Fashion: Yarn Style

Vilma by Sarah Hatton

 

I’ve been knitting Vilma for over a year and a half-- it feels strange to finished it at last! The more stranded knitting projects I make, the less motivated I feel to work on long stockinette sections. But I persevered! The worst moment was last November. I left my half-knitted sweater in the back of a taxi in Paris and it took a while to to start again. Eventually I decided I would be permanently traumatized by Vilma’s loss unless I started over. 

 

 

I had meant to achieve a sweater-girl style look with Vilma, in keeping with Fran Jeffries sweater, which she wears in The Pink Panther movie here:

 

I think I achieved that pretty well, although my sweater is too tight in the bust. I have not washed it yet so I am hoping it will loosen up a bit. I went up a size from M to L in the bust section, then reduced to M in the yoke colorwork section to fit my shoulder/neck area. I had assumed that by adding so many extra stitches, it would be looser in the chest but for some reason it isn’t. Apart from that issue, the fit of the sweater is quite good, and I especially like the back:

 

 

I am wearing Vilma with the stretch-wool pencil skirt I finished sewing a few months ago. That skirt seems to go with all my sweaters so I’m wondering if I should make another one in a more spring/summer color scheme. A fellow knitted said that she feels shift dresses also go really well with sweaters so I have purchased a pattern to try. In the meantime, I sewed myself a little skirt/top ensemble out of denim using the Hollyburn skirt and a self-drafted top which I am really enjoying:

 

 

I like outfits  that can be paired together as a dress or worn as separates. And something about denim for summer seems right. As it's almost 90 degrees here, sleeveless seems a good option. My next project will be the fabulous Unst by Marie Wallin. You may remember that I got to try Marie Wallin’s sample on when I visited her booth at the Edinburgh Yarn Festival two years ago. I plan to go up a size so it fits me better than this sample:

 

 

To swatch for Unst, I am knitting some fingerless mittens using the same yarn and gauge, the Skerries Mitts:

 

 Skerries Mittens by Marie Wallin

 

I am in no hurry to finish any stranded projects right now because it's

too hot to wear any of them.  By the way, I should mention that

I really enjoyed knitting my Vilma out of the Rowan Finest

yarn that was, sadly, discontinued a few years ago. The yarn

is a blend of cashmere, merino and alpaca. I heard that it 

pilled quite badly in the knitting process from someone on Ravelry, 

but I did not have that experience myself, and I handled this sweater

quite a bit as it took so long to make the darned thing.

 

I don't see pilling, do you?

 

I have some bits and bobs of Finest left over in my stash, so I am

planning to cobble them together into an Asbury cardigan

by Martin Storey once I finish Unst. 

 

Clueless? Pairing Handknit & Sewn Clothes

Karen cardigan by Sarah Hatton + my sewn Hollyburn skirt

 

When you knit a sweater to match an item in your wardrobe, there are a lot of advantages. You’ve worn the garment for a while and understand its proportions. Understanding the style and shape you need to complete an outfit is key. I was thrilled that Myrna suited my purchased vintage dress as planned:

However, my other project was not so successful. I had originally thought, “How hard could it be to create a sewn outfit to go with my new cardigan?”

 

Because the official design photo of Myrna is styled with a V-neck garment underneath, I figured I 'd sew a V-neck top and skirt at the same time I knit the cardigan, and it would all go together

 

 

Since I was knitting the cardigan at the same time as I sewed accompanying pieces, I waited until all the garments were done to pair them together, which yielded surprising results:

 

 

I’m not saying this outfit is terrible, but it reminds me of a three-layer cake. Clearly, I should have remembered Tim Gunn’s words from Project Runway—matching colors don’t make a collection. It’s the match of the proportions of the pieces! The top is too long for the cropped cardigan and then the skirt flares out in a pouffy 3rd tier. Despite my disappointment, I wore the outfit to work. The Belgian father of my writing students raised an eyebrow and said, “You look Swiss today!” Hmm. Not sure my intention was to create a Swiss National costume. I don’t think I’ll be wearing Myrna with that red and white garb any time soon!

 

 

I've also tried to sew a dress that complements my new Willowwood sweater. My first dress attempt (and I will add the first dress I’ve sewn for 32 years) was the Simplicity pattern 8231.

 

 

While 8231 makes a great house dress, the proportions are all wrong when paired with Willowwood. Without a distinct waist band to the dress, the cropped sweater meets the skirt just where it starts to flare out, creating the illusion of no waist.

 

See how much better the cropped sweater looks with my waist-hugging, store-bought dress:

 

 

Refusing to be discouraged, I next sewed the Dahlia dress which is a popular Colette pattern and was on sale for $8. I also chose Dahlia for the distinct waist band which defines the figure better than the Simplicity Pattern: 

 

 

I’m super proud of this dress. The shoulders fit well since I tried the pattern hack that my wonderful friend Andrea helped me find here:  It's also a classic style I can wear to work. However, go with the Willowwood crop it does not:

 

 

Guess which sweater does go perfectly with Dahlia?

 

 

Note my look of dismay in the photo above! None of my plans are working out! On the bright side, I did randomly create a cute outfit with Myrna and Dahlia!????????

 

 I wear the Dahlia dress so much that I sewed up a second version with some Liberty poplin I found at a huge discount on Bluprint and a contrasting blue quilting cotton.

 

 

Something is working well, but it's not my outfit pairings, that's for sure! As Cher admits in the Clueless movie based on Emma by Jane Austen, there’s only one conclusion to be drawn-- the clueless one is me!

 

Do you readers have any advice? Until I figure out what I'm doing wrong, here is the plan:

 

     1)    Limit sewing and knitting projects to items matching what I already have.

 

     2) Wear each completed item for a month before I attempt to sew/knit a piece to match. By that point, I should understand what proportions will work. Or perhaps I won’t need to make another garment because the completer piece is already in my closet!

 

After all, the intention is not to pile up a bunch of random clothing but create a capsule wardrobe of things I want to wear, that go together and look good on my body type.

 

But perhaps some of you readers, being more advanced sewists than me, have a better idea?