Greek summer dreams in fabic

I am an early riser, some might even say a ridiculous early riser. I normally get up at 5.30 am on a workday and it is not uncommon for me to do the same on the weekend. I love this hour of the day when I have the feeling that it is only me and a few more that might be up.

Why am I starting this blog post with my sleeping habits ? Well, because I woke up last Saturday at 5 am, birds singing and all and whilst lying there and waiting for my "inner machine" to start up, I decided I would quickly sew myself a new Linden Sweatshirt. 

When I was teaching at the Village Haberdashery a few weeks back, Annie had just stocked the utterly gorgeous 'Paparounes in Crimson' from the new Skopelos Collection from Art Gallery fabric. At first I was disappointed that it was a knit rather than quilting cotton as I had earmarked this striking fabric for a quilt back. But I just could not, not buy some and decided I could do with another sweatshirt.

And oh boy am I glad that it was a knit as this turned out just fabulously. I have not sewn with jersey knits before and was conscious of the stretchiness of this fabric. I used a jersey needle and as I don't have a serger closed the seams with a wide zig-zag stitch. I used a normal foot but would use my walking foot the next time around.

Like with my last Linden Sweatshirt version I did not finish the sweatshirt with ribbing but instead simply hemmed it but this time I used a twin needle which was also a first! It gave the hems a nice finish but I should have used a thinner thread.

The neckline was a little tricky to do and I suppose I also should have used the twin needle there but I was a little apprehensive to use it there but will also do so next time.

I made this version a size bigger than the last as I wanted the sweatshirt a little roomier and also thought that it would look better it being a knit. It sits really well just like my Nani Iro one. It really took only two hours from cutting to wearing. And yes I was wearing it at 8 am when I walked to the corner shop to get myself a well deserved butter croissant.

A Linden Sweatshirt for me

Well hello everybody and a very happy New Year to you all. How about some sewing? I am pretty much starting the New Year as I finished the old one which is by sewing and what better past time is there (apart from photography).

Long time readers will know by now that I have developed a fondness for double gauze. In 2013 I made myself a Tova from a Nani Iro double gauze cloth and in 2014 I made myself a Shearwater Kaftan also from a gorgeous piece of double gauze and these past days I have made myself a Linden Sweatshirt from the most sumptuous dark indigo Nani Iro double gauze.  I love this fabric because it is so soft and light and breathable and is simply the best thing to wear on a warm summers evening. It is fairly thick but lets the air through and is perfect for humid climates. I know our summers are short but I love wearing my double gauze casuals then and as I am going to a warm place soon I needed of course a new one.

So meet the latest edtion to my growing collection:

The Linden Sweatshirt pattern  is from Grainline Studios and is a fairly new. I was delighted when I spotted it because I love raglan sleeves. They are just the most flattering. The pattern is easy to follow (I downloaded the digital version) and the sweatshirt was done in less than two hours.

The pattern itself is designed to use knitts which is the obvious choice for a sweatshirt. This forced me to make a few small changes for the double gauze. I zickzacked all edges as double gauze does fray and used a biased strip for the neck binding. And I obviously did not add any ribbing to the arms and hem.

I bought this fantastic double gauze with the wonderful name 'Nuance in Muji Viol' at the Village Haberdashery and I saw that Annie recently announced in her newsletter that she ordered he entire Cotton&Steele double gauze 'Bespoke' collection which will arrive in January.  Annie also has the Linden Sweatshirt paper pattern in stock for those who don't want to puzzle it together from the digital version (it can be a drag....).

I think the next project I will attempt with double gauze are short Summer PJs and maybe another Sweatshirt ?