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

Handmade Bag

This was 100% the hardest thing I have ever sewn! No contest. It started because I wanted a bag smaller than an A4 piece of paper which is the standard size allowed to take into large sports stadiums. As well as for times when I didn’t want to carry my ‘big’ bag around, but didn’t have the adequate pocket space to carry the essentials with me, such as my phone, notebook, mirror/ hair brush, hand gel and so on. I had a bit of a look around the shops and I either didn’t like any of the bags or they were too pricey for the budget I had in mind for this particular item. Plus I’m also on a bit of an environmental guilt vibe at the moment and therefore dislike purchasing a load of new stuff. Basically everything new I buy, I need to justify about a million times over and then still feel bad, even if I couldn’t have done without said item. Yep, I’m no fun at parties.

So, being as I’m getting back into sewing at the moment, I thought, well you know what, what don’t I try making one? I likely have all the materials I need around the house, as well as the skills to be able to pull this off. And after a quick scour of YouTube, there were plenty of tutorials to show me how to do it, so I thought ‘yeah, go on then, why not’. I used a combination of three videos to create my bag: here, here and here.

Like I said at the top of this post, it wasn’t easy. I wouldn’t say I’m the most experienced sewer, so perhaps to try and pull this off was one of those biting off more than I can chew moments. But I bit it, and I chewed it and it chewed back at me, but it was finally done!

And I am extremely proud of it, for a couple of reasons: firstly, for pushing through such a difficult task, and secondly, for the finished piece. I can’t lie, I do think it looks really good and has a quite professional finish- at least from the outside!

And everything was sourced from existing items I had round the house, besides some fusible interfacing, which I got from The Range for less than £1 and the strap, which I took from a charity shop find, for £2. To buy nylon bag strap webbing new would have cost the same, if not more, plus would have also meant I was bringing something new into existence which wasn’t necessary, being as I found exactly what I needed in a charity shop. So I’m really proud of how sustainable making this bag was. And the only worker that got exploited was myself(!), but that’s ok, because it was my choice.

The breakdown of the materials used: the main zip, plus key holder were from another bag which was in to bad of a shape to give to charity, the inside lining was created from various fat quarters I already had, the trim inside was created from hospital gown(!) from my previous film project, the main material was made from curtain fabric from a spare single curtain we had and the hardware (D-rings, tabs and clips) were salvaged from other bags around the house.

Like I said a couple of times already, making this was NOT easy and I did go wrong a few times during the making of it. My first attempt at the front was awful and I’m so pleased I decided to start again. The zip wasn’t straight and the whole thing just looked bad:

This was using an old pair of trousers, though the fabric will now likely become another project in the future (perhaps used for trouser patches or test material). I was extremely frustrated that I had ‘wasted’ some material here, but like I said, I’ll try and use it for something else.

The next time I went wrong was when I attempted to make the welt pocket for the inside:

I followed this tutorial. The tutorial was great, but my effort unfortunately wasn’t. Again frustrated because of the wastage of material used, but luckily it’s not too much and I have kept it, so I can try and use it for future projects. The main issue here was the fact that the fabric had puckered at the edges and it didn’t make for a very clean finish, therefore I decided I didn’t want it in my bag. Perhaps I should have practised on some scrap fabric first, because it’s a hard technique to get neat- or that’s how I felt anyway. But, you learn as you go. I eventually settled for just a basic inner pocket, with no zip or owt, just to simplify things. I was very stubborn and wasn’t going to discard my need for an inner pocket! I just love pockets!

And then there were various times where I unpicked the sewing because I wasn’t happy with it, but I won’t bore you with outlining all of those times. I also went from using pins, to using clips and seriously, for bulky stuff with lots of layers of fabric such as this, these are an absolute find. Pins definitely have their uses too, but clips are the way forward for this kind of project.

I wouldn’t say I’m the most confident person using the sewing machine (I find hand sewing much easier to control), but I’m really pleased with some of the top stitching, though unfortunately you can’t see it that well, because the thread matches the colour of everything too well. It’s sort of where I wished I had used contrast stitching, especially on the front and alongside the top zip. Plus it would have given the finish a bit more detail, especially if I went for something like a yellow or a pink. That would have looked really cool. Next time eh…

Also, if anyone still calls me a perfectionist after seeing the inside of the bag, then they are very, very wrong! Sewing the trim was one of those ‘just need to get it done I’m not unpicking this’ moments! It doesn’t look too bad now it’s inside, but there’s some shocking sewing going on in there. But it’s on and there are no raw edges in sight, so that’s what matters. Next time though, I would prefer to use bias binding and sew it on at the end. I think it might have been easier to sew and provided for a nicer finish.

Ok, I think that’s everything. Well, maybe I’ll quickly add the dimensions of the finished piece for those that are interested: 23x15x5.5cm. Right, I’m done! On to the next project, whatever it may be xo

Bonus image above: the state of my desk for a week or so while I was making the thing...

Crochet Cricket Ball

Pretty much the title! Also, hello! It’s been a while. Okay, maybe not- the last post was only nine days ago, but it feels like forever for some reason. I think it’s because I’ve been super busy with a lot of stuff, so feels like more time has elapsed than it actually has. Unfortunately, a fair amount of it are things that I can’t yet post about on here. But soon though, so keep your eyes out!

Before I continue, I should say that the first screening of my film went down really, really well last week at Showroom Shorts. To be honest, I was a bit overwhelmed with the response it received. In a good way. Hopefully that’s a good early sign of things to come for the festival submissions, but I don’t want to get my hopes up. Though secretly (shhh, just between us) I am, because it’s hard not to. Especially when you want something so bad. But whatever, what happens, happens. I’ll keep you updated on here for any future screenings… Here’s me chatting about my film on the night. Photo credit Ben <3

Also, while on festival talk, I was at Manchester Animation Festival the week prior and I honestly had the best time! Seriously enjoyed it all: the films, catching up with a load of lovely people, meeting cool new people and taking part for my first time ever in the infamous Skwigly quiz! Same time next year, then! Thanks to all the staff and volunteers for making it such a good one this year, I really think it was my favourite MAF I’ve attended! Few photos below, where I was candidly captured at various events. The first, me looking like a total nerd watching an immersive VR film and the second one, at the quiz, for balance! Photo credit: Chris Payne.

Now am I going to chat about the crochet ball this post is meant to be about? Nope. No I am not. Just need to put it out there that yesterday I LANDED MY FIRST EVER KICKFLIP!! How about that, eh?! I got heelflips three weeks ago and now these. Love it.

Right, okay dokie time for crochet! All this build up for not much:

It was basically an exercise in using chenille yarn, because I’ve never used it before and really wanted to try it out, with the aim of creating more amigurumi plushies. It’s such a soft yarn, but wow, the stitches are hard to see. They get lost within the fibres so easy, so it’s not the fastest and it’s easy to lose where you are in the pattern, but I’m sure I’ll get used to it if I use it more often. The next task I’ve lined up for myself is to create said amigurumi out of it, to see how that works out. But, that might not be for a while yet- the amount of ideas I have for crochet is honestly quite ridiculous! It’s one of those things where you just keep having ideas of stuff you want to make and the list just gets longer and longer and the ideas don’t stop! I don’t think I’ll ever have the time to do them all, but wow, I am going to try!

I also found out that I’ve been crocheting amigurumi inside out. But luckily I found this out fairly soon after having started it, rather than several months or even years later! No wonder my work didn’t look quite like how they’re intended. This ball was the correct way, but the previous two I made way back when, were wrong. And this one looks so much better. I did under stuff it slightly, but it’s super soft and squishy, so makes for a quite nice stress ball in fact! It’s a nice distraction on my desk.

This one was never meant to be a cricket ball as such, I was just playing around with adding stripes while working in the round, but when I had finished it, it was definitely giving cricket ball vibes! Subconsciously thinking about cricket, I guess…

Crochet Colourwork Tests

Having been completely savaged by the crochet bug, my next self imposed task is to see how I can animate it. Obviously. So with this in mind, I decided to carry out a few tests of different ways to create an image out of yarn. Also known as colourwork. I’ve so far tried three methods, some more successful than others, as you’ll find out below. The first method was mosaic crochet. And it’s safe to say I won’t be using that method for this pattern:

It was either the wrong pattern for the technique, or I was tired and it wasn’t really clicking that well for me. Likely the latter, but basically it just went wrong and I didn’t see the point in continuing through with it. To be honest the technique felt like a lot of wasted yarn too, because you crochet over a lot of the stitches as well. It looks great for some patterns- I’ve watched a fair few videos about it and seen a load of images of how it can look when carried out correctly, so it is a very cool technique, but unfortunately just not for me at this time. Maybe I’ll try again, who knows…

Oh yeah, before I go any further, I should say that this pattern is again self drafted, based on one of my own designs:

And below is how it looks after I was finished with it, after the next technique:

The next method I tried (and stuck to) was tapestry crochet. This felt a lot more logical to me- it was essentially like creating a big, crochet cross stitch! The pattern is essentially the same, in terms of a somewhat pixelated image, but obviously the technique is quite different!

I actually started this one again, because I had created the foundation chain too tightly so it started to fan inwards (not a good look), but I unravelled it and persisted through and completed the piece. Still, I lost one hour, but suppose I learnt something from that hour, to be mindful of the tightness of the starting chain. Including the lost hour, plus weaving in all the ends, it took five hours in total. I used a 4mm hook, and DK 100% acrylic yarn. The finished size measures approx 7.5in x 5in. Here’s the finished piece:

This was before I weaved in the ends:

And because it wasn’t the cleanest on the front, I actually went over some of it with my needle, in order to tidy it up a little and make the picture appear ‘cleaner’. Here is what it looked like pre tidying it up (you can see the changes if you compare it to the finished version above). It’s like a good old game of spot the difference!

As you can see in the photos, I did actually carry my yarn under some of the stitches, because it made for a smoother crochet process. But I learnt that when working on the wrong side, the carried yarn does unfortunately poke through. So in the future, I think I will try the intarsia technique, which is where you use separate bobbins/ skeins of yarn and drop those to the wrong side when you’re not working with them. You do not carry the yarn in this technique, meaning the final image will be cleaner. I also learnt midway, that if you’re crocheting a different colour on the above row, then on the right side rows, you work front loop only and on the wrong side rows, you work back loop only. This again, makes it all look neater/ nicer. I might even have another go at this, but not carry the yarn and do the BLO/ FLO the whole way through.

On finishing the piece, I decided to try another test, because I wasn’t quite that happy with how the finished version looked. In my opinion, the legs felt a bit too unclear and I thought that when this piece is animated, they might get a little too lost within the movement and end of looking like a blurry kind of mess. I toyed with the idea of embroidering it even more, to make the image clearer, but then what’s the point of crocheting something if I’m just going to embroider it? Then I may as well just create an embroidery rather than a crochet piece, so it kind of defeats the object.

I then had an idea of working right side only. This way, the yarn will be carried all to the back, plus it will all be forward facing, so the colour changes will all look uniform and the whole piece should just look neater. So I used what I learned in my failed mosaic crochet attempt, in terms of working from right to left only, rather than turning my work and implementing a border stitch at the beginning and end of each row.

I used all the same yarn/ hook size as above and the finished measurements are pretty similar, though this one took a total of 7 hours, 45 minutes. But, some of that was because I started again for a reason I no longer remember(!) and also because I created an envelope border to hide the ends.

And I’m just going to say here, the border is horrible!! It is NOT to my taste and to be honest, I think it just ruins the piece! But in the process, I did learn a new technique (one I likely won’t use again, mind) and I now know that creating a border in this way is not for me. It’s just not my style.

Border aside, the image in the middle is what we’re really here to talk about. And the horse is much, much cleaner than the first one. The legs are more defined and I just prefer the whole overall look. Comparison below:

But, as you can see, the image is slanting to the right. This is because I wasn’t turning each row at the end and with each row, the crochet tends to shift. I need to do some research into how to prevent this, because if this piece wasn’t slanted, then I’m sure this technique is the one I’d prefer to go with. I also didn’t carry the yarn here, so yes, there were sooo many ends to weave in!

…that aside, the image is one I’m a lot happier with. Either that, or I should do some research into how to create a cleaner image using the first technique. The first way was a bit easier, because you could just crochet continuously and didn’t need to fasten on/ off for each row. Hmm, definitely got to do some thinking/ reading to do around all this. I’ve lined up several videos already about this on my YouTube watch later playlist. Despite my dilemma here, I feel I’m on the right track to create what I want to be making and having only been at this just over a couple of months, I don’t feel I’m doing too badly! I shouldn’t be so hard on myself if things don’t quite work out first time round, plus the learning experience here is valuable too. And that’s why I carried out these tests. As always watch this space, see you next time xo

Crochet Jumper

So I went from creating a (unintentionally ill-fitting) hat, to my first amigurumi creature, to now a jumper. And I am so proud of it. Definitely going to be wearing it a LOT.

I decided on a jumper, because I really like the idea of being able to make something wearable from essentially a few bits of string. I also like the fact that with crochet, there’s no pattern needed- well, not when you don’t want there to be and can essentially work something up straight from your imagination. Self drafting my third crochet creation and first proper wearable was perhaps a bold move. But to be honest, I find the idea of self drafting much easier than following a written pattern, because I’m much more of a visual person than anything else and find the patterns harder to follow than the wording/ diagrams etc that I come up with to create my own. If mine was written into a pattern, then it would read the same, but I feel like I understand my way much better. Saying that though, I did use this tutorial as a guide, but went off piste in a lot of places.

I based this jumper on an already existing one of mine, which I’ve had for ten years now, so it’s showing a bit of wear. It was from Primark, so ten years is pretty good going IMO. Anyway, it’s been relegated to a skate jumper now: the graveyard where my clothes go when I don’t want to wear them for normal wear anymore if they’re looking a bit tatty, so don’t mind them getting a bit ripped or dirty during a skate sesh!

This was my original pattern diagram, with measurements:

The final piece measures slightly differently, but still fits great. Acrylic yarn stretches, a lot! Plus, there was a lot to learn regarding tension etc.

I’ll kind of write out what I did as best as I can in order, mainly for myself for when I do it again, but also to impart any knowledge if you’re reading this and are inspired to create your own. I urge you to do so- crochet is honestly super fun. Plus, you can make whatever you want. But, be warned: crochet is extremely addictive! Don’t say I didn’t tell you.

This jumper is made in the ‘drop shoulder’, bottom up construction technique. So I started with creating the two main panels- one each for the front and back. I started on the front one, creating a chain to stretch to my desired width of 23 inches. I wanted the jumper to be a loose fitted crop style piece, mirroring the jumper that I was trying to replicate. I chained 93, ending up with 90 actual crochet stitches on each row. I just used a basic double crochet stitch (US terminology and that will be used throughout this post. I am UK based, but it seems from what I’ve gathered online that the US terms are the most universally used). I used this stitch because it works up quite fast, plus I think it looks pretty nice and also it’s quite stretchy, which is good for wearables.

…And before I forget, I used a 4mm hook (besides for the ribbing and when sewing it all together, where I dropped to a 3mm hook- I felt the ribbing looked a bit nicer and less bulky with the smaller hook). The yarn I used was a DK yarn, ‘Wendy Supreme’ 100% acrylic, in the shade ‘cinnamon’. I purchased 6 skeins (around £2.45 each if I remember correctly, from northern discount store Boyes) of 100g/ 322 yards, but only used 4 balls in total, or just over- hard to tell exactly. So now I have a better gauge of how much yarn is needed for a project such as this. But I now also have a lot left over- colour block or patchwork jumper coming up anyone?!

I actually started creating the panels a few times and needed to unravel it at various different stages. Firstly, because my project was fanning out. I got several rows in and realised this was just going to get bigger and bigger. It’s because I didn’t realise that the turning chain of 2 actually counts as a stitch in double crochet. So there I was crocheting into the base of my turning chain without knowing I really needed to be going into the next one along. Rookie error!

fanning out

yarn noodles

practise piece- no longer fanning out, good to go!

Once I had learned how to do it properly, I ended up creating 30 regular rows (measuring approx 13.5 inches), plus 6 decrease rows, stitching 38, then invisible decrease two together, turn and repeat, for 6 rows. Then again on the other side, attaching the yarn to the 40th stitch (I think) ready to decrease, then working back along the other way.

I did have to unravel the neckline the first tine round, because I made it much too wide. Plus I didn’t attach the left side of the yarn from the centre, instead I turned the garment and did it from the edge going inwards, which messed up the stitch pattern. Plus, one side the tension was much too tight, so ended up being about 1cm shorter than the other side! I learned a lot making this!

finished neckline

The back panel was 34 regular rows, with just 2 decrease rows, stitching 33, then two together. I re-did the whole of the back panel actually, after having crocheted 29 rows. My tension was way off matching up with the first panel (much looser, so didn’t line up well enough). Again, beginner mistake and I didn’t realise that the tension would be so wildly off. But it was. And I wasn’t happy with it. So took the brave move of redoing the whole of the back panel, watching my tension as I went the second time round. It only took a day to rework it, so didn’t lose that much time in getting it back where it was, but still, it was a bit of a disappointment. But now I know to watch my tension better.

both finished panels- before any neckline shaping

I actually did the ribbing (single crochet, back loop only) before I had the full length of each of the panels, because I was testing the length of it on my body and to get a true idea of how it would look and hang with the ribbing attached, was to actually create and attach the ribbing. I did it 10 stitches tall, but no idea how many rows, because I didn’t need to count them as it was going straight on to the body. And why do extra counting when there’s no need?! I’m not that much of a masochist.

After I was satisfied with the two body panels, I stitched them together (wrong sides out) using single crochet, 3mm hook. Then, it was time to make the neck ribbing. I must admit, I’m super pleased with how that turned out! I did it the same method as creating the bottom ribbing, but instead of 10 stitches, I used just 5, because I didn’t want a turtle neck or owt like that for this garment.

I’d say, despite loving how it looks, on my next one, I’d prefer a slightly bigger neck hole as it would make it hang a little better, plus it would be a bit more comfortable when wearing it with a shirt or something underneath. It does feel quite up to my neck right now, but it’ll stretch over time, I’m sure. It’s not like suffocating me or anything, but a little more room would be nice! And yes, yes I am wearing it as I type. It’s actually really comfortable and warm. And not itchy. Win!

neck ribbing close up

Then the sleeves were next. These took quite quick, after I had got over the anxiety of ‘will the sleeve holes be too big/ small/ tight/ loose’ and so on. I measured the gap I left for the arm hole after sewing up the sides, times it by two and stitched a foundation chain of that length. The length was 15 inch (chain was just below), ending up with 59 stitches across (62 in the chain).

I wanted the sleeves to taper in, because I didn’t want the sleeves being super baggy along my forearms. Didn’t want them getting in the way or feeling annoying or anything! So I decided to decrease every so often. There was not an exact maths or science to this part! I just decreased an amount I felt was right. So my pattern went like: 4 rows (4R), decrease (de) at each end, 3R, de, 4R, de, 3R, de, 4R, de, 3R, de, 3R, de, 3R, de. So a total of 35 rows, measuring 15.25 inches.

With these, learning from the body panels, I was very aware of watching my tension throughout, especially with the second sleeve. But, as you can see from the picture below, I pretty much was able to replicate the first one almost like for like on the second.

The sleeve ribbing I created separately, because I wanted it to fit nicely round my wrists, but also with enough give so I’d be able to roll the sleeves up. Which they do without being either too tight or falling down. Again, I used the same method as before and here I used 10 stitches, so it matched the bottom cuff. These ended up being 37 rows each, measuring 7.5 inches across. I then single crocheted them to the sleeves.

I stitched the sleeves up (again using single crochet), and attached them to the sleeve holes: turning the main body wrong side out, with each sleeve being right side out. So right sides facing inside the garment. I made sure that the sleeve seams were at the bottom (underarm, rather than the shoulder) and then stitched round the hole, using stitch markers as pins to make sure it was evenly spaced round the opening.

And then, I had a new jumper. Well, apart from weaving in all those pesky ends! I now see why everyone on the crochet internet moans about that part. It’s sooo tedious!

I am so proud of the finished piece and also quite in disbelief at how I made it from very little experience. It fits just perfectly and I love the colour. Honestly can’t wait to be wearing it everywhere! Now I’ve sooo many ideas for more jumpers/ projects in general. There’s just never enough time in the day, plus I can’t lose sight of my animation career! Pics down below- watch this space as usual for more xo