Dear Burda

Dear Burda,

Even though I sometimes laugh at your attempts at 'edgy fashion', I still appreciate you offering a load of reasonably priced patterns every single month. I love how almost every issue includes at least one classic garment that opens loads of possibilities.

But these pattern sheets really give me a headache.

Oh For Sock's Sake

I have to say, knitting is still fairly new to me. I usually shied away from it because it's so slow compared to sewing, and because I was sort of intimidated by all the yarns and needles and gauges, plus not being able to make a muslin. I just sort of stuck to foolproof scarves and hats, and never thought of knitting as more than something to do on the train or while watching tv.

But then I took a good hard look at myself and thought I was being ridiculous. What's the point of learning how to knit if you'll be making the same thing over and over again, never learning new tricks? So I made socks.

As soon as my mother heard about my wandering into sockland she replied with 'Ugh my auntie used to knit socks for me and they were awful, always gray or navy with a horrible seam at the toes.' And I wanted to shout back about how my socks were the same color as unicorn puke and had no real seam at the toe, just a perfectly executed Kitchener Stitch, thank you very much. But I kept all this for myself, gave a knowing smirk and went on my way.

I could go on about the Magic Of Heel Turning and the Beauty of Gusset Shaping, but I'm just going to leave you here with a bonus sock puppet shot:

I have enough yarn left for a third sock, and another ball of the same yarn in a different colorway. This could be great since I rarely wear matching socks anyway, so these could become three mismatching pairs. Hmmm...

Once upon a time, I was a Dead Fox.

One of my friends threw a roadkill-themed party with her housemates. So I bought a few yards of fleece and made a fox costume.

 

A dead fox costume.

With a tail!

The pattern for the dress was very simple, I just took my basic bodice and turned the darts into seams with some creative slashing, then added skirt portions to every piece. It came together super quickly because fleece doesn't ravel, so no seam finishes!

Of course I had to look like real roadkill. So me and my brother set out with acrylic paint, a sponge and my mother's car to make some tire tracks. I think it worked out pretty well! The rest of the costume are just bits I had lying around: orange tights, kneesocks, black slippers and a black long sleeve t-shirt. I made the ears out of leftover fleece and attached them to a headband.

I finished the job with some facepaint and voilà! Dead fox!