was so overwhelmed by the enormous selection of yarn that I did not buy very much. I focused on absorbing the good vibes, learning about the different breeds of sheep and ogling all of the beautiful knitwear. I did end up purchasing 2 skeins of Weekend Wool from Green Mountain Spinnery. The bright Blue Lake color sang to me in the booth, and I decided to buy 2 skeins. I am trying to purchase yarn and fabric more mindfully, but at the same time I wanted some wool to commemorate my first Rhinebeck.

This wool has become a hat! I used Emily Greene’s Link pattern from Brooklyn Tweed, and I love it. I am not usually the fastest knitter, but once I got past the ribbing I couldn’t stop knitting– I think I finished the cabling in 3 days. I topped it off with a pom! I do not have a pom-pom maker, instead I used the 2 cardboard C’s technique. Easy, free and fast!

Sexxy cables!

As I was making it, I wondered how I would incorporate this bright color into my existing cold weather gear rotation. At this point, I remembered my long-neglected Endpaper mitts, languishing in the back of my closet, unworn for years. The bright blue I used for the colorwork would match-but-not-match exactly the way I like. The one problem was I did not like how the gloves had stretched out at the finger ribbing. I wore them to my knitting meetup to try to get over it, and complained about this issue. The group wisely suggested I rip out the ribbing and redo it. Duh! I made the ribbing longer so I could double it over for extra warmth, and to hopefully cause less stretching out.

Endpaper-y goodness.

I am very happy that in making my new hat, I have resurrected my gloves. What a great February pick me up!

Fumeterre Skirt

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I finally got around to making a Fumeterre skirt from Deer and Doe. I have almost made it so many times, but whenever I felt the urge, I didn’t want to wait for the pattern to ship from France. So a couple of weeks ago, when I got their email newsletter announcing this skirt among their newly available PDF patterns, I jumped on it!

I got this VERY fancy wool-bamboo houndstooth from B&J Fabrics. Its my second most expensive fabric I’ve ever purchased, EEEP. I used faux-leather piping for the pockets, and I am particularly happy with my zipper fly. The back elastic seemed superfluous when I was adding it in, but it really helps to keep up the skirt without digging in to my waist too much. I did hong kong seams and wow did they take forever. It looks really nice, though!

I didn’t make any adjustments to the pattern, I am 5′6″ and its floor length in flats. I wore it to work for a party last week, and I had to hoist it up as I walked since it dragged on the ground a bit. The fabric is so dreamy and drapey, and it’s very fun to wear. I will definitely make this again in a warm-weather fabric this spring.

Carbeth Cardigan

emilyWools3 Comments

I broke a personal record last month when I knitted a sweater start to finish in 15 days! I am not sure what exactly came over me but I worked on it during every free moment over those 2 weeks. This is the Carbeth Cardigan, which I’ve been eyeing up for months on Ravelry. I made the second size using worsted weight Purl Soho Good Wool held double. The yarn weight definitely contributed to my speed to the finish, but I am still so surprised and proud of myself. The sad part is I haven’t been able to wear it! Its been so hot here, but today we had some relief with a 70 degree day, so I put it on and Jacob snapped some lovely photos.

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I got the buttons at Pacific Trimming in the Garment District. I can’t wait till it gets cooler and I can start to jughz this cardigan into my wardrobe! I have been wanting a basic cardigan like this for ever.

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I highly recommend this pattern, the instructions are very good and the finishing techniques are just lovely, the sweater is beautiful inside and out, I especially love the foldover collar and the button bands.

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Rigel Bomber Jacket!

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I finally joined the Rigel Bomber Jacket club! I bought the supplies to make this in the fall, but other projects took priority, so this sat in my sewing room, cut out and ready to sew, for several months. The gray wool is from the Center For Creative Reuse, the Liberty lining is from The Fabric Store in LA, ribbing is from Mood, and the zipper is from Pacific Trimmings. Wowza!

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I followed Ginger Make’s tutorial to line the jacket, and it was overall pretty easy and definitely worth the effort. I got tripped up with sewing the little tabs at the bottom of the zipper, I ended up slip-stitching that part shut. I am super happy with this jacket, overall, and I can’t wait for it to get chilly so I can take it out for a spin. I am a little worried that its too plain, but I can jazz it up with some enamel pins and a scarf.

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