Crafting A Rainbow

There is nothing that connects these three projects except perhaps colour, so I’m going with it! I’ve been trying to add more green into my wardrobe this year because it is part of the “pastel forest” palette that I made up in August.

First up is this boiled wool … cardigan? jacket? I made a very similar pale pink one years ago which gets a ton of wear, so I decided to make another. (Side note – the pink one became less boxy over the years as my measurements changed, so I recently dug out the scraps and added a “tuxedo stripe” under the sleeves and down the side, so that it now fits like this one again! Waste not, want not.)

The is the Berlin Jacket by Tessuti, who I now longer support because of their piss-poor record with plus sizes. The Muna and Broad Belmore Jacket would be an excellent alternative, but since I had this printed out from years ago, I just went with it. I added a few inches to the width as I cut, and voila, it’s my size now. I often just free-hand add width or length to patterns instead of reprinting – do you?

Next are two versions of the Muna and Broad Hexham dress, which I was pleased to try first as a pattern tester. My tester version was in DBP (double brushed poly) which is not my favourite to sew or wear, so I wanted to try it out in a sturdier fabric. The stripes are a thick jersey that has been in my stash since 2016 when I made it into a little jacket. The sleeves are bamboo knit.

In the end, I like the pattern, but not on me right now. The combination of fitted bust and shoulders with the cocoon or flared hem is not a good match to my preferred gender expression right now. I wanted to share it though, because I’m sure some of you are considering the pattern. This one has already found a happy home in my sister’s closet!

However, the magic of sewing is that we can make patterns work for us, and that’s how I made this green dress that I love from the same M&B Hexham pattern!

Proof that I like it: weird giddy poses!

This is the same pattern, with the following adjustments:

• sized up two sizes in the shoulder and bust so that it has positive ease (aka is bigger than my measurements, not smaller)
• took out most of the cocoon shaping
• shortened significantly

Basically, it’s now a shift dress, and that’s a shape I’ve been sewing since I started making garments. Handy too, because my favourite pattern hasn’t fit for a long time, so now I can hack this one as I please!

From the hair I can tell I made these all in November/December while I had mint hair… since then it has been periwinkle and now edging into lavender. A new hair colour is always a great inspiration to see my fabric stash in a new light, because clearly my heart loves to be matchy-matchy!

I’m returning to in-person teaching this week, so I’m not sure how much sewing of blogging there will be for a while. We are luckier than some in terms of the safety precautions in place, but I’m still bewildered that our government thinks having 30 children in a room unmasked while eating lunch is a reasonable risk for our next generation. I usually teach ESL at several schools, but we’ve been told that we may be called in as supply teachers across the school board. Guess I’m back to waiting for my phone to ring each night to see what the next day holds. Wish me luck, please!