//LINEN TWO PIECE SET-ACULAR

Hi everyone!

May I present to you my VISUALLY LOUD TWO-PIECE.

I was totally enamoured with Sophie’s two piece outfits last year as well as all the fab ones she inspired. So here’s my addition to the Two-Piece Set-Acular club! Better late than never, right?!

Fabric

This fabric is amazing. It’s a thick-ish textured linen-cotton mix from the Fabric Store.  It’s incredibly comfortable to wear and just the right combination of soft and thick. The cotton content has more or less eliminated crinkles.

Then there’s the fabric’s  pattern - which can speak for itself (and in quite a loud voice!). My favourite twin-sets to come out of Sophie’s campaign were the patterned, bright ones. (I made another twin-set a few weeks ago from a plain navy linen but it’s just not as effective - it’s missing some ‘oomph’.) 

I got this particular linen about a month ago in some mail samples for another project, but it wasn’t right for that project. The idea of a twin set recently re-entered my consciousness and, hey presto, it was perfect.

In hindsight  - perfect twin-set fabric . Now all I want is this weight and texture in solid colours .

Pattern matching

I was wary of being swamped by the busy pattern, so from the outset decided to position my pattern symmetrically to add a focal point to the garments . I ensured that I cut each piece of the front and back of the shorts as a mirror image of the other front or back piece – that way when I sewed the pleat in the middle of the culottes it would match! However, had I been concentrating a bit more carefully I would have matched the side seams. I got distracted by the whole mirror image thing and didn’t realise that I could easily have cut the front and back identically so it matched at the sides as well! 

Ahh well, I guess pattern matching does that to you.

Pattern

The top pattern is Grainline Studio’s scout tee. I’ve made heaps of these and haven’t made any major adjustments to the pattern. For this I just cropped it and raised the neckline by 1cm.

The bottoms are a pair of culottes of my own pattern. It’s based on a culottes pattern in Winifred Aldrich’s book Metric Pattern Cutting which turns the skirt block into shorts and adds fullness to the front of the pattern - which is pleated to hide the short legs and make it look like a skirt. I’ve made this pattern a few times over summer and I’m quite fond of it. I’m not much of a shorts girl and culottes are a good compromise for me. I’m still quite unsure whether or not it’s a flattering shape for me but I’ve entered a culottes phase and there’s no turning back!

Sewing

This was lovely fabric to work with. I’ve made both the top and culottes before so whizzed through the sewing of them. I think all up it took me around a day of sewing to put together.

Yay vs nay

Yay

• The fabric! Say no more
• I think my pattern matching/making it symmetric worked well and draws the eye
• I can wear both pieces with other (plain) garments without it looking strange – I can either go full pattern or wear it by halves.

Nay

• There's been no real negatives in my wearing so far!

Wearability

This is a fun outfit to wear!

I lived in it for the first week after I made it, until I realised that the loud nature of the fabric made it pretty obvious to people the frequency I was wearing it! It’s super comfortable, and the fabric holds its shape nicely without being stiff. It is relatively warm given its thickness but it’s a nice fabric to have against the skin - yay for natural fibres!

It is a bit of a change for me to wear such a bold pattern, particularly a whole outfit of it, but I’m finding black and white a good place to start. I’ve just finished another twin-set - a pastel floral number - and I keep visualising what else I can turn into a twin-set from my stash.

Twin-set ideas

I delved deep into the world of twin-sets (and by that I mean Pintrest) when I was looking for ideas re pattern and shape, and here's some of my favourites:

How good is that Kirsten Dunst one?!?
Source: all from Pintrest

So many great ideas!
Source: all from Pintrest

More over on my Pintrest

I'm now scheming about all the different variations I could do - winter, summer, pastel, trimmed, tailored, a blazer - so I guess have the twin-set bug!

//WOOL ALDER DRESS

Hellooo!

This dress has been languishing unworn at the back of my wardrobe since I finished it around 6 weeks ago. Why? Because I’m currently in the midst of 30+ degree days and this dress is made of WOOL. These two variables aren’t particularly well-matched. However, I do like the dress so I’m sure it won’t be long until it gets more use.

When I first spotted this pattern online I was beyond excited. It was completely my style and I’d been half-pie looking for a decent shirtdress pattern for a while. (Don’t you just love when you find a pattern that’s right up your alley?) I set about urgently finding some fabric for it and even spent my lunch break cutting out and cello-taping the pattern together such was my keenness! 

I initially used a cheap navy wool-mix suiting-type fabric but I slowly came to realise this wasn’t the best choice for the gathered version as it was too stiff. I’d also just inherited an unfamiliar sewing machine which was uncooperative in the topstitching and left puckered seams. I couldn’t bring myself to finish it knowing I’d never wear something with such ugly seams.

A month or so after this failure I picked up this wool gauze (I think?) fabric at the Fabric Store’s bi-annual sale and immediately designated it as an Alder. In fairness, there’s probably more appropriate garments for this wool gauze but I had Alders on the mind! Plus, I loved the weight and pattern of the fabric.

Sewing

In terms of sewing, it was fairly straightforward but a bit more time-consuming than most of my sewing projects are. I decided early on that the gauze was on the wrong side of opaque and needed lining (cotton gauze? From the Fabric Store also), so basically sewed a whole other body of the dress (sans collar and pocket) and attached it under the collar stand, yoke, and button stands. I was also a bit tardy because I took my time and basted the pockets, collar etc. first to make sure they were perfect before topstitching, but I think this paid off.

The fabric was lovely to work with, and although it’s fairly loosely woven it didn’t cause me any grief. I was terrified about the buttonholes going into this because I’ve never had much luck with them in the past – mainly due to the machines I was using – and this required a whole TEN. However with the help of an automatic buttonhole foot and about 27 practice buttonholes it came out fine!

The pattern instructions were really easy to follow and the diagrams helpful! I drafted a smaller lining for the skirt with less fullness, but didn’t change anything else about the pattern. I cut a size 4 and although I’m pretty happy with the relaxed fit I may even go down to a size 2 (or make the bodice a tighter fit) next time because there is a bit of wriggle-room to do so!

Yay vs Nay

Yay

• The biggest yay has to be the buttons. I picked up a bag of exactly the number and type I needed for a mere 30 cents in an op shop. It wasn’t until afterwards I looked closely at the bag and noticed it was meant to be $3.00. Oops.
• In general I really love the design. Jen’s done a great job making it flattering, and I think it would suit most body shapes between the two versions. I love the tailored collar, yoke etc contrasting with the gathered skirt and scooped hem. (I’ve always been a sucker for a good gathered skirt).

Nay

• I guess all I have to say in the nay column is that the fabric I chose isn’t exactly year-round suitable (at least not in my climate). So while the pattern is relatively summery, the fabric is suited to winter. 

Ahh well, it’ll been cold before too long. In the meantime - is it time for a summery linen version?

//HEMLOCK COLLECTION

1., 2. - Striped polyester knit
3., 4. -  Acrylic jersey

1., 2. - Merino and lurex woven, elbow patched + pocketed
3., 4. - Merino jersey knit

1., 2. - Merino and nylon cuffed pink panther jumper
3. - Stripe matching
4. - Hem band and cuffs

Hello folks!

I thought I'd share my Hemlock collection! 

I've used this pattern loads since Jen put it up for FREE (yay free pattern!) - it's super quick and easy to whip up and a great wardrobe staple (as I'm sure you all know).

I've made it up in both t shirt and jumper weights and they've all come out well.

Except for the woven version, I stitched all the seams using just my overlocker and finished with a twin-needle on the neckband and hems.

I've made a couple of normal length jumpers using the pattern, but I generally prefer to crop them so I can tuck them into skirts, dresses etc. I've also started to take a couple of inches off the side seams so they are slightly more close-fitting.

It definitely wins an award for being one of the most made - and worn - patterns I own and I'm still planning more as I write this!