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Completed: A Crazy Paisley Hollyburn

You ever see a sewing pattern and think, “Yeah, that’s too plain… next please!”? This was my thought when I first saw the Hollyburn skirt from Sewaholic Patterns. Cute enough, I thought, but too plain for me to take a second look at. I wanted adventure and excitement in my sewing patterns! I wanted something different.

Actually, it appears what I need is to fill some closet gaps. Simple flared skirts and knit tops are one of my favorite casual outfit combinations – you can mix and match them to each other, so they basically do double-duty. My current lifestyle doesn’t allow for much in the way of fitted/pencil skirts – I need to be able to move around and, like, sit on the floor – and I’m kind of over circle skirts at the moment. My skirt experimentation has rekindled my romance for Ginger and Miette, not to mention a fabulously swishy and dreamy Gabriola, but I was ready to try something new.

So I revisited Hollyburn.

And we totally fell in loooooooooove ~~~

Seriously, guys. There is nothing necessarily ground-breaking about this pattern (although, let’s be real, Tasia’s a drafting genius and I’m like creepy obsessed with her patterns right now), but that doesn’t mean it’s not a good pattern. The beauty is in the simplicity – it’s a simple flared skirt with a simple waistband, a back zip closure, and curved front pockets. Nothing fancy here, but it works and it’s awesome. And I already made two.

Hollyburn 1, aka, the Crazy Paisley, is made with this amazing paisley rayon I yanked at the Nashville Flea Market. Forreal, is this shit not insanely awesome?? I saw it out of the corner of my eye, in one of those booths along the walkway between buildings (you know those booths are the best because those people always have the weirdest mismash of shit and they’re always willing to sell it for dirt cheap. Especially if you’re nice to them :)), and I immediately ran over to assess. I don’t remember exactly how much I paid for it, but I do know it was $3 or less. Not sure of the age of this particular fabric, but it’s 42″ wide and definitely rayon. Oh, and it’s awesome. Did I mention that yet?

I really really really wanted this fabric to be a Gabriola – wouldn’t it make the most dreamy rayon maxi? Ahh so lush. But, dammit, I had under 3.5 yards of this fabric… and like I said, it was pretty narrow, which ended up being the reason things didn’t pan out (believe me, I tried!). So, I decided to stick with the Sewaholic family and try out this Hollyburn that had been burning a hole in my pattern stash. And not only am I super happy with the result – I think it’s quite a bit more wearable than the original maxi inspiration, yeah? I mean, I can totally wear this while riding a bicycle 🙂

Hollyburn is a pattern intended for beginners – just a few pattern pieces, very easy to fit (really, you only have to worry about the waist measurement here), quick to sew up. Besides the agony of cutting that slippery rayon, the actual sewing of this skirt took me under 2 hours. That fast! I briefly considered trying to match the print at all the seamlines – in addition to the side seams, there are also center front and center back seams, plus the curved pockets – but it was giving me a headache and, you know, fuck it. Whatever.

For this particular pattern, I was smack between two sizes, so I cut the 0 at the hips/hemline, and graded to right between the 0 and 2 at the waist. I’m pretty happy with the fit – it’s fitted enough to stay put without the aid of the belt (but I like the belt, so belt stays), but it’s not so tight that I need to sneakily unzip anything after a big meal. I went for version 3 – the shortest one – with the added belt loops. I also lopped about 2″ off the length. Short skirts for lifeeeeee!

Here it is without the belt. Yay! No belt!

And this because, I dunno, my hair looks good here. Also, I probably should not wear that bra with that shirt again, eep (shirt is a Renfrew, btw!).

What I love most about this particular skirt (and, I guess, the pattern in general) is how different the shape looks based on what fabric you use. Go look at the pictures on the Sewaholic website – the skirt has a great amount of flare, and it’s pretty structured. Compared to mine, which was sewn in a super drapey rayon, it’s all fluid and flowy and just kind of hangs (but in a good way). Sometimes I get so caught up in wanting to try NEW NEW NEW OMG NEW STUFF that I forget you can easily manipulate the look of a garment just by using a different fabric.

Oh, right, and remember when I said I made two of these? I totally did – the second one is in a much stiffer fabric, and looks totally different. I didn’t get photos in time to cram them into this blog post (which is probably for the best, since I think there are enough pictures of me on here today anyway, lolz), but stay tuned for that! In the meantime, I’ll probably wear it for MMM soon 🙂

Obligatory swish post. Lookit dat swish! ♥

Sorry these pictures are a little blown out 😦 I added some topstitching to the pockets and waistband (as well as the hem) and swapped out the centered zip for an invisible zipper. All the inside seams are serged.

One last thing! We have a winner from last week’s giveaway – who’s it gonna be, eh?

YAY! Congratulations, Melanie! I’ll be sending you an email asap 🙂 Hopefully this book will be just the ticket to get you comfortable manhandling the stretch lace 🙂

Thanks to everyone who entered! A HUGE thanks to Colette Patterns for not only writing up this amazing resource, but offering a giveaway copy as well! 🙂 As always, you can get your very own copy of The Colette Guide to Sewing Knits from Amazon or directly from the Colette website.

Now, the next question is – should I or should I not use the remaining paisley yardage to make a matching Belcarra blouse? Before you ask – yes, I would totally wear it with the skirt. FAKE DRESS FTW! Don’t you dare judge me.

Tags: completed, giveaway winner, hollyburn, rayon, sewaholic, skirt, swishy, winner winner chicken dinner

Comments 47 Comments
Categories completed projects - new

Completed: Leopard Skinnies

21 Jan

I never thought I would actually be saying this – but I made myself a pair of leopard skinnies. Wheee!

Grey leopard is a neutral… right?!

I’m trying to get more into wearing pants that aren’t, well, denim. As much as I love my I+W jeans (so much, in fact, that I went out and bought myself a second pair a couple of weeks ago. I’m bordering on “collector” at this point, eep), sometimes I find myself gazing jealously at the girls in their wacky print leggings and purple skinny jeans. NO FAIR, I WANT TO JOIN THAT PARTY. So when I saw this leopard print stretch twill at the Mood Fabrics site, I knew I’d found the perfect piece for a lil’ toe-dipping.

This twill is pretty awesome, honestly. It’s got a nice stretch, but it’s hefty enough so you don’t see panty lines (a must with pants this tight… and I don’t wear thongs. TMI? Oh well. Maybe you need magical undie-covering fabric too!). The lycra content keeps the seam allowances from shedding too much – which is good, cos this pattern had me going crazy over the fitting, 1″ seam allowances and everything. Not a good time to start unraveling!

Since the twill is a brushed cotton, it’s even a little bit fuzzy. Love it!

For my pattern, I used McCall 6440. This pattern is… ok. The fitting was a pain in the ASS, pardon the pun, mostly because the pattern has way too much ease. I’ve actually made these up one time before (but it’s ~top secret~ so you can’t see those quite yet… oops I’ve said too much already ;)), so I knew kinda sorta what I was getting into. The main issue with sewing something out of stretch fabric is that every fabric has a different stretch factor (well, maybe not *every* fabric, but there are certainly enough differences to keep one guessing!), so you generally end up doing some tweaking to get the pieces to look right, in addition to going down a size or two to make up for the negative ease.

These are a size 6, with some additional tapering taken out at the legs and the waistband. FWIW, the body size for a 6 is supposed to have a 23″ waist. While I can assure you that I do not have a waist that small, I did have to take an extra inch out of the waistband to get it to fit. See what I mean about excessive ease? Measure those pattern pieces, folks! Don’t trust the lies of McCall.

I know, this pattern is super duper similar to the Clover pants from Colette, which is another pattern I have. I ended up with this one because I’ve never really gotten those Clovers to fit right, despite all my tweaking a couple of years ago. I wanted to try a new pattern, and I liked that this is a Palmer/Pletsch – I love their fitting books Fit for Real People and Pants for Real People, so I was banking that I’d love the pattern, too! And I guess I kind of did, minus that ease thing. For one, the crotch curve is pretty much perfect for me – something of a Holy Grail among pants sewists. That Clover pattern, not so much 🙂 (but maybe it’ll be perfect for you!). I also liked how high the waist is, the seam down the back of the legs (that you can’t see because it’s ~camouflaged~ by the leopard, ooh, see what I did there?), and the leg options included with the pattern. Spoiler alert – I went for the straight leg, but maybe I’ll experiment more in the future! Baby steps for now, starting with this outta control print. Oh yeah, and just an advance warning – these were exactly the right length for me, and I’m 5’2″! Tall ladies, beware!

Speaking of how high the waist is – see what I mean!? I don’t think this is supposed to reach *quite* as high as it does on my petite frame, but the waistband just covers my belly button. Which means, obviously, I’m gonna be Bettie Pagin’ the shit out of these with heels and a crop top come spring, yaaay!

Whenever I post a photo of myself wearing something with a ridiculously high waist, someone always inevitably comes out of the woodwork to tell me that my outfit isn’t flattering. So, here I am, brushing the dirt off my shoulder in advance because la la la I don’t care!

Like I said, I had to adjust the leg seams to get everything as fitted as it is. Not to say the leg width of this pattern is bad – it’s just more straight than what I wanted for these pants. I wanted to be able to tuck them into boots! Since the pattern is drafted with 1″ seam allowances on all side/leg seams, this made things a tiny bit difficult once it came time to start poking myself with pins – those seam allowances get bulky when you’re sewing something like twill!

What I ended up doing was just focusing on one leg – pinning, basting, fitting, and then stitching the final line once I got to the desired tightness. To mirror the second leg, rather than taking measurements or repinning, this is what I did- I learned this trick at my stint with Muna!:

First, I stacked my legs on top of one another and pinned along the seam lines, making sure they matched on the opposite side.

Then, with the adjusted leg on top, I pinned along the new stitching line I had created.

When you flip the fabric over, you can see the pinned original seam line and the new seam line marked by a second row of pins. Make sense?

From there, I just connected the pin lines with a my handy marking tool, which gave me a new stitching line. Super easy, and now both legs exactly mirror each other!

These pants are finished with serged seam allowances and an invisible zipper. Speaking of which – I learned a slightly different way to insert an invisible zip, also courtesy of Muna. Anyone interested in a tutorial? It’s not OMGSODIFFERENT, but there are a couple of tweaks that make insertion practically flawless.

One thing that made me irrationally happy was that the fabric is lightweight enough so I could face my waistband with self-fabric, instead of trying to find a matching cotton. As much as I like contrasty facings, I also like matchy-matchy!

Not sure what I was thinking when this photo snapped, but it looks like a roar so we’ll leave it at that.

Finally, we have a winner Andi Satterlund knitting patterns giveaway! Before I drop that bomb, I just gotta say… that was by far the biggest response I’ve ever had to a giveaway. Who woulda thunk I’d have so many knitters who follow this blog and love Andi as much as I do? 🙂 Thanks y’all – I appreciate every single one of you! Wish I could give you all patterns, too, but unfortunately I’m not that rich… yet 🙂

Anyway, without further ado – who’s the lucky number today?

Yay, congratulations, Alexandra! Expect an email from me with how to collect your prize – I can’t wait to see how your sweaters turn out 🙂

Thanks to everyone who participated, and big huge thanks to Andi for providing the big prize 🙂 For everyone who didn’t win – Perhaps I can entice you with one of Andi’s many freebies?

Tags: cotton twill, giveaway winner, leopard, Mood Fabrics, pants, skinny pants, stretch fabric, winner winner chicken dinner

Comments 70 Comments
Categories completed projects - new

Completed: The Owls Sweater

2 Jan

Happy New Year, everyone!! Gah, I feel like I really dumped a load on y’all with my last post… sorry about that! I promise to keep things much more concise, at least with the current offerings 🙂 And before we get too far into the new year, I do have one small confession – I actually finished this sweater at the very end of 2013! Whoops! So it’s not my first completed garment of 2014 (and it’s sweater #9 of 2013, wow!), but we’re going to count is as such since that’s when the pictures surfaced 🙂

Let me introduce you to: Owls!

I’m sure a lot of you knitters already recognize this pattern, since it’s insanely popular on Ravelry. Truth, this was one of the sweaters that really made me want to improve my knitting skills enough to be able to have one of my own! This is the famous owls pattern by Kate Davies and there’s a good reason why it’s so overplayed (in the best way, I mean) – it’s a simple, quick knit and looks flattering on pretty much everyone who makes it up!

Like I said, this has been in my queue for aaaages. So long! Part of what made me waffle on starting it up was finding a suitable bulky weight yarn that didn’t cost a fortune – some of the stuff I was looking was pretty pricey! Eep! I was actually gifted the pattern by Jo for my birthday last year (did you know you can gift patterns on Ravelry? So dangerous…), which really pushed me to try to find a good yarn.

What ended up working for me was the Valley Yarns Northampton Bulky from good ol’ yarn.com. What I loved about this yarn was that it was cheap (I think I paid $3.99 a skein, but it’s normally $5.99!), 100% wool, and it came in colors that didn’t suck. I know a lot of people love that Cascade 128 that comes in a giant yardage, but I never cared for the colors offered and plus, with the amount I needed I would end up with a lot of unneeded yardage. So this worked out perfectly.

Thanks to the bulky yarn, this pattern knit up SUPER fast – I finished it in a little over 3 weeks. That’s a record for me! Definitely needed after how long I toiled on my A to Z cardigan 🙂 The construction for this was pretty interesting – it’s knit bottom-up to the armpits, then you knit each sleeve from the bottom up, then you connect everything and finish the owls and the neck binding. It gets a bit heavy at the end, but fortunately there’s not too long of that.

I love how the owls wrap around the shoulders. So cute!

I knit the pattern as-is, and there were a few things I didn’t care much for during the process. For one, the back decreases were kind of… weird? I think it also gives me a slightly poofy upper back, although it’s more noticeable in pictures. I would have changed to side decreases – it was even suggested to me by a few people – but the construction was so weird that I didn’t quite understand where the sides started, so I just followed the instructions blindly. Oh well! It doesn’t look bad, I just think the bad is a weird place to put decreases! Another thing I did not like was how the sleeves were attached, because you end up grafting stitching at the underarms. There are 4 stitches to graft, but my holes were WAY bigger than 4 stitches! It was like an armpit window or some shit! I managed to close it up and you can’t even tell, but man, that’s more sewing than I want to do on a knit. Sorry.

One last beef, and you’ll probably notice this the second I point it out (if you didn’t notice already ;)) – I ran out of yarn at the very end! I bought the recommended yardage (oh ho ho, I actually bought a whopping 5 yards more than required, like, I’m such an adult), but I obviously goofed something because I ran out of skeins while finishing the owl cables. Shit! And since I ordered this online, I didn’t want to pay for shipping to ship one whole skein to me for like… 5 rows of knitting. I unraveled my two gauge swatches (bummer, because I was saving them to make a blanket o’ gauge swatches, like, someday haha) and still came up short. I hemmed and hawed for a few days, dug around my stash, lurked the yarn store by my house… and eventually realized that the black yarn I used to knit my Blagatha was an *almost* perfect match. Not quite, but close enough. Since the donor yarn is a lighter weight, I held it double and it worked out fine to finish the ribbing. It doesn’t quite match, but it blends into kind of an ombre effect. Fancy!

The most agonizing part about the whole yarn ordeal was that once I blocked the sweater, I realized the sleeves were too long! DERP. So, yeah, I totally had enough yarn! Whatever, fuck that shit. They’ll just stay cuffed and maybe my arms will magically lengthen someday :B

You probably also notice that I left off the eyes on all my owls. I started to sew on buttons, but decided I like them more subtle. So there!

This puppy is WARM! I’ll probably live in this for the remainder of winter. I love how it looks with this silk skirt (which, btw, is vintage, not me-made – but now I’m thinking, ooh, silk Zinnia??). Anyway, full Ravelry notes here!

One last thing… we have a giveaway winner from last year! Ooh, so who’s the lucky recipient of the $25 credit at She’ll Make You Flip?

Congratulations, SewMeow! Go check your inbox! 🙂

Thanks to everyone who entered, and thanks to She’ll Make You Flip for offering such a lovely prize! Guys, if you’re still eyeballing a sweet vintage pattern, let’s up the ante a little! Use the code LLADYBIRDNY25 for 25% your total purchase through January 15, 2014! Yeah! Now don’t say I never did nothin’ for ya 😉

Tags: completed, giveaway winner, knitting, owls, pullover, sweater, winner winner chicken dinner, wool

Comments 57 Comments
Categories completed projects - new

Christmas Wishies – 2013 Edition

16 Dec

I reckon I’m a little late to the game this year with my wishlist (honestly, I’ve been having a bit of a bummer month so I haven’t really felt much of the ~Christmas spirit~ if ya know what I mean. Not a sob story, just statin’ facts!), but better late than never! There’s sooo much good stuff out there this year that I’ve got eye on; the hunt is almost as fun for me as actually receiving something! Take a look…

THE PATTERNS:

Ever since Jen released the Portside Travel Set, I’ve been dying to make my own! I don’t know what the deal is, but something about having matching luggage just makes me so, so happy. I would make mine in this striped cotton twill with accents of organic cotton twill. Well, that’s a safe version – have you seen some of the awesome twills on Mood Fabrics, lately?? Check out this
crazy Art Deco print and this paisley twill.

One thing I really want to explore this next year is trying some new pattern companies! I love the indie offerings we all obsess over, with their lovely packaging and clear instructions, but I also really want to try something that’s a little less spoon-fed, just to stretch my sewing muscles. I have heard a lot about Marfy Patterns, over the years and even through some blog comment encouragement, and I’ve been casually browsing the offerings and really falling in love with some of the patterns! Check them out –

Marfy 2758, the glam coat dress.

Marfy 3015, the pintucked Redingote coat

Marfy 2240, the ruffly-collared riding coat

Aren’t they beautiful?? True, I’ve been put off by Marfy for many years (the patterns don’t include instructions, seam allowances, multi-sizes, etc), and part of me is slightly concerned that the smallest size is a little too big for me (I should be wearing a size 40 according to their size chart). But, I want to try them! 2014, let’s make it my year!

Another pattern company I’ve been lurking on lately is Stylearc. Some seriously cool, seriously fashion-forward (lolz, like I’m a fashion-forward kind of dresser. WHATEVS). They’re pretty expensive when you factor in shipping, but they reviews are pretty much raves across the board. And there are definitely some styles I don’t see anywhereeeee else. Check them out:

The Alisha Dress, a beautiful lace sheath with a matching slip pattern. Like I need more excuses to get my lace on.

The Ziggi Jacket. GUYS IT’S A MOTO JACKET, GUYS I WANT IT.

The Stacie Jean Jacket. Gah, I’m dying over this one. I love denim jackets but I can neverrrr find one that fits the way I like. I altered an old one I had laying around, but the construction is subpar at best and, honestly, I want to just make one. This pattern looks fabulous.

I really love these 1940s dresses, like Simplicity 3514. I don’t even care how twee they are – I’d even go the extra mile and make it SUPER TWEE with some Marc Jacobs daisy print fabric because, yes.

I also love this jacket pattern, McCall 7319 (what is it with me and jackets lately? IT’S NOT EVEN THAT COLD HERE). I could totally see this made up in a lovely charcoal alpaca wool, lined with a plaid wool (!!!) flannel.

THE FABRIC:

I was recently gifted the Aubépine dress from Deer & Doe and I’ve been having a lot of fun looking through my fabric options! Wouldn’t it look lovely in this Marc Jacobs dotted cotton/silk?

Another contender is this floral cotton silk voile. A bit summery for sure, but could easily be layered up for the current season.

Wouldn’t this floral velveteen be perfect for a pair of Chataigne winter shorts? Also in my lurk: mink solid velvet. YUM.

Love this leopard stretch cotton twill, I can imagine it made into a pair of skinny stretch jeans. Just need to find me some new boots!

Soo, I reckon y’all have seen By Hand London’s newest pattern, the Georgia dress, yes? I have a copy burning a hole in my pattern cabinet, and I’m DYING to make it up, but I haven’t settled on a good fabric yet. Something glittery or brocade-y (or even sequin-y, for the masochist sewist in me) is high on my list for a fun party dress. Then I discovered this stretch buffalo plaid. Amazing! I need all the plaids, all of them.

I’m really digging this Marc Jacobs star cotton fabric. Couldn’t you see this made up in a woven skater dress?

Mood actually has this navy zigzag sweater knit in several other color combos, but the blue is my favorite. The perfect little knit wiggle dress!

I also can’t get enough of all the gorgeous special occasion fabric I have been seeing lately. Like this Carolina Herrera rose brocade

And this Italian metallic brocade

And ESPECIALLY this Oscar de la Renta polka dot silk taffeta. bleeechhhhh get in my life!

Gingham jersey? SHUT THE FRONT DOOR.

THE OTHERS:

Still obsessing over Jamie’s jewelry. I recently got this peacock necklace, but that doesn’t stop me from checking out the other goodz she has available. Love this Rooster necklace! You know I would totally turn wearing that into a neverending dirty joke 😉

Why don’t I have one of these expanding sewing gauge doohickeys?

My current iron (a Rowenta that’s more than 6 years old) has been slowly dying over the past year – the shut offs are more frequent, and the water reservoir doesn’t hold for shit. A new pressing tool is definitely in the future, and I’ve been eyeballing this gravity feed iron for what seems like forever. Fingers crossed that Santa heard my wishies!

File this under things that I really really want but can’t afford – a coverstich machine! I know, there are other brands that are equally loved, but I’m a Babylock girl when it comes to my sergers and the like. I’ve tested this machine in the past, several years ago (yeah, I guess I’ve been lurking on this for a while!) and it’s fucking amazing. Totally deserves a spot in my sewing room.

Hey, putting this post together was really fun! Like shopping without actually spending money (or getting product, but let’s not think about that right now). I love it!

A couple more things while I have your attention!

First, I owe y’all a giveaway winner. Random number generator says….

Lauren Talley! Congratulations, Lauren! Great name 😉 hee! Expect an email from me soon!

For everyone who inquired about the sewing prints being in Joanna’s shop… I believe they will be offered soon, but give her a couple of weeks because she’s in the process of getting married 🙂 So sit tight!

Finally, can I ask a tiny favor of my local/Nashville readers? I have a friend who is doing some research for a local fabric store (and I swear, this is not a thinly disguised “friend” who’s really me, or anything like that. Promise!) and she needs a few more opinions. If you’re in the Nashville/Middle Tennessee area, or come here frequently to buy fabrics, she would loooove your opinion to help her research. Click here to take survey. Again, local people only, please! I love you all but your buying habits on the other side of the country are not relevant for this particular purpose 😉

Ok, I guess that’s it! Now let’s get back to the fun part: PRESENTS. What’s on your wishlist this year?

Tags: amazing fabric, christmas, Christmas 2013, fabric hoarding, giveaway winner, Mood Fabrics, winner winner chicken dinner, wishlist

Comments 36 Comments
Categories here are some things i would like to have

Completed: From A to Z Cardigan

2 Dec

I feel like the knitting of this cardigan took forever, but it was really only about 2.5 months. Crazy!

This particular project is a little special to me because I started it right when I put in my final notice at my old job, then I got a huuuge chunk of it done while I was in Chicago, and now it’s been my saving sanity since.

The main reason why I haven’t knitted it up as quickly as the others is just TIME. I never feel like I have enough anymore! I guess every adult feels that way, though, huh? 🙂 Once I realized I was not getting back those 1 hour lunch breaks (and let’s be real – working from home means NO LUNCH BREAKS EVER, EAT WHILE YOU WORK !!!! haha), I just let myself manage what I could manage. Which usually meant a full 15 minutes of knitting, at the tail end of my lunch. This equates to about 10 sleeve rounds (oh, don’t look at me like that, there were 30-50 stitches per round. very small!).

Once I hit that, I finished fairly quickly! Yay for me taking my own advice 🙂

Anyway, pattern talk time! This is From A to Z by Andi Satterlund. A little different from what I usually knit – the construction is bottom up, with knitted-in pockets and a few bits of intarsia for contrast, plus that monogram at the front (it’s duplicate stitch, not intarsia. FYI!). I used Valley Yarns Northamton worsted weight yarn for the main color, and the contrast is leftover bits from my Central Park Hoodie.

The pockets on this cardigan are SO COOL. They are knit with the body – meaning they aren’t seamed on separately. It was hard for me to wrap my head around first (honestly, I had to email Andi and ask her for help, and she was very prompt in her response!), but once I got going it was pretty easy. The top stripes are intarsia – my first intarsia, ever, and while it’s not terrible, it could use some improvement. I still have problems with holes where the colors join (which you can’t see because, duh, I sewed those shits right up), but it’s a start!

Part of the reason why this took so long was because it was sooooo repetitive. Stockinette can really take forever, especially at the bottom where it’s the widest! Once I got to separating the tops and then adding the sleeves, I finished this up fairly quickly. In comparison, anyway.

(I was really horrified when I saw this pantyline picture, until I later realized that those lines are caused by the ruffles in my undies. JUST SO WE ARE ALL CLEAR)

I plan to wear it closed, but it looks good open, too!

I made the XS and had no pattern alterations. This is what I love about Andi’s patterns – they fit me perfectly as-written! Can’t argue with that 😀

I LOVE the monogram. As with my intarsia, my duplicate stitch could reeeeally use some work as it’s definitely a Monet. It doesn’t look so great up close! But from far away it’s not so bad.

Ugh, sorry for all the pictures. I’m just really proud of how this cardigan turned out!

Like the varsity sweater of my ~dreamz

Told ya that dupe stitch was lacking. OOPS haha!

Here’s the back of the pocket, in case you were curious about the construction. I created the pocket by making kfbl stitches and pulling the new stitches to a holder, then knitting the pocket lining separately, then picking up each stitch along the side as I knit the bottom of the cardigan. I hope that makes sense! It’s pretty genius, in my opinion, glad I had a chance to try it out!

I’ve plumb run out of things to say, so I reckon that’s it! Ravelry notes are here. Next knit project – Owls! I have some lovely grey yarn for that and I’ve already started swatching 🙂

Oh, and just in case you were curious – my shirt says “I Listen To Bands That Don’t Even Exist Yet” (because it’s hilarious, that’s why) and I made my hairbows myself:)

One last thing – the giveaway winner! Let’s see who the random number generator picked today….

Congratulations PoldaPop! Keep an eye on your mail, you’ve got a Sugar Plum headed your way!

Thanks to everyone who participated!

Tags: cardigan, completed, From A to Z, giveaway winner, knitting, sweater, winner winner chicken dinner, wool

Comments 48 Comments
Categories completed projects - new, crafty things that are not sewing

Completed: A Totally Sheer Anna Dress

21 Oct

I swear, this is my last Anna dress for now!

But I mean, look at that fabric – can you blame me? That shit was meant to be amirite?

So, this fabric is pretty amazing. I actually bought it way before the pattern was released, with no real project in mind except that I HAD to have it. I found a lonely yardage stashed away at my new work (obviously this was before I started working there, when I was going on weekly visits and soaking up little sewing tricks and tidbits by osmosis) and took home 3 yards.

You can’t really tell in the pictures since I am wearing a slip underneath, but this fabric is quite sheer. I’m not really sure what the content is, but it feels (and sews and presses) like a silk organza, maybe with a tiny bit of poly blended in there. For being a sheer fabric, it has a surprising amount of body (again, like an organza). When I first started sewing it, I wasn’t sure how it would look as this dress -the pleats were sticking straight out over my boobs! Fortunately, they seem to have toned down a little, ha.

I just loove the print! Little brown leaves, covered in some kind of flocked something (I say flocked, but it almostttt feels like super duper short fur. They’re like, hairy, haha. Oh man, I’m making this fabric sound disgusting right now) and then outlined in sparkly black flocked something. To sum it up in one word: magical.

Speaking of things that are magical, I feel like I’ve been using that word a lot lately. I should probably come up with some new adjectives.

For the pattern itself, I didn’t make any changes apart from the tweaks that were there from my last two versions. I sewed the entire dress using french seams, except I did serge the seam allowance next to the zipper (hairy fabric means sheddy fabric, ugh).

Ah! There’s the slip! 🙂

The neckline was a little tricky thanks to the sheer fabric – I didn’t want to use a facing because it would show through, and I didn’t want to line the dress because duhhhh what if I decide to go all undiesonly.com (lol does anyone else remember that website HAHA) and I can’t because the dress has been lined? I decided to bind it with a strip of black silk organza cut on the bias. Boo on me, my silk organza was actually grey, not black (the hell?) so I had to turn it to the inside and that’s where things went a bit… wonky. It’s ok, but it’s not my best work. If you have a hankering to make a sheer Anna, buy matching silk organza and bind the edges like you normally do with bias tape. It makes it easier to miter the V for a nice sharp point. Just a tip!

Also, while we’re being honest with one another, I should let y’all know that I put that tiny bow+button on the neckline to cover my less-than-lovely v-point haha. And of course, now I’m noticing that it’s totally not centered at all and it’s making my eye twitch.

I guess it’s tacky to show my bra straps, but idgaf.

All french seamed and shit

Here you can really see the texture of the fabric. Also, isn’t that button on the bow so cute?! I got it in a box of tiny deco glass buttons. This was the only one, so I’m happy to have found a use for it 🙂

Despite the french seams and fiddly neck binding, this dress came together VERY fast. Which is good, because I needed it for all the weddings I went to this month (three! Seriously, October, what’s up with that?? Don’t worry, tho, I caught 2 out of 3 bouquets… poor Landon HAHA). I mean, yes, duh I have tons of dresses, but I wanted a faaaaall dress. And here she is! And yay!

A couple more things before I let y’all off the hook! One, we have a winner for the ChatterBlossom Giveaway! Random number generator says…

Ding ding ding! Congratulations, Uglybeat! Expect an email from me about right… now 🙂

For the rest of you who need consolation for not winning, may I remind you that the coupon code is still good for the next week! Lladybird15 gets ya 15% off your order through 10/28 🙂

And because everyone loves coupon codes, we’ve also got one for my newest newest sponsor, She’ll Make You Flip! Use the code LLADYBIRD20 to get 20% off your entire purchase through the end of 2013. Meaning, someone buy this 1940s dress pattern before it accidentally ends up in my shopping cart, thanks 😉

Happy Monday, everyone!

Tags: Anna, completed, dress, Fall/Winter 2013, giveaway winner, sheer, winner winner chicken dinner

Comments 46 Comments
Categories completed projects - new

Completed: Plaid Flannel Archer (+ Draping winner!)

10 Oct

Finally, a successful Archer button-up – in my dream plaid flannel, no less (seriously, I keep eyeballing all the other colors… do I take the plunge and buy them all?? Because I want to!)

I am pretty proud of this shirt, so let’s be honest – there are lots of pictures in this post.

Although the more I look at these pictures, the more they appear to just be the same picture at a slightly different angle or pose. Oops 😦

ALSO, please forgive my awful editing and how the color changes in every picture. I bought a new photo editing software with my new laptop (Corel Paintshop Pro, if you’re curious!) and I’m still trying to get used to it 🙂 BUT HEY, I can edit out zits and stuff now, so that’s pretty freaking awesome!

Anyway, ok, let’s talk about this Archer I made! Using my failed linen Archer as a wearable muslin, I shortened the sleeves by about 1″ and left the body length intact (you’ll recall that the linen one I ended up cutting too short. Or maybe you don’t recall, see if I care). I think my sleeves are still a little long, but I also anticipate this shrinking more in the dryer (I only washed the flannel once before cutting, sorry, I was just excited!) so hopefully they won’t end up too short!

I also made the pocket smaller! No rhyme or reason to how I did it, I just eyeballed until it looked “right.”

Making this shirt was super fun, from cutting (what can I say… I love matching up plaids haha) all the way through sewing. I forgot how much I love sewing really precise things like button-down shirts. Makes me want to sew another shirt for Landon, maybe. What’s funny is I actually caught myself starting to rush through the construction of this – not because I was on a deadline, but because it’s starting to get cold and I wanted to wear this shit nooooooow – and I decided to force myself to slow down by sewing flat-felled seams instead of just serging the seam allowances off. Even the arms are flat-felled. I’m so glad I did, because the end result turned out pretty fabulous if I do say so myself.

I cut the back yoke, pocket, and front button band on the bias. Everything else is straight and painstakingly matched. The only boo-boo I made was that I put the button band on the wrong side – oops! I originally chose the opposite side of the flannel as the right side, then changed my mind when I started sewing. Since the front pieces are not mirrored, this meant I had to compromise my button band side. Oh well, I am just pretending that it’s actually a men’s shirt, haha!

At any rate, the side seams match up beautifully. Look at that shit!

I changed out the buttons for pearl snaps, so I can hulk my way out of this shirt when the urge strikes. Funny thing about those pearl snaps – they actually started out white, and while it looked ooookay, it also just looked like I bought the wrong color pearl snap. I can’t get black snaps locally (and DAMMIT that I SAW them in Chicago and was like “nah I don’t need that” lol oh Lauren, hindsight is 20/20 or some shit) and I couldn’t wait sooo… I painted these with black nail polish. Black glitter nail polish, to be precise. Hey, it works!

I sewed the size 0, as I did last time, except the side seams are sewn at 5/8″ instead of the pattern’s 1/2″. This makes for a slightly (very slightly) smaller fit.

The collar stand turned out fucking perfect, which I’m VERY proud of! I followed Andrea’s tutorial and I had no unpicking with that method. I’m sold, and Andrea, I owe ya a beer for that. Thanks bb♥

I also changed out the sleeve plackets and used the ones from the Negroni pattern. I just think these look so much better with the flannel check, plus they are more conductive for rolling up sleeves. I also find this type of placket easier to sew. Man, I love sewing plackets.

Oh, I also made my leggings! You can’t really see any detail because they are black, wah, but I did make them! I used the Ooh La Leggings pattern and a black ponte knit from Mood Fabrics. My take on ponte leggings – AWESOME. So so awesome!! I actually wore these when I traveled to/from Chicago (so, 18+ hours total) and they were SO comfortable – and they actually look like pants! Guys, I am so sold on these.

I don’t have much else to say, so have some pictures –

Glitter buttons, yeah? 🙂

Collar stand pride~

Placketz

Flat-felled seam, curved hem

Proof that these are actually leggings and not some black blob.

This outfit has basically become my fall uniform. Seriously! The flannel is so warm and cozy – and easy to throw on if I’m chilly (which is always. Yes, I have worn this shirt every day since I finished it, don’t judge me). I am really happy with how both turned out, and definitely plan on making more. Question – is it really dorky to make me & Landon matching plaid flannel shirts? Because I’m totally about to go there.

One last thing – We have a winner for the Draping book! Random number generator, who do you choose?

Congratulations, Jennifer Stephenson! I can’t wait to see what vintage recreations you end up making!

Tags: Archer, completed, giveaway winner, leggings, Mood Fabrics, Mood Sewing Network, ooh la leggings, ponte knit, shirt, winner winner chicken dinner

Comments 72 Comments
Categories completed projects - new, Mood Sewing Network

Completed: The Anna Dress, 1

19 Aug

Thank you so much, everyone, for your overwhelming support this past week. My recovery is going well (although I’m still not clear to lift anything that weighs more than 10lbs – that includes my CAT! HAHA! Oh well, I’m sure she’s happy about that, anyway), and I’m back to work and back to… sewing!! Yeah!!! Well, sort of. I promised myself I would take it easy (aka: laying, knitting, snoozing) until Friday, per Doctor’s orders, and only then could I get back in the sewing room. Lucky me, I woke up on Friday morning with a fucking cold! So, needless to say, the past few days have been a haze of cold meds and even more snoozin’. I’m functioning, albeit slower than normal.

But hey, look, I have a make to share with y’all today!

Ok ok, before you flip your shit on me – I finished this dress before the surgery! Haha! I actually wore it to work the Friday prior; it’s just taken me this long to take photos. Speaking of which – if I look a bit extra happy in these photos… cold meds. That is all.

This is the Anna Dress, from my friends, the babely babes, over at By Hand London. I’m no stranger to the patterns from this line – I can proudly say that I have sewn every single one of ’em, yeah! – but I gotta say… Anna is my favorite. Based on everyone else’s gushing about this particular pattern (here is where I was planning on linking my favorite Annas, but again, cold meds. If you made it, linky up in the comments pls!), I’m not alone. Anna is a WINNER!

Am I allowed to tell y’all that I actually saw this dress waaaaay before I was announced to the hoardes of blog readers? Truth! Elisalex showed me a sneaky peeky while she was in Nashville back in May! I have been dying to get my hands on the pattern ever since! I love my short version, but I am SO EXCITED to try out that thigh-high split, peeps.

I opted for a very simple version for my wearable muslin, in a classic seersucker from Mood. This is one of my last pieces of fabric from the NY stash, btw. I’ve held out on making this up because it’s a stretch cotton, and we don’t play well together. But I think stretch cotton works fine with this type of dress, as long as you’re ok with how the bodice looks in a slightly structured fabric. I like it!

My Anna is the short version, with the slash neckline. I cut the size 2/6 and shortened the skirt about 5″. I found that the back was rather large on me – I just pinched out the excess along the zipper line. Oh, I also put in a lapped zipper because I didn’t have any invisibles on hand. Sue me!

Since my fabric is stretchy, I stabilized the neckline facing with a bit of non-stretch cotton. To do this, I just cut a second facing piece from the cotton, sewed it to the seersucker facing (as you would a sew-in interfacing) and applied the facing as normal. This keeps the neckline nice and smooth and secure!

The pattern itself was an absolute delight to put together. There’s a reason why this pattern has so many fangirls – especially considering how short a time it’s actually been available on the sewing market. There aren’t a lot of pieces, and what is there is super simple to put together. I think this would make a great beginner pattern, whether you’re a beginner at sewing or a beginner with a a certain type of fabric (meaning: yes, you should make this up in silk!)

I should probably tell you that I already have a couple more versions planned. Better get used to this dress! Ha!

Oh, one more thing before I tear outta here… our giveaway winner!

There were 230 entries in all (accounting for duplicates), and you ALL made me hungry (special shoutout goes to Marchelle who linked me to this lemon cookie recipe from Martha Stewart… I will have y’all know, I made this yesterday and they are delicious aaand I’ve already eaten about half of them, ha!). Random Number Generator sayssss-

Louise is the winner of the Sweet Dress Book! Yay!!

Um, will someone kindly tell me what spotted dick is, though? Here in America, that means something TOTALLY different and I’m afraid to google it…

Tags: Anna, By Hand London, completed, cotton, dress, giveaway winner, seersucker, winner winner chicken dinner

Comments 45 Comments
Categories completed projects - new

Completed: the Peggy Sue Sweater

1 Jul

I knitted another sweater!!! Ok ok… I actually finished this over a month ago, and since then I’ve knit a whole ‘nother sweater. But let’s take this one ~~day~~ sweater at a time, shall we? 🙂

This is the Peggy Sue (oh yah, I’m so creative with my project names, ha!). You probably notice that it does differ slightly from the pattern picture – I made a couple changes (some intentional, some “oh well I done fucked that one up”).

For starts, I knit this in a smaller size than what I should be wearing – the XS, which is for a bust 30. I decided to do this after measuring a similar cropped sweater with a fit that I liked. Since the pattern calls for no waist shaping – it just goes straight down in a tube – I also added a few decreases to pull the body in to 24″ at the waist (again, my waist is not 24″ – but the copied-sweater has those measurements!). These are the changes I made intentionally.

Unintentional changes: Well, for one, the ribbing. It doesn’t come up nearly as high as the pattern is written! That was actually an accident – the pattern has you knit in straight stitch until 8.3cm or 3.5in. Being an American, I saw the 8.3 and assumed it was inches, so I merrily knitted myself 8″ of fucking stockinette. Double-checked the pattern as I was coming to the end, and realized they mean centimeters. WAH. Rather than rip all that shit out, I just drastically shortened the height of the ribbing and called it a day. I kind of like it better this way, I think it’s more flattering!

My other unintentional change was swapping out the buttons for snaps. I planned on sewing buttons – I even put in button holes on the button band (which you can baaarely see), but I managed to skip one, somehow. How? Lord knows. Anyway, my chosen buttons didn’t fit in the holes and since there was one missing (right between the bottom button and the third from the bottom – again, HOW DID I MISS THAT??), I just opted for snaps. It’s fine.

Anyway, I am pleased wit the fit! It’s nice and shrunken, and looks good whether the snaps are fully closed, partially open, or totally open…

See? 🙂

Anyway, this was as fun pattern to knit! The body is stockinette, with raglan sleeves (which means no wrapping for the sleeve caps, fuck yeah). The button band is moss stitch, and the ribbing involves some funky cabling. I likey!

I’m a big fan of this yarn, which was a gift from reader Holly, who offered it after I posted up my big knitting fail. She actually sent me a bunch of really sweet emails filled with great knitting advice, and the package she sent me was full of amazing – in addition to the yarn, there was fancy chocolate. Actually, those chocolates are the sole reason why I even eat chocolate now. I’ve always thought it was hilariously underwhelming (give me a good vanilla-flavored anything, any day of the week), but now I realize it’s because I was just eating shitty chocolate. Imagine that! This led me to try Nashville’s own local chocolatier, Olive and Sinclair, and a longtime romance has begun.

Oh, right, I’m supposed to be talking about this yarn! I don’t actually know what the yarn is specifically, brand-wise, but it’s a gorgeously soft merino and bamboo superwash. It’s somewhere in the DK-weight realm (although I compared it to some of my sport weight and I think it might be closer to that?). One thing that I didn’t notice on the skeins, but is apparent in the sweater is that there are some subtle color gradients going on. I LOVE THAT! I don’t care much for heavily variegated yarn – it’s just not my jam, sorry! – but the subtleness of this is just gorgeous and gives the sweater so much dimension. Love love loveee.

You can really see it here! Ahh, so pretty!

Per usual, I finished the button bands with petersham ribbon to keep them from stretching all crazy. I actually started to make a tutorial on how to do this, but I found it difficult to get a good picture and anyway, it’s literally just hand-sewing petersham ribbon to the back of the knitted band. So.. there’s your tutorial, I guess HAHA.

To block this, I just laid it on a towel and saturated it real good using a spray bottle. After my last fiasco with superwash, I didn’t want to risk it growing all weird!

I don’t know how much I can really call a sweater “summer appropriate” when I live in a climate that has regular 100*+ days, but this is probably the closest I’ll get. The fibers and light yarn weight are much cooler than my usual wool worsted weight sweaters.

Oh, and since a couple people asked – here are some pictures of the dress I’m wearing!

It’s vintage, probably from the late 50s/early 60s, based on the construction and style. I picked it up from the flea market last weekend for a sweet $30. It just *barely* fits me – like, I cannot gain any weight at ALL hahaha. It’s also pretty see-through, but I wear a slip under it and that works! Actually, this is the first time I’ve worn a slip under my clothes, I think. Lord, the majority of y’all must be rolling your eyes so hard at me right now haha.

Anyway, I guess that’s it! Full Ravelry notes (spoiler: there ain’t a lot) here. Thank you again for the yarn, Holly!!

Now to muster up the strength to pull on my second sweater and take pictures for that. It’s one of them worsted-weight wool ones, ugh 😉

OH, I almost forgot – I owe y’all a giveaway winner. Random Number Generator saysssss (dum dum dummm)….