GUYS! I love this shirt! As you can see from all the wrinkles, I have been wearing it non-stop since I made the last stitch.
I’m calling it the Toasted Linden because I used the Linden Sweatshirt pattern by Grainline Studio as a base, but modified it to look more like the Toaster Sweater by Sew House Seven. (Does this make me a bad person for not buying the Toaster Sweater pattern??? If it makes Sew House Seven feel any better, I did buy their Tea House dress pattern and have never made it. Penance? Are we good?) At a certain point, though, there are only so many base designs you need in your pattern stash. The Linden is like a basic raglan sloper that can be modified with custom details as needed.
Did I say how much I love this top??? I made it with a luscious bamboo fleece from Water Tower Textiles (no affiliation….although Water Tower? If you want an affiliation, let me know, k? ‘Cause I pretty much need all my clothes to be made from this fabric). If you’re in Canada this is a great online resource for knits that won’t cost you a bomb for shipping — $10 flat rate shipping within Ontario, $13 to Quebec, and $15 to the rest of Canada. This fleece feels SO. GOOD. to wear!
The colour is called “Mellow Rose” but really it’s the elusive Millennial Pink that colour geeks have been nerding out about recently. A slightly salmon-y blush pink, or, as The Guardian puts it in a snarky article entitled ‘Millennial Pink’ is the Colour of Now — But What Exactly is It?, a “sort of a grapefruit shade of apricotty salmon….[It] represents a kind of ironic prettiness, or post-prettiness. It’s a way to be pretty while retaining your intellectual detachment. It’s a wish that prettiness could de-problematised.” I am SO DOWN with ironic, de-problematized prettiness!
(Note to self: next imaginary band name will be Problematized Prettiness.)
I love the funnel neck and the wide waistband and cuffs. I feel like a million bucks wearing it. A million ironically pretty bucks. Wearing a SWEATSHIRT. #LifeGoalsAchieved #DropsMic
Next is the exact shade of pink that apparently causes my camera to loose its fucking mind, so what you see here is absolutely nothing like the actual colour IRL. This is another Linden Sweatshirt, sewn with “peach” cotton french terry that I bought from another great Canadian retailer of knit fabric, L’oiseau Fabrics (no affiliation). “Peach” doesn’t do it justice as a colour, though. So let’s call this one Hot Carnation-Salmon Corally Pink-Orange Number 803 for ease of reference.
For this version I omitted the neck band and cuffs.
And finally, a mellower shade of blush pink that I can’t get enough of these days. Let’s call this colour Powdered Feather Down of a Blushing Swan that a Virgin Ballerina Ate with Chantilly Cream for Sunday Brunch.
This is the Ostara Top by Jennifer Lauren Handmade. I love the gather at the front that turns the U-neck into a sweetheart shape. Great detail! The top is quite fitted which makes it perfect for layering under jackets or cardigans, or as a base layer under a sweater in winter. I made it with a beautifully soft bamboo jersey purchased at the LA location of Mood Fabrics when I recently went to meet my podcast partner Helena in person for the first time. Helena bought the same fabric…let’s see what she makes with it.
Realizing I seem to have fallen down a pink rabbit hole, I was ruminating about the fact that there was a time in my teens and twenties when I would absolutely not be caught dead wearing pink. Not even ironically. Not even Hot Carnation-Salmon Corally Pink-Orange Number 803. Why? Because pink is associated with girls. (More irony: pink was actually associated with boys up until the 1950s.) And, having grown up in this same sexist world that everyone else did, I instinctively knew that anything strongly associated with girls/women/femininity was not cool. I didn’t realize any of this on a conscious level at the time; that’s the power of internalized misogyny. So I’m embracing pink, because:
(And, if these photos are anything to go by, I’m also embracing the return of 80’s-style giant earrings. Albeit not as willingly…them 40-something earlobes just don’t spring back as easily as my 80’s teen earlobes did.)
So long live sort of grapefruity shades of apricotty salmon! And shades of powdered feather down of blushing swans! Not to mention Drunk Tank pink! (That’s an actual shade of pink. Seriously. Go look it up.)
Do you wear pink? Love it or hate it? Deep-seated associations with it? Been thrown in a drunk tank painted with it? Tell me your stories of Pink.
Thanks for stopping by!
— Lori
Frivolous At Last 
I love your “Toasted Linden” 🙂 That pink is perfect on you – actually I think you probably suit most pinks. Pink suits me too but I don’t tend to gravitate to making anything out of it but I do wear a lot of pink scarves. I love that Toaster pattern by the way – it is definitely one of my favourite patterns ever and ironically my Linden pattern just arrived today in the mail. I broke down finally after just seeing too many to hold off any longer 🙂
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Thanks, Kathleen! I’m really loving the Toaster, too. Have you made more than one? I think I will probably be doing so.
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I totally had the same issues with pink, I used to even judge girls who were obsessed with all thing pink… and pride myself on not being “that kind of girl” (ugh that I thought that way makes me shudder now). I’ve been trying to reclaim pink but it’s still definitely a work in progress to actually feel comfortable wearing it.
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I know what you’re talking about! I prided myself on being ‘one of the guys’. Ugh, indeed.
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I’ve never been a fan of pink–not because of “internalized misogyny” or whatever, but because it is/was fucking EVERYWHERE. Want some tennis shoes? We’ve got pink or turquoise, unless you are size 7–then we only have pink left. Want to buy a reasonably priced set of women’s golf clubs? Sorry, you’re stuck with pink ones. Add to that so much clothing is pink, and it makes me want to scream!! I like greens and blues! Is that OK?! /soapbox
Sorry. Anyway, your new sweatshirts are lovely, and I’m sure you’ll wear them to death–especially if you are actually a fan of the color pink. You can never have too many basics! 🙂
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It makes my skin crawl that things marketed towards women are often pink. Not to mention more expensive than the same product marketed to men. Pink Tax, anyone?
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It’s funny cuz when I was really little I was obsessed with green, but then I discovered Barbie and it was all about pink. But then I realized I didn’t actually love punk, I just liked Barbie, so I became a blue person.
Anyway, your sweaters are lovely, I’m sure you’ll get lots of use from them!
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I love pink because it looks good on me – but I totally identify with your feeling of not being a girly-girl who wears pink! I”m just… femme… and wearing pink. Yeah, thanks internalized misogeny! 😉
Your tops all look great – glad they are in your wardrobe in time for spring!
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Did you know when the pink and blue themes were introduced for babies it was actually the opposite of what it is now? Pink was for boys and blue was intended for girls. Apparently blue was more passive and pink was more fiery… Not sure when it got flipped.
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I have so much pink yarn in my stash and pink tops. Need to branch out a bit more. Love your tops. I cannot believe what trouble the Linden is giving me. I never even attempted the Toaster so the fabulous fabric I bought for it in Portland sits in the prewashed fabric pile mocking me. Pink suits you nicely. I may have to give you that piece of border print I got from Hart’s Fabric.
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Why don’t you come over some time with your Linden in progress and we’ll get it done together? And if you can make a Linden, you can make a Toaster…all the same pieces and construction, just different widths of bands and cuffs.
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Your pinks are gorgeous on you! I never wore pink because of similar reasons- but since having a girl who adored anything pink for awhile (she is now past that stage thank goodness!) I do have some pinks in my wardrobe!
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I’m more of a blue & red gal myself (I know **gasp** right??!!) but I do enjoy pink in small doses. Love your confection of tops here Lori. Delicious and practical!
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Lori, you are hilarious! I had to reread your colour descriptions a few time to memorize them for future reference 🙂 All three tops look great on you and not at all “pink”.
I like pink, or some shades of it anyway. Not the bright bubble gum shade, though. But I don’t think I wear it much because it’s tricky to find the right shade, and probably because of those associations you mentioned. I wish colours were just that, colours, without some deep hidden message in them.
Thanks for the great post as usual!
Inna
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Thanks, Inna! I know what you mean about finding the right shade of pink. Bubblegum pink is definitely crossing the line!
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Your posts are so entertaining. I have been wishing for something pink, yes the elusive one. I bypassed the Mellow Rose thinking that wasn”t the ONE. I sure hope when my package arrives from Water Tower that the pink is the same pink that \i see on my monitor. TY for the lead.
Ruth from Mb.
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Fingers crossed for you!
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