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9 In fashion/ knitting/ sewing

cold shoulder

one-shoulder-knitted-top

Told you I’ve had a pretty productive couple of weeks!  Between us, my mum and I made this top from start to finish in less than 4 days, and I love how it’s turned out.  Kate Gilbert’s design is equal parts clever and simple: a winning combination, if you ask me.  Unusual, modern, designs are what I think is helping knitwear shake off its stereotypical boring and conservative image, which is definitely a step in the right direction in my book!  I’m currently having a wee bit of an obsession with cool necklines too, so this unique idea caught my eye when flicking through old Interweave magazines.  Mama kindly obliged to do most of the knitting for me. 😀  To keep it from falling indecently I may have to crochet around the edge to tighten it up a little, but that’s probably because we used a weighty bamboo-based yarn.  I’m still really happy with the finished result!

white-top-blue-shorts

Ravelry project here.

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Unfortunately the shorts are not quite so handmade!  They’re from Miss Selfridge (where clothes never usually fit my tall frame brilliantly), and they had a quite a wide gaping back when I tried them on.  Anybody else always have this problem?  I have to buy a size 10 to fit my hips/bum, but even an 8 is sometimes too big around my waist.  Problem with having a fairly extreme hips to waist ratio I guess!  The majority of shorts/jeans/bodycon skirts don’t fit great, but I’m guessing I’m not the only one with this problem!

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Anyway, I digress.  I decided to get crafty and make the shorts fit, because who doesn’t need a pair of well-fitting-cobalt-blue-snakeskin-print shorts?  They didn’t have a waistband and were faced on the inside instead, so I thought the whole fit could be improved by taking some excess material out of the back.  Unpicking and reattaching the waist facing was a slightly fiddlier than I expected, but taking in the (already existing) darts at the back wasn’t too difficult.  I tacked and handstitched the darts into place, then cut the facing and reattached it overlapping.  That probably doesn’t make sense at all, but I’m no expert on this fabric tailoring business yet!  Knits are my comfort zone, and I’m trying to learn more and more about sewing and tailoring.  Telling you guys what I get up to along the way, of course. 😀

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Much better!

kate-gilbert-interweave-one-shoulder-top

black-boots-blue-miss-selfridge-shorts

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electric-blue-shorts

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Hope you’ve all had a lovely week and are set to make the most of this long weekend!  Hopefully the sun will give up on its ‘now you see me, now you don’t’ game and hang around until Monday.  I’m heading out for pizza with the girls tonight, but don’t think I’ll trust myself to wear this top anywhere tomato sauce is concerned. 🙂

lily kate x
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9 Comments

  • Reply
    Nichole
    17th April 2014 at 5:24 pm

    That top is soooo cute!! I think it turned out awesome!! 🙂 So spring/summer perfect!

  • Reply
    abi
    17th April 2014 at 11:26 pm

    I’m on the same page when it comes to shorts. If I get a pair that fit, the waist is always too large around. Unfortunately, I don’t have quite the sewing skills you have, but I’m working on it.

    Both the top and the shorts are lovely on you, as usual!

  • Reply
    Jaime
    18th April 2014 at 12:41 am

    I love that top, its so different! And I totally face the never-ending struggle of there being a gap in my jeans. But its so cool that you found a way to fix it. Great post:)

    • Reply
      lily
      21st April 2014 at 9:49 pm

      Thank you Jaime! I’ll be sure to share if I find another way of fixing clothes problems!

  • Reply
    Aimee
    19th April 2014 at 10:10 am

    Great job on the top!

    • Reply
      lily
      21st April 2014 at 9:47 pm

      Thank you Aimee!

  • Reply
    Chloe
    20th April 2014 at 1:46 am

    You look great! That top is beautiful – I’m continually impressed by your knitting skills – and those shorts are rad. My pants always gap really badly in the back and it’s the worst problem ever! It seems like your little fix (though confusing) was genius. It helps when there’s no waistband. Otherwise I just belt it and give up haha

    • Reply
      lily
      21st April 2014 at 9:44 pm

      Thanks Chloe! It’s such an annoying problem to have! The high waisted styles quite often aren’t actually a high waist on me since I’m so tall, which makes it even more of a nightmare! But otherwise yeah belting is key haha:D

  • Reply
    november writing challenge | day 17 | guilty pleasures - Joli House
    17th November 2014 at 8:32 pm

    […] over my hips/bum they’re too big around the waist and I haven’t gotten round to working this trick on them yet, so awkward belt it is.  Of course it’s time to bring out the Primark […]

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