Scrap Busting September 2024

Happy October! Did you participate in Scrap Busting September this year? The endeavour is organised by my pal Meg Grandstaff who encourages us all to explore our creativity and resourcefulness by crafting with scraps and leftovers of fabric and yarn. If you'd like to hear more, check out this recent episode of my podcast, Check Your Thread, in which I have a hilarious chat with Meg. 

Trainer socks:

I'm making this post to record the items I made using fabric scraps last month. First up, I made two pairs of trainer socks using this free sewing pattern and tutorial. The pair pictured above were made using some 100% cotton interlock with cotton/lycra jersey for the band. The pair pictured below were made using some Liberty cotton/lycra jersey entirely. Both are wearable, but the second pair are more so because I adjusted the heel dart so there's less bulk underneath my foot. I'm so excited to have a well-fitting trainer sock pattern that I can use over and over in the future. 

Kid's undies:

I continued to raid my jersey scraps tub to create a couple of pairs of undies for my son. I used a new-to-me undies pattern from an Ottobre Design magazine because it was comprised of quite a few pattern pieces that would make it easier for using with scraps. I also chose it because the leg holes were hemmed rather than finished with bands. The waist is finished with visible elastic which feels to me like they'll have more longevity than with a band of fabric like most of the previous pairs I've made him.

I had a lot of fun picking the different jerseys to go together. I have had some of these scraps for so long, it feels good to get them out of my stash. 

Kid's joggers:

Next up was a pair of joggers, also for my son. I had lots of remnants of the same speckly sweatshirt fleece from the scrap bin at work. I didn't do anything clever, simply pieced sections together and topstitched down the seam allowances to reduce bulk. I wanted these to look fairly understated so he has the option of wearing them for PE at school, but I chose a scraps of striped french terry for the back pocket and cuffs for a tiny bit of interest. 

Again, the pattern comes from an Ottobre Design magazine. Those magazines are such a great resource for basic knit garment patterns. I didn't bother with the side seam pockets however, as I find they often create visible bulk, and he doesn't really use those pockets anyhow. I combined sizes (116 width and approx. 128 length) to more closely reflect his long, thin frame. He's already been wearing and enjoying them. I had to buy elastic to finish these off. 

Kid's scrappy cardigan:

And lastly, I wanted to reduce the volume of ponte and double knit scraps in my stash, so I proposed a scrappy cardigan for my daughter. She's got a whole Goblincore thing going on these days, and over-sized scrappiness fits well in that aesthetic. 

Compared to women's patterns, and patterns for younger children, the selection available for tweens and teens is really poor. I plan to create a post that lists the pattern companies I have found that do cater to this age group at some point. However, with the selection of suitable cardigan patterns incredibly limited, I ended up tracing her school cardigan to make my own pattern. 

I got my daughter to select the scraps that most appealed to her from the tub, which produced quite a wild effect! She also chose the top stitching colour, ribbing and wooden buttons from my stash also. It's so pleasing to make an entire garment from items you already own. And the best part is that she loves it! She's worn it basically every day since I finished it up. 

Free Pattern Friday: Trainer/Sneaker Socks

Welcome to my monthly 'Free Pattern Friday' feature, where I road test a free sewing pattern or tutorial: sometimes a children's one, sometimes an adult's one. I try to publish these posts every first Friday of the month, timed to provide inspiration for those who plan to get their sew on over the weekend. I firmly believe that, if you pick your projects carefully, sewing doesn't have to be a crazy-expensive way to clothe yourself and your family. Thanks to all the amazing pattern designers who have offered up their hard work for us to enjoy for free.

Usually, when choosing what to post about for my Free Pattern Friday series, I find a free sewing pattern or tutorial and then decide whether or not the item would be useful for someone in my family. If it's a YES, then it goes on my list of free resources to road test. However, with this project it was different. This time a need came first. The weather had started to get warmer, two of my four pairs of trainer socks just died beyond repair, and I realised I need more. I'm trying hard to save money this year so we can get some building work done on our house, so I thought, 'I wonder if there's a free pattern for trainer socks out there...'. 

The answer came in the form of this YouTube tutorial with free pattern by a French-speaking creator called Nejea. Massive thanks to Nejea for sharing their work for free. I hope lots of people watch your tutorials and you get lots of ad revenue from YT. The pattern is easily accessible by clicking on the link in the caption of the YouTube video, no sign ups necessary. 

(image source: Nejea on YouTube)

Pattern type:

The pattern itself is simple and clear, consisting of two pieces plus the measurements for band are given to draft directly onto your fabric. The tutorial for construction, plus all additional information such as fabric suitability, is included in the 11 minute-long video. 

Sizing info:

The pattern has been drafted for European shoe size 38 (approx. size 5 in the UK system). However, how big or tight these trainer socks come out is going to depend a great deal on the properties of your fabric. I would really recommend making a pair and checking the fit before cutting out a whole load. And then expect the sizing to change if you use different fabrics going forwards. 

Me, I wear UK 7, approx. European 40, but I have narrow feet. So I decided to print out the pattern by adjusting the printer scale settings to about 105%. I then extended the length by an additional 1cm. Experiment with your printer settings, and possibly lengthening or shortening the pieces to tweak the fit until you get something that works for the size and width of your feet. 

Fabric info:

The tutorial recommends using jersey fabric with a four-way stretch (or bi-stretch as they refer to it in the video). However, I decided to go rogue and try this pattern using some fine knit harvested from an old RTW cardigan. I have several worn out or misshapen fine knit cardigans, and I'm always on the look out for potential uses for them! I used four-way stretch jersey for the band, however. The fine knit worked pretty well. The only real issue is that, because there doesn't seem to be any elastane/Lycra/spandex content to give some recovery, it does tend to stretch out a bit throughout the day. They're still totally wearable though. I had hoped to try this pattern in the type of knit that is actually recommended before publishing this post, but I didn't have time. So I can only assume that jersey with four-way stretch works fantastically!

Findings:

There maybe some non-French speakers who might be put off trying a pattern and tutorial that have been produced in a language they don't speak. But really they needn't be. I don't know if you have to tweak your YouTube settings, but English subtitles automatically appeared for me when watching, and the caption is written in English. The text on the pattern is in French, but seeing the creator use the pieces in the tutorial, it is clear what each piece is and how they work together. 

Despite using a fabric of questionable suitability, I love my little trainer socks! I've used them lots of times since making them. They offer great coverage of the foot: enough so they stay on easily, but not enough that they are visible when wearing trainers. At first, I was aware of the seam allowance that runs along the heel. However, I quickly got used to it and don't notice it now at all when I put these on.

My only real criticism of this tutorial is the way the band is applied to the rest of the sock. I understand that the method described is meant to reduce the amount of seam bulk that might feel annoying to some. However, I found it didn't properly cover the raw edge of the top of the socks and seemed a bit messy to me. In the future, I'll apply the band in one go, and then topstitch down the seam allowances. 

Would I make this again?

Yes, absolutely. I've pretty much given up on making ankle socks from sewn fabric, but I definitely plan to make more of these when the need arises. 

Free Pattern Friday: Socks for Everyone

Welcome to my monthly 'Free Pattern Friday' feature, where I road test a free sewing pattern or tutorial: sometimes a children's one, sometimes an adult's one. I publish these posts every first Friday of the month, timed to provide inspiration for those who plan to get their sew on over the weekend. I firmly believe that, if you pick your projects carefully, sewing doesn't have to be a crazy-expensive way to clothe yourself and your family. Thanks to all the amazing pattern designers who have offered up their hard work for us to enjoy for free.

I've been making my own clothing for a long time now. I've even had a bash at making shoes. But there are a few things that I continue to rely on shops for, namely bras, socks and tights. I can't imagine ever getting good enough at knitting to successfully knit my own socks, and I'm not sure that I'd really want to spend all the time and effort to do so anyway when I prefer thinner, less wooly socks anyhow. However, I've seen a few people in the sewing community who seem to have successful sewn socks, including Carolyn who made these great looking sockettes. I've kept this possibility in my mind for a while. So when I recently chanced upon the free the Ellie & Mac Sew It Forward Sock pattern, I was all in! Thanks heaps to Ellie & Mac for sharing their hard work for free. 

Pattern type:

This pattern is for making basic ankle socks with a cuff band at the top. The pattern is made up of four pattern pieces, and are constructed with just four seams. 

(image source: Ellie & Mac)

Sizing info:

The pattern has been graded to include almost anyone who wears socks, from small children (UK kid's 7-8) to men (UK adult's 12-13). A sizing table is included for US, EU and UK shoe sizes to help you select the right size to cut, but it is worth noting that the stretchiness of your chosen fabric may affect which size will be more successful. 

One of the reasons why I was excited to try this pattern is that my shoe size (UK 7, FYI) is usually the biggest included in most women's sock size ranges (usually sizes 4-7). So I'm convinced that my socks wear out quicker than other women's who have smaller feet! Therefore, I was excited to see that I could select a size UK 6-7.5 that put my size in the centre of a size range rather than at the outer edge. 

Fabric info: 

Knit fabric with 50% four-way stretch is recommended. I'm guessing that the type of fabric that most people would have in their stash that fits this description would be a cotton/Lycra single jersey. They require very little fabric, so a dig through your scraps and leftovers might provide you with some 'free' fabric to make some really fun, crazy socks!

The grey pair in these photos is made using a scrap of weird knitted stuff that I have no clue about. It looks like tights fabric so I thought it'd be suitable, but in hindsight I feel it is too drapey and slippy. The rust coloured pair uses some very lightweight jersey (once again, can't be sure of fibre content). This pair clings to my feet a bit better but still feels too slippy and thin. I expect both will wear through at the toe or heel pretty quickly. 

(image source: Ellie & Mac)

Findings:

Accessing the pattern is easy, you just need to add it to your cart and go through the check out on the Ellie & Mac site. The pattern pieces and instructions are part of the same PDF document, which makes it easier not to lose either! One issue I did have with the pattern was that the band paper pattern piece looks very different from the fabric band pieces that are photographed at the beginning of the step-by-step instructions on page 9. So much so that I emailed them thinking I'd missed cutting the piece on the fold or something. 

Aside from that confusion, putting these together was ridiculously quick. However, I've found that the second seam that joins the back pieces to the top piece can result in a little pleat where the seam intersects the first seam at the ankle, so that step should be taken slowly. The pair pictured above has no weird pleat, however you can see in the picture of my pair at the top of the post does. It doesn't really effect the fit, and I reckon if you were making a stack of these, you'd get really good at avoiding making a pleat.

As for the fit, I really like the shape of them, and although I was concerned that the band might be too tight, actually it's fine. I felt that they come up a bit high, so I made my rust pair a couple of centimetres less so, although you can't really tell in these pics. The grey pair is made using an overlocker, with three threads rather than four to avoid bulk. I made the rust pair using a narrow lightning flash stitch on my regular sewing machine and the seams of this pair are definitely less noticeable when worn. 

The fabric choice will really make or break this project I think. I'm tempted to try again using a more standard cotton/Lycra jersey that is thicker and more stable than the knits I've used here. 

Customisation ideas:

I like the idea of being able to combine sizes to make narrower or wider socks, if that's something you require. You could also alter the height in either direction: shorter to make sports socks or higher to make knee-highs, or beyond! 

Would I make them again?

Umm, I really don't know. I doubt I'm going to reach for these pairs of socks unless all my other pairs are in the wash. Less slinky fabric may help, but I'm just not really sure I want to wear jersey socks. Maybe I'd get used to it. I do love the idea of being able to make everything that my kids and I wear, although I feel that jersey socks would be an even harder sell for my kids than they are for me! 

Recently, most of my shop-bought socks decided to all developed holes at the exact same time, and I enjoy the idea that I am able to tide myself over with me-mades until I get round to getting myself some more. This really was a very fun and super speedy project, so if you are at all interested in giving them a try and have some suitable leftover fabric to hand, I really do recommend giving them a go.