Happy Halloween!

It's Halloween, so here's my Sinister Swarm Washi.  I was just going to wear black, but then realized this was actually clean!  How could you pass up that?

Spooooooky black knitting on my needles.  Not really spooky, but black and gray, and I think that counts.  It's a Chunky Dean Street hat for my little dude out of some Wool-ease I found in my stash.  I love this fast knitting with chunky yarn and giant needles.  

And here's that Bimaa I miffed the cutting on earlier in the week.  All finished, with a little bit of breakfast already on the tummy.  That's how you can tell a good piece of clothing, when it gets dirty fast.  

Here's the back.  I'd cut two fronts and sewn it all up, only realizing the mistake when the collar didn't go on right.  Duh!  So I took the two pattern pieces, traced the difference, and added some seam allowance.  The result is that little semi-circle seam at the top of her back.  Easy, and I only had to pull a few stitches out of the shoulders to sew in my patch.

Here's her scary face.  It's actually really scary.  How does a two-year-old know the Children of the Corn look?

Happy Halloween!!!

Linking up with Live a Colorful Life for Really Random Thursday!

WIP Wednesday!

Lots still going on around here.  I'm pretty sure that'll be the way things go until after Christmas is done.  Who am I kidding?  I'll probably have at least five projects going no matter what time of year it is.  

Anyway, I finally dug through my chest of yarn and found a lot of beauties that I'd completely forgotten about.  Most of these are from the days after I had an income, but no real financial responsibilities (the good ole days), so I'd go to the fancy yarn shop and buy balls of yarn.  I found two balls of baby alpaca, some mohair, and I can't remember what that colorful one in the center is, but it came from the same place, so fancy!

I never actually knitted anything with them, and just hoarded until now.  Kids are in need of hats, so I'll be working through this pile and perfecting my hat knitting.

This stack of square is going to slowly become an amazing quilt.  It's for a certain someone who might read this, so this is all the peek you get!

One inch squares!  Eep!

And this is the most insane project.  I was so obsessed with the Hello Kitty pixel quilt and the Pinkie Pie pixel quilt, that a friend suggested we make one ourselves.  Luckily my little girl is in love with Pinkie Pie too, and will be needing a bed quilt soon.  We're hoping to get this finished by Christmas, but the best thing about 2-year-olds is that they rarely carry around calendars and don't hold grudges if gifts arrive late.  

Linking up with Lee for WIP Wednesday!

One of Those Days...

Did you ever have one of those days that just sucks?  Here's mine.

That there is a pair of Parsley Pants that I had mostly sewed over the weekend, and I just needed to sew in the elastic waistband.  So I sat down to my machine, very carefully measured and pressed, then sewed the elastic in the front instead of the back.  Yep, that happened.

After that, I decided to just sew up a Bimaa, because it's a pretty easy and quick pattern.  So I got out my fabric and pattern, and cut two fronts instead of a front and back.  Arg!  And what's worse, is that I didn't realize it until I'd already sewed everything together and was trying to attach the neckline.  And I sewed all those seams with extra reinforcing, because I did it on my straight stitch machine.  And I don't have enough fabric to cut a new back even if I could rip out all those stitches.

But you know what?  Tomorrow, when I get back to it, I'm just going to rip out some stitches and re-position that elastic.  And I'm going to try that Bimaa on my little girl, because I bet it can be salvaged.  I might even write up my "super new fancy way to customize your Bimaa" like I meant to do that all along.  ;)

Finish It Up Friday: Kids Clothes Week Edition

There's still two more days of Kids Clothes Week, but here's what I've gotten finished so far. 

There's two t-shirts, a Bimaa sweatshirt, two jumpers, and a pair of Parsley Pants. 

I have two more pairs of Parsley pants cut out and ready to sew later today. And I found a great sparkly knit that would be perfect for another Bimaa. I might try the cowl neckline if I have enough fabric. 

Linking up with Amanda Jean for Finish It Up Friday!
 

Kids Clothes Week: Crazy Stripey Jumper!!

Another finish for Kids Clothes Week.  I struggled with what to do with this fabric.  It's a random remnant that I found at Joann's that happened to find it's way into my cart.  I loved the pattern but it was kind of busy, so I thought I'd make a small library bag for her, but when I washed it, it turned into the softest corduroy I've ever felt.  So clothes it was.

I was thinking at first to make a simple skirt, but that would leave me with more scrap than I'd like, but not enough to do anything with.  So I found this top from Prudent Baby and thought it would be a good challenge to upsize it.  

I didn't print it out (because that seemed like more work), instead I pulled up the pattern pages full screen and sketched out a copy freehand. I double checked my pattern against her measurements, then had her try it on again before cutting out the neck pieces.  

It went pretty well.  I only altered the armpits, because they ended up being more of a "V" instead of a "U".

I may have bribed her with promises of cookies and fake mustaches.  Whatever works!

Linking up with My Quilt Infatuation for Needle and Thread Thursday!

WIP Wednesday: KCW Edition!

Kids Clothes week is in full swing!  I set myself up for a couple quick finishes on Monday, which just got me all excited to make more.  Apparently, accomplishing stuff is addictive.

This is the stack that I'm planning on cutting into next.  The top two are flannels that will either become more tunics from a self-drafted pattern or button up flannels a la the Ethan Shirt that was in the SewFab bundle.  (They seriously planned that well!)

The middle two are quilters't cotton for dresses or skirts, and the bottom is a corduroy that I'll either make into Parsley pants, a dress, or both.

These jumpers are just waiting on hems and buttons.  Both are drawn myself, but the purple is based on the Olivia top from Craftiness is Not Optional.  And the stripes is based on the Snappy Toddler top from Prudent Baby, but I had to upsize it a lot, so I basically just winged it.

I feel bad about leaving the little dude out of most of my sewing, but he has so many hand-me-downs still to go through, that it's just silly to make him clothes.  I did find this t-shirt at the thrift store and had to re-cut it for him.  I love how it fits (tees are so hard to get right when you don't have a huge size to start with), and he won't stop wearing it.  I haven't been able to hem it because he wants to wear it all the time, so it might just go unhemmed.  

Linking up with Lee for WIP Wednesday!

Kids Clothes Week: Bimaa Sweatshirt

Starting off Kids Clothes Week with a Bimaa sweater and some Parsley Pants!  Okay, so it's Tuesday, and technically the second day of KWC, but just ignore that.

I'm totally in love with the Bimaa pattern.  I was really excited that it was included in the SewFab bundle (which isn't available anymore, but the link has all the patterns), but it looked more complicated than my usual kids' patterns.  But I had this cute pink sweatshirt material (bought at Joann's from the remnant bin - Jackpot!) so I figured it was worth a try.  I cut all the pieces the night before sewing, and the actual sewing only took about an hour.  Amazing!

I actually measured the little girl before cutting.  She has a 21 inch chest, so the pattern recommends cutting the 2T size, but she usually wears a 4T because of her height, so I went with that size instead.  The worst that happens is that she'd wear it next year if it was too big.  But it turned out perfect for right now.  I might make the next size up the next time so there's more growing room.

 I went with the shawl collar, because I didn't have enough fabric to cut the cowl or hood.  I actually had to cut one of the shawl pieces in two parts and stitch them together.  It was just under a yard of fabric, so a yard would probably be just right to make this again.

And of course, the Parsley Pants.  They're just the perfect fit.  And I love the piped pockets.  I may try the other styles eventually, but I'm obsessed with piping.