Better late than never

You’re probably tired of hearing about my Easter shawl by now, but this week, on the fourth Sunday of Easter, I was finally able to wear it. Words fail to describe this yarn knitted up, but oh is it lovely to wear! I like the pattern even more now that it is blocked as it lays nicely on the shoulders; I would like to knit it again sometime in a different yarn.

If you’ll excuse the windy Wyoming day, here also is a picture of my Easter dress with my new shawl.

I originally made this dress for Easter 2005, when Silly Boy was a newborn. This was back when I was using Wild Ginger software to draft many of my patterns, though all I can remember about this one is that it was a dress with shoulder princess seams. I had inserted invisible zippers into the front seams for nursing access; they opened from the bottom and while this worked, it was clumsy enough that I never wore the dress often. I wore it a handful of times while Silly Boy was a nursling, and once or twice while nursing Baby Boy.

Anyhow, being as the fabric is a swishy silk crepe de chine (fabric.com, probably), it just seemed wrong to leave the dress hanging in the back of my closet. I removed the front zippers and sewed those seams shut. I added waist darts and took in the side seams slightly because I no longer needed the extra ease for nursing. I also removed the sleeves, recut them, and set them again. They had been 3/4 sleeves but were always too snug on the forearm. My last step was to redo the hem, as the added darts had affected the hem. Now. . .finally. . .I have a dress that is worthy of the fabric.

Little projects

I continue to plug along knitting my shawl. . .the rows are 313 stitches each and the final lace border has pattern stitches on both right and wrong sides. I haven’t timed how long each row takes, but suffice it to say I don’t even pick it up unless I have a block of time to count and concentrate.

So, I’ve taken a few breaks for some instant gratification type projects. It started when the topic of embroidery came up on one of my favorite email lists. I had downloaded a free pdf of “Tea for Two” designs last November and decided to embellish one of my dish towels. (Note: If anyone knows who designed this set please let me know so that I can give credit. I can’t remember and I can’t find any notation on the pdf.)

I finally got around to sewing hangers for the kitchen hand towels I bought last time I was at Target (January?). Hooray! The old towels had gotten thin enough that one hand wash drying did them in. Not good in a busy kitchen!

Here’s a towel waiting for action:

Next to it is the  most recent towel I’ve embroidered, using a free design from Wild Olive. So cute! Even if my boys thought it was a hamburger (really? since when do I serve hamburgers with a strawberry on top?).

I’ve got one last unadorned towel, and I’ve already traced an elephant design from the Tea for Two set on it. Meanwhile I’ve knit a couple more dish cloths as my old ones were sadly faded. No picture as they are in the laundry along with the 5th hand towel.

Sneak peek

I finished Twirly Girl’s Easter outfit this weekend–always a good feeling to finish with time to spare. I wrote last week about our patterns and alternations here; as I suspected the sewing was simple except that I had to take care to finish seams before they raveled. The jacket fabric was worse than the dress fabric in this regard; I ended up serging all the pieces separately, before I began construction.

My favorite part is the purse (3/2008 #28). So cute! She chose a subtle cotton print from my stash for the lining. It calls for a sewn in snap closure, but I only have the tiny ones. Easy enough to add later. . .

Easter dress progress

Less than three weeks until Easter. . .unless I grow lazy, I will not be sewing hems after Holy Saturday service this year. Actually, the only thing left on my dress is the hem! I’ve been altering the dress I made for Easter 2005, when Silly Boy was a baby, removing the nursing openings and excess ease as well as redoing sleeves that were never quite right. Now I just need Larry to remark the hem so I can sew that back in place.

Twirly Girl chose cotton suiting from my stash (probably almost as old as my dress!) and we were able to tweak a pair of Ottobre patterns to work. I traced and cut those out this past weekend. On the left is the fabric for her sleeveless dress, using design #18 from 3/2008. On the right is the fabric for her jacket, design #13 from 2/2002 (with shortened sleeves and a redrawn neckline). The sewing should be simple and straightforward, but I’m worried about raveling, particularly with the jacket fabric.

I love to draft

The more time I spend drafting my own patterns, the more I love the process and (usually) the results. There’s something so satisfying about beginning with a set of measurements and a sketch and ending with a wearable garment!

I already posted briefly about the denim skirt I made in January, or at least about the drafting process.

I’ve worn it several times and like it very much! That said, I honestly had no clue how to draft the back yoke. . .let’s just say my wild guess didn’t quite work. I’m going to be looking for help in fixing that, though, because I have a piece of khaki twill and I’d like to use the same pattern. I also should make the zipper an inch longer, but otherwise the fit is just right and I love the bit of flare below the knees.

Inspired by one new skirt, I decided to make another new skirt before our Nebraska trip. I’ve been trying to reduce my stash lately and I had a skirt sized remnant of burgundy french terry.

This time I went for a basic a-line with a tiny bit of flare at the hem. I decided to use the side seam pockets from Kwik Sew’s Easy Sewing book. Although my terry is fairly lightweight, I used a scrap of quilting cotton to reduce bulk.

For me, drafting patterns is all about trying new things and finding out what works–0r what to change for next time. In this case, the only change I would make is to use slightly wider elastic in the waistband. I wore this skirt for both of our Very Long Driving Days and it was perfect. Warm, comfortable, and wrinkle-free.

Cozy

A couple of recent projects for myself. . .

My new bathrobe is a pattern that was intended to be a wraparound tunic or dress, designs #9 & 10 from Ottobre 2/2007. I used the length of the dress but omitted the collar, and I altered the sleeve to be 3/4 because sometimes I end up cooking breakfast in my robe. The fabric is a lovely ribbed cotton sherpa that had been in my stash for far too long. I used quilting cotton for the ties (with serged rolled hems) and neckline facing, and added a patch pocket. I’m seriously considering making a second robe with this pattern, using cotton jersey or interlock–it would be perfect for summer and easy to pack for travel use year round.

I actually started my slippers before Christmas but I kept ignoring them. I only have straight needles in size 15 and this project reminded me how much I dislike straight needles! I need to get size 15 circulars before making a pair of slippers for Twirly Girl. . .but I digress. These are the French Press Felted Slippers that came to the top of my Ravelry searches for a slipper pattern, and I do like them very much. The yarn was left from my shaped vest, with red straps because I didn’t have quite enough brown yarn left. This was my first time felting something that needed to end up a particular size and it went fairly well (read: they are wearable but I made a few mistakes along the way).

Weekend projects

This past weekend I started two projects. Emphasis on “started.”

Friday afternoon I drafted a skirt pattern, which is always fun though this time was extra fun when I realized my waist and hips were both a couple inches smaller than the last time I drafted a skirt pattern. Yay! Anyhow, I started by drafting a four gored skirt and then altered it to (hopefully) resemble the girls’ long skirt #25 from Ottobre 3/2004. I had originally planned to grade up the Ottobre pattern. . .until I realized I needed to add 5″ to the waist and 10″ to the hips plus the extra length and, well, suddenly starting from scratch sounded simpler. I cut out the fabric Saturday afternoon, minus the waistband which I still need to draft.

This is intended to replace my well-worn denim skirt, and I’ll start sewing as soon as I can decide what color to use for topstitching. The medium blue on the far left is the regular sewing machine thread; it matches better in real life than in this picture. The topstitch threads are navy blue, red, and light denim. I already eliminated white and dark gold. . .I am leaning towards red at the moment, with the light denim being my second choice. Or perhaps denim topstitching with red bartacks. . . For the pocket lining and inner waistband I’m using a cotton print, strawberries on small blue checks.

I spent Saturday morning at a 4-H fiber workshop with Twirly Girl. They used needle felting to decorate notebook covers; some of the moms bought supplies to make their own, but I ended up working on my knitting while I watched. I think she was the only kid (of half a dozen or so) who had felted before, but she still learned a couple new tricks. She had a good time and we both bought some more supplies while we were there. . .she is looking forward to next month when they will felt 3-D objects. After we got home (and while I was cutting out my skirt) I contemplated a new felting project for myself, and Sunday afternoon I started on it.

I’ve been wanting to make some sort of wreath or banner for our front door, and decided to make this house. The background felt is gray, or perhaps bluish gray. . .at first I thought it was light blue, but once I added the bright blue door I realized it was gray. Ah well! I plan to put a bright red heart where an attic window might go, and the middle will have window/s with flower boxes. I haven’t decided yet what kind of greenery to put on either side of the door. . .bushes? potted flowers? ivy? I’m pretty sure I’ll be designing this one as I go along.

Robe

More fuzzy sewing. . .but Twirly Girl wanted a bathrobe instead of a shirt. I bought this floral cotton velour for her several years ago but it seemed too “old” at the time. Now it’s just right.

She chose Ottobre 4/2005, design #19. I made it a few sizes larger than her measurements so that she’ll be able to wear it as long as possible. I used ribbon for the belt loops but made no other changes, other than she opted not to have a contrasting band or belt.

My next project would have been a new robe for myself but. . .as I was finishing Twirly Girl’s robe, the presser foot lever on my serger broke. Again. A new lever has been ordered, and in the meanwhile I’ve started on a different project–one that only needs the sewing machine.

Fuzzy shirts, part 2

I finished the last two fuzzy shirts over the weekend.

Boy Genius had chosen dark green velour, and when I showed him design #37 from Ottobre 4/2010 he immediately went back in the closet and got the black velour for the contrast panels. Good choice, as I had plenty of black ribbing for the neckband.

Baby Boy’s shirt isn’t quite as fuzzy but I really really wanted to use the rest of the tools french terry before he outgrow it. In fact, my remnant was j-u-s-t long enough for his shirt; I had enough left for sleeves, but he wanted those to be blue. With tools at the bottom. Hmmm. I ended up using the same pattern as for Silly Boy’s fuzzy shirt, # 15 from 4/2006, but I shortened the sleeve and added a contrast band as from Bouncy Boy’s shirt. I used rib trim instead of binding the neck and added a tools patch on the left sleeve, but he wouldn’t stand still long enough for that to show in the pictures.

Fuzzy shirts

It all started when I told Silly Boy his purple terry shirt needed to be retired. . .you see, I had made it for Drama Boy back in 2003 and it was positively threadbare in spots. So I had to promise to make him a new “fuzzy shirt.” Well, before I knew it I had three more boys queued up wanting fuzzy shirts too! Here are the first two sewn:

Since the original purple fuzzy shirt was my first-ever Ottobre project, it only seemed natural to pull out my stash of magazines to find patterns for these shirts too. First up was Silly Boy, of course, and he wanted a red shirt with a white star. I ended up using design #15 from 4/2006, which coincidentally included a star applique although I chose to draw my own. I used variegated embroidery thread to satin stitch it in place and added a reinforced straight stitch outline inside and outside the star.

Bouncy Boy was next and for him I chose design #26 from 4/2008. He helped me decide how to arrange the colors, and the satin stitched M on the pocket pertains to his alternate super hero identity. I made sure all the topstitching was in contrasting colors, but the effect is mostly lost in the pile–oh well. I really like the sleeve edge trim on this design, and it was very easy to do.

I love being able to sew things that make the kids smile! And being able to use up stash fabrics at the same time is an added bonus.