Autumn is definitively here and I wanted to share two projects I made with boiled wool, a fabric that is just perfect for this season. The one I used this time is a blend of wool and viscose and it’s lighter weight than the regular 100% boiled wool and it also has a really nice drape. It can be lined and worn as a jacket or on it’s own too (you’ll see my second project with the same fabric unlined below). I already made two coats with “regular” 100% boiled wool, that fabric is great for winter garments, it’s very nice to work with, presses amazingly well and it gives you all the warmth. I used it for this Burda coat and the black Berlin jacket below.
I don’t know about a specific shop where you can find a wool blend like I used but you can get 100% boiled wool in different places. We just received at the academy different wools we ordered at this online shop (the shop is in Germany, you can see the site for UK customers in English here) and the quality is really nice for the very reasonable pricing they offer (we got different wool coatings and boiled wool and everything was good quality and the shipping only took a couple of days to Spain). If you’re thinking about making a coat this winter I’d recommend you to buy wool coatings as they are so much easier to work with than cheap polyester coatings. You can of course first make a toile in a similar more affordable fabric but I’d really encourage you to try wool, you’ll be thankful later!
Now before talking about these two makes I have to start with previous makes with the same pattern, the Berlin jacket by Tessuti Patterns (I’m also including them here as I wasn’t really active posting my own makes over here at the blog during last year so they don’t appear in a separate post). I’ve used this pattern a couple of times already and I really like the simple shape. First I made this black boiled wool coat without lining like suggested in the pattern. The pattern actually is made specifically for boiled wool as this fabric can be left with raw edges and there’s no fraying involved. So it’s a very easy project really.
The only change I made was to draw an overlap for the front piece as I wanted to use snaps to close the coat (I know that when I’m already wearing a wool coat it must be cold enough to not walk around with the coat left open in the front, haha). After wearing it a couple of times over my wool sweaters I noticed that the friction between the two layers wasn’t really good for my wool sweaters and I knew I had to line the coat. So I unpicked the whole thing (the construction on the Berlin coat is a bit different and I wanted to have normal seams not the overlapped seams) and lined the coat so I could wear it comfortably (you can see more photos here).
This summer I discovered that the quick toile I had made for the black coat actually looked cute (I used a random not stretchy cotton knit), the peach color looked like something I could wear in the summer. So I cut the jacket shorter and finished it to wear in Estonia where the summers are not so hot like here in Madrid. I really really like how that one came together, it’s the perfect layering piece! Inspired by that make I actually made the boiled wool jacket featured in this post :)
So after liking my short Berlin jacket so much I thought I should also make a more autumn appropriate version in something like a boiled wool. I had also seen so many gorgeous Wiksten haori makes on Instagram (check out the #wikstenhaori hashtag for some serious jacket inspiration!) and as the pattern is actually very similar I thought I would just hack my Berlin pattern a bit. The main difference is that the Wiksten has a separate collar band and the Berlin has the band incorporated to the front pieces so what I did was to remove the band width from the front pattern and use a straight collar piece instead. I made mine narrower than the Wiksten and I didn’t fold it under. Again I lined the jacket for more warmth and comfort.
I really like the result and I’ve been wearing it a lot this season! Remember that I wrote before that when I decided to make the black coat I knew I had to close it in order to keep warm...well for some reason I didn’t really think about it when sewing up this one, haha. But it became obvious I had to do something as using a blanket scarf to cover myself wasn’t really going to work in the long run. Buttons wasn’t an option I was thinking about...but I did get some pretty decorative safety pins, big enough to close the jacket comfortably and also to stay hidden under the scarf, haha. But then it occurred to me that I could maybe make a belt with the same fabric to resolve this problem.
And the belt was a very good idea actually! I’m now wearing it tied up and I think it looks really nice. It does not really have the same oversized jacket vibe but I’m liking it very much! I also added little loops on the sides so the belt stays in place.
My second make is sewn with the same fabric. You might ask why I’d get so much of it to make two garments...well, there actually is an explanation, not a very logical one, but what can I say, haha. So I got this fabric for the first time last year in Estonia and took it with me to Madrid to make something with it but I didn’t use it yet. This summer in Estonia I got the idea for the jacket, went to look for a fabric and the one I liked the most was...the same one, haha. I knew I already had it back in Madrid….then again I also knew that a basic beige like this will always be used at some point! So I got the same fabric again and made the jacket in September.
When I later saw the 5/2020 edition of Ottobre Design I knew I wanted to try out the wool jumper on the cover...annnnd as I had the same fabric that would be just great for this style in Madrid, I could now use it up! So I guess I don't have a fabric collecting problem after all, haha.
So, about this wool jumper...I guess I can call it a jumper? I saw the cover photo of the magazine and thought immediately that it would be a great layering piece for the winter. It could be something I could use over a long sleeve knit t-shirt when I’m at work and this way I could have a little variety from wearing sweaters every day too (but I’d still have the warmth I need so it would be a win-win situation!). You could of course wear it also outdoors when it’s not very cold.
I actually don’t have anything like this in my wardrobe so I was a bit hesitant about this really fitting my (very basic) style. But not so hesitant to NOT cut it out from the wool without a previous toile, haha. Luckily I really like the result!!!
From the cover photo I could tell that the high neck was really exaggerated and that it might be too much for me but I decided to try it out anyway. And as I suspected, it was really wide! The good thing was that it was easily fixable. I did lower the neck quite a bit and I also brought the shoulders in quite a bit to get a look I wanted. The rest was really easy as I then just pressed all the hems and hand stitched them under so the seams won’t be visible after all. In that sense boiled wool and similar fabrics are really great as it’s easy to hand sew them in a quite invisible way (I’m not a big fan of hand stitching actually, haha).
I paired it with a high neck long sleeve rib knit t-shirt I made recently too and the combination is perfect!
I already made a similar white t-shirt that I talked about on IG with a pattern from Ottobre Design 7/2017 so it was easy to repeat with the same pattern (I’m planning to make more!!!).
The thing is that I always find the high necks that are sold in the stores super tight on my neck! I like how they look but I could never get myself any as they feel so uncomfortable. So what I did here is that I widened the neck piece quite a bit (I measured my neck roughly + added some more “breathing” room) and just used the new neck piece and the result is great, I feel good wearing it, haha. I didn’t make the neckline on the front and back bigger, as I was using a stretchy rib knit I just stretched the two layers enough to equally divide both circumferences.
To end this post I wanted to also share this beautiful Cumulus blouse (pattern by Petite Knit) I made in September (also up on my Raverly page). I used a delicate mix of silk, alpaca and mohair and the result is amazing. I wasn’t sure if I’d like a V-neck and I love it!!! It’s by far the most delicate (and expensive) thing I’ve knit and I’m hoping to wear it a lot this winter!
I hope you liked this post and maybe got inspired to sew yourself something fall/winter appropriate too. The last edition of Ottobre Design from where I got the jumper pattern has many great patterns if you’re looking for new projects. I also made a pretty coat from there too but I’ll save the details about that one for a next blog post :)