A sewing day

I had today off from work so I spent it sewing. Yay! Well sort of. I finally finished the sheers for the guest room (sewing room #2). As I've expressed before, I'm not a fan of home dec sewing. I enjoy selecting the fabrics and deciding what to make but when it comes to actually sewing the stuff...bleh. I have been guilty of buying fabric with the intention of making the drapes, pillows...whatever and the fabric sits and sits and then I go to IKEA to buy the drapes - cheap, washable, and fun prints. Why do I take on the home dec then? Oh yeah, I like the design process and don't want to pay the high $$ to have someone else do the sewing. I even made it super easy for myself. The fabric is plaid, which can be a nightmare when sewing clothes but when making drapes all the lines are a real help to make sure everything is straight. Honestly these sheers were so simple that it's embarrassing that it's taken me so long to get them made. But they're finally done. On to the next project.

Oh, and Alison was correct. We are headed to Buenos Aires for our vacation!

Where in the world?

We have a week off next month and are hitting the road, well actually the skies, for another travel adventure. So guess where we are going?

1. It will be warm
2. It's a large, capital city
3. I don't speak the language but I hear/see a lot of it where I live
4. Shall we dance?
5. Don't cry for me...

My thoughts are with Christchurch, NZ

Christchurch, New Zealand has had another big earthquake - 6.3 magnitude - and it has caused at least 65 deaths. I visited Christchurch in April-May of 2003. Here are pictures of the Christchurch cathedral from that trip. The larger earthquake last September damaged the cathedral (and miraculously no one was killed in that quake) but this latest quake toppled the spire and has largely destroyed the building.

My thoughts are with the people of Christchurch. I've visited New Zealand twice and found the people there are incredibly friendly. When we drove around the south island we rarely saw other cars but we knew that if we had a breakdown, when a car did eventually come by, we had no doubt the occupants would come to our aid. So it's especially sad to know they've had such devastation and loss come to them.

Finished Things...part 2

So here's the promised second part of my finished things...sewing! I only just returned to sewing in December after an almost 2 year hiatus, and so far I made a dress, a nightshirt, jeans, a skirt, 2 tops, and a dress. O.K., those last 5 things were very tiny because they're doll clothes for my nieces. I also made a baby hat that was an old UFO. I had made a fleece baby jacket for a friend's daughter and cut out a hat pattern out of the leftovers but never got around to making it up. The little girl is now 11. But my sister just had a baby girl so I thought I'd finally finish the hat and send it to her.

The doll clothes were also the result of a UFO. The light green shirt in the upper right was already cut out. I again used scraps from a garment and probably cut the pattern out right after I'd made it, which was in 2004 according to my review. But I couldn't just send my sister one lonely little doll top, especially because she has two daughters who play with dolls. So I made some more. The green and blue top was already finished years ago and only needed a closure. Full reviews are over on patternreview if you're interested.

I did have fun making the doll clothes, even if they did take a bit longer than I'd planned. Those little clothes can be quite fiddly! I wanted to show the clothes on a doll but I don't have an American Girl type 18" doll. I do have my Kerry doll (and also Crissy) from the 1970's. I dug her out and dressed her up and hand some fun in the backyard.

I think Kerry is the American Girl's skinny cousin. So just like a size 0 model on a photo shoot, out came the binder clips!

And finally, one knitting item that got left off of my last post. Knowing that the fleece hat would be way too big for my sister's newborn, I knitted up a little bonnet. The pattern is from the book Last Minute Knitted Gifts and the yarn is Rowan Baby Alpaca. 

Finished Things...part 1

I have not been very good at updating this blog. In fact I've been awful. I just looked back to see what knitted things I've posted pictures of, since we all know that I haven't been sewing until recently, and with the exception of some hats I knit for the homeless, it's been a year since I posted anything. So I'm way behind.

I knit some socks:

Here they are in more detail:

I called these "Raspberry Jubilee." I started them while we were on a cruise last year. The cruise was actually for work (our annual meeting and 15th anniversary of the company) but spouses were invited. And though we did have work meetings, I did have time to relax and knit on deck or on the balcony of our room. The yarn is TOFUtsies from Southwest Trading Company and the pattern is "Eyes on You" from the book Socks A La Carte.

These were started in April 2009 and I remember it was rainy so I dubbed them "Gray Sky Socks." I finally finished them last year after having set them aside. I only had 1/2 sock left and had the pattern so that part wasn't a problem. Unfortunately I had no idea what cast-off I used for the first sock so I had to guess. Should have documented this project better. I have a chart of the pattern but I didn't even write down the name. I do now it's from the book More Sensational Knitted Socks. The yarn is Panda Silk.

The third pair of socks were my "Simple Socks" - so called because I wanted an easy project that I could knit without thinking too much. These are just simple stockinette with a 4x2 ribbed cuff. I really like these socks, mostly because the yarn, Austermann Step, is really nice. They'd be great socks for a nice snowy day. Too bad we don't get snow here. ;-)

The rest of the finished knitted projects were gifts. I ended up knitting about 6 hats for the homeless - they were easy and a great TV knitting project. The pictures I took all came out blurry (I have not learned that the point and shoot Nikon is nowhere near the quality of the SLR!). But I do have pictures of the other gifts.

This shawl for my sister was knit mostly on the plane trip to/from New Zealand. A flight attendant was intrigued by my knitting and amazed at how much I accomplished during the flight. I am so thankful they no longer ban knitting needles on flights. I have to keep my hands busy with knitting or I get really restless in my seat. This shawl was knit with Stitch Nation "Bamboo Ewe" yarn. The pattern, called "Morning Frost Wrap", is from a Stitch Nation pattern pamphlet.

One nice thing about being able to knit (and sew) is that sometimes you're able to come up with quick gifts. A couple years ago I knit a scarf for a friend for Christmas and always intended to make some fingerless mitts to go with it. The yarn is Malabrigo and the pattern is Malabrigo Hand Thingies, available as a download on Ravelry.

I also whipped up a little scarf for a friend for her birthday. The yarn is Rowan Kidsilk Haze so I called this project "Purple Haze." The pattern is from the book Last Minute Knitted Gifts. I should have snapped a picture of her wearing it because it looked much nicer on her than on my boring white dress form.

Part 2 will be the sewing projects I finished. Yes! Sewing projects beside the dress that has been my only blog post for the last month. Hopefully it won't take a year for me to post pictures of them!

The sewing drought is over!

This is Vogue 1179, which I made to wear at my company Christmas party this year. It was quick to make and comfortable to wear.

Pattern Description:
Loose fitting, sleeveless dress with a cowl. It has some pleating detail in the front, is sleeveless, and is hemmed above the knee.

Pattern Sizing:
6-22

Did it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope once you were done sewing with it?
Yes, I think it is pretty close to the photo and drawing.

Were the instructions easy to follow?
This is a very simple dress to construct so I think most sewers really won't need the instructions, though a beginner should not have any difficulties. The instructions are written for a conventional sewing machine, but it's easier to sew this with a serger.

What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern?
I like that the dress is loose fitting. I was hesitant about the length being above the knee but did hem it to this length because below the knee made it look like a frumpy house-dress.

Fabric Used:
I used a slinky knit (not sure on the fiber content). The pattern calls for moderate stretch and slinky is super-stretchy so I stabilized the neckline and let it hang over night. I will not store this dress on a hanger because slinky tends to "grow."

Pattern alterations or any design changes you made:
I graded from a size 18 at the shoulder and bust to a size 20 at the waist and hip. I cut the cowl on the bias and changed the depth of the hem. I hemmed it with a 3/4 inch hem rather than 4 1/4 inches.

Other reviewers thought the armholes of this dress are high (tight), so before I cut the fabric out I compared the armhole with a sleeveless top I had that was of a similar type of fabric and found they matched pretty well, so I didn't make any changes. And considering I was using slinky I was more worried about the armholes stretching and being too large.

My construction notes
The most time consuming part of the construction was cutting out the fabric. Since the slinky was very stretchy I had to be sure to keep it flat and not let the excess fabric fall of the edge of the cutting table - something you want to avoid with any fabric, but especially knits. I also found I had to cut off the selvedges because they were pulling in the fabric and keeping it from laying flat. I used the ribs of the slinky as a guide for keeping on grain so I didn't need the edges. Also, I rarely cut out knits on the fold, especially slippery ones, so I traced off mirror images of the pattern pieces and cut out the fabric in one thickness.

I spent a lot of time fussing with getting the pleats lined up precisely but that turned out to be unnecessary. While you do baste the pleats to keep them in place, the pleats are only sewn at the top edge.

I stabilized the neck edge with a fusible straight tape rather than stay-stitching it. To ensure I did not melt my fabric I used a lower heat and a press cloth.

Like other reviewers, I sewed the cowl with one (serged) seam at the neck edge and left the raw edge, instead of sewing one edge of the cowl to the neck and then handsewing the other edge to cover the raw edge. I did experiment with the placement of the raw edge: on the inside or on the outside. Sometimes a cowl can drape so that the inside neck edge is exposed but on the outside it is covered by the cowl. In this case the inside neck edge is not visible but the cowl can shift to show the outside neck edge so that's where the nice finish should be. So, raw edge goes on the inside.

I used a coverstitch to finish the armholes and bottom hem. I did not use elastic in the armholes but may go back and redo them with elastic. That slinky is really stretchy!

Would you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others?
I don't think I'd sew it again, but only because there are so many other dress patterns to try.

Conclusion:
Easy and comfortable dress. A great combination!

Veggie box surprise

Ingredients:

1 pound of boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 onion
a few cloves of garlic
most of the vegetables that came in the vegetable box and were destined for the compost bin if they weren't used soon
  (in my case this was: romanesco, carrots, bok choy, and cabbage)

Directions:

Cut everything up
Heat some olive oil  and a little sesame oil in a wok
Add some Chinese 5 spice
Cook the chicken
Remove chicken and cook the veggies
Add the cooked chicken back in
Add soy sauce
Add a little hot chili sauce
Cook some more

Eat.

See, I can cook! Let's just say that cooking is not high on my list of fun things. In an attempt to eat more vegetables and less pizza, I have a vegetable box from farmfreshtoyou.com delivered to the house every other week. It definitely has encouraged me to cook and eat vegetables I might not otherwise try, like bok choy and romanesco. Some weeks I'm better at using them up in more interesting ways but it can be hard when I'm working long hours and dinner becomes whatever I can grab. This week has been one of those bad work weeks so it was time for a veggie-box surprise.