Tag: skulls

Matching Jacket

Skull print bolero jacket

This is Simplicity 2478, view C. I made it exactly as per the pattern (for once!) and then embellished it with the very last tiny pieces of my broderie anglais trim and a pretty red frog fastener.

What can I say? It went together really easily! It helps if you have prior experience of sewing together convex and concave curves, otherwise attaching the band can be a little tricky, but there are no separate sleeves to set in, and it was a very fast piece to sew.

Obviously it’s intended to go with the little skirt I made the other day, but I think it would also smarten up plain black jeans and a t-shirt very nicely indeed.

Skull Print Skirt

Mini skull skirt

So, this is a bit of a departure from the type of thing I’ve been sewing lately – in fact it’s a skirt pattern that came from my first business, about eight or nine years ago.

There are four layers of skirt altogether, each with four panels for fullness. The inside three layers are black net, trimmed with red gathered lace. The top layer is skulls-and-roses print cotton, trimmed with the very last piece of black gathered broderie anglais in my stash. Fabric Land haven’t had any of this in stock for a long time, and I don’t quite know what I’m going to do without it. It really is absolutely my favourite kind of trim.

(Is it silly to have a favourite kind of trim? I do, anyway.)

The waistband is another favourite – red bomber-jacker elastic, also from Fabric Land. it’s made in the same way as all of my elasticated skirts – simply divided into quarters and zig-zagged into place.

I haven’t worn a skirt this short for years – in fact I’m not at all convinced that it’s actually long enough to cover my bottom, or that a person of my advancing years should be seen in it at all. I suspect I will be very grateful indeed for a pair of black leggings to wear underneath!

Maria’s Rose Tattoo Tunic

Maria's Alexander Henry tunic

This is my usual raglan tunic/mini dress pattern, in Alexander Henry’s “The Rose Tattoo”. It’s hand bound with black bias tape. Simple as that!

Maria contacted me after I’d made Chloe’s cupcake dress, originally asking for a dress of her own in the same style. I don’t take on custom dressmaking any more (and the pattern’s been discontinued), so I would have had to say no, but in the meantime I’d started making these tunic dresses. Maria decided that this was the perfect style, and sent me a piece of fabric that she’d been hiding away in her stash.

The fabric turned out to be this Alexander Henry quilting cotton in one of my favourite prints – The Rose Tattoo. Perfect!

I’ve also had an order for a top-length version in another novelty print quilting cotton – this Beatles Yellow Submarine print. I might have accidentally ordered enough of the Sea of Holes fabric to make a little something for myself as well. While I wait for it to arrive, I just need to decode what it’s going to be…

Mini Calaveras Corset

Liz's Skull Corset

At long last, here is Liz’s custom made corset!

I say “at long last” because it’s taken me twice as long as it should have done to make – because I had to make it twice. The first time I’d got as far as putting in the busk, when I realised that I’d made a fundamental error in the pattern, and it was completely the wrong shape. Oops.

Thankfully I had just enough fabric to make another, having double and triple-checked the pattern this time. This is the result – a long underbust corset, in Alexander Henry’s “Mini Calaveras” print.

This one is my last corset for the time being, as I’m in the process of giving the sewing a bit of a re-think. I’m going to be volunteering at the Museum of English Rural Life over the summer, so I need to work out what I can and can’t do with the rest of my time.

Watch this space!

Skulls & Roses waistcoat.

Skulls & Roses waistcoat

This is what I’ve been up to today – making a skulls & roses waistcoat.

The fabric is by Alexander Henry, the print is “The Rose Tattoo”. 
The waistcoat itself is from an old “Style” (now Simplicity/New Look) pattern, from 1995. I think it’s one of the first patterns I bought when I started sewing.

I particularly like the sweetheart neckline, and I think this would look equally good worn on its own as it would over a smart shirt. 

Skulls & Roses waistcoat

I used the fabric that was left over from a skirt that I made last year. That’s why there’s a seam down the centre back – I didn’t have a large enough piece of fabric to cut the panel on a fold.

The lacing at the back gives the waistcoat a nice fit and makes it very comfortable to wear.

The only thing that’s missing now is the buttons. Despite my enormous button collection, I couldn’t find a set of ten that matched. Typical!

Rose Tattoo Retro Dress

Alexander Henry dress

Yesterday I finished off a dress that’s been almost done for far too long.

It was mostly already finished. I just had to add the waistband, sew the top and bottom halves together, and add elastic and binding. Ta daa.

I have a sneaky suspicion it’s going to be too long in the bodice for me, and therefore might need to be re-homed with somebody taller. I hope not, because I’ve just bought a buckle on Etsy, for making a matching belt!

It started life as one of my many versions of Butterick 6582. I don’t think I’ve ever made this dress exactly as per the pattern, and this incarnation is no exception.

This time I’ve left out all of the waist darts on the bodice, and gathered it into the skirt with an elastic waistband. The arms and hem are trimmed with bias binding, and there’s also a layer of tubular crinoline in the hem, to help it stand out without an extra petticoat.

The fabric is Alexander Henry’s “Rose Tattoo”.

Skull fleece hoody again…

Skull fleece hoody

In case you didn’t see Diane’s lovely pictures, here’s another glimpse of the pink skull fleece hoody on an Actual Person.

This one’s for Lisa who, being the same size as me, is doomed to having all of her clothes tried on and photographed before I send them out!

The scarf is this one.

The photo’s a bit grainy, but it’s pretty dark outside at 6:30 these days. Perfect time of year for a nice warm fleecy jacket.

Socks again…

Yes, I know I wasn’t talking about socks. But the second stripy silk sock is being re-knit at a pleasantly fast rate, so I feel a bit more friendly towards them now.

And then, this morning, Issue 47 of Simply Knitting dropped through the letterbox. Not only does it contain a free calendar which features a sock pattern for every month, but there’s also a thirteenth sock pattern inside the magazine itself!

I’m sure this must be terribly dull for anyone who doesn’t have the slightest interest in socks, but I couldn’t be more pleased.

Rugged Rambler socks

“Rugged Rambler” are cabled socks, knitted in DK yarn, on two needles. Excellent! I had sort of sworn that I would never have anything to do with cabled socks ever again, but in DK they should work up twice as quickly, and I think these will be lovely and snug inside a pair of warm winter boots.

Skull socks!

But oh! Look at these spooky beauties!

The fairisle pattern’s almost the same as the one I used on my skull jumper:

Skull & crossbones jumper

Now I can’t possibly resist knitting socks to match!

I don’t think I’ll have them ready in time for Hallowe’en, but I’ll definitely be knitting a pair of these for myself this winter.

Is it Hallowe’en yet?

I sometimes describe myself as a “recovering Goth”, but I discovered yesterday that I am still rather prone to the occasional relapse! About eight years ago I started a business called “GothStuff”, specialising in, well, stuff, for goths. I made skirts in a variety of styles, and Paul and I invested in a t-shirt printing kit. The t-shirts were designed by Paul and Selina, and they seemed to be quite popular.

We closed that business for a number of reasons, one of which was that I wanted to concentrate on working with organic, sustainable, recycled and Fair Trade fabrics, which are mostly plain, and mostly cream. Not very Goth, really. However I still have a terrible weakness for skull prints, and working part-time in a fabric shop I have to exercise quite a lot of self-restraint to prevent me from snapping up these little beauties!

Skull Fabrics!

The four fabrics at the top left are a fine nylon mesh – two with skulls & crossbones, and two with little skeletons. So cute! They’d be perfect for 1950s-style dresses, as a pretty top layer over a very full skirt. We also stock cobweb mesh in a wide range of colours, which I used to make pretty mini skirts back in the GothStuff days.

The eight fabrics down the right hand side are all 100% cotton prints. You have no idea how much willpower it has taken not to come home with many metres of the mini skull print in black and pink! The larger skull print also comes in several other colourways, but not a pink one, sadly.

The four fabrics at the bottom left are polar fleece. As this is manufactured from recycled plastic bottles, I have given into temptation and bought ten metres of the pink and black! I have two orders for hooded tops already, so you’ll be seeing pictures of those towards the end of the month.

I only wish that I could find a pretty skull print on an organic cotton. That would be my Fabric Nirvana, I think!