Eleven Stitches

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?

Cherry Cardigan and a Patchwork Skirt

Happy Belated Thanksgiving to all of my American readers!  I was planning to blog over my break, but obviously I did not.  David and were in San Francisco to visit his family, and we had a great time. 

I have a finished sweater to show you today! 

Pattern: Cherry by Anna Bell
Yarn: Foxhill Farm Millspun Cormo Cross, 2 skeins 
Needles: US 6
Modifications: I didn't make the belt that is strung through the eyelet rows.

This was a fun knit.  The knitting of it went pretty quickly, and the cable pattern was easy enough to memorize.  It was a little difficult figuring out how to start the cable pattern, but the designer has since updated the pattern to make that easier.

I bought another skein of this yarn at Rhinebeck this year because I thought I was going to run out on the button bands and collar.  It turned out that I had just enough!  I'll have to figure out something else to do with the extra skein.

I used a mismatched set of vegetable ivory buttons I got from the button lady.  They might be a little bit too small-- they sometimes pop out of their buttonholes. 

I also wanted to show you my patchwork corduroy skirt.

I had originally bought this corduroy for a quilt many years ago.  I've lost interest in the quilt, but I thought it would be fun to use some of it for a skirt.  I got out my crayons and make a sketch of how I wanted it to work, and then I used the Simplicity 2411 pattern (again) to make it. I pieced the fabric for each pattern piece before I cut it out.

I think it's especially fun to wear this skirt with the brown and purple shirt I made last year.  It's a patchwork outfit! 

This is the last of the photos from the big photoshoot that I asked David to help me with several weeks ago.  Now I have another big list of things to photograph, and David has promised to help me today.  More soon!

Two Separates

I have to admit that making a complete outfit out of separates makes me feel really proud.  I've found that people I run into (who know that I sew and knit) will ask if I've made part of it, but they assume the rest is store bought.  I just think that's really fun :)

Here are two things I've made!  The shirt is once again Vogue 8634.  It's such a great pattern, and I sewed it up so quickly the second time around.  If you're looking for a pattern to experiment with sewing knits for the first time, this would be a good candidate.  The fabric I used is an interlock knit from JoAnn Fabric.  I'm temped to make more, but I'm a little nervous that my wardrobe would get too predictable with so many big collars :)  Please note how the collar is artfully arranged.  David's helpfulness is not only limited to photography, but also includes collar prepping.

The skirt is Simplicty 2411.  It's a pretty straightforward skirt.  I made most of it in the spring and then lost interest when the weather got warm, so all I needed to really do this fall was put in the lining and finish it up. 

I've been trying to blog frequently, but I STILL have a huge backlog of things to show you!   I'll be back soon.   Have a happy Monday :)

A Grellow Dress

I really love this dress.

The pattern is Butterick 5315, which is sadly out of print, but still available right now on their website.  The fabric I used is a charcoal double-knit.  Since it's an interlock knit, it has horizontial stretch, but not vertical.  The pattern was intended for a woven fabric (like the one I made in 2009), but this knit translated pretty well.  The only mod I had to make was to take it in a couple of inches at the waist, which worked just fine.  Oh, and I eliminated the zipper, becuase this dress stretches enough to not require one.

As you can see here, all of the stitching was done with yellow thread, and the collar was finished with some homemade yellow bias tape.  The pockets are also out of yellow fabric.  The buttons are a mis-matched set that I got from the vintage button lady at the NJ Sheep & Wool festival.  It's nice to start using those buttons and not just collect them! 

Also, do you see the "KRISTY" label?  I finally ordered some personalized labels, and it's been fun sewing them into my garments. 

I got some more practice doing buttonholes on this dress.  Although my sewing machine complelely balked on the bottom button because it was too close to the seam for the skirt.  So I hand stitched something that looks a lot like a buttonhole, and then sewed the button on permanently.  The other ones all are completely functional.

Here is a back view of the dress.  It's got some nice detail with the top and bottom pieces, and the back pleat.  It also makes the dress give comfortably when moving in it.

This is definitely a cool-weather weight dress.  The fabric is heavy (and it swings delightfully when twirling). So realistically I need to wear something with it to cover my arms in the cool weather.   As I was making this dress I saw a cardgian at Banana Republic that seemed ideal.

I could not be happier with this dress.   Yay!

Rhinebeck and a Red Jacket

I had a great time at Rhinebeck, which is now several weeks in the past!  I went up there with my friend C, and it was a long weekend of good food, shopping, and yarn, of course.

This is what I picked up.

It was kind of more than I meant to buy, but I think it will all be very useful.

Starting with the green yarn at top left and spiraling clockwise we have:

• Brooks Farm Mas Acero to make another skirt.  I'm not sure which one yet.
• Maple Creek Farm Laredo to make Larch
• Tess Mohair & Merino to make Levenwick, which is currently in progress.
• A skein of Foxhill Farm Cormo to finish up a cardigan in progress because I thought I was going to run out of yarn, but then I didn't end up needing it. 
• Two skeins of Stonehedge Fiber Mill Shepherd's Wool to make two hats, one of which is already knit up.
• The yellow and grey yarns are Miss Babs' Northumbria Fingering BFL to make Paulie.
• The pink is Socks that Rock Lightweight-- a birthday gift for my mom.

I also promised a jacket. I wore it at Rhinebeck and got several compliments.

The pattern is Uptown Coat from Favorite Things.  It was a pretty simple pattern.  I had been nervous about sewing a jacket, but this one is not difficult.

I made the pockets out of flannel instead of the jacket lining.  It's nice to feel some warm flannel pockets on a cool afternoon. 

The jacket is fully lined, which makes me feel quite proud.  The pattern has the lining be cut about an inch shorter than the outside of the jacket, but I found that made it difficult for the lining to cover up the hem.  I think next time I would cut it the same size and just hem it a little higher.

And I was pretty insistent that the buttons be turquoise.  You can also see here that the topstitching thread is also turqouise.  This is the project where I started to learn how to use the buttonhole foot on my sewing machine. 

Overall, yay, I'm so pleased with this jacket. 

I asked my long-suffering husband to take blog photos for a lot of the backlog of projects I've finished and not blogged.  I figure that the end of Daylight Savings Time will make it even more difficult to get blog photos on a regular day.  I've got lots more to show you coming up soon!