WIP Wednesday!

The whole place is trashed!  I normally try to keep my sewing stuff to the left side of the dining room table, but I just have so many things going that I've migrated to the right.  Family may not get a decent meal here until I leave for QuiltCon.

I've been sewing up some new clothes.  I know I don't really need any more, but it's kind of fun to make clothes where you'll be around people that will really get it.  And any excuse to buy fabric is a good excuse.

So far I've done one horrible muslin and scrapped that entire pattern.  Then I went back to the old standby, the Washi Dress.  One needs a hem, and one is finished.  I just have that Brambleberry Ridge fabric in the back there to go.  I'm thinking of adding some short sleeves to it, just so they aren't all complete duplicates.

And, I've thrown together a lanyard and a new business card holder.  I'm debating whether I should make a new bag for Con, or just reuse one of the many I've already made.  For now, I'll wait, but if I get the itch, I may end up elbows deep in interfacing in the middle of the night.

And when I'm not sewing these days, I've been working on this Corvallis Cardigan for my son.  He's pretty excited about it and keeps checking in on my progress, but I'm so BORED of it!  He just wanted a green sweater, so there's no stripes or color-changing yarn to keep me interested.  And I realized too late that I should have put something in, a cable or an interesting stitch, but I didn't.

I think at this point, I'm so close I just have to finish and remember for the next time.  I'm so close to the bottom ribbing and then it's just sleeves.  (Thank goodness this pattern has you knit the button band as you go, so that's one less step between me and finished!)

Linking up with Lee for WIP Wednesday and Lorna for Let's Bee Social!

WIP Wednesday: Little Sperry Sweater

I love a fast knit.  This is another basic raglan sweater, but I actually bought the pattern for it.  Mostly, because it was perfect already and cheap, but sometimes it's just fun to support other crafters.  (Go Team Craft!)

Anyway, it's the Little Sperry from Amy Miller (get it from Ravelry here).  I love Amy's sweater designs, but this one is just perfect for what I wanted, a lightweight summery sweater for the boy to throw on on chilly evenings.  And my friend Laura (of Little and Lots) recently knitted this up for her daughter and it was just adorable.  She didn't post about it, but trust me, it was killer.

I got this great variegated cotton yarn on sale at Joann's, because I can't get a solid answer from the boy about his favorite color.  After years of blue, now it's green, but I didn't want to risk an all green sweater that never gets worn, so he gets both, plus yellow!  I'm skipping the stripes on this one, but I'm definitely going to do them on the next sweater.

Another fun tidbit, I actually knitted a swatch for guage.  Weird.  I ended up going down two needle sizes to get it right, apparently I'm a very relaxed knitter.

I couldn't get a good picture of the girl in it.  It's way too big, but the boy was unavailable for modelling.  This sweater is obviously too big, but I really liked the length on her with the shirttail hem.  I might make one as a sweater dress for her next.

Linking up with Lee for Work in Progress Wednesday!

WIP Wednesday: Piles of Knits!

Woke up this morning to a miserable, rainy day, which means I just want to cuddle under a blanket and knit some fuzzy wool, but sewing is my goal for the day! 

This is not the stack of fabric I should be working on, even though I really want to.  I've been wanting to make a Ruby top with the Catnap as yoke, and the white knit as the body.  I've been putting it off because I'd have to wash the Catnap, and I want to be really sure before I take that step (I don't prewash my quilting fabric).

And the bottom two are fabrics that I found over the weekend... in my house... can't remember buying them...

Anyway, the plaid is just a yard, and while I'd love to make it into a summer top, I'm not sure it'll be enough.  I might make it into something for the little girl.  And the bottom is 5 (5!) yards of a really great jersey.  It's so soft, a little stiff, but not heavy, and has stretch in just one direction, so it'll hold whatever shape I impose on it better.  I'm wondering if a knit Washi Dress is possible.  Seems like that would be a thing, but I haven't seen any on the internets.  I might have to just take the plunge and do it.

But this is what I'm going to be doing first.  It will be a nursing dress for a wedding a friend is attending.  I've already made the top, but it needs some reworking to fit properly.  And the actual dress part is going to be the grey print.  It's easy enough to do, but there's just a lot of moving parts, so I've been putting it off for probably a month.  Due in three days, should work out fine!

Linking up with Lee for WIP Wednesday!

Friday Finish: Wonderland Pinafore

A quick post about a quick finish. My sister texted me a while back wondering how hard it would be to make a pinafore. Having never made a pinafore ever, I said easy!  Then I spent two weeks procrastinating until it was deadline time. Then I started looking for patterns and tutorials. 

I couldn't find anything that I liked, so I just took some measurements from an apron I had and measurements from my sister and sketched out some rectangles.  

They all magically sewed up without any issues. I had to do some thinking to figure out how to encase all my raw edges, but they're all hidden. 

Then Jill and I agreed that black rick rack would be the perfect trim. So I bought every size and started laying it out. The mini ended up being perfect, especially with little black bows where the rick rack overlapped.   

It ended up being the perfect thing to finish off her dress for the Alice in Wonderland tea party.  I love it and wish I could have shipped myself down to be there too!

Thanks to Jill for all the pictures!!

Linking up with Amanda Jean for Finish it up Friday and Quilt Matters for TGIFF!! 

Selfishly Sewing Skirts!

Yesterday was skirt day!  And it turned out pretty successful.  My big job for the day was to pattern test the Alder skirt, which meant printing, taping, and cutting out the pattern.  Probably my least favorite part of pattern sewing, but I like it way better than getting the pattern then having to pull out the tracing paper.

I was supposed to be testing a specific size, but it turned out too big on me.  Ego boost, but it meant that I would have to print, tape, and cut the next size down to see if that one fit me better, or if I would just have to alter the one I had made.   (I'll probably end up doing some alterations anyway, since this fabric needs to be a well-fitting skirt that I wear all the time.)

But while I worked up the energy to do all that cutting, I took the scraps from the first skirt and made a Simple Skirt for my girl.

And then I made another one, but with a bias tape hem!

Unfortunately, she's off at a sleepover, so I'll have to wait to get super cute pictures of her wearing these.

And then, I got back to it.  This time with piping!

Linking up with Kelly for Needle and Thread Thursday and Sew Fresh Quilts!

WIP Wednesday: Selfish Sewing Week Edition!

I was so excited to have a full day of sewing.  The kids are gone, and it's just me, the dog, and my sewing machine.  But it's just been dreary the last couple days, and it's hard to get excited about sewing cute summer skirts.  (And awful for taking pictures inside, even with all the shades up)

But, I'm going to power through!  I've got two piles of fabric ready to be turned into Alder skirts.  I'm really excited to be pattern testing for Rachael at imagine gnats.  For some reason I thought this pattern had already been released and I'm trying to curb my sewing spending, but she put the call out for testers, so free pattern for a skirt I wanted to make anyway.  Win win!

These are going to be my skirts by the end of the day.  The Alder skirt has an optional contrast waistband and pocket linings, so the flowery Cloud 9 fabric will get green, and the blue Juliana Horner fabric will get orchid.  The blue is a bit brighter than I would normally pick, but I just loved the fabric so much and summer clothes should be bright and cheerful!

The rest of my fabric pile will be clothes for the little girl.  These two will be super fast Simple Skirts from Dana's awesome tutorial.  The corduroy might end up a skirt too, or maybe some parsley pants, and the knit was just too cute to leave (especially at $3/yd, love a JoAnn's sale!!)

Now let's see how far down the list I get!

Linking up with Lee for WIP Wednesday!

 

Kids Clothes Week: A Sally Dress for Easter!

My big goal for Kids Clothes Week was to make Dell this little Easter dress.  Everything else was just gravy, but this had to be cute since her brother has already gotten a little suit from his Nona.  And she definitely needed something with big pockets to hide Easter treasures.

Luckily, I had everything on hand and ready to go once I realized that this was the thing to do.  The fabric was bought, washed and pressed for last summer's Kids Clothes Week, but then found it's way to the back of the drawer once I failed at time management.  And the pattern is the Sally Dress by Very Shannon, another from Pattern Anthology, bought and printed ages ago.

I made the 4t size based on her chest measurement which ended up fitting her perfectly without changing anything, though it's a bit tight getting on and off.  I'll just pray that she makes it through the Easter festivities without spilling anything on herself and maybe see about adding a button placket to the back to make it last a little longer.

I also went with the longer sleeve, since we've still got snow hanging around.  And I added some bright yellow piping along the collar and waist.  I'm pretty excited to add piping to everything, especially since I've bought all the colors on super discount at Marden's.

The neckline was a bit tough to pipe, because you have to pipe the front and back pieces separately, then line them, then sew them together at the shoulders.  It worked, but the seams are a little bulky.  Good thing she's got plenty of hair to distract!

But the whole thing was super easy to make.  I think she'll need a couple more of these big pocket dresses for twirling and stashing this summer.

Linking up with Kids Clothes Week and Crazy Mom Quilts!

Kids Clothes Week: Vintage V-Neck Tee Wonkiness

Last night I finally went through all the drawers and pulled out the old t-shirts that hubs and I don't like anymore so that I can make them into tees for the little man.  I was going to just do the old standby and use a shirt that fits him now to cut new ones, but then I remembered that I had the Vintage V-neck Tee pattern from last fall's Pattern Anthology.

But for the life of me, I can't get the "V" to sit nicely!  I carefully pinned and stretched, but still ended up taking out the stitches twice.  And after the last sew, it still didn't look nice, but if I took them out again I'd end up shredding the gray fabric.

The "V" looks so cool, but I might just recut the pattern to a crew neck, because I just can't stand patterns that are too fiddly.  And I want to make at least two more t-shirts because the kid has almost none to wear this summer.

But, on a happier note, I finally busted out the non-straight-stitch-only sewing machine and got to do fun things like zig zag stitches and sewing with my double needle!  But now there's two sewing machines on the dining room table and absolutely no room for actually eating dinner.

Linking up with Kids Clothes Week and My Quilt Infatuation!

Snow Day!

Staring at the snow and general goobering.

 Snow day.  Stuck in the house all day with these two crazies, a bucket of animal crackers and my sewing machine.  Luckily, we'd done a run through Joann's yesterday and the flannel was $2.79 a yard!  The kids got to pick some for new pjs and since no one was going anywhere today, they got to help me sew them up.

I had supervision while cutting (did three pairs at a time with a sharp rotary blade. Yay mass production!), and the dude was put in charge of placing the pins back in the pin case.

The trains were his favorite, and the only pair I could wiggle him into, but three pairs of pjs done in one afternoon is probably a record for me.  I used the Parsley Pants pattern and cut a few corners, like ironing, and actually measuring the hems.  The end result is still a solid pair of pants, so it worked out.

The mustaches were my contribution to the pile.  I'm really hoping to convince him to wear them to school for the next pj day.  Instant cool.

Our other project for the snow day was to make Valentines for his class.  He made all the design choices and shot down a lot of my suggestions.  He just wanted hearts with glitter and his name in pencil, none of my yarn, stickers, or markers made the cut.  I love the focus.

We may have to make a few more for non-school friends, teachers, and family because he loved doing this.  Plus, why not make more since the house already has a thin coating of glitter on all flat surfaces.  :)

Working on My Closet of Washis

I'm clearly a convert to the Washi Dress.  I love how it fits without fiddling, and I can make it in just one morning.  I keep meaning to try the three-quarter sleeves, but then I chicken out.  And I really need to get the Washi expansion pack that Rae just put out, the Peter Pan collar kills me!

I've had this pile of fabric for quite a while ($4/yard from my last Marden's trip), and I've just been waiting for the time to make the dress.  It's really a chrysanthemum print, but it looks really odd and geometric from far away.  So it's fun but respectable.

She had to get in on the fun.

I ditched the interfacing on this version.  I figured the scoop neck would be fine without it, and I didn't have any.  Instead, I just sewed the facing around the neck and then sewed the bottom edge of the facing down.  Super easy, and seems to hold up well.

We had to take a break suddenly for a Popsicle stick sword fight.  And now I can say that this dress has been "battle-tested" and aced it with flying colors, even though the sword fight ended in a draw.

Linking up with Amanda Jean for Finish it Up Friday!

A Sweater Finish!

This sweater all started with the sale bin at the local quilt/yarn shop.  We couldn't resist digging through all the colors, and my friend found a bunch of this yarn and fell in love.  It's a cashmere, merino, and microfiber blend in a pretty chocolate/maroon color.

Since she didn't knit, I volunteered to knit her daughter a copy of the Soledad sweater that my daughter was wearing at the time.  This is the third time I've knitted the sweater, but this yarn was just a little bit thinner than the first two versions, so it turned out a little slimmer, but super warm.

I added a couple inches to both the sleeves and the body, so that it can be worn even if one of those growth spurts happens.  She also wanted a higher neck, so I just knitted until I ran out of yarn, which turned out to be an extra inch and a half of collar.

The best part of this pattern is that little cable section that runs along the sleeve and down the side.  I have a couple other cable patterns that I want to try inserting in there.  I'm nervous about modifying a pattern, since I still feel like a novice knitter, but it doesn't seem that hard to change the path of the cables.

I really hope my friend likes the sweater, and more importantly, that her daughter loves it too.

Linking up with Amanda Jean for Finish It Up Friday!