Crochet Cricket Vest- finally!!

I finally made my crochet cricket vest! This is something I’ve been wanting to make since I began crochet last September and I finally got round to starting it last month. It was something I’ve been putting off and putting off, because I wanted to get it exactly ‘right’ (I know, I know) and I didn’t think my skill level would have been able to provide should I have started it earlier. I definitely wasn’t ready the first few months, but I was probably more ready than I think I was and likely could have made it earlier. I was scared to start it because I didn’t want to mess it up and if you know me well then you know how much I love cricket and I really just wanted to do this piece justice!

It was also the fact of how complex I knew it would be to make which was why I was delaying it. I knew I wanted to use a combination of Almond Stitch and Half Double BLO to create a cabled effect, but there were calculations involved and that was pretty intimidating. I did a sample of the kind of look I was aiming for a while ago:

Which became my guide for getting an idea of how many rows and what sort of measurements I’d be looking at. But yeah, going into this project I felt very unsure of myself. I also needed to write this in my crochet notebook:

No idea if it worked, but I think the fact that I wrote it did something to me and I got myself out of my head and made a start on it. Like with most things (cliché alert ahead) the first steps are the hardest part, but I guess it’s a cliché because it’s true.

I sort of went about getting the size of it from measuring the sample piece, as well as using the previous two sweater vests I made as a guide. This was a lot harder though, because the ratio of the rows with Almond Stitch were about 7 rows in width to 4 rows of the HDBLO, so it wasn’t as straight forwards as using one kind of stitch. I roughed out a pattern using a spreadsheet and Photoshop.

Here’s version 1:

The blue represents the Almond, while the yellow is the HDBLO. The eagle eyed amongst you will notice that I changed it to 8 rows of Almond instead of the 7 I did in the sample. I wanted all the rows to begin on an odd row number, so if I went with 7, the rows would have been all messed up and some facing the wrong way etc. As I was crocheting, I also amended the pattern to make a slightly different look, with a wider patch of Almond in the middle, in order to make it more symmetrical. That was something that was irritating me for the longest time- I wouldn’t have been able to live with myself if this wasn’t symmetrical! Ok, yes a little extreme I know, but it wouldn’t have sat well with me is what I probably should have said. Here’s the amended pattern:

The first half of the first panel was the hardest to devise, because that would form the basis of the whole thing. The second half would be mirrored and the back would be identical to the front, but with a shallow rounded dip for the neck, rather than a v-neck.

Also, to achieve the v-neck was another headache! It was hard to know when to start decreasing down for it and how many stitches to decrease by, in order to get the tip of the ‘v’ to finish where I wanted it to (the right height on the garment, as well as at the right width across or I was at risk of the the piece being too narrow- I really didn’t want this one to be too form fitting as it wasn’t the look I was going for here). I also didn’t want it too wide or rounded, but also not too pointy. I full on sound like Goldilocks here don’t I. I swear I’m not this high maintenance in real life! Surely you can see now why I was putting off making this one for the longest time?! These patterns I made were a massive help in figuring this all out, but it was still very much an anxiety ridden process trying to get it how I wanted and full on nerve-racking whenever I got my tape measure out to see if I was on the right tracks! But, I needn’t have worried- I got the v-neck exactly how I wanted it…

Just a quick note on the colour scheme- the off white for the main body is the traditional colour of these things and the green represents my beloved county team Worcestershire! Where myself and my brother spent many a summer… Below is me receiving a signed autograph bat from cricketing legend Gareth Batty when I was 16, for being a runner up in the ‘draw the county ground’ competition. Definitely peaked then didn’t I.

After I had created both the back and front panels, it was time to add the ribbing. I couldn’t decide (quelle surprise) how I wanted the ribbing to look, so I created 3 mockups on the photo of the test fitting. Why I am smiling so much I have no idea.

This one felt too all over the place in terms of continuity. The mix of the neck ribbing being white with the arm ribbing being green just looked a mess in all honesty!

This one felt closer, but the white ribbing didn’t give enough ‘balance’ at the top, so the design as a whole felt a bit ‘off’.

This is the one I went with- well, almost. I did start crocheting the arms with the white strip in the middle, but a few rows in, I decided it was looking too messy, so unravelled and started again with just the green. I feel this was the right choice- it has much more of a cleaner look like this.

I kept the white strip on the neck though, because I feel it pulls the design together and the neck ribbing is one stitch wider (6 total) than the arms which are 5 stitches, so it would accommodate it better. And I think the neck would have looked too plain without it.

Another quick note on the neck ribbing- I actually stitched a row of slip stitches around the base of it in order to achieve a clean looking ‘v’. I was very concerned that this wouldn’t turn into a sharp ‘v’, or would become stepped like the raw edges, so I decided upon this foundation row. I wouldn’t usually work one of these in because it can result in the garment being less stretchy around the neck, but as this is a v-neck with a lot of space for the head to fit through, it wouldn’t have mattered if I lost a bit of stretchiness in that department.

I also ran out of green part way through adding the ribbing and as I bought the yarn ages ago, there was no way I’d have been able to get the same dye lot etc, or even the yarn itself. But luckily, remember that hat I made as my first crochet thing? I found myself ‘frogging’ (undoing) it and using the yarn from that. Which I was totally fine with. The hat has just been sitting in my yarn storage box for the best part of a year- I made it much too big by mistake so wouldn’t be wearable. Whereas this, I will actually wear it. I feel enough time has elapsed since making the hat to lose any sentimental value surrounding it, especially with it being my first piece. But I have photos and memories of creating it and I’d much rather something I’ll actually use, rather than something which will just sit there.

Right, I think I’m done! This was a long one, congrats if you made it this far and I hope it made sense- apologies if not! Technical details below, some more finished pics after…

Total weight: 288g

Front panel: 124g

Back panel: 134g

Neck and arm ribbing: 30g

4mm hook, using 100% acrylic Wendy Supreme DK yarn (in which I have about 260ish grams remaining- I purchased 500g of this way back when, because I had no idea how much I’d need)! So expect some more off white garments from me in the near future! xo

I Wish I Was There- another festival announcement + pics!!

As I alluded to in my last post on this, I now have the full details for the next festival announcement and it's one of those fancy BAFTA qualifying festivals, which means my film is eligible to be put forward for consideration. So yeah, that's pretty crazy and unexpected!! The festival in question is the very excellent Bolton Film Festival, which takes place in person Weds 30th Sept- Sun 4th Oct and online Weds 7th- Sun 18th Oct.

My film is screening in two categories- 'Animation 2' and 'UK Shorts 8', full details below:

Animation 2

Wednesday 30th Sept- 12:30 Light Cinema Screen 2
Friday 2nd Oct- 16:30 KUDOS Cinema (FREE)

Thursday 8th Oct- 16:30 Online VOD Platform

UK Shorts 8
Friday 2nd Oct- 16:25 Light Cinema Screen 1
Sunday 4th Oct- 15:00 Light Cinema Screen 2
Friday 16th Oct- 20:00 Online VOD Platform

I will be at the festival in person for the majority of it, as well as in attendance for the Wed screening in the animation category, as well as the Fri screening for the UK Shorts. You can get tickets and see the full line up HERE.

...And I did promise pics in the title didn't I?! These are a few taken from the Mansfield Town FF launch event which took place about a week and a half ago. So here I am repping one of my crochet garms and dirty skate shoes and looking super awkward on the mic during an impromptu Q+A! Photography by the fantastic Elizabeth Orridge.

xo

I Wish I Was There- MORE Festival Announcements!!

This is all so new to me- I've never had so many!! And I have three in the same weekend- meaning I won't be able to attend all the screenings, unfortunately. A nice problem to have though and I'm super grateful and proud for the festival recognition it seems to be garnering of late... So without further ado, I'll get announcing!

I'll do it in the order in which they are being screened, to make things slightly less complicated. Oh and they're all BIFA qualifying festivals, which is like super cool, too. And it goes without saying, but all of the films its programmed alongside look absolutely amazing, so if ya don't like mine, you might like one of the other ones!

First up, is Worcester Film Festival- my hometown 'gig' if you like! Sadly, because of fixture clashes, I won't be able to attend the actual screening, but I WILL be in attendance for the majority of the festival which runs 22nd-26th September (I'll be heading back up north on the evening of the 25th). My film screens as part of Shorts Block 34, 10am, Saturday 26th September. Tickets to the screening are just £4 (purchase by clicking here), but you can also purchase day tickets and full festival passes from the website, as linked above. I also wrote a short ‘behind the scenes’ type thing for this one, which you can read here.

Then, on Saturday 26th September at 6pm, my film is playing at Mansfield Town Film Festival, a festival endorsed by no other than filmmaking legend Ken Loach! It’s screening in the Something Has To Give block, taking place in the Director’s Lounge. I’ll be hanging about the festival the full day on the Saturday, so come say hey! I attended the programme launch on Friday just gone and they’re a super friendly and down to earth bunch, so looking forward to heading here. Tickets are an affordable £5 and you get can those here, but like with Worcester, you can buy day and full festival passes, too.

And then on Sunday 27th September (see, I said this was busy!) it is screening at the Spirit of Independence Film Festival, taking place at The Light cinema in my current base of Sheffield! My previous film won an award at this one back in 2023, so it’s lovely that they’re having me back for more. I’m also super hyped that this is showing at The Light- the screens are enormous, so can’t wait to see how it’s going to look in such a venue! It is showing as part of the Northern Spirit shorts, which is at 12.50pm and you can get tickets for a reasonably priced £6 here. And like with the others, you can purchase full day/ festival passes.

And lastly (for now*) is that my film made the honours list for the Women X Film Festival up in Darlington, which runs 17th-20th September. My film is NOT screening at this festival, but it was an ‘almost made it’ hence the honours list. I may or may not be in attendance at this one, I’ve not yet decided- but it may be one too many, due to all the other screenings in the two weeks following this one, but we shall see…

*there’s another big one to be announced, but I don’t know which day my film is screening yet, so I’ll not post that until I have the full details or I’ll only have to create another post, essentially doing an awkward double announcement!

Ok, I think that’s everything. I love films and I love film festivals!! Can’t wait for all these- see you in the cinema xo

On a Panel- photos!!

Just sharing a few images taken last weekend at the excellent We Crip Film Festival which took place at BFI Southbank. The festival was so lovely to be part of, met some great people and watched some amazing films- would highly recommend checking this festival out next year!

Photos taken by Jess Sansom @jessicasansom_stills 

panel left to right: Sarah Meeks (BSL interpreter), Charlie Little, Tara Brown, me(!), Simon Panrucker, Emma Malins, Klarissa Webster

Also, keep your eyes peeled here for some incoming festival announcements- these are also very exciting!! xo

Toile and Trouble (mainly trouble)!

Obviously I had to get the pun in there! So this blog is all about making trousers. For the uninitiated, a toile is the posh word for a mock up- which is what you do when pattern drafting (I only recently learned about the existence of that very word myself) to test if your pattern is good to go, or if it needs adjusting before using the ‘good’ fabric. These are usually made from cheap fabric such as muslin, but old bedsheets are also perfect (and more environmentally sound), which I made mine from.

To be honest, when I had the grand idea that I would make myself some trousers just under a year ago, I thought it might have been a little less complex than this. Or maybe it’s just me- why did I think drafting (not just making but drafting) the pattern on my first go at trousers was a good idea?!

That being said, I like the idea of drafting my own stuff, not just because I want to make my life difficult, but because, one, you learn a new skill and two (most importantly), you can make exactly the thing you want, without having to compromise- which defeats the object of making your own clothes anyway. Well, at least it does in my opinion. One of the main draws to making your own stuff is that you can (in theory) create a garment to the exact specifics of what you want. When out clothes shopping, I find it extremely difficult, because I often have an idea of what I want, but there’s always something slightly not quite right, whether that be the price, the material, the fit and so on. It also restricts you to what is currently ‘trending’, which might not always be what I’m looking for or what suits me. There’s also the environmental and ethical factors to consider, too, which are big for me. Oh hey climate change and exploitation of workers.

But I’m not going to pretend drafting was at all easy. It was quite the opposite. It was also a very long drawn out process- as you’ll shortly see that I left large gaps between each version due to losing motivation etc, because it felt like none of it was working or looking any good. A lot of this is due to lack of experience/ knowledge. But the more you do, the more you learn. So I persisted. I ended up making 4 toiles before the ‘final’ version. Which is also somewhat a toile, because there are several adjustments I want to make before going into my next trousers using some fabric I purchased last year for around £35. So yeah, the pressure is on to get the next ones right! And yes, I’m sure the perfect trousers don’t exist, but one can try!

The initial drafting for the ‘block’ was following this and this video tutorials. I didn’t need to mess around with darts or zip flys or anything, because in my head I always wanted an elasticated waist for these. I much prefer the feel of a stretchy waist as I find it much more comfortable and less restricting. I hate not feeling relaxed or that my clothes are bothering me in some way, so one of the main components for my design was an elasticated waist. I’ll note here what other requirements I wanted for my brief: side seam pockets, colour to be black, made from natural fibres and the legs to be tapered.

I’ll go through each toile now and the date I made it/ what adjustments I wanted, as well as some ‘making of’ pics. Hopefully you can see the progression as I go through- if not, then what am I even doing?!

#1 24th March

This was the first go at it- I had no idea what I was doing at this point to be honest! And I made a rookie error of sewing two of the same pattern pieces together, so yes, unpicking was required!

But, they look like trousers, so that was a start. Though the main thing wrong with these is that they had very little ease, so yeah, they weren’t the most comfortable of things to wear, despite looking fine in these images.

You can see that the tops of the pattern go straight across, rather than slanted towards the centre back, which gives the trousers ease for when you sit down or walk upstairs/ movement in general. I looked at my current favourite pair of trousers and they go up in the centre at the back several inches than the front.

#2 27th April

Yeah so over a month passed between these two! But, stuff happened and I got ill for two weeks. Valid excuses I think!

The fit of the crotch was much improved here, but as you can see, they’re much too baggy over the bum, which wasn’t the look I wanted. I tested out the pocket positioning in these, plus wanted to try making pockets as that’s something I’ve never done before. I was really pleased with the positioning of them, so I tried to make sure I didn’t mess with the placement of them for any future pattern adjustments. Going forwards though, I should have really drafted them last, because I felt it restricted me a little in editing the pattern.

#3 9th May

Overall these were much better. I also ran out of white material, so went on to the blue stuff! This was a bit annoying as it was a polyester/ cotton blend, meaning it wouldn’t be a quite accurate representation of the final garment, which would be 100% natural fibres (linen in this instance). The colour of these also gives strong hospital vibes!

They still felt a little baggy round the back, so I still wasn’t completely happy with them.

#4 7th July

I was running out of blue sheets at this point, hence the shorts! But, almost two months since the previous toile, I feel I was good to go. This was pretty much to test just the back crotch, which I ruthlessly redesigned, so shorts were sufficient and also that’s why there’s like zero images from the front, because that wasn’t the focus of these. And this picture is an absolute shocker- yes, that is all my socks and that on the drying rack behind me! But cba to take another photo, so it was either this one or nothing!

Finally I was able to make my ‘proper’ trousers! I’ll stick a few images below- some close ups of some of the sewing I’m proud of (I’m getting a lot better at using the sewing machine now), the zig zag stitch finish due to not owning an overlocker, what they look like before dyeing them, what they look like after and anything else interesting I can find in my photo library!

Firstly, I am very proud of these, despite them not being perfect. I’m pleased with a lot of the sewing, as well as the pressing (I love pressing- it’s soooo satisfying)! And to have created some very wearable trousers which actually fit, with zero drafting experience is something not to be sniffed at. But, there are obviously improvements/ alterations I would like to make going forwards into the next pair(s).

An easy fix is the pocket bags- these just need enlarging. It would be cool to make them zipped as well, though that might be too much of a faff, but we shall see… They are also quite tight around the thigh area (thanks skateboarding for quads, but makes trousers difficult)! When I’m standing, they’re fine, but it’s just crouching down or that kind of thing, where I feel they could have a bit more ‘give’ (if this was a stretch fabric that would be no issue, but cotton/ linen are pretty unforgiving in that way). So the fix will be expanding the sides ever so slightly on the back pattern piece- perhaps a cm on each side. I suppose if they do end up being too baggy, then I can always take them in, but if they’re still kind of tight feeling, then it’s a lot harder to add fabric on.

I also want to make the waistband a fraction taller, to account for the top stitching, as well as bulk from the elastic and drawstring inside.

So, those are my main alterations I have in mind, with a few minor things which are too dull to list here!

Watch this space for more- got a lot of ideas for sewing right now, plus some of it is necessary as my current trouser situation is extremely limited!

See you in the next one xo

I Wish I Was There- Super Exciting Announcement!!

Whenever I get a film festival acceptance email, they are of course, equally exciting because it's never guaranteed, and more often than not it's a 'thank you for submitting your film, though unfortunately, we are not able to include it in our program this year' response. And I am loathe to single this one out as something extra special, as all festivals/ screening nights have their merits- I have attended all 7 out of the 7 for I Wish I Was There thus far and they honestly have all been absolutely amazing experiences. But, as a film nerd and someone who feels they haven't quite ‘cracked the industry’/ gives strong outsider vibes(!) and have sort of done things my own way, to have my film playing at BFI Southbank is, I'm sure you will agree, some extremely exciting news!

It’s playing as part of the important We Crip Film Festival, which highlights and platforms disability screen stories and talent. The line up looks amazing- so I’m extremely honoured to be part of such a vital festival. You can find out more about the festival as a whole HERE and you can find out more about the specific film screening my short is included in HERE. You can purchase tickets through both those links, too. I will also be taking part in the Q+A, alongside several of the other filmmakers. I can’t wait for this one, see you there xo

Crochet Sweater Vest #2

I simply can’t stop crocheting, can I?! This was my first ‘scrap yarn’ project- I don’t have a huge stash, because I’m not really about that (though I’ll admit it’s sometimes kind of tempting to purchase when I do see a nice looking yarn), but I do have yarn left over from other projects, which needs putting to good use. I also wanted to try doing a slightly more cropped version of the previous vest I made, as well as it being a fairly basic/ simple ‘nice’ project to do while I work through some personal stuff. I basically used the same pattern as the yellow vest, but did it 14 stitches (around 2.5 inches) shorter.

This is my only wearable project thus far I’ve not had to start again or undo when making it, which obviously felt good! I think that was down to having already created the pattern prior and using the same yarn brand/ weight etc, so there was no issue in terms of those variables.

It did however, go through an extensive design process! These were the front sketches:

Oh yeah, before I go any further, the yarn I wanted to use up was the blue and grey, but purchased the black as the ‘binding’ yarn if you like- because I wouldn’t have had enough with just the two colours, and black was the colour which pulled the design together the best. Or, at least in the vision I had for this garment. This was all trial and error, just using estimates, but whatever my guesses were, I was pretty bob on with the quantities, because now I only have 5g of the grey yarn left and about 1g of the blue yarn, so I think I did pretty well overall! I also only have 20g of the black yarn left, so even after buying a new ball, I don’t have much left at all. While we’re on yarns and weights and all that, I used the Women’s Institute Premium (100%) DK Acrylic Yarn and the total garment weight is 213g. So that’s nice to know when creating something similar in the future. I used a 4mm hook throughout, including the ribbing.

Above is the finished front, and as you can see on the initial design on the image prior- I pretty much produced it exactly to my sketch. The back though, was a little more of a minefield:

The front I was able to be a bit more free with the design process, because even though I knew I had limited yarn quantities, I knew whatever design I did (within reason) I wouldn’t be overdoing it with any colour and I knew I’d have enough to go through with the design I wanted. With the back, I then had limited yarn quantities left, so I had to design with that in mind. I wanted it similar to the front, but it didn’t need to be the same (and with the amount of yarn I had left it couldn’t have been anyway), so it went through a fairly vigorous iteration process. I even moved from my sketchbook to Photoshop, because I knew I’d be doing a lot, and it was easier to change design aspects faster using a computer.

Some were just way off the mark and much too complicated/ not in keeping with the simplicity of the front, so I had to scale it back a bit. Plus the ones with more colour blocks would have just looked a bit of a mess to be honest. I initially settled on this design:

But midway through, I realised I needed to add more blue to it or I would have been left with loads and therefore be defeating the object of this scrap yarn project, so I added a bit more blue after the black:

And in my opinion, it turned out pretty nicely and used up the adequate amount of yarn required to make this project worth it! If I’m being picky, the grey in the top right corner could have done with around 4 more stitches in height, as I think it looks a little short and off balance, but like I said, that’s me being me basically! It also would have left me with even less grey, which would have been nice, because now I have 5g swimming around my yarn box. I’ll likely find something to do with it, I’m sure…

I wanted to make the design a little more interesting than just stripes/ checks- so I have something completely different to what I already have in my wardrobe and something that you don’t really see too often in shops. I think I satisfied the brief well with this design. It’s not over the top wild, but there’s more interest/ detail taking it past something more basic. Not that there’s owt wrong with a bit of stripes (I own a lot of striped stuff- plus the last garment I crocheted was striped), it just wasn’t the look I was going for in this instance.

This was only meant to be a short post, she says, already exceeding the 800 word count! I just can’t help myself can I?! I’ll leave with a few more images then: the finished garment with me wearing it, a few close ups, plus the pattern, should I wish to refer to it quickly again in the future without rifling through pages of my notebook. See you in the next one xo