Stitches

It has been such a long time since I posted about the things I've been making  - there is quite a backlog!  

Most of the stitches have been knitting and the sewing projects are mostly things I can't really show you.  I can show you the complete mascot costume - one Hound Dog.  

Previously I've posted about the making of the head and about the hind feet - this is the complete costume being modeled by my darling hubby.

And a back view to show the tail.  BTW please do not notice the uneven lengths of those curtains!

 

Of the next project I can only show you a teaser - and tell you that it is all ecru with lace & embroidery - it involves masses of hand-stitching and quite a lot of glue.

And now to the knitting - the commissions for costumes have continued.  Some have been repeats ... and this was a repeat of a repeat   Eh! What!

 

Well, the first tatty & distressed shawl for the Bird Lady in Mary Poppins was a great success and they wanted a 2nd one - which I made from the yarn supplied - half of which was mohair.  That 2nd shawl was quite 'splodgy' and I think the mohair made it look quite elegant (it is the last item in this post).  Perhaps it was too elegant and it didn't look like the 1st shawl  SO I had to make a 3rd one ... and I now consider myself an expert in the art of Bird Lady Shawl Making :-)  For this 3rd shawl I sourced the yarn - it is a long length variegated yarn meant for socks.

 

I've also made a 2nd Cardigan / Jacket for Colline in Opera Australia's current production of La Boheme - there are some cast changes.  It is another distressed and artfully 'badly knitted' thing and I would like to avoid all shades of mustard for the next decade!   Had to hand it in without buttons (they weren't supplied) so here it is with safety pins.

 

And a back view - with those pleats and some of the deliberately 'knitted in' holes.

 Now if you go to the Opera Australia web site you'll see David Parkin wearing the 1st of those mustard cardi/jackets - with the beanie and scarf that I knitted.  I've borrowed one of the pics here ...

 Had my first commission for some knitting for the small screen - the next 'season' of Underbelly (starting in some states (or all?) Sun 21st Aug) is set in the 1920s.  If you watch the show, keep your eyes peeled during some of the more domestic moments for a character knitting a chocolate brown jumper.  Of course, it may all have ended up on the cutting room floor but I provided the knitting in 3 stages - just commenced ...

Up to the 1st (or 2nd?) sleeve ...

And Very-Nearly-Almost-Finished ...

 

  Poor ole' Bruce the Body there with those sharp metal things at his neck - very appropriate for this TV show!  The jumper is based on a vintage pattern and has old-fashioned styling including very deep rib bands.  I also had to source all those knitting needles - making sure that they looked like those used in the 1920s.  

There were some other commissions, not for the stage but via Jonathan Howard The Hatmaker.

 Donuts? toilet-seat cozies? hand-knitted UFOs?   No, but almost as unlikely.  Jonathan was making a top-hat for a client who wanted it hand-knitted and he wanted cashmere.  So these are, in fact, the parts of a knitted top-hat!

 

First I had to find the cashmere - the desired 'look' was chunky, country-fied and natural - hand-spun seemed the best option.  I bought some natural brown cashmere fleece (fluff) from Belisa Cashmere lovely soft stuff it was like spinning a cloud - I put in about 20% wool to make it easier to handle.  However, it was still brown - the client wanted charcoal so into the dye-pot it went ... until it became the colour you see above ... actually the knitting was the easiest and fastest part of the whole process!

Jonathan The Hatmaker really likes the look of my hand-spun yarns with all the lumps and fluffy bits ... he commissioned a man's scarf ...  

   The yarn is about 50% alpaca & 50% corriedale sheep, both undyed, naturally coloured fleece.    I used a simple knit/purl pattern with garter stitch edges and as it was to be a fairly short scarf, there are 2 splits.  The wearer can thread the scarf through the splits and the scarf doesn't slip off and get lost.      Here is a close up of the texture of the yarn and the stitch pattern.

I've also been knitting beanies for Jonathan to sell in his lovely boutique.  We've missed the window of opportunity to sell warm woolly beanies this year but inevitably, winter will return!  Here are 2 of the beanies ...

Again, all naturally coloured, undyed fleece, these were spun 'in the grease' so the yarn has retained some of the lanolin.  The mottled yarn is sheep - a grey/brown from the Robinson era with some very dark fleece from another Robinson sheep thrown in :-)   The stripes are 100% alpaca - the same ginger girl as in the scarf above.  Her name is Angelique and the fleece was from her 2nd shearing.

The stripes in this 2nd beanie are the same alpaca - the rest is re-purposed woollen yarn.  I found an abandoned knitting project in an op-shop - following some un-knitting and lots of sorting I plyed 2 of the colours together on my spinning wheel to create a thick tweedy yarn ...

For the ladies I knitted some very vintage, very French berets.  My own pattern but based on a 1940's vintage one.

The yarn is Bendigo Woollen Mills - their very dependable Classic 8ply.

Vintage Wedding Dress and MonoChromaticism

Stiff tulle and shiny satin - first in white and now in black?



Anyone would think this was a production of the ballet Swan Lake. Which reminds me of an old joke ... Odette is the white swan - Odile is the black swan and then there is a grey swan called ... Oh Dear. erk!


But I digress - these are not tutus but their close relative - big petticoats for 50's frocks. Seems everyone wants one at the moment - even our cat!
The black is for a black circular skirt that I've altered for a client - the white was for my recent bride; that vintage dress make-over I've blogged about previously and now that her wedding has been - I can show you all that make-over involved.

BEFORE: dress from the early 1950s, nylon fabric with all-over embroidery of clover leaves over nasty acetate - the nylon was quite grey, the acetate had gone a slightly pink beige. The original frock had wide straps (tucked inside in that photo) a very strangely shaped bodice and huge circle ++ skirt - but no petticoat so sad and limp. And that bodice fitted not at all and nowhere!

AFTER: unfortunately I have no decent photos of the finished frock on the bride - just a quick click at a fitting

here it is on on the mannequin. After washing and much soaking I got the fabrics as white as possible - the nylon brightened considerably. I completely re-made the bodice, mounting the fragile nylon onto a new, very boned bodice of thick satin - this worked as a corset and achieved the 1950's figure.

We kept the original slightly dropped waistline, adding a black silk sash - with the zip being in the side seam that pussy-cat bow is permanent (lots of costumier's trickery here!) The bride wanted a massive bell-shaped skirt - and with 12m of stiff tulle ... that's what she got :-)












I also made her a veil - all frilly and fluted with lots of fishing line - again no photo on the bride - but at the front it fell to her shoulders, nearly reaching the bow on the dress at the back.
It all fell from a comb with a simple little tiara-ette I made from diamantes.

Sweet pretty things

White satin and stiff white tulle ...
has to be either a tutu OR something Bridal - and it is the latter. Am working on a vintage wedding dress - practically a complete re-make - and that is part of the petticoat. Petticoats are great things and they can work miracles - this one is helping to turn a sad old nylon frock into something very pretty and "ballerina". And the long Ballet costume would've been this frock's original inspiration. Another lesson in the importance of underpinnings!

I've also been knitting lots of head-wear of late - this beret for myself and made to match a micro-cardigan I'd made from the same yarns - Colinette yarns "Iona" and "Giotto" - my own pattern, the tip is a series of wedges using lots of short-rows.













Unfortunately, my daughter has adopted / acquired / stolen the micro cardigan ... well it did look great on her (big sigh!) so now I have the beret and nothing to wear it with. Does this sound like a good excuse to purchase more Colinette yarn so I can make myself another cardigan ?

Last week I found some inexpensive angora yarn in Lincraft - Amazing! angora is usually completely unaffordable which is sad as I have lots of lovely vintage knitting patterns for the soft fluffy bunny stuff ... so when I saw this reasonably priced angora - decent quality - limited range of colours except in purple (there were 3 shades of purple - fine by me!) well I pounced and as there has been a mini baby boom in our street with 2 new little girls in less than 3weeks ... Perfect.

Out came the vintage patterns and this one is done except for the ribbons -Excuse the yellow balloon - was the closest approximation to a baby's head I could find! The pattern says to knit it in plain ole' stocking stitch which is boring - so I used a lace stitch called "cloisters".
I do love a bonnet with a pie-crust flange at the back like that - makes them look very Victorian :-)






The 2nd bonnet is (so-far) following the pattern almost exactly ...