A quick post (for me anyway) about some quick makes; a few more wardrobe basics which are both free patterns! I’ve made quite a few Plantains and Hemlocks before and they have all been well worn, some so well worn they are starting to look a bit tired so I thought the time had come to replenish them.

The Deer and Doe Plantain has a lovely shape to it: fitted around the shoulders and bust before gently flaring out through the waist and skimming the hips. I made a size 44, shortened the body by an inch and the sleeves by 4 inches. The duck egg blue is a beautifully soft cotton jersey but has quite a bit of stretch to it (around 80%) It did misbehave and stretched out a bit when I was twin needling the neckline but with a couple of washes and a stern pressing it no longer seems noticeable.

Elbow patches!

The purple is a finer knit with not as much stretch (about 40%) and was a delight to sew. I cut and adjusted exactly the same as the blue. I think the fit of this one is better and a truer representation of the pattern.

More elbow patches!

 On to the Hemlock, it’s a lot more angular that the plantain and in my opinion perfect for stripes. It comes in one size; Bust 44.5 inch and waist 46.5 inch and is drafted for a relaxed fit, but would be easy to size up or down though. I shortened the body by two inches. The first is a fine grey stripey knit with around 50% stretch.

 

My second hemlock is a more medium weight jersey with a lot less stretch (20%) even though this is less than the pattern recommends I quite like the effect, the high neckline gives it a bit of a Breton feel.

The stripes are doing something really weird in this picture!

 

I sewed all these up on my overlocker and used a double needle for the hem, sleeves and topstitching around the neckband. I used a narrow zig zag stitch to attach the elbow patches as it gives them a bit of extra stretch and I kinda like the look of it.

I seem to be on a roll with stocking up on everyday basics, there is a kind of instant gratification in being able to sew something up in a matter of hours rather than days.  I’m really looking forward to doing something a little more involved though. The plan is to get the basics out of the way and then I can spend all my time on Springtime sewing!