Eleven Stitches

Chantilly

I finished my first pattern from Colette Patterns. After seeing a lot of succesful dresses and rave reviews, I was excited to give this pattern a try.

This is Chantilly, made up in Robert Kauffman's shot cotton in Ginger.  The fabric is lightweight, and will be very nice for summer.

The pattern is beautiful and it explains everything in a clear manner.  I did two new things with this dress:  I installed an invisible zippper, and this zipper was installed in a side seam where there was a pocket!  I thought both things would have been difficult, but the instructions made it not so bad.

Here's a view of the back of the dress. I think it's just really pretty!  I've already started another one.

One thing that's nice about this fabric is the color shading.  You can see it a little bit in this (bright sunlight!) photo, that there is a hit of purple in the fabric when it moves. 

If the weather stays as predicted, I'm planning to wear this dress to the Maryland Sheep & Wool festival, maybe with my Cherry Cardigan on top.  If you're going and you see me, please say hi!  (I probably won't know what to talk about, but I will at least be happy to say hi :) )

Speaking of wool, I do have some knitted things to show you.  I need to convince my favorite photographer to do another photo shoot first.

The Auction Dress

I decided I needed to make a dress for my school's auction this year.  I've kind of become known for making a lot of my clothes, and this was a great time to show off something I made.  I started a few months ago, knowing that I had my surgery coming up and that I had to finish the quilt in time also!

When I saw Vogue 1175, I got pretty obsessed with it!  Those lines are so different, and it looked challenging in an interesting way.  I got a nice linen print to make a test dress, and it ended up being something I couldn't salvage.  But!  It allowed me to make the necessary changes to have this dress turn out great.

I got this fabric at Joanne's, and it was in the red-tag clearance section.  It was $4 a yard.  I had been hoping for a brown/copper dress, and I love the way this color changes in the light. 

I had to make a lot of changes to have this pattern work.  I shortened the straps so the v-neck wouldn't be so plungy.  This made the back pieces gap strangely, so I took some tucks in the pattern tissue before I cut out the pieces for this second dress.  Shortening the straps also made the dress shorter, so I added two inches to the bottom. I sewed the pleats down partway down the dress, to help define more of a waist.

This dress is so comfortable, and it also has pockets!  It was not easy to put together precisely, especially with all of those pleats that go around a corner.  But it was fun, and it was fun to make.

I was nervous about wearing the dress to the auction, but I got so many compliments on it, even several days after the auction.  It was so fun to wear.  Two of my friend have asked me if I would be willing to make one for them, and I'm considering it!

Again With That Pattern

I finished a dress with some of the fabric I bought in Berkeley over Christmas.

I got this fabric at Stone Mountain & Daugher.  The pattern is Simplicity 3775 (now out of print), again.  You might recognize it because I've sewn it several other times before.

It's funny, I tend not to repeat a knitting pattern, (unless it's the Side Slip Cloche) but I am happy to repeat sewing patterns multiple times.  It's probably for several reasons.  Sewing is much quicker than knitting, so I'm not spending the same amount of time with a pattern as I do with knitting.  Also, sewing is more difficult to try on as you go, in my opinion.  I've been tweaking this dress pattern almost every time I made it, and I think I got this one just right.  I think also, especially with knit fabrics, that I have a harder time finding a pattern that I like and fits my needs, so I just stick to the ones I know will work.

David wanted me to twirl when he was taking pictures, and there was one that came out.

I love this dress.  It's very comfortable, and the print on the fabric is so interesting.  I have enough fabric left over to probably make a tee.  Maybe I should branch out and NOT make my favorite tee pattern again?

 

Dotty Top

I picked up some great polka dot fabric at Britex Fabrics when we were in San Francisco over the holidays.  It didn't take me long to work up another Jalie Sweetheart Top out of it.

I think this is my sixth time making this pattern? Perhaps I should move on to other t-shirt patterns, but I like this one a lot.  And it goes together so quickly now! 

I just found out this morning about My Sewing Circle.  It's a sewing site that works kind of like Ravelry does with knitting.  I've been wanting a site like this for a long time, and I'm a little bummed it took me so long to find out about it!  I started uploading projects to it this morning, and I'm happy with how its working so far. If you join, friend me!  I'm "eleven stitches", of course :)

 

Two More Dresses

When looking through my list of projects, I realized that I had neglected to show you a dress that I finished earlier in the fall.  This could be because I feel a little ambivalent about it.  It has all of the elements that I like-- big collar, purple, knit, but there's something that still makes me feel a little unsure about wearing it.

The waist is a little tighter than I hoped it would be, which might be contributing to the uncertaintly.  Unfortunately, the seams are serged, so there's no room for change!  I wore this dress to Rhinebeck (on Sunday) and got several compliments, including one person who stopped me and asked me where in New York I bought my outfit. 

The dress is a mashup of Simplicity 3775 (out of print)  and Vogue 8634, which are two of my favorite patterns.  This is the first time I've heavily modified a dress, and I'm happy with that aspect of it.  The fabric is a stretch corduroy, which is kind of fun.

The second dress I finished up just in time to wear on the last day of school before winter break.

I loved the blue plaid dress so much that I got some green plaid fabric as well!  I finished up the bolt, and there was only 2 7/8 of a yard left.  So I had to find a new pattern -- Simplicity 2174, which is part of their Amazing Fit line.  I had less than the recommended amount of fabric, so I just didn't worry about matching plaids at all, and I barely had enough fabric. 

The ironic thing is that the pattern has a lot of information on how to customize fit, but the biggest problem I have with this pattern is that the neck (and center bodie piece) is too wide, which was not addressed in the pattern.  I think next time I'll cut it narrower and maybe have to compensate with the side seams.

But aren't the pockets on this dress great?

There were 17 pattern pieces to cut out, and I actually gave myself a lower back ache becasue I spent 1 1/2 hours leaning over my table cutting out the pieces.  Next time I'll have to sit down or take breaks. 

And those are the last two dresses that I needed to blog for 2011! 

 

Things from SF

When I was in San Francisco at Thankgiving, I went fabric shopping at Discount Fabrics.  I actually went there on Black Friday, but it was not a place that was crowded with people, and there were no special sales.  It's a big warehouse, and I had to poke around for a while before I decided what I wanted to get.  I came home with three knit fabrics, two of which were from the remnant section.

As soon as I got home, I sewed a new shirt.  I decided to actually use a new pattern, Simplicity 2409. 

It's looser and drapier than I realized it would be, but I've found that I like it.  It's comfortable, and I think the style goes well with the thermal fabric. 

The next day after I got back, I made a second shirt.

This is using my favorite t-shirt pattern, Jalie 2794. 

A week later, I used up the rest of my fabric from SF and made this dress.

This uses my favorite dress pattern, Simplicity 3775, which is sadly out of print.  I had to be careful about the placement of the flowers on the bodice pieces, and it worked out just fine.  I also raised the waist about an inch.  I just love this print, and the dress is so comfortable. 

Now that I've used up my fabric from San Francisco, maybe I need to bring home some more on this trip?

Need A Quick Sewn Gift?

Christmas is approaching, and I'm starting to feel the crunch for getting gifts done in time.  Two on my list were pretty quick, though, and I'm very happy with them. 

These are the Figure 8 Scarf made from Anna Maria Horner's kit.  It uses two delicious fabrics:  velveteen and voile.  There's only a couple of seams to sew, and the result is a great infinity scarf.

This is the one I will steal back if the recipient doesn't like it enough.  But since I'm really hoping she'll like it, I made another one for me.  I didn't have any more AMH fabric on hand, so I used some corduroy and some silky lining fabric instead.

Since I didn't have enough fabric to make 18" x 72" cuts, I two rectangles of each fabric, 18 inches by the width of the fabric.  Instead of seaming it so that there would be one red side and one purple side, I had them switch halfway around the loop. 

I had been needing something to wear with my collarless purple coat, and this is a great solution!

OK, back to Christmas crafting!

 

Co-Worker Gifts

I really love making things for my co-workers.  We're always busy at school, and conversations are either quick or interrupted.  But we do get to know each other, and it's fun for me to figure out what to make for a friend, and which colors to use. 

Here's some mittens, made out of a pattern that's in my head for "how to make basic mittens".  I used the leftover yarn for a sweater I haven't shown you yet (wince) and some pretty green Rowan Lima I bought when I was in San Francisco.  The stripe pattern on the first mitten was made up as I went, and then I copied it for the second mitten.  I really wanted to make mittens for this co-worker last year, but I had just had surgery and the thought of it was too much at the time. 

I work with two people I haven't made Dresden Bags for yet, and I was excited to make them again.  I just love making these.  This purple and grey one is difficult to give away-- I love the colors together.  There's one corduroy petal at the very top because I ran out of purples, and I love it.

I really love making these!  One of the girls who got these said she was excited to have one because she felt like she'd been left out of a "secret club" by not having one before :) 

This is the Wicker Cafe Cowl.  I completely used up my skein of Knit Picks Andean Treasure (100% alpaca), and as you can see I was still a little short.  Fortunately I have a few balls of this yarn, so I was able to add a contrasting color for the very end.  This was a great pattern and a enjoyable knit.

And finally, something I made for a co-worker, but not as a gift.  My friend asked for a custom order.  Her daughter is really good at gymnastics (Like, really good.  I'll let you know if she's in the Olympics when she's old enough to qualify!), and she asked me to make a leotard for her American Girl Doll to match her daughter's team leotard. I found Simplicity 4364 to give me a basic leotard pattern, and then modified the front to have diagonal stripes to mimic her leotard.  I added on a felt star and some pink elastic details.  My friend is really excited about the gift, and I'm looking forward to hearing about how her daughter reacts.

Now that co-worker gift making is over, I'm well into family gift-making.  Fingers crossed that I get it all done in time!

Houndstooth Dress

I've been mildly obsessed with houndstooth fabrics this year.  I think it started with a photo of this dress (on Pinterest, of course), which I eventually bought.  And then I saw a great brown/cream houndstooth fabric at JoAnne Fabrics and I had to have it.  This fabric is dry-clean only, and I NEVER buy dry-clean only, but I got it anyway.  And I knew exactly which dress I wanted to make out of it.

This is Vogue 8667, which I have made once before.  It's a great pattern, and came together easily.  I tried to cut out the pieces so the pattern in the fabric continued across seams, and I was somewhat successful at that, although I wasn't able to do it across the princess seams.

I love the collar on this dress.  I guess I have a thing for big collars, huh? 

Enjoy your Sunday!

Pinterest Made Me Do It

Have you heard of Pinterest?  It's a place where people can showcase, or "pin", pictures of things they like. I have found that it's a great source of inspiration, and I have actually bought or sewn a lot of things because of Pinterest.  In fact, I made a Pinterest board of everything that Pinterest has made me do!

Here's a dress that started as an inspiration from Pinterest.

When I saw this picture on Pinterest, I thought it would be fun to try and make it.  Then I found some soft houndstooth fabric, and I decided to pair it with Butterick 4443.  I had made this pattern a couple of years ago, and I had a problem with the neckline gapping.  This time I sewed some horsehair braid into the neckline, and it did help with the problem. 

Since this is a cold-weather dress, I wear it with my yellow cardigan.  I'm very happy with this dress!

Another dress that is Pinterest inspired is this one.

I saw this picture on Pinterest and thought it was nice.  Then I saw this great flannel plaid fabric and knew that I wanted to make a long-sleeved princess-seamed dress.  (Even though the girl at the cutting counter told me that I should make pajama pants out of it.)  I decided on  Simplicity 2338.  The collar was a little bit of a challenge, and I had to re-do the pleats in the front (so they're likely not exactly as intended), but I'm so happy with the dress.

It's really comfortable too.  I liked the fabric so much that I bought it in a green colorway as well.  I haven't sewn that up yet, but maybe in time for Christmas? 

Thank you, Pinterest.  Are you on Pinterest?  Has it inspired you to craft?