Winter product highlight: capes

This week's product highlight is capes. There is no big story behind the beginning of these, just that my love of them and my love of wearing them has driven me development of my original pattern. Subsequent alterations / options have evolved from a combination of ideas from my head and requests from customers.

The 'true' original design is the fleece outer, polyester lining and rounded hood:

After this design was tried and tested fully I added in the option to have a pointed hood instead:

Next step - other materials! I wanted to offer a wool version but didn't want the colours to be limited to just a few shades. Fortunately I found a supplier that can offer a wide range, and what a range that is:

And most recently? Capes with armholes part way across the front. In either hood design and any fabric, the overall shape of the cape remains the same.

So where will I go next with them? I seem to be always looking at waterproof pvc options and I'm working on my pattern and design for that but this year's personal events may delay release a little bit. I'm always happy to custom make though, and have a variety of one-offs in a few designs and fabrics (including some velvets and lace) for sale either on my website or in Fabrication in Leeds.

Winter product highlight: fleece wraps

In this week's product highlight I'm going to take a look at my fleece wraps. The design for these came about because although I love wearing a pashmina as an extra layer it is sometimes frustrating that they don't stay further down your back when you have them wrapped round your shoulders, and sometimes they're just not warm enough. So the design for the wrap was born - long enough that it covers most of your back, wide enough that you can wrap it elegantly round your shoulders, and made from a soft, warm but practical fabric.

I have to admit that while I love them myself they have surprised me with their popularity, selling well both at fairs and in Fabrication and online - I've sent several to the US already this year!

I try to keep Fabrication stocked with a rotating range of colours, but I'm always happy to take orders for custom colours if you can't find what you'd like. The same applies to orders from my online shop.

Winter product highlight: wristwarmers

I thought I'd spend the next few blog posts giving you some more details behind some of my "off the peg" products that are perfect for the winter weather we've been having, starting with my wristwarmers!

These come in two styles: with thumbhole, and slightly shorter without thumbhole. The shorter style are actually the ones that came first, starting off life as a personal solution for keeping my hands warm on the freezing cold front edge of my sewing machine and then put on sale after people kept asking me about them. They've been a good stalwart but have definitely been overtaken in popularity by the second version I made.

Version two is the (currently more popular) longer version with a thumbhole. This version got added to sale after requests from friends, and has two advantages over the shorter version: they're longer and thus warmer and suitable for wearing instead of gloves on autumn days, and the thumbhole stops them from twisting round under your top while you're wearing them.

I tend to have the longer version ready-made up in a wider range of colours that the short ones but as always I'm happy to make you a custom pair in any colour you chose. Both are available to purchase from my online shop, and there is a basket full of the longer version for you to try on and buy in Fabrication in The Light, Leeds. 

An update on my Fabrication stock

An update on my stock in Fabrication for you today, as I made a few changes when I was in store last week in preparation for the upcoming cooler weather.

Firstly, I've added a selection basket (literally) of my ever popular wristwarmers. I've tried to put in a range of colours and will keep it topped up with as much variety as I can but if you can't find the colour you're looking for you can place an order for a custom pair and I'll drop them in store for you next time I'm over (which is usually once a fortnight)

Priced at £9 a pair these wristwarmers are perfect for keeping your arms warm under a cardigan in a chilly office, under a coat on a day when you don't want to wear gloves, when doing the gardening... the list could go on. 

Secondly, in order to clear some space for some of my winter stock I've reduced the price on the last few of these vest tops, from £25 down to £15 - an absolute bargain for something handmade in limited numbers!

Once these are gone I won't be making any more until next summer, so grab one while you can! 

[Fabrication is situated in The Light, Leeds, and is open 7 days a week]

Keeping snug and warm

One of the benefits of winter has to be the extra layers that we get to wear. Yes, I know it can be a pain when you're stood at the front door piling on the gloves and scarves, but outer layers of clothing do give some scope for an extra bit of flair.

I've always loved capes and cloaks (although with the latter I have to battle with my urges to have a cloak that goes completely down to the floor - completely impractical in wet weather as it just soaks up the water from the ground!) so as last autumn approached I set myself the task of coming up with my own cape pattern, which I planned to make from warm fleece. The result was a lovely soft green cape, complete with hood for that little bit of extra wow:

After wearing it a few times and establishing that there weren't many tweaks I wanted to make to the design, I've since made a second one, the outer layer in black fleece which increases the amount of outfits it can be worn over but with an eye-catching spotted lining to brighten it up.

And in the intervening time I'd managed to find some beautiful fastenings for future use:

Only thing is, this one's not for me - it's up for sale for someone else to enjoy!