Friday, February 19, 2016

Ebba Sweater by Quince & Co.



Hey! I finished a sweater.  When I saw the Ebba Sweater while perusing Raverly for a new project it was true love. So much so that I immediately bought the pattern and the same yarn in the same colors. The pattern and they yarn are both from Quince & Co, which was a new to me yarn brand that I was very happy with. 100% made in America yarn, at a reasonable price, yes please. 



The yarn is called Chickadee which is a sport weight wool yarn, very classic and old school. I really liked how it knit up, and looked even better when it was blocked. I was surprised when the yarn was delivered that the lightest color was a light blue not a whiteish color like it looks like in the pattern picture.



This sweater was my first time steeking! I was a little hesitant at first but then found it to be super easy. Steeking is basically knitting a tube and then cutting it open later to insert the sleeves. That first little snip really got my heart pumping! 

               


The biggest problem I had with this sweater was the amount of yarn it called for. I bought exactly what the pattern called for (knowing it was way too much) knitted with the correct gauge and ended up with FIVE extra skeins of yarn. My size told me to buy 10 skeins of the light blue, 2 of the dark blue and 1 red. I had 4 of the light blue left and 1 dark blue. GRRR. I contacted Quince and co and they fixed the yarn amount and let me exchange the yarn. I just hope that since it was a pattern released by the pattern company they weren't inflating the numbers to sell more yarn. 

But now I have more issues with the exchange. Double GRRR. I picked out a fingering weight for my next colorwork project. Poppy and Bird's Egg are the colors, which looked cute together online. But when they came the colors were darker than picture and did not look good together. So I returned them for a store credit last week, but haven't heard anything back yet. A lot of trips to the post office for yarn!

                              
                            



Anyway, this is a super cute pattern and a great intro to steeking with instructions and an online tutorial too! It's warm without being hot, and so far has washed really well. I took these pictures when the snowfall was pretty in the morning before melting away in the afternoon. This winter has been weird. 

Happy Knitting!




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Friday, February 5, 2016

Vintage Plaid Jacket: Simplicity 3622



Oh hey 2016, how would you like a blog post? I've been making things this whole time but my pictures have not been cooperating. But this coat is too cute not to show off! 



                  

The pattern is a vintage one I scored off of Etsy, Simplicity 3622. I shortened it so it would end at the hip. This is my first time really jumping in and working with plaid. I just haven't been that into it, but this wool is irresistible. Working at a fabric store is dangerous, every time I walked by the wool section I could picture the coat in my head. I wanted a classic jacket, and this black and white plaid is perfect for it. Cutting it out was a bit nerve-wracking. There is a lot to think about, what needs to match up and where to line up the bolder stripe.




I cut out the wool using the tutorial from Sewaholic. Pinning the plaids stripes together so you can cut the pieces doubled. This was easy and all of my pieces are identical. Then I just made sure my notches were at the same spot for pieces that would be connected.


The welt pockets went in easily, I followed the directions that came with the pattern, Vintage patterns have the best directions. They don't skip over steps to make it "Sew Easy". For the bags of the pockets I used black pocketing fabric I bought from etsy. 


For the interfacing I mainly followed the pattern's directions are using muslin for interfacing and basted it on. I used fusible interfacing for the peter pan color, and the hems. The sleeves were eased in trying to match the stripes up as best as possible. Then I added the sleeve heads.



The buttons were difficult to pick out. Black, just faded away, different colors weren't working so eventually I picked these tan buttons. That's the good thing about working at a fabric store, you can obsess over buttons everyday until you finally pick the right ones. 






The lining is a sunback satin in a cream color. The coat is warm but not a full on winter coat warm. I wanted it to fit over some of my bulkier sweaters so that will keep me extra warm. The pattern included directions to add the back pleat, something which is missing from most of new the coat patterns I have seen. I always add a pleat and a back stay out of muslin. 



Well I'm glad to be finally finished with this jacket, and hopefully it will stop raining/snowing so I can wear it!

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