A Woolly Waistcoat

If you’ve seen our instagram posts this week you will know that I’m currently obsessed with my latest make. This is a final sample of our new pattern which will launch early in the new year. Our very first waistcoat pattern.

I’ve been trying to release a waistcoat pattern for almost two years. I’m currently wearing the first iteration which I’ll share more about when we do our pattern release. It’s a piece I’ve fallen in and out of love with but after some tweaks in the design it’s now perfect and feels like it deserves an official place in our range of patterns.

To make the final sample of this pattern I wanted to get some beautiful wool. The previous sewn sample was in a bright lilac wool which was vibrant and eye catching. I felt this time we needed something a little more toned down but still beautiful in it’s own right.

I got in touch with the Cloth House which has fast become one of my favourite destinations for incredible fabrics. I used to shop with them when I was studying at uni and they fell off my radar since moving from Berwick St back to Camden. I'm so glad I rediscovered them as they're now my first port of call when sourcing fabrics for new projects.

One of the things I love about the Cloth House is you can tell everything has been sourced with love and care. Each fabric has integrity and I particularly love the range of khadis and block printed cottons. You might remember these fun shorts from summer, made from a block printed cotton. Over a tea they showed me around the shop and since I was looking for wool we talked about the khadi wool specifically.

With my previous business (a women’s clothing brand) I used to source handwoven fabrics from India and I travelled there twice to visit the weavers and dyers of these artisan fabrics. The experience of learning about these crafts and using them in my collections is very close to my heart so it feels special to come back to handmade fabrics. Although I’ve worked extensively with handwoven cottons this is the first time I’ve worked with khadi wool and and I have to say this fabric is exceptional.

There are a few colours in this range but the darker tones of this check design really stood out to me. The colours are totally undyed so they’re the natural colours of the mountain goats that are sheered by the Himachal Pradesh tribe. I love how the lighter tones are flecked throughout the dark wool, giving it a mottled look which brightens the whole thing.

To counter this dense, handmade fabric I chose a crisp cream button to give it a touch of modern. I think this works really well and I actually adjusted the pattern to make a tab option big enough for this kind of button. It’s lined with Linen and Cotton Natural which has a crumpled texture which I think quietly compliments the wool shell nicely.

I’m very excited for this pattern launch which is currently being finalised before we send it to pattern testers. While it’s something I wanted to release before Christmas we decided to push it back to make sure we have time to fine-tune the last few details.

Incase anyone wants to buy fabric for Christmas ahead of the pattern release the consumption details for these fabrics are below (please note that for pattern matching a checked wool you'll need more fabric than stated).

Outer Shell: Wool Khadi Check Cedar
Lining: Cotton & Linen Natural

Fabric Consumption

Outer Shell:

Fabric width 78cm
Size 6-12:
Size 14-20:
Size 18-28:

Lining:

Fabric width 110cm
Size 6-12: 65cm
Size 14-20: 80cm
Size 18-28: 105cm

Thank you to the Cloth House for this beautiful fabric (gifted).