Grey.

There's an extremely elegant knitter on Ravelry who has the most lovely white hair and knits a lot in grey.  It looks fabulous.  For many years, I never even considered wearing that "colour" (if it really is one).  But recently I've taken to it.

I have made two grey suits - the Akris knock off from the summer of 2011 and my most recent tailored creation.  I'm enjoying both of them quite a lot.














And now The Sewing Lawyer has made another pair of comfy but hopefully not unattractive stretch pants in ... grey.

They are the same as the black ones.  Which I wear all the time.

So far I have had them on three days in a row, including for two very serious meals.  They remained very comfortable throughout.

And, in knitting news, I'm working on a grey top!  It's the Windswept Pullover.  I will keep knitting until my yarn runs out. I only have 300g of my yarn, which is 70% baby Llama and 30% Italian mulberry silk. (Yum!) I'm going to block it so the lace panels along the neck line lie straight.

Stay tuned to find out if it will have short or 3/4 length sleeves.  Ravelry notes are here.

Stylish stretch pants?

Another TSL living room view
I thought there was only one errant thing
(a musical instrument) in the background.  But no!
Spot the shoes...

Is there such a thing?  The Sewing Lawyer likes to flatter herself that the answer may be yes.  See the evidence for yourself.

I may have mentioned before that the February, 2012 issue of Burda Magazine is probably the very best in more than a year.  I'm in the process of confirming that, as these pants are the second garment made from that issue.  I could use more of these!  They are comfy, fit nicely, and, made from a black rayon-poly-lycra ponte knit, will go with almost anything.

However, you have to really look for this one in the magazine; it's a gem that Burda seems to have deliberately hidden. They do it fairly often, in my experience.  A brilliant pattern is shown only once (the pattern insert says twice, but in fact they seem to have substituted another pattern for these to coordinate with the grey sack-like top, yellow socks and clunky loafers).  And there, it's outshone by the other flashy garment it is being shown with (the "Miss Butterfly" kimono on p. 17). Bonus: it's sewn up in black, so its features completely disappear on the page.  Why, Burda, why?

I know you may think I am also guilty of hiding the many virtues of this lovely pattern by sewing it up in black, but at least I've tucked in my top so you can see the basic outline.  Here's another view and the line drawings again.


I think you can click on these to enlarge them tremendously.

The side/back, showing seams

So, as you can see there's a deep V back yoke, high waist and fly front opening.  The sides are a strip approximately 10cm (4") wide.  I traced with 2.5cm (1") seam allowances just in case, but after trying them on, decided they fit if sewn on the intended lines except at side front, below the waist.  So in effect, my pants are 4cm bigger around than Burda intended at the hip, and 2cm in each leg.  In the result, they are slim but not tight.

I used a woven cotton for the fly shields and facings to reduce bulk and eliminate stretch.  As I've been doing recently, I constructed them on my sewing machine using a tiny zig-zag (1.5 x 1.5 mm), rather than on the serger.

I can't think of anything else to say, except:  Run and make your own pair!

Flash update (Feb/2014) - This pattern is now available for download on the BurdaStyle website.

Tracing fiend

That's what The Sewing Lawyer was, this weekend.  Not only is the Burda jacket from a year ago (mentioned in my last post) traced, so is the about-to-be-famous colour blocked dress from the February 2012 issue and a pants pattern that could easily be overlooked from the same issue.  And I'm half way through tracing another dress from this very month's Burda Magazine!  Three items traced from the latest edition, within 3 days of purchase.  It's a new world record chez The Sewing Lawyer!

Here are the line drawings, for ease of reference:

About-to-be-famous colour blocked dress #117

This dress is the reason I called my local purveyor of magazines on Friday.  The February Burda had already come in!  I was out of the door like a shot.

I'm not first to have at this one.  I am pretty sure that Audrey has that distinction, and Melissa is second.  Their dresses are fabulous!  There will be MANY more of these, I predict.

In my drive to use fabric from stash, I located some burgundy wool double knit.  My only hesitation in using this fabric is that it is quite firm, and based on flat pattern measurements, this dress is designed with negative ease.

I am hedging my bets with extra-wide seam allowances at the side seams and CB.

I'll need a working zipper.  I have no intention of having a shiny strip down my backside, so my non-colour blocked and non-exposed zipper dress will be a good deal less zoomy than Burda intended.  However, I think it'll be a great dress anyway.

Knit pants - #120

These pants are designed for knit fabric and I have some beefy black RPL ponte knit in stash.  It's the same stuff I made my curling pants from.   And my bike shorts.

This pattern could be a favorite due to its high waist, slim profile, interesting back yoke, and the strip of fabric that runs vertically between the front and back pieces.  I made a jeans pattern with the latter feature from the June, 2004 issue so many times I lost count.  The strip smooths out one's hip curve very nicely.

I have high hopes for these.

Sleeveless dress #110

Last but not least, I love this dress!  It has lots of seams for fitting possibilities, and an interesting off-centre faux-closure detail (in fact there's a zipper inserted in the side seam.

I have some amazing turquoise wool crepe which will look great with the chunky bouclé I have earmarked for the jacket.

February could be a sewing marathon!