Spring Back into Action: Plantain Tee, Gertie Sews Vintage Casual Pencil Skirt and Vogue 1959 Rose(less) Cardigan

Hi folks,

So that ended up being a rather long hibernation! It's been a busy start to the year; I turned 30 and threw a 150^th birthday bash with my parents, who were both turning 60 within weeks of me, and many of my friends are winter babies with significant birthdays too, and last night one of my best friends got married- it seems like it's been non-stop!

However, as usual, while I haven't got around to blogging, I have been sewing. It's been at a bit of a slower pace- and I confess to feeling 'creative withdrawal' at a few points when I hadn't had a good fix or got properly into the sewing zone because of everything that's been going on. I've also been getting to grips with my new overlocker- I love it now but we had a bit of a rocky start to our relationship – in the first few projects I managed to snap the blade going over a pin and break a needle going through too many layers of fabric, as well as fiddling with the settings for ages as the chain seems to have trouble coming off the stitch fingers when you first start sewing. Careful pinning, a more considered sewing pace and lots of tension tests seem to have sorted my problems though, and I'm merrily putting it to work on all my projects.

I've been pretty good so far this year at using up what I have and more or less sticking to the plan I made for myself. This is the very first thing I made with my new overlocker- a Deer and Doe Plantain made with some old jersey from my mum's stash- so it's probably about as old as me! As the jersey is a weird coffee/ nude colour I decided it would be perfect for my first go, as I wasn't sure it'd really be a colour I could wear without looking a bit indecent. However I don't think it's turned out too bad- although I did have to cut the short sleeves and on the cross grain as I didn't have quite enough. The whole thing is constructed with the overlocker except the hems, which I did with my twin needle, and it was attaching the neck binding that made my overlocker blade come a cropper! I find pins essential for accuracy, particularly with fiddly things like bindings, but now I'm a bit more used to how the overlocker works I know to whip them out of the way of the blade in time!

It's not a super-exciting make on its own, so I've snapped it with a previously unblogged Gertie Sews Vintage Casual Pencil Skirt made up in a rockabilly tattoo-print scuba. I made this back in September I think, and it's had plenty of wear- so much so that the hips are starting to pill a bit! I still have a fair bit of this fabric left though so can easily make a replacement if needed. This skirt has become my go-to when I want to make something but don't want to faff with fitting- it's so quick and easy and instantly wearable.

I'm also wearing my birthday present from my mum- a vintage Rose Cardigan pattern from Vogue 1959. The cover art shows the cardigan in a lovely soft pink with embroidered roses which I really like, but I wanted a basic black vintage-style cardigan as a staple, so all the fancy features were dropped. It's got everything I love style-wise though- a nice round neck, nipped-in waist and 3/4 length sleeves, and is semi-fitted to look neat but allow a bit of layering. It's made in snuggly alpaca so has a subtle sheen to it too. In the past my mum has made me some wonderfully quirky novelty design vintage sweaters which I love, and I think she found it hardgoing making something that didn't really stretch her technique-wise and was all in black to boot. Anyway, if you want to read more about how it came together you can find her write-up over on Ravelry, she's Knichet and has a massive showcase of fancy and vintage knitting. 

As the weather has finally picked up a bit I've managed to find enough daylight to photograph a few of the other makes during my 'hibernation period', so I'll be back on the blogging wagon for the foreseeable. Thanks for reading!

NorseOtter xxx