finished? of course not!

but after some time at the machine and a few hours with mildred pierce, i have the new lining tacked into the anything else-inspired tweed coat and the inner pocket is done - with the label returned to its rightful place!




and while looking up the link to mildred pierce, i discovered that it's been made into a tv series to air at the end of march! horrifying. except that it is directed by todd "superstar" haynes, and starring kate winslet, so might be actually good. important to note: it seems to be a series in the uk sense, what might be called a mini-series in the us. so, no dragging the story into 26-eps-a-year for five years in hopes on syndication. thank goodness.

tweed

i've decided to dive into a project that's been on the backburner for an age: relining my beloved anything else-inspired tweed coat (the recon project was one of my first ever posts here - five years ago). tweed is always perfect when there's a chill in the air, so i have worn this thing to bits over the years. the outside is perfectly fine - harris tweed will wear forever. but the lining is kaput. so, i've ripped it out, to replace with some kaffe fassett for rowan i bought on sale at macfab a while ago (one of the things stopping me from getting to work on the coat is that i keep looking at the fabric and thinking, maybe a skirt or shift instead?).

i've trimmed out the lining (i love looking at the innards of a well-tailored garment!), preserving the inner pocket and of course the harris tweed label. wondering about the number stamped on, i did a little googling and found this interesting note on the vintage fashion guild website:

The Harris Tweed Authority is a great aid in dating Harris Tweed labels. You can contact them with the number that is stamped on the label and from that they can supply you with the maker and approximate date of the cloth.

well! you can rest assured that i contacted the harris tweed authority right away. i hope they have some information for me! based on the pictures from the vfg post, i would guess that my coat is from the 1960s.

the thirties have it

all right, after a month of illness and out-of-town-ness, i want to get back to some sewing and want to get stuck into the
sewing through the decades challenge! and have settled on the 1930s as my decade of choice.

but, what to make? so many choices... i'd love a dress like this - pattern is not available, but i'll bet i could draft one. this is gorgeous, as it this, and this blouse is very wearable. and, i can totally see me wearing this coat with fur trim.

and, i have been in love with this katherine hepburn frock for a while now.

decisions, decisions!

i really think she's got it

the colourwork-in-the-round solution works! there was a trick to sort
out (and a resulting gap to sew up, whoops), but i've done it. now, the
question is whether i can write it up in a way that makes sense to
anyone other than myself. i guess i should google first and see who else
has done it already, there is no way i am the magellan on this one
surely. still, i feel quite clever today!

superfast!

my biggest fan has requested a red sweater with a number one on it, and i thought it would be a good opportunity to fine-tune the top-down in-the-round saddle-shoulder tutorial i've been working on. and, he is so excited about getting a new hand-knit sweater from mummy, and i can't resist such fervent appreciation! so, my aspiring race car driver (i think watching the love bug on the weekend was a major inspiration for him) has kicked my own alpaca sweater vest off the needles, and replaced it with the awesomeness of briggs & little tuffy in red mix (the best red ever), coincidentally picked up from a de-stash this week. yay! there will be racing stripes on the front leading to the number 1 (a nod to herbie's look), and a checkered band around the left arm.

"wait," i hear you cry, "how are you doing colourwork if it's knit in the round?" as a matter of fact, i think i have unvented a brilliant solution to this. we'll see how it goes.

fairly... late?

The fairly legal hat pattern is up! I was interrupted by a family thing last night so it was verrry late by the time I got the hat done. and then all day today I hoped for a moment with good outdoor light to get a photo, but my husband borrowed my camera! So, I have a crappy mobile snap, but nothing to write home about...  

A decent photo will be posted soon I hope! But the good news is, the pattern is up!

holy slacking off!

with the sweater for tg proving endless (and so boring at this point! i have one sleeve to go and i just... can't... do... it...) i've been avoiding updating the ravelry projects page. maybe will fix that tonight.

but i have started a couple of new projects... just so i can say "yay, i finished something" and feel a little more productive! one is a vest in eggplant alpaca with a twist highlander (soft and tweedy), one is a hat inspired by a couple of threads about a promo for the show fairly legal - i haven't seen the show (or the promo) but i like the hat, and i need a hat, and it looks like i will have loads of briggs & little tuffy leftover from tg's sweater, so i decided to whip up a slouchier
version of it. i should have it finished tonight, and will post the pattern then!