Amber's Roxanne Top in Nani Iro Birds Eye

--amber

I've been dreaming of making the Roxanne by Victory sewing patterns, and when the new Nani Iro arrived it was on!

The Roxanne comes with two versions, a collared sleeveless top and a flowy sleeved version with a skinny neck tie. For me the triple pleated collar was irresistible, but since I wanted sleeves for fall I decided to combine the two versions.

Cute collar town!

The instructions for this pattern were so well-written by Kristiann of Victory Sewing Patterns. I love that she walks you through the basic measurements for your garment and explains how to alter your pieces if needed. 

I finished my Roxanne by adding a tie at the back waist. This gives a little more shape to the voluminous pleated shirttail. I love it! The double gauze Nani Iro fabric is soft and cozy and my new top is so comfortable and easy to wear!

I can't wait to take on more of Kristiann's patterns!

Jaime's Nani Iro Nuance T-shirt

We just had a weekend sew-a-thon with guest Lizzy House! I made 3 tops, a skirt and some leggings over the course of a few days so get prepared to see my sweet new wardrobe. I'm thinking fall right now and this t-shirt top is perfect. The fabric is a gorgeous new print from Nani Iro - Nuance. Nuance is a vibrant indigo that fades in the color-blocked, painterly ways of Nani Iro to purpley-black. Nuance is a wata gauze - an ultra soft, loosely woven double gauze cotton with amazing texture and interesting drape.

The pattern is from Ms. Naomi Ito herself and is a free pattern she designed specifically for this fabric. You can get the pattern pdf instructions from her website here. Lizzy House had already made one of these so she helped me draft up the pattern using these instructions.

The design of this over-sized tee is simple enough that it was easy to draft - even with the instructions in Japanese! There isn't a lot of room for error with this one-size-fits-most piece as it is made simply with two pieces of fabric and 2 pocket pieces.

I choose to make bias binding out of the fabric itself to close up the neck. The arms and bottom hem were done by turning under the fabric. This top came together quickly and I love the result. The weight of the fabric is going to be great for crisp warm months and the over-sized dolmen style looks great with skinny jeans or leggings. We can't wait to see what you make up with these amazing fabrics!

Swoon...new Nani Iro fabrics are here!

Naomi Ito is the woman behind some of our favorite designs - Nani Iro. She never fails to impress with her subtle, painterly style and interesting compositions. Pencil-drawn herringbone, splashes of metallic, watercolor-bleed dots, we love them all so much! Double-gauze and feather-light Wata-gauze form the perfect base cloth for these ethereal, stylish designs. Enough talking...we have a lot of sewing to do!

Check this out if you want to see some inspiring designs...

Amber and Jaime Make Chambray Hawthorns!

-jaime
Amber and I recently finished two Hawthorn dresses! The Hawthorn is the newest pattern by Colette and we've been dying to stitch it up. The Robert Kaufman Chambray Union fabrics have also been calling our names so it was an easy decision which fabric to use.

The Hawthorn has many variations, including a shirt version and a sleeved version, but for summertime action, we both chose to go sleeveless dress. The light weight chambrays are perfect for this dress and feel great to wear.

The dress features front and back dart shaping, a fitted waist and a flared skirt. The button-down front means lots of fun picking out buttons! Amber chose to use the dark indigo chambray with tiny multi-color buttons that pop. What a stunner! I chose to use the dobby dot chambray with mis-matched vintage pearl buttons.

These dresses are sure to be a wardrobe staple, carrying over to the fall when they will be perfect for showing off some knitwear - can you imagine them dressed up with handknit cardigans and shawls? Maybe with some opaque tights and boots?! Yes.

Thanks to Black Eye Coffee for the beautiful photo location.

Cat Yarn! Meow Foundation Yarns are Here in Colors Inspired by Kittens!

Cats yarns! Inspired by Cats!

If you love cats as much as we do, I don't think we need to say any more. Just check out the colorways below of The Meow Foundation yarns, and know that $4 of every skein goes to finding permanent homes for our cat friends. The Meow Foundation yarns are 100% Superwash Blue Faced Leicester so it is a beautiful sock weight yarn - perfect for a shawl or pair of socks to match your favorite feline friend.

Calico Cat Colorway

Brown Tabby Colorway

Egon, one of our favorite cat friends sporting his orange hair

Orange Tabby Colorway

Grey Tabby Colorway

Himalayan Colorway

Looper in his Chat Noir velvet coat

Le Chat Noir Colorway

Sal wearing Silver

Russian Silver Grey Colorway

Siamese Cat Colorway

Snow Cat Colorway

Lucy in her Black and White Tuxedo Fur

Tuxedo Cat Colorway

Make anything in cat colors! Our best idea? The Minikitti pattern would be purrrr-fect!

Scotland Journey: Epic Scenery of Magicalness

Here are some of our favorite landscapes from Shetland and Skye for you to gaze at this weekend. To see even more photos, be sure to check out our Scotland set on Flickr!

Cliffs of Eshaness, Shetland

Eshaness, Shetland

Sea urchin remnants, Eshaness

Thistle in bloom, Sandness, Shetland

Fairy Bridge to Waternish, Isle of Skye

Hiking the Quiraing, Isle of Skye

The Quiraing

The Quiraing looking out to Staffin Island

At magical Fairy Glen, Isle of Skye

Misty hills near Uig, Isle of Skye

Neon green Seaweed near the haunted ruins of Duntulm Castle, Isle of Skye

Duntulm, Isle of Skye

Thanks, Scotland, for being so magical!

Scotland Journey Part 6: Isle of Skye and Shilasdair Yarns!

On the last leg of our Scotland adventures we took the ferry back to the mainland and trekked west with Stephen West and our friend Katie to the Isle of Skye. The Isle of Skye does not have the rich knitting traditions of the Shetland islands, but there is still a big love of wool, knitting and sheep! We explored Skye's epically beautiful landscape and were, again, constantly surrounded by sheep. Most of the sheep on Skye are Scottish Blackface, but Skye is near the outer Hebrides and the Soay and Boray islands - home to Hebridian sheep and Soay and Boray sheep - all very rare breeds of sheep.

The Quiraing is a stunningly gorgeous landscape on Skye that made us feel like characters in the Lord of the Rings...

Amber, Stephen, Katie and Jaime hiked the Quiraing!

Stephen happy among his sheep friends

Picturesque sheep on the Quiraing

We also went to the Fairy Glen, a magical collection of mossy woods and conical shaped hills dotted with sheep. If you don't believe in fairies, just go here and it will change everything.

Antics with Jaime and Stephen and a fairy tree

An adorable Scottish Blackface sheep in the Fairy Glen

Sheep graze near stone spirals in the Fairy Glen

On the northern tip of Skye's Waternish peninsula lies the most picturesque yarn shop of all time - Shilasdair! Shilasdair yarns is amazing because Tony and Eva dye all their own yarns using natural dyes. A lot of the plant dyes they use are from plants found on Skye. We couldn't resist purchasing even more yarn for even more projects!

Shilasdair yarn shop by the sea

The Shilasdair spectrum of naturally dyed yarns

Beautiful hues of red dyed with Cochineal, Madder, and Logwood

Jaime's acquisition of yarn dyed with Meadowsweet

More Shetland wool yarn at Shilasdair

Thanks so much for reading about our Scotland adventures. It is a magical place with a deep history and appreciation of wool and knitting and we hope you can all go one day. If you need any advice or suggestions for your own trip, feel free to email us! Check back tomorrow for a bonus post, with more epic photos of our journey, and look forward to lovely Shetland yarns in the shop soon!