Honeycomb Harvest Pullover

I’m Penny and my main hobby is dressmaking. I am old enough to have been brought up under the original 1960s I’m backing Britain campaign and I always look to buy British produce where I can. I was therefore very interested when I saw that Fabworks were bringing out a range of Heart of Huddersfield British wool products and signed up to hear more.

When the range was released there were so many of the fabrics that called to me but the very first one that caught my eye was the Honeycomb Harvest - Birdseye weave wool. I loved the colour palette of rich terracotta, ochre yellow, dark brown and oatmeal. Anyone who knows me will tell you this is my perfect colour selection.

With this particular fabric I find the birdseye ‘roundness’ of the weave appealing as it almost has the appearance of a knitted fabric rather than the straight lines of a more traditional weave.

For this reason I thought it would be perfect to make Waffle patterns ‘Arare’ pullover anorak. My aim was to make an autumn walking overlayer in a tweedy fabric that was not a conventional tweed jacket in style but which did have the same properties. The pattern calls for lighter weight fabrics than the HOH wool and I was a bit concerned when the fabric arrived that it would be too stiff for this particular garment. After having thought about it I decided I would wash the fabric which I did, very carefully, on a cold wool wash. This had the effect of softening it up quite a lot and greatly improved the drape.*

I then proceeded to make up the garment and I have to say the fabric was a dream to sew. It is very stable and takes steam extremely well so it’s possible to get nice sharp lines and corners. The only problem I encountered was sewing over the zip and front pocket junction where there were 12 layers of fabric/interfacing to stitch together. After the application of lots of steam and some hammering of the seam I managed to beat it into submission and I’m pleased with the end result. I lined the funnel neck with a plain linen remnant to avoid any itchiness around the neck. The resulting garment is just what I hoped for.

I’ve worn it a lot already. My other half has been very unwell and part of rehab is a daily walk. This garment is perfect for wearing on these walks. The wool is wonderfully breathable so not too hot when you’ve puffed up a hill and is also warm against the cool wind. I bought two other fabrics from the Heart of Huddersfield range at the same time and am looking forward to making those up in the near future. Happy sewing!

If you fancy having a go at this style yourself you will find the fabric (£12.50 per half metre) here and the pattern here

*Please take extra if you choose to wash your Heart of Huddersfield Wools. Fabworks does not take responsibility for any damage to your fabric once laundered. For more information please see our Heart of Huddersfield FAQs

If you're on Instagram follow Penny to see more of her fabulous sewing creations here