My December

Sorry for the lapse in posts, it's been a crazy month! Hope everyone had a wonderful holiday. Not only have I been knitting up a storm for some Christmas presents, but I also went wedding dress shopping! Remember a while back when I won the wedding dress from Amsale, well I finally went to go pick it out. It was such a memorable experience and I had such a fun time with my Mom and Maid of Honor. The dresses are amazing, and it was so fun to see actual gowns, inside and out. It was interesting to see the sewing techniques I use on "couture". There is a lot of horsehair braiding in the dresses. Anyway, I'm keeping my choice a surprise so you'll have to wait until the Fall to see!

 


My Mom and I outside of the Amsale Flagship Store



After all of that excitement I was ready to do some knitting for Christmas! I took my time on the first hat, for my brother, which ended in DISASTER! The "Weekend in the Country Hat"  by Mimi Hill, is a interesting hat. A plaid colorwork hat, was simple to make just a bit time consuming with the color changes. Somehow it came out too small and too long! The only person it would fit is the life size reindeer in the kitchen. Good thing he looks good in it.

The Strib hat was the perfect solution to my problem. It is quick, easy, free pattern, and manly. I made four of them using different worsted weight I had in my stash. They were a big hit!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!

Pin It Now!

Finished Coat! Vogue 8548

TA DA! My finished coat. My version of Vogue pattern 8548. I love this coat, it is so warm and cozy. It is completely interlined with lambswool, and lined with a bright blue china silk. I also ordered some custom buttons from Pat's Custom Buttons and Belts. A lot of tailoring went into this coat, the entire inside is stiched with hymo which helps the coat keep its shape.

I added a third button to the pattern, at the top, which keeps the wide neck in place. Pockets are a neccesity on a winter coat, so I also included some in the coat. This color combo in the houndstooth is so great, tan and white, it is a true neutral. All my other coats are wild colors so a nuetral color was good to make, it goes with all my purses, shoes, hats and gloves. I will be wearing this all winter.

See the inside of the coat here

Pin It Now!

The Stockings are Hung

Now that I'm engaged my Fiance needs a Christmas stocking to match the rest of the family's. Last year I finally made one for my Dad. I bought another stocking kit from Elegant Heirlooms, this one is called Jolly Ol' Saint Nick, and has a giant Santa face. I knitted the name in as I went along, which is very easy once you figure out the spacing, to make it centered. This time I used a size 7 needle and the intarsia came out much better. I also replaced the yarn for the beard included with the kit (it was a single strand of mohair) with a much fuzzier angora. I love the way it came out. Now on to knitting Christmas presents!

Pin It Now!

Betty Sweater

 I finished a sweater! This is betty from Rowan Magazine #50. I had to make this as soon as I saw it, I just love the fair isle neckline. It also gave me an excuse to use my favorite yarn again; blue sky alpacas melange and sport weight. The body of the sweater is made out of melange (which has a more subtle coloring than the sport weight, otherwise the same), this color is called cotton candy. The fair isle is mainly made from colors I had leftover from another sweater.

 This was a very simple sweater to make. The body is knit in 2 pieces, and increases to make the sleeves. Then the collar is knitted in the round, picking up from the neckline. You could change up this pattern very easily, making a different fair isle pattern or design. This is a simple sweet pattern, which knit up rather quickly.

Pin It Now!

Houndstooth Coat Progress

I've been a very busy girl. The outside of my coat (vogue 8548) is done. I've been following all the tailoring techniques from the famous book Tailoring: the Classic Guide to Sewing the Perfect Jacket, (which apparently has a new edition out, but looks the same). Here are some of the techniques I used:

See! The inside is not as pretty as the outside.



Added hymo to the bodice portions, bound buttonholes and staytaped the neck edge.



Catchstitch the seam allowance down

Set in sleeve using a bias strip of lambswool (which worked out great)

Back Stay out of hymo, and twill tape on back seam

I also added pockets, and interfaced the rest of the coat with weft, because the fabric had such a loose weave. I've also run out of lining fabric while cutting my last piece out, the sleeve! Now I have to find something else to use. The fabric I had was a blue china silk that I ordered form Mood online, but when it came i was not happy with the quality. I have to find something that will match the pockets, because I am not ripping all that out. I've run just a bit short on the lining and the outer on this coat, so if anyone is also making it, make sure to get extra!

Pin It Now!

Dress Mini-Makeover

Before

I've had this dress from Anthropologie for years, and never found it to be a very useful garment. It's a wool strapless dress, with boning.  I tried to layer it and put a t-shirt under it, or just covering it up with a cardigan, but it never fit right and who wants to wear a strapless bra in winter?!

 

After

 So I turned it into a skirt, by simply adding a waistband. I measured the width of the bodice and drafted a waistband using that measurement. I had to make the waistband about 4 inches tall because the zipper I had was a little long. The hard part was trying to seam rip the lining apart from the bodice. The outer waist band was sewn to the outer skirt and then inner waistband was catchstiched to the lining .

Now I have a useful skirt, that can be worn a million ways, rather than a dress that was never really worn.

Pin It Now!

Coat Plotting

It seems the coat bug is going around the sewing world and I got it too. I have been dying to make Vogue 8548, ever since I saw this finished one on the Sew Tessuti blog. Wow is it gorgeous. I have gathered my supplies, a tan and white wool houndstooth for the outer, a bright blue china silk lining, lambswool interlining and hymo.  

The muslin is made from some leftover felt, which is closer to wool than just plain muslin fabric. It's not very pretty, but the felt worked pretty well,its easy to cut, fast to sew and you can mark it easily with a marker. This coat does not include pockets, so I will have to add some on the side seams. Nothing is worse than a coat without pockets. I'm also going to make three buttonholes instead of two. Other than that, it fits perfectly, and I'm ready to cut my fabric. I have been studing my tailoring book, and I'm ready to start!

Pin It Now!