Category: sewing

New Spring Tunic

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I finished my tunic! I love it. It’s a little long, but it would be a cute dress on the hottest days.

It’s too cold to wear it right now but I had to try it on as part of an ensemble.

My sewing machine is having some tension issues. It’s pretty old. I’m thinking of taking it in somewhere for a tune up. Truth is I cleaned it several years ago, and it’s never been the same since. I probably should have left all that lint in there.

I’m heading to Oklahoma in a little over a week to visit my Mom and Sister. I’m taking a road trip with all three of my boys for spring break. Adventure! My knitting goal is to finish the Ohio Star cowl and the extension on my red Carbeth before I leave. Wish me luck!

French Seams and Top Stitching

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I nearly finished my mismatched plaid tunic at the studio today.

I have one sleeve left to sew on, which means I can finish it the next time I go to the studio.

Here I am checking the bust fit. (ETA: Bob thinks it’s funny that I included this photo. I don’t know. I guess I thought you might like to see a photo with it on a body.)

I found two vintage red Bakelite buttons in my stash for the pockets. They were either inherited from my paternal Grandmother or I purchased them on Etsy when I was knitting Button Up Cloches for sale, I’m not sure which. I like that they are mismatched.

This came together easily and I remembered my three most important sewing tips I learned the hard way:

1. Never use interfacing. Use fabric instead.

2. Make the facings (or linings) a little bigger than the garment.

3. Sew on the sleeves before sewing the side seams.

I also remembered to stop when I got tired, because if I sew while tired I start making mistakes.

When I sold my serger I decided I would sew everything with french seams, so that’s what I did. I love the clean look on the inside of the garment.

I didn’t do much knitting today but I did finish ripping out the ribbing on my red Carbeth.

Wouldn’t my new tunic look nice with a new pale green or blue lacy cardigan? Do you have any pattern suggestions? I guess I’m looking forward to spring. I listened to reggae all day.

Slapdash Saturday

Posted on Posted in design, scarves and cowls, sewing, sweaters, what makes me tick, Works in Progress (WIPs)Tagged , , 5 Comments

I ripped back several inches of the Ohio Star Cowl. As you can see here, my short rows were too steep.

It looks like a sleeve! I will reknit it, decreasing into a more shallow point at the bottom front. Here is a better look at the textured star, which I hope will block out nicely.

And here you can see my math scribbles on a corner of knitters graph paper because I forgot my journal.

Today I started sewing again!

Okay, no actual sewing, but some pattern cutting. I hope to get started tomorrow. I have plenty of fabric to match my plaids, but my goal here is a folksy mismatching of plaid, on the pockets at least.

I also decided I love my red Targhee sweater too much to not be able to throw it on over jeans- with no shirt underneath because it is super soft- which means it needs a handspan of length added to the bottom to cover my hips. I spent a good deal of my time ripping out stitches.

I stopped before ripping out all the ribbing because it was lunch time. I’ll finish tomorrow.

Here’s my swatch for one of the Warm Hands contest designs. I’ve decided to forget about the contest since it may not be happening, and I promised myself I didn’t have to put anything out there this year if I didn’t feel like it. And I’m not feeling like it. Ostrich Sleeves will have to wait.

Today I realized why I cram so much creativity in on the weekend. When I was working as a store manager, I used that part of my brain every day on photography and social media. Now that part of my brain doesn’t get much exercise during the work week, so I’m hitting it hard on the weekend.

After studio time it was Date Saturday. Bob and I went out for Mexican food, saw Green Book, and picked up Ethiopian food to take home for dinner. We ate out twice today! How decadent.

Remember When I…

Posted on Posted in art, design, sewing, what makes me tickTagged 6 Comments

Today’s blog post brought to you by Knitting Season Journal prompt, Facebook memories, and lunch time naval gazing.

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Remember when I turned the front room in my house into my first studio? The walls were a cheerful green, and I had Ikea cubes full of yarn, fabric, fiber, patterns, books, tools, sketchbooks, colored pencils, there’s even a statue of Indra up there. It was a very creative and prolific time for me. I was knitting and sewing, designing garments and knitting patterns, teaching, and making artwork, most of it knitted.

 

I had to scroll back through a decade of old Facebook photos to get these – back through other memories and times when I hurt so bad that I hurt all the way through, all the time. I felt that phantom heart pain as I scrolled – and tried to scroll faster so I wouldn’t feel it! Anyway, these dresses. I loved this dress so much I made two for friends and one for me. I wish I still had mine, the linen one on the right.

 

I made a lot of fun things. All of the things I’ve shown here, with the exception of the hand dyed, hand spun mulberry silk yarn and the linen dress, were birthday gifts for friends in my Mother Artists at Work group. It was friends that got me through those dark times. Thank you, friends!