Cold Snap Sew

Only when you live in the south of England and you have 1cm of snow do you find yourself sewing a woollen bolero…that’s right I’ve sewn something entitled bolero.

If you are of a certain age, you’ll understand why I thought this was an Olympic figure skating dance or a piece by Ravel and not an item of clothing deep into my adult life.

And just like Torvill and Dean in 1984 the Bolero gets a gold.

The pattern is from Simply Sewn by Michiyo Ito.

I’ve been dipping in and out of this book for the last 3 years and I really recommend it as an accessible competent beginners sewing book that will grow with you as your skills and confidence develop. Lots of beautiful and very chic Japanese shapes with very clear instructions and room to add your own personality.

The construction is a doddle…don’t be fooled by those curves. A steady hand and a patient eye is all that is required here, those who know me may now snigger quietly as I possess neither outside the realms of the sewing table.

Also as a fashion choice diversion from the norm…it has bell sleeves. I’m not sure I’ve ever had the opportunity to brave a bell sleeve before but this means you fit a jumper underneath without the battle of trying to claw the jumper sleeve out when it bunches up. Cash back.

The fabric is a random wool mix I found in a tiny local fabric store that only sells from its bricks and mortar shop old school style. It’s really soft and snug perfect for all the winter layering that our odd fluctuating winter temperatures.

It’s a seriously British trait to mention that the temperature here is 10 degrees warmer than yesterday and there flowers making themselves happy in the garden right now. I like weather consistency.

We are super happy in our house to have completed January 2019, it was cold, it was snotty, it was long and dark. On the bright side we’ve been inside a lot so we can also remember this month as a time when we had time to make, hibernate, read and enjoy some down time after a busy Christmas break.

I hope that you’re finding the time to make and create something that makes you happy in these winter months!

See you soon!

P.S.

I need to credit not only the Monsieur T with some patient photography skills for this blog post but also my little Madame who was a very creative and loud art director and took more than half the pics featured in this post…I’ll let you guess which ones!

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