Chat Chocolat's new 'Solid as a Rock' collection

Basic Instinct T-shirt
My recent projects have all been the kind that have had to be kept under wraps, so I'm pleased to now be able to congratulate Chat Chocolat on the release of their latest fabric collection, 'Solid as a Rock', and show you my makes as a part of the launch! I'm a fairly regular pattern tester, but I've never had the opportunity to specifically test fabric before - it was a real luxury to be given the freedom to decide what to make with such lovely fabrics by designer Véronique!
My cosy Chat Chocolat makes
The collection is made up of a series of jersey and soft sweater knits in these amazing prints. I'm normally more of a block colour maker myself, but it's rare to come across such cool graphic prints - I couldn't resist trying them. If solid colour is more your bag, each print has a solid colour counterpart and matching ribbing - a nice touch! I already have a lot of 'wine' coloured clothes and accessories - this Ready to Sew Juliette faux leather skirt being just one of them - so the wine/pink/green colour palette was a natural fit for my wardrobe. (There's also a vivid blue/brown/orange colourway too).

Sample of the wine/green/pink colour palette
Despite Autumn/Winter being my favourite time of the year, I'm not a huge maker of jersey and sweater knit garments - I was even asked to test for the previous collection and didn't know what to make! It took the cusp of the changing season to help me see that I already had the perfect patterns in my stash: the Ready to Sew Jamie Cardigan and the Secondo Piano Basic InstincT t-shirt.

Fleecy underside of the sweater fabric
Good quality sweater fabric can be quite hard to come by, but the quality was obvious as I unpacked it. The sweater knit is thick and luxuriously soft, particularly the underside which has a fleecy feel to it. There's not a great deal of stretch to the fabric, making it really stable, and easy to both cut and sew with.
Ready to Sew Jamie
When I made my fabric selections, Véronique told me that they'd used the Jamie for some of their sample garments, so I knew it would make a good pairing with the fabric. I cut the longer version (View 1) to make full use of the cosy fabric and I opted for the size 38.

Back view
As with the other Ready to Sew patterns I've tried, I found the Jamie to be a smooth make with clear instructions. I was kindly provided with some of the matching plain sweater knit fabric for all of my hem bands and cuffs, which makes for quite a smart finish. The fabric was just right for the project, but I did find attaching the hem bands to be quite difficult due to the low amount of stretch. It's totally doable, but I'd probably gather all my edges in next time. I skipped the buttons as I'm quite happy with the finish as it is and can't see me wanting to fasten it.

The cuffs were particularly tricky as they're so narrow - regardless of the fabric stretch, there's no way I could have stretched them around the free arm of my machine - so I'd probably approach the construction in a different way next time. Perhaps joining them to the sleeve while flat, sewing the cuff/sleeve seam and then hand stitching the underside of the cuff in place would be an alternative.
Cuff close up!
I really like the finished garment, but would probably scale up the sizing in future to give it a more 'oversized' look. I'm definitely tempted by the cropped version too - this might actually go better with my current wardrobe as I wear a lot of high waisted bottoms - but this version definitely has the cosy-factor.
Basic InstincT t-shirt in Chat Chocolat jersey
Next up to test was the jersey fabric - also lovely to work with. I thought I couldn't sing the praises of the Basic Instinct Tee any more than I already have done here (and it's a free pattern!) but it's come out looking even more polished than I expected. The power of quality fabric! The green in the print also pops a lot more than I thought I would ever be comfortable with, but I really like it. 

(T)winning in Chat Chocolat
Wearing the two together is a fun, bold look, whilst still being pretty casual, but I also really like both as standalone garments too! The benefit of having a wardrobe made up of majority plain garments means that the odd bold patterned piece works with nearly everything, so I'm looking forward to getting both into rotation. I can see definitely see the Jamie becoming a warm staple for my cold workplace.

Thanks Véronique for inviting me to try such lovely fabrics. The 'Solid as a Rock' collection is released on 13th November. Chat Chocolat is based in Antwerp, but you can visit the website to find a stockist near you!

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Back to Back Basics

Basics
This outfit is fast becoming a bit of a uniform for me! Here's another incarnation of the Papercut Patterns Rise Turtleneck, worn with a pattern hacked A-line skirt. Both are very easy makes, and great for mixing in with the rest of my wardrobe. I'm aiming to go mostly handmade with my clothing choices - I haven't bought any clothes so far this year! - so garments like this are great quick makes when I'm feeling the 'new clothes' need.

Repeat makes: the Rise Turtleneck and A-Line skirt
A close up of the textures - the ribbed fabric shows up black on camera but it's actually navy blue!
My friend Harriet brought me a metre of this fine cord fabric back from a trip to Copenhagen last year and I've been trying to decide what to do with it ever since! I love the texture and the pattern, and after my last one got a lot of wear, I thought it would be good for another A-line skirt. It's the same as the previous one (a pattern hack of a the GBSB pencil skirt) but this time, I took the sides out further to make it even more A-line in shape.

A handmade outfit for under £10
I really should have lined it - the fabric just wants to stick to everything - but I was too busy sticking to my own tips on cheap sewing, so it's one to wear with an underskirt. On the plus side, both the skirt and Rise Turtleneck cost less than £10 to make.

My other two Rise Turtlenecks have had so much wear that I had to make another one - this time in navy blue ribbed jersey. I added an extra couple of inches to the sleeve and body length as I found that the others came up a bit short. The only problem with this fabric is it's slightly less stretchy, making a bit of a tight squeeze to get over my head! In all though, I'm pretty pleased with it. I think the top and skirt go together quite well, there's some definite 70's vibes when you throw my coat into the mix too...
70's vibes: handmade outfit with French Connection coat
In other news, the lovely Aimee of Wrong Doll has kindly nominated me for my second Liebster Award! A Liebster is a fun way of spreading cheer and encouragement around fellow bloggers, and helping people to discover new blogs! As a recipient, Aimee has posed me 10 questions that I'm going to try my best to answer...

1. What/who inspired you to create?
The lacking high street pushed me, rather than inspired me, towards making my own clothes. But seeing other people create online and on TV (Sewing Bee!) was a great source of inspiration. My mum is also a brillinat maker, and very much instilled the 'I could make that' attitude in me too.

 2. Motivations to write a blog
I like reading other blogs! Seeing other people share their fab handmade garments is usually my main reason for picking a pattern. It's also really nice to be a part of a making and sharing community, and helps me keep track of my own progress.

 3. Introvert or extrovert
I'm probably more of an extrovert, until you get me near my sewing. (I actually did an online quiz that told me I'm an 'ambivert', which apparently means I fall right in the middle of the introvert-extrovert spectrum - best of both worlds!)

 4. Creative conundrums keeping you up at night
Usually how am I going to hack that pattern to make something I've seen on Pinterest/in the shops? Bag construction completely baffles me too, though I'm feeling much better after making the Retro Rucksack. I'm going to be ambitious and try to use the pattern as the basis for a faux leather harness-style bag.
5. Favourite make
As always, the Kielo Wrap Dress, particularly my first version. I'm also really proud of my my Retro Rucksack and the pattern hacking I did to make this faux wrap skirt too!
6. Least favourite make
Funnily enough, it's a Kielo Wrap Dress. I made it in this wonderful batik cotton which was unfortunately totally unsuitable - it has terrible drape and looks like I'm wearing a bed sheet! It's all in the fabric choice!
Worst make!
7. Fabric of choice
Anything with a nice drape - I like crepe and viscose. My number one fabric of the moment is this BEAUTIFUL Prada viscose I grabbed in Abakhan a couple of weeks ago - can't wait to use it!
Beautiful PRADA fabric ♥
8. Favoured patterns/designers
In terms of pattern designers, I eagerly await the latest Named Clothing collections. And with designers and brands, I like Comme des Garçons, Whistles, Cos and &OtherStories.

 9. Pivotal moment on your creative journey
Quite strange, but getting glandular fever last summer was a bit of a turning point. I had a lot more time to spend thinking about the sort of clothes I wanted to make and wear, and when I could get out of bed, did quite a lot of sewing. I think my style shifted a bit - away from floral/girly, and more towards interesting silhouettes and quality fabric and making - and I got a lot braver with trying things that were a bit different. Getting a new machine was pretty pivotal too - I worked on a half size machine before that couldn't even sew concealed zips.

10. If money were no object …
I'd own a house with an ample sewing studio and pattern/fabric stash. Somewhere much bigger than my current corner, where I could keep everything set out and ready to work on at all times! 

As a thank you for the nomination, I'd like to ask everyone to check out Aimee's wonderful blog, and share the nice feeling by nominating a few blogs of my own. I haven't set any questions, but if my nominees choose to accept, then I'd love to see them share their favourite make, along with 3 facts about themselves or their sewing.

Bella from Bellbird 
Jessica from All Stitched Up
Rachel from A Study in Stitching
Tifaine from Madame Tifaine

As ever, I'd encourage everyone to share the (blog) love, whether that's visiting the above blogs, following a new blog, or taking the time to leave a nice comment about someone's latest make. Happy sewing and blogging :)

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