When I was a little girl and still inclined to play dress up in my mother's cast off slips, I was particularly fond of a bright red crinoline that had once been stiff enough to make a full skirt swish and stand away from the body. The elastic waist had long ago lost its stretch, and the crinoline had lost its stiffness. It was soft and sheer and I loved the weight of it, its drape, the way it swirled and moved as I moved. When I wore that crinoline, I was a can can dancer, a flamenco dancer. The skirt transformed and transported me. Clothes can do this sometimes. I dreamed of covering that crinoline with a skirt dense with ruffles.

Inspired both by that early feeling I had when wearing that red crinoline and by the ruffled skirts and sleeves of the traditional Flamenco dresses, the Ella Goes to Spain coat is decorated with lots of little ruffles on the lower portion of both sleeves and skirt as well as cabochon rivets for a little sparkle hither and thither.

The beautifully flattering A-line silhouette of the coat sets off most every woman's figure to best advantage, regardless of height, width, and luxuriousness or spareness of her curves.

Like the original Ella Coat that preceded it, Ella Goes to Spain is imminently customizable: the construction of the garment, more top-down than otherwise, allows you to try on and fit different aspects of the coat as you go, and then knit sleeves and skirt to the perfect length.

Look at Additional Materials for more information about sizing, yarn, and required materials. If you fancy the necklace on the mannequin, they can be found in related items below and purchased here in the Noni store.

Project Difficulty Level

Intrepid Easy: Requires knowledge of knitting, purling, picking up stitches within the knitted fabric, increasing, decreasing, knitting in the round, and some hand-sewing during the finishing process.

Coat Sizes

For the pictured look, we recommend Shepherd's Wool in Garnet (Stonehedge Fiber Mill Shepherd's Wool (worsted weight; 100% merino wool; 250 yds [229m] 4 oz [110g] skein).

Gauge  

18 sts and 24 rows over 4" (10cm) in St st using worsted weight yarn on a size 9 (5.5mm) needle or needle size to obtain gauge. Check your gauge.

Yarn Requirements by Size

NOTE: Yardage in the table above is given in yards. Please multiply by 0.9144 to get meters.

Needles and Materials

Size 9 (5.5mm) 32" (80cm) or longer circular needles 
Locking stitch markers
Stitch holders or waste yarn
Sewing needle and sewing thread
40 Noni Cabochon Rivets to decorate ruffles (optional)
4 - 6 Noni Wee or Tiny Heart Locket closures (Misty Blue coat)
3 JUL Zebra Florentine Hinge closures (Fuchsia coat)

Pictured Samples

Pictured samples were made in Shepherd's Wool by Stonehedge Fiber Mill: worsted weight; 100% merino wool; 250 yds [229m] 4 oz [110g] skein.

The Tango is a beautiful, sexy dance: its movements are sensuous, and small gestures and details are emphatic. While I have not yet learned to Tango myself, when I designed this coat, I imagined a coat for Ella to wear when she goes to take her dancing classes: the sleeves are wide bells that follow the movement of the arms in graceful arcs. The skirt swings with a lovely drape that looks like dancing itself.

Ella Learns to Tango is, like the other Ella Coats, a body-skimming sweater coat for women with an A-line silhouette that is created by making the bodice first from the high waist to the shoulder. The advantage of starting here is that you ensure your coat fits perfectly before you finish the entire coat. A perfectly fitted bodice will ensure a beautifully fitting coat. Then pick up at the high waist and work the skirt down, stopping when the coat is the desired length.

Because there is not a lot of positive ease in the finished coat: I envisioned that this coat would be worn in place of a sweater, over a t-shirt or sleeveless camisole. If you want to wear this coat as an outer garment, you may need to make a larger size. When I wear my Ella Coats as outer garments, I wear two same-sized Ellas layered. I even have two Tango Ellas in the same color and I wear them layered. One is slightly shorter so there is a double ruffle at hem and cuffs - very pretty!

For a detailed tutorial on the original Ella Coat, including information on choosing colors for your coat, fitting the coat to your own body, adding beautiful details, including alternate ruffle edgings, consult the Ella Coat Knit-a-Long that was conducted through the Noni Blog.

Look at Additional Materials for more information about sizing as well as required materials. If you fancy the necklaces on the mannequin, they can be found in related items below and purchased here in the Noni store.

Project Difficulty Level

Intrepid Easy: Requires knowledge of knitting, purling, picking up stitches within the knitted fabric, decreasing, knitting in the round; hand-sewing and riveting are required for the finishing process

Coat Sizes

For the pictured look, we recommend Shepherd's Wool in Garnet (Stonehedge Fiber Mill Shepherd's Wool (worsted weight; 100% merino wool; 250 yds [229m] 4 oz [110g] skein).

Gauge

18 sts and 24 rows over 4" (10cm) in St st using worsted weight yarn on a size 9 (5.5mm) needle or needle size to obtain gauge. Check your gauge.

Yarn Requirements by Size

NOTE: Yardage in the table above is given in yards. Please multiply by 0.9144 to get meters.

Needles and Other Materials

Size 9 (5.5mm) 32" (80cm) or longer circular needle
Size J/10 (6mm) crochet hook
Row counter (optional)
Locking stitch markers, 1 of a different color or size
Stitch holders or waste yarn
Sewing needle and sewing thread
1 - 2 JUL Venetian Hinges (pictured) or 3 JUL Locks for front of coat 
4 JUL Latches for French cuffs (pictured: 2 for each cuff)

Ella wears clothes with no pockets to weigh her down and the Going Out Bag has the same sort of mentality. She loves to dance. She is all ruffles and flourishes.

In white, she could get married or lead the attendants to their places. In bright mossy green she'd draw every eye on the streets of New York. In mint with blushing petals, she looks good enough to nibble. In Lilac with beaded edges, she is sweet as Spring flowers. Add blue sparkle rivets to a white bag with white ruffles and she would be a bouquet for the bride. Add spikes or cabochon rivets and she gets a little more daring . . .

However you dress her, she is, in short, delicious, flexible, and can go anywhere, from gay frolic through the botanical garden, to the garden party, to cinema, to night club. She is even the best friend of girly little girls.

Take her out. She loves an adventure . . .

Click on the Additional Details tab below for more information about dimensions, yarn amounts, materials, and bag kits that include everything you need to complete this project.

Finished Dimensions

6 3/4" (17cm) across the top
3" (7.5cm) deep at bottom
7" (17.5cm) wide across the bottom
8" (20cm) tall from bottom to frame

Pattern Difficulty

Intrepid Easy/Intermediate: Requires knowledge of knitting, purling, increasing, decreasing, picking up stitches within fabric, some hand-sewing to attach the bag to the snap purse frame.

Gauge

Pre-felted gauge: 20 stitches and 28 rounds = 4" (10cm) in St st with a single strand of worsted weight yarn.

Materials

An Elegant Hardware Kit with Feet is available for this pattern and includes:

1 Elegant Bag Frame 
27" (68cm) purse chain
Stiffener for the bag bottom
6 Noni Big 24mm bag feet
1 Noni Design label

Yarn Requirements

Solid Bag: 750 yds (685m)
Solid Bag with Beaded Ruffle Edge: 550 yds (503m) solid color and 70 yds (64m) of feltable beaded yarn

Needles and Other Materials

Size 8 (5mm) 24" (60cm) circular needle
Tapestry needle
Sewing Needle
Stitch markers

Pictured Samples

The white bag was made with Stonehedge Fiber Mill Shepherd's Wool in White. The green bag was made with Tilli Tomas Merino in Moss with Moss Flurries just at the ruffle bind off. Unfortunately, both of these yarns are no longer available.