Tag Archives: Black and White

Fabric Inspiration: Wool

After the (modest) success of remaking my wool skirt into a cape, I’m hankering after making more things from wool……perfect time of the year, right!?

In looking for photos as research for this post, it occurs to me that wool is a really versatile fabric. You can make all of the below things from wool – skirts (pencil, pleated and circle), dresses (wiggle, fit and flare, and maxi) and, of course, coats and jackets.

I like this skirt because of the fabric – I like the black lines that perfectly line up with the pleats.
(image source)I can’t resist anything blue pretty much, so I love this one!

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This skirt is from the 60s (which I think is why I was drawn to it) so it shows that wool is also hard-wearing, and lasts a long time. As long as the moths don’t get it!

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I like how this one has the pleats starting lower down so it’s smoother over the hips, which I assume is slimming.

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When I was first thinking of a post about wool, I assumed it would all be black, brown and other dark colours, but I was wrong! Electric blue, olive, turquoise and pink. Lovely.

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The pencil skirt is a classic garment to make with wool. I particularly like this grey one – I think it’s the styling (and the model’s legs) that makes it particularly awesome! If only I could wear heels for more than 5 minutes at a time……

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We can add mustard yellow to the colours of wool available!

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If you read my blog regularly, you’ll know I like masculine, boxy styles (as well as 60s styles), so I love this grey wool coat/jacket.

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More mustard yellow!

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Coral is definitely a colour that is one of my new favourite colours, and it seems to be in several high street shops at the moment, so it’s obviously one of the colours randomly picked for this season. Anyway, I like the combination of a sort of girly colour and a masculine shape of coat.

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The wiggle dress is a classic to be made of wool – they make me think of Joan from Mad Men.

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Since I like the 60s, I do enjoy a black dress with a white collar and cuffs. The babydoll style is obviously a classic of the 60s and it’s starting to grow on me.

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Ah, Pierre Cardin. Lovely!

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I love this lime green cocoon-y dress with the blossom embroidery. It looks so Springy! It’s making me want the weather to finally warm up.

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I like this wool, the black with speckles on. And the shape makes the wool look really modern.

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Who knew you could make a maxi dress from wool!

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This is a great green too, and I actually like the bow – normally I don’t like things that are too fussy, but I’ll make an exception for this one!

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When I do next sew with wool, I really have to make a coat for The Boyfriend. I promised to in January, but then we decided to move and now it’s almost Spring so it seems like a silly time of year to make a Winter coat! Have you sewn with wool? Outerwear or ‘inner’ wear?

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Style Crush: Emma Watson

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Sorry for the radio silence recently! I moved house a couple of weeks ago (last Monday to be exact). We decided we had had enough of London so made the move to Gloucestershire, temporarily living with The Boyfriend’s parents. It took about a week to settle in but now I have my own little sewing area set up and have been sewing and cutting out things for the last few days, so hopefully soon I will have some finished things to show you. And a new backdrop for my photos!

My Style Crush today is Emma Watson – of course, of Harry Potter fame. More recently though, as I’m sure you’re aware, she has become somewhat of a spokesperson for feminism and gender equality, through her work on the He for She Campaign as a UN Women Goodwill Ambassador. She has recently announced that she will take a year off from acting to focus on this work and to read books and learn stuff. She has set up a feminist bookclub on Goodreads if you’re interested, too.

She also has called on the fashion industry to help affect change towards gender equality as they have such a powerful voice, particularly in terms of how women are perceived and represented in the media. You can watch a video where she talks to some of fashion’s biggest names here:

It may seem a little frivolous now to talk about how I like the clothes that she wears, but the thing about fashion and style is that it is one of the ways people can express themselves and it can make you feel confident or powerful or sexy or however you want to feel in any given situation.

For her recent speeches and things she seems to have mostly worn monochrome, well tailored things. And lots of skinny jeans/ trousers, which I’m a sucker for!

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I especially love this outfit – I don’t think it’s a silhouette I would have gone for, but I love how she looks comfortable and stylish. Maybe some wide-legged cropped trousers/ culottes are in my future?!

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Still mostly in monochrome, I love the next 3 red carpet looks. They’re a bit out of the ordinary and make her look much cooler than wearing a gown or boring dress would. Maybe I should copy this lace top and skirt with my lace!? Maybe not wedding appropriate though…….

I definitely need to make a leather jacket though. I’m not sure I could really pull it off, but I really really want one!

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I love this jumpsuit! I’m being more and more drawn to jumpsuits and dungarees lately. I already have the BHL Holly Jumpsuit and Marilla Walker’s Roberts Collection in my stash, so I think they’re going to move up the queue as the weather warms up.

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I love this outfit mainly for the skirt!

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I’m sure you won’t be surprised to know I loved it when she chopped all her hair off! I thought it made her look super cool and a bit more grown up than she had before – the below picture was at the penultimate Harry Potter premiere. I also love the lave dress. Maybe some more inspiration for my lace!

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Another little lace dress, but this time in a brilliant shade of pink. I think she looks nice in colour, so it’s almost a shame she wears black and white so much, though it is incredibly chic.

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You can’t beat a dress with a contrast colour with a pixie cut. Very 60s!

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As you’ll know if you follow me on Instagram, I’m a big fan of this Dior outfit she wore to the Golden Globes in 2014. I love the colour (though not on me!), the fact that it looks like a normal dress from the front, and the blue shoes! I kinda want to make a copycat version, maybe in more of a pink than red, but I would never have an occasion to wear it. Do you ever sew things for the fun of it even though you know you won’t wear the finished product?

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Aztec Print Mabel Skirt

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On the same day I made my Linden sweatshirt, I made a Colette Mabel skirt from the same fabric. OMG, this was so quick to make! It took, like, 90 minutes – and that was because I made a rookie error and sewed 2 pieces wrong sides together!

I made the size xs and the only change I made was to add 2″ to the length – I held up the pattern pieces and it seemed like it would be waaaay too short!

I think when I cut the skirt out, I didn’t quite get it perfectly straight with the pattern – which I didn’t notice until I saw these pictures! You can see on the hem, below, that the line isn’t quite perpendicular. Boo!

The waistband is also really on the wonk! But with a top covering it, you can’t really see.

But I did triumph on the pattern-matching front on the back seam! Behold!

I used my beloved twin needle for the hem – I’m really starting to get the hang of sewing with knits now I think!

The only problem with this skirt, though, is that I’m not sure if it suits me or is really my style. I might give it a go in the longer length and see if that’s any better. Or maybe make a size bigger. Or slightly change the shape so it doesn’t go in so much at the bottom. As I’m sure I’ve mentioned many times on here, I like to wear looser fitting tops but this skirt looks really weird with a non-tight top as it makes me look top-heavy.