Dress Sewing

While putting away sewing patterns, last Sunday, I found a dress pattern that is very simple. I also found some fabric that would be perfect for this pattern. However, I don't have enough for this dress! I have wanted to use the pattern for some time, so I may go to the fabric store tomorrow for the perfect fabric. As they are getting in their fall fabrics, I may just find a good price on something that I could wear now and then continue to wear through September. We usually continue to have nice, warm weather until the beginning of October. With the amount of enjoyment I have been finding in wearing skirts, lately, a dress sounds like the perfect choice.

Making Alterations

Last Tuesday, I spent several hours fixing some of the skirts that I have made in the past 6 months. Several of them were too full and so I didn't really wear them very often. A couple of them were too loose around the waist, too, so I fixed that while I was at it. I dislike making alterations very much, so I just put on a movie and spent as little time possible using a seam ripper. Mostly, I was able to just cut the seam allowances off and then re-stitch the seam. Now, I have 5 skirts (4 of them that I fixed) that fit perfectly! Since I have so many, I have been wearing them more often. The past two Sundays, I dressed up for church and I've worn skirt to work a couple of days, too. Now I just need to buy or make some knit tops that will go with them as I do prefer knits with my skirts. Somehow, wearing a woven shirt with them just feels too bulky. However, the problem is probably more with the fit of the shirt rather than the type fabric.
On the shirt front, I did increase the width of the darts in one of my shirts, hoping to make it a little more fitted so that it would look better with my skirt. It only partially worked. To make that shirt better, I think that I need to widen the darts a little more and then hem it so that it is shorter. It has always been too long, so I am not surprised by this. Most ready-to-wear and pattern companies make things too long for me. When I make my own tops, I shorten the pattern before beginning, but for any that are store-bought, they all need hemming. (This group includes most of the tops that I own, right now.)

Skirt II

At the same time that I was shopping for the fabric that I showed, yesterday, I found this linen look fabric that is machine embroidered with large flowers. I really liked it, too, and when I found out that both fabrics were at least 40% off and that only needed around 2 yards to make a skirt, I purchased both. I actually made this one first. It, too is from Butterick pattern #4136, but is View A. View A is a little fuller at the hem than View C. I finished this one on the Sunday morning after I shopped, having a wearable garment well before it was time to leave for church. With my white cotton tee and a lavender jacket, the outfit was lovely.
I was just a little disappointed with fit as the back of the skirt hung about an inch and a half higher than the front. (Hence the adjustment of the pattern to make the pink floral skirt.) I did manage to hem the front more than the back to even it out some, but the fit was still off just a little. I wore the skirt any way and had several compliments from my family. Since the fabric is a blend of rayon, linen and cotton, it really doesn't wrinkle easily, which is wonderful!
(Sorry for the wrinkled appearance in the picture, but I just had to post and have not done my laundry, yet, so I pulled it out of the basket and shot a picture any way.)

Skirt I

I have been doing some sewing, lately! A couple of Saturdays ago, I drove down to the local Joann's in search of some fabric and a pattern to make a spring/summer skirt. Finding this wonderful, cotton and lyrca fabric, I bought what they had remaining, along with a pattern (on sale for 1.99), a zipper and a spool of thread. As soon as I had arrived home, I put the fabric in the washing machine and had it washed, dried, ironed and cut out in a matter of hours. Fast forward a couple of days to 4/22. Since I had been up so late on 4/21, I did not go into work. My work gives 3 paid days as bereavement for employees in my situation, so I used the day to spend extra time with my husband and a little sewing. I started to work on this project, again, and found that in a matter of just an hour or two I had sewn all of the seams, inserted the zipper and serged the edge for the hem! By 4/25, I found some more time and sat down to finish. It only took about a half hour. I tacked down the waist facing and then ironed and sewed up the hem. It fits beautifully and I love the fabric.
This is from Butterick pattern # 4136 view C. I changed the waistline in the back so that it comes up a little higher and shortened the pattern abuot 2 inches so that it would fall right below the knee instead of at the widest part of my calves.

Wool Gloves and Mittens

Just in time for the 85+ degree weather this weekend:
I've finished a pair for wool gloves from Selbuvotter! Of course, not being some one who can finish a project and not immediatley cast on for another, I started a mitten from the same book last night and finished the first one this morning. Yep, I'll be toasty warm today! (No, I'm not reeaalllly going to wear them! LOL)
The black yarn in both pair is Palette from Knit Picks. The white in the first pair is also Palette, but the background color in the second pair is from Crazy4Dyeing's sock yarn club and is the same yarn that I used to knit the Touring socks in yesterday's post.

I'm hoping to take a little time to sew the lavender dress that I cut out last week, in time for church, tomorrow. We'll see how that goes, though.

More On Sewing

Last Wednesday, I decided to take Thursday off from work to do some sewing. That night, I stayed up way too late preparing the patterns, ironing the fabric, and cutting out the fabric. I worked on 2 of the 5 projects on Thursday. First, I made the short sleeved version of the blue shirt shown on the package. I used a very light-weight white linen/cotton. As I wore it Sunday, it needs washing and ironing before I'll have a good picture of it. I like the pattern well enough that I plan to use it again. I already have the fabric for the next shirt to be sewn. This, next, time I plan to make another short sleeved shirt, but the button up version, instead. I will leave off any ruffles, etc. that the designer put on the front, though.

The next item that I worked on, was a skirt. I used a black and white bamboo print. It doesn't fit quite the way that I expected and needs a couple alterations and a hem before it can be worn. I love the black and white and expect to wear it with the above white shirt and maybe a black jacket.
On Wednesday night, I also cut out another dress from the same pattern as the light blue one, only this one will be lavender and have short sleeves. In addition, I cut out a jacket and wide leg pant from a medium weight black linen/cotton blend. I'm really looking forward to some new basics in my wardrobe, figuring that black and white can be worn with almost any other color.

Meanwhile, I have nearly finished the turquoise floral skirt. It needs to be hemmed, but I haven't taken the time to do that, yet. I actually have 2 hems to make on that one, as I fully lined it. Since the embroidery on the fabric is a type of eyelet, I wanted to make sure that is could not be seen through. I used a very, very light weight cotton for the lining and the fabric layers move as one.

I have also finished a pale pink wrap shirt, in the past few weeks. I made the view that is in pink on the pattern sleeve. Instead of cutting out my own bias tape, I used packaged white tape. I really like the contrasting colors which both look good with my light, cool coloring.

Bamboo Print Jacket Finished

I've been having so much fun sewing, lately. I have been clothes shopping several times and am having a terrible time finding things that fit. I am short waisted, so any tops that are even a little fitted, never fit well. In comes sewing as the perfect answer to the problem! As jackets are one the most problematic clothing items, I started this one. I really liked the blue satin print on the package in the lower right corner.

While in Joann, I found this bamboo print fabric, which is heavy enough to make a wonderful, season-less jacket, for 60% off! That means that I could make the jacket for about $15, counting the notions, and everything. (There were a few things that I already had, like the button and thread.)

It fits well, but when I use the pattern again, I plan to leave just a little more room in the upper back, so that I can move a little more freely in it.

Another Great 4 Day Weekend!

This past weekend was very nice. I spent Friday at home doing some cleaning and knitting. I continued working on the "secret" project that was started the previous weekend and am very pleased with it. I also did some much needed cleaning and organizing. It was lovely to have the time to work at a leisurely pace, often flitting about from one thing then went to the post office to mail it to the intended recipient. The post office is near Joann to another. (This meant that I was going between knitting and actual work! :) ) I finished the project on Saturday morning and Fabrics, so I, of course, had to stop there, too! While there, I found some fabric that I loved on sale for 50% off. I bought enough for a skirt, but I didn't have a good pattern for one when I arrived home. (I still washed the fabric, though and intend to buy a pattern this weekend when they have some on sale for $1.99.)

After lunch, I went to meet a friend for knitting and tea at Village Yarn and Tea. We had a very nice time talking and knitting. This afternoon, I finished my Selbuvotter mittens! U After that was done, I went back to starting a cabled cotton sweater for myself from No Sheep For You. The ribbing (twisted rib on 352 stitches) seemed to take forever, but I finished just before bedtime that night.


After knitting group, I made dinner and then headed off to the movies with my husband and some friends from church. We had all been wanting to see the latest Chronicles of Narnia movie and our friends had a coupon for $6 per person. (Compared to the normal price of $9.50, this was quite a deal!) We thoroughly enjoyed the movie. The plot mostly followed the book, but they did add a little. However, even these additions were done very well and think that CS Lewis would probably approve.

Monday was a wonderfully relaxing day. I awoke only an hour or so later than usual, but stayed in bed reading for a couple hours! When I did finally rise, I worked around the house for a little while putting more stuff away and folding laundry. I was overjoyed to have the bedroom, bathroom and hallway cleaned up. It really looks wonderful.










After breakfast, I returned to sewing. On Friday, I had altered a dress pattern that I was thinking of trying to see if my skirt fabric would be enough. Before I began to pin the pieces on the fabric, I found another fabric in my somewhat small stash that I like better for the pattern. I would sew for a while, then knit for a while. Alternating like this meant that I did not tire and sore and achy, like usual. I even finished the dress! It fits so well. Hopefully, I can post some more details on this project later on this week.

I used Simplicity pattern number 3827 view C (sleeveless, short) dress. I made a few alterations: moved arm holes forward a little and the neckline a little higher. Instead of making my own facings I used single fold bias tape in nude. The fabric is a drapey linen/cotton combination that is very cool, but still has some weight to it, so that it is not see-through and will not be easily blown by a light, summer wind.

Sewing

Last Friday was the my brother's wedding. He married a person that the entire family loves. Here, you can see everyone! Since I have 5 siblings, and all but one (the 16 year old) is married, that makes for quite a few people. This picture even shows all the spouses and kids.

For the wedding, the dress that I made is from Simplicity's pattern number 3804. I made the short version with the long sleeves. The split cuff looks great on and adds a little extra comfort than a long sleeve without the cuff. I do not feel that the pattern was written well. There were 2 places where the pattern did not instruct the sewer to finish the raw edge. Also, there were several places where the patter pieces did not match up exactly. If I had been using a fabric with a little more stretch, this may not have been a problem, but I still would have been concerned about the fabric stretching out in certain places as the instructions do not call for any stitches for the purpose of stabilizing the neck edge. All things considered, I was so unhappy with the pattern that I recycled the paper it was printed on as soon as I was done hemming the dress. The dress is lovely to wear, though! I wore it to my brother's wedding, last Friday night, and felt so glamorous. I, of course, plan to keep sewing and will also continue to use patterns from Simplicity as this is the first time I've had such an awful pattern.

Stole is coming along

I've been working exclusively on the Juno Regina stole since finishing my socks. Its coming along. I'm almost done with chart 4. (This is the last of the 8 charts that I will be knitting as I am working the shawl in the symmetrical variation.) I've been working both halves at the same time and it is going very well. By the end of today, I'll no longer need to carry the instructions with me, as every right side row will be the same, and every wrong side row is already the same. It won't be as interesting, but it will be quicker to knit. I'm still not confident that I'll finish it by Sunday, but I'm still trying! :)
I bought some fabric, last night, to sew myself another dress and a white shirt. I already own the pattern that I want to use. Last night I put the fabric in the wash, so I might get a little time to cut out the top, tonight. I still need to take some pictures of the last dress that I sewed and the new fabrics. Hopefully, I'll do it tonight, so that you can see them all tomorrow.

New FO

I've been knitting away on any stray socks that are left to be finished. This is one more step to being ready to start Sock Madness, as I'll need my needles free! I finished one pair on Sunday and then started working on another pair that I've started already. This second pair, the Serpentine Socks from Anni Design, are slow going. I love the finished effect, but all those little cables slow me down considerably! (I'm so used to knitting at "100 mph" that when I have to slow down the project seems slow, but it really isn't bad and I still enjoy the process very much.)

Also, on Saturday, I decided that I should make myself a dress to wear to my brother's wedding on Friday night, so I spent my Saturday afternoon altering the pattern and cutting it out. All that I have left to do on the cutting is cutting out the interfacing. If it hadn't been so late, I might have finished that on Saturday, too. Being so ambitious about the dress, I also decided that I would like to knit a matching stole for the dress. I'm not planning on that being done for Friday, but to wear with the same dress for Easter. The pattern I chose is an "experienced lace" pattern from Victorian Lace Today, in lace weight. Is that over doing it or what? After working on the lace some, yesterday, I'm not too sure that I will ever get it done. Just before bed, I was trying to finish just one more row, dropped a stitch, and it unravelled back to the border! After the horror of watching that, I'm not sure I want to do the same pattern. Its lovely and even looks great with the hand painted yarn that I chose, but the decreases and yarn overs happen on both the right side and wrong side, so I'm not sure I can pick the stitch back up. I'm thinking of choosing a simper pattern from the same book so that I have a little more reasonable expectation of finishing in time for the holiday.

(ETA pictures.)

Blissful Saturday Morning

When I woke up this morning, I decided that I'd like to do some more sewing for myself. However, going into my sewing room (an extra bedroom that I share with my husband for all our hobbies) I found a mess! I had scrapbooking, stitch marker stuff and balls of yarn/started projects covering my desk and the ironing board! I really do want to sew today, so I worked for about an hour to clean everything up. It looks much better, now, see? Just as I was finishing, I received a call from my mom, wanting to know when I'd like to meet her to go work out. We decided to meet only about 15 minutes later. I rushed to get my clothes changed. After our workout, we went for coffee. By the time I arrived home it was 11 AM!

I sat down at the computer to catch up on email, etc. I was only there for 10 minutes when the doorbell rang. It was the postal carrier, with a birthday package from Kathleen! She sent everything I need to start another pair of socks! The color of the yarn is perfect and the book is one that I've had on my wish list for a while! She even sent a set of size 2 needles, of which I only one 1 set and could always use another!!

In knitting news, I finished the first Rainy Day Sock and about 1/4 of the second one last night. It fits great and the yarn is so soft on the feet! (Thanks SP10 Pal!!)

On the Sewing Front

These past 4 days, I've not been knitting at night, like I usually do. I've been sewing! Its been quite a while since I've done this, but I decided that I would sew an Easter dress for myself. The process has been going very well. I've been taking lots of time, ironing each step as I finish it. The results are great! After 2 nights of sewing for a couple hours each night, I have almost finished! I need to add a second row of trim on the top of the waistband, add 2 rows of trim near the hem, put in the zipper and hem it. I figure that I'll work on it another 2 hours, or so on Saturday and it will be all ready, and just in time, too! Since lavender is one of my favorite colors and it seems to fit really well, I think that this one will become one of my favorite dresses. Now, I just wish that I had time to knit a purple shawl to go with it!