Hemlock vol. 2: Mustard Edition

A few weeks ago, I saw a girl in town wearing a really cool cropped sweater over a collared shirt. It was yellow (always a positive in my eyes!), had dropped shoulder seams, and buttoned up the back. I immediately resolved to steal the idea (and the way she styled it) and make my own version! The free Hemlock tee shirt pattern from Grainline fitted the description pretty neatly, and I had some mustardy/caramel coloured merino all washed and ready to go.

I made the same adjustments to the fit as in my first version, and cropped the length a bit more. I also added a band around the hem and cuffs, to make it look a bit more like a sweater. To create the button band, I added an extra four centimetres to the centre back, and didn’t cut the back out on the fold. I interfaced each edge with a 2cm strip of fusible interfacing, then overlocked the edge and folded the interfaced strip under and topstitched it down. I didn’t want the band to stretch out, so I figured that was the easiest way to keep everything square! I contemplated putting actual button holes down the band, but decided that it would be a bit of a waste of time and effort, as I would never use them. Instead, I just sewed my cute black heart buttons directly through both button bands. (Also, I put nine buttons on it. Nine button holes? Not if I don’t have to!)

I really like the way it turned out! I love the colour, and the heart shaped buttons. And I really love the way it looks with my Archer shirt! Its a Grainline appreciation outfit. I think that I maybe took a bit too much width off the pattern, its not quite as loose as I envisioned, and you can see the imprint of my shirt buttons through the merino, but I don’t really care! I also like the way it looks over a striped tee shirt. Hopefully it will be a good transitional piece as we slowly move towards spring…

This photo came out a bit washed out, the colours in the other photos are much more true to life! And here is one final photo, including my smug-face…

…I’m just that pleased with it!

In other news, I’m about to start my first proper knitting project! (ie: not a scarf or a peggy square). Somewhere, a cold chill has just come over my mother, and she doesn’t quite know why…my attempts at knitting have caused her much trauma in the past!

Comfort clothing- Grainline’s Hemlock

I’ve had the Grainline Hemlock tee-shirt pattern cut out and sitting in my pattern ring binder for ages, just waiting for the right fabric. I figured it would need to be quite a light, drapey knit to counteract the boxy shape of the top, and I just couldn’t find what I was looking for! I also really wanted a floral knit, but the only ones I could find in Wellington were pretty awful. Then, on my last trip to the Fabric Warehouse, I found this awesome fabric. The wide grey and white stripes called to me in the same way that the last piece of chocolate cake does, and I just couldn’t resist. Then I had some angst about whether or not I wanted to make it into a Hemlock after all. It wasn’t as drapey as I had imagined my Hemlock fabric would be, and then I wasn’t sure if the pattern would suit me after all, and it would be a waste of my lovely fabric…then I got real, spent some time looking at other versions of the Hemlock on the internet, and decided that if I made an arse of it I could just go up the road and buy more fabric.

And I do like it, after all that. I thought it was a bit frumpy, when I first tried it on, but after I ‘styled’ it (haha) with one of my favourite scarves and my green skinny jeans, I thought it looked better. I think it’ll look good tucked into a skirt as well, to dress it up a bit.

The only changes I made were to shorten it, shorten the sleeves and take them in a bit, and take an inch off the side seams. I also added cuff bands, as my sewing machine decided it didn’t want to sew with a twin needle anymore after doing the hem. So I showed it how well behaved the overlocker was, as punishment.

I realised last night just how huge the holes in my wardrobe are! I have a job interview at a private hospital tomorrow (argh, talking in front of people I don’t know!!) and I really don’t have any interview-type clothes. I don’t even have a normal pair of trousers, they’re all either super skinny, jeans, or wide legged 1940’s vintage ones! All of my skirts are either short or vintage, and my weather appropriate dresses are all pretty girly-polkadots-and-ribbons sort of things. Major dilemma! At work I wear scrubs, and floral Birkenstocks (don’t judge, they’re super comfortable for running around in all day, and they’re easily washed. Don’t think too hard about why I know that…) I’ll be wearing the same stuff in this new job, if I get it, so I hope they won’t be expecting me in full business attire. It might be time to invest in (or sew) a pair of adult trousers though…

I’m adding this photo in because my face made me laugh, and so theres a picture of the top without the scarf. Also, I really need to find a new pose…