Fashion: Yarn Style

Chanel Cruise Soeul = Cardigan

 

 

 

The most joyous, playful fashion show I have seen in years took place in Soeul recently to display the Chanel Cruise collection.

 

 

The fashion show featured fabulous bright colors against a white background. I was so enraptured by the fun of the clothes, and the jewelry was absolutely sublime!

 

 

Look at how gorgeous these pins are alone! Can you imagine wearing one of these Korean-inspired flowers on your knitted cardigan?

I brought some images I had printed out from this Seoul Cruise Collection to my knitting group and there was one pattern above all the others that was selected as the favorite:

 

 

I think the reason this is so popular is that in spite of the intricate textile, the garment is young, wearable and fun. The leaf pattern is so reminiscent of growing shoots in spring, it makes me happy just to look at it.

 

 

I cast around to find a pattern that would allow me to knit a similar cardigan without appliqueing on a million leaves, and this is what I came up with:

 

Cherry by Anna Bell

http://www.ravelry.com/projects/yarnstylist/cherry

 

This is a fun, vintage-inspired cardigan designed by Anna Bell. Although the leaf pattern is not as intricate as in Bell’s pattern, it does have one considerable advantage over the Chanel cardigan. The sweater I knitted goes in at the waist, instead of in the overbust area.

 

Chanel cardigan from Soeul Cruise Collection 2015-2016

 

“Cherry” cardigan designed by Anna Bell

 

Although the super-skinny model pulls off the shaping of the Chanel cardigan really well, it would look ridiculous on anyone with a real bust. Also, the Chanel cardigan flares out in the waist and hips area which would not be really flattering on anyone with a curvy figure.  At least, I have found that unless I emphasize my waist it seems to disappear. And the handmade chord belt which is included in the Cherry cardigan definitely helps to emphasize the waist:

 

 

I happened to have a stash of leaf-green Calmer which had been given to me by my knitting friend, Kristen. Thank you so much Kristen! Calmer is a wonderful, springy cotton-blend yarn which was unfortunately discontinued by Rowan several years ago. But Rowan’s Softknit cotton might make a good substitute. What I love about this cotton blend yarn is the resulting fabric is super comfortable to wear in a California climate all year round.

 

 

The surface pattern of the pattern is created using a cable needle. It is a bit time-consuming but was the closest I could come to the fabulous leaf motif in my Chanel inspiration:

 

 

Here is a closeup of my fabric in the cable pattern so you can compare:

 

I have been wearing this cardi all the time as a spring/summer blouse with flared-leg jeans. But oh how I wish I could get my hands on the fabulous beaded jeans in the Chanel version. Perhaps it is time to take a class on adding beads to fabric? It could be an incredible way to rehabilitate an old, faded pair of jeans!

 

This cardigan is just a tip of the iceberg—there are so many fabulous garments in the recent Chanel fashion shows it is hard to know what to choose as the next source of inspiration!

 

 

 

Chanel Skirt inspirations!

 

 

 

Here it is, a final, live version of my Lagerfeld-inspired polo in action, paired with a Chanel-style skirt! Here was my original inspiration for this ensemble:

 

 

The skirts are rather similar, are they not? Actually, my skirt was hand- and machine- sewn a year before this fashion show, but certain Chanel classics are as predictable as the autumn cold. The fabulous tweed pencil skirt is a Chanel staple then, now and forever!

 

Chanel suit, 1960's

 

I love my skirt suit and wear it all the time. The super lightweight Zen Yarn silk, cashmere and merino blend in the top is comfortable to wear even in the summer time. The matching skirt is a light wool tweed which was an amazing gift! My mother-in-law sewed this skirt for me with a fabric that probably came originally from Chanel. We purchased the tweed at Britex, our favorite fabric store, last year:

 

 

The retro knit skirt look has certainly come back in fashion! There were some wonderful sixties-inspired skirts in the 2015/2016 Chanel Spring/Summer Ready to Wear collection:

 

 

Considering how expensive these adorable knit skirts are to buy, I thought it wouldn’t hurt to look around for a knitted pattern. Voilá! Debbie Bliss has the perfect design in her knitting magazine, “Fall Winter 2013”:

 

 

Bliss’s magazine contains a wonderful feature on Dior’s New Look, including some great retro suit and jacket patterns. Her pattern #09 skirt is a simple, easy to follow pattern.

 

 

I have knitted it in Rowan frost, using a matching edging to my polo top. However, instead of bunching the fabric at the waist with the help of an elastic, I gradually decreased to my natural waist dimension and will hand-sew in a four-inch zipper by hand for my closure. This way I avoid extra bulk at the waist which would not be flattering.

 

 

 

 

This is the first skirt I have made, and I’m very happy with how easy the project was. Of course, skirts take time to knit unless you are making a mini, but this pattern, on size 7 needles, seemed to fly by! Apart from a few decreases here and there you are knitting simple, rectangular pieces which are smaller and easier to handle even than a baby blanket. For anyone who has ever pined for a Chanel-style skirt, why not make one of your own?Considering how many sweaters I have accumulated, it would probably make sense for me to switch to knitting skirts for a while. The project took only five and a half balls of Rowan frost and, apart from the bottom edging and waist-band, which I devised to match my polo top, the knitting was very straight-forward.

 

 

Several knitters suggested that I line my skirt, and I even went so far as to cut out a lining. Then I remembered a fundamental point, which is that knitted fabric stretches, fabric does not! Although I made my lining as wide as my finished skirt, the very moment I cut it out I realized it would be too small because it had no give at all. As an experiment, I seamed it together anyway, using only 1/8 inch seam allowance, but it still did not fit. The prospect of making a new lining much wider than my skirt could have created awkward bulk underneath. Besides, I have learned, from lining knitted jackets with silk, that the lining itself does not move the way the knitted fabric does, and in fact the lining often constricts the body to the point that the knitted fabric, which fit , pre-lining, has become too tight or too short. In the end, I resolved to simply wear a slip under my knitted skirt. The discarded fabric has not gone to waste, however. Instead of lining a couture-style garment, it will line Manju’s bed:

 

 

He seems to be under the impression that any other use of the fabric would be absurd