Completed: Pseudo Shibori Scarf... Sort Of

It's been so long since I finished a knitting project that I actually had to refresh my memory of how to cast off. How embarrassing is that?

I started this project just before school started... last year. Yep, I've been working on the same project for over a year. I had just picked up knitting again over the summer, and had been going through projects like crazy. In less than two months, I knitted a pair of fingerless gloves, three scarves, a hat, and a purse, so I figured I was ready for a more ambitious project. 

Source

I bought the book Boutique Knits by Laura Irwin (before I knew about Ravely) for its hats. But, I had just finished the Sideways Grande Hat and wanted to try something different. I decided on the Pseudo Shibori Scarf in purple kidsilk (70% super-kid mohair, 30% silk). This stuff feels amazing - if it didn't take forever, I would use it for everything I knit. It looks so delicate but feels so cozy.

Oops, I just realised that I got carried away adjusting the white balance in this one and the colour is a little wonky. The other ones are closer to its actual colour.

It was going well enough, and then... well, school started. I don't think I knit again until Christmas break, and even then I didn't knit very much. It wasn't until I had the flu that I really picked it up again, once I was feeling slightly better but not well enough to go to school. For the entire year, I pretty much only knit when I was at home sick (which was quite a bit, mind you. My immune system hates me). Other than that, I knit pretty sporadically, and spent a lot more time sewing than knitting. Once summer school started, I would bring my knitting with me and knit after I finished tests (I'm pretty sure everyone in my class thought I was a bit odd...). More recently, I've started trying to fit it in whenever I can because I just wanted to finish.

But ta-dah! I'm finally done! I'm pretty happy about it, but I'm also looking forward to a project that's not done with laceweight yarn and 3.5 mm needles. Seriously, it's like knitting with thread. I kept track of my rows, and I did 446 of them. That's 24,084 stitches. Yikes.

The construction is pretty straightforward as long as you keep track of your rows. It's a horizontal rib pattern, which gives it a subtle texture, and knit diagonally (increasing on one side, decreasing on the other).

Now, you may notice that mine's a little different from the picture, hence the "sort of" in the title. By the time I finished it, I really couldn't have been bothered with the ruching. I had made it a length that I liked, and I would have had to make it longer if I wanted to ruche it. I figured that it had enough texture already. It's subtler than with the ruching, but it's still there. I also skipped the tabs, which I wasn't crazy about in the first place.

Overall, I'm really happy with it, and very relieved to be able to start something new. It's very cozy, yet very elegant, and I think it'll get a lot of wear. I definitely made some mistakes, but the nice thing about thin yarn and tiny needs is that the stitches are so small that mistakes (which I made many of) aren't very noticeable (the exception being the strange lump on the left side of this picture, which I will eventually try to block. I don't even know what happened there).

Can you spot the mistakes? There's four of them!

There's no pictures of me wearing it because it takes a serious chunk of time for a full photoshoot, and I've been pretty busy lately. And besides, the scarf looks the same whether I'm wearing it or not. I mean, I'm not going to show off my amazing job of fitting it to myself because, um, it's a scarf. Just take my word for it that fits.

My failed attempt at an artistic photo...

So what's next? Well, I have this gorgeous hand dyed, hand spun wool that was a birthday present last fall. It's BFL (bluefaced leicester) wool, which I had never heard of before, but it's amazingly soft. 

I haven't decided what to make with it yet, any ideas? I estimated that I have around 90 metres. I might make a matching hat and cowl set, because although I can mix-and-match most of my knitted accessories because they're similar colours, I don't have any that truly match. I just need to find a pattern, so suggestions would be really appreciated! They don't have to be matching patterns, I just want to make them in the same wool. I think I'll make the hat first, because the cowl I can finish whenever I run out of wool... that's a little harder to do with a hat! 

Ideally I need a pattern that uses 8 mm needles (that's what the woman who spun it said would look best), but I tend to knit pretty tightly so 9 or 10 mm would probably be fine. I would describe the wool as bulky or super bulky, not sure which. The tag in the photo above is a standard size business card, and it's attached with a piece of worsted weight yarn, for comparison purposes.

Thanks for reading! And if you have any pattern suggestions that would be great!

Completed: Sewaholic Alma Blouse

So, I pretty much lived in this blouse all summer and I'm sad that I'll have to put it away soon.

I made it back in the spring, and I wore it so much this summer. I *almost* have something new to post about, but I need to figure out what is up with my machine first (the threads keep getting tangled and I don't trust it with my buttonholes). That, and I need to find somewhere to buy buttons to cover. Anyways, I wore this when we had family over for Thanksgiving dinner yesterday, and I thought it would be good to post about it while I can still remember all the construction details. 

The pattern is the Sewaholic Alma Blouse, View B, in a size 0. The collar is meant for a contrasting fabric but I wanted it to be a little subtler so used the main fabric. The pattern is very well-drafted - there is even an upper collar and a lower collar so that the lower collar lies nicely underneath without the seam showing.

The fabric is a medium-weight cotton (I don't remember exactly what they called it) with 2% spandex, purchased locally for around $12 a metre. It was really easy to work with - even with the spandex, it was quite stable. It turned out to be a perfect weight for the shirt, and has softened up nicely in the wash.

I decided that, to save time, I wouldn't make a muslin, which backfired as per usual. I made my usual change of tapering down the shoulder seams and went right ahead cutting out the fabric. The fit was pretty good, but not great. I should have known better - Sewaholic patterns are designed for a B cup. I fiddled with the darts a bit and now the fit is good, but the darts are definitely in the wrong spot. They end only about a centimetre away from each other, which would be really obvious is a solid colour. Luckily the busy print hides them, but when I made this shirt again I will have to adjust them properly, and will probably try a FBA.

Other than that, the construction was pretty straightforward and I made no more changes. I successfully put in my second ever invisible zipper, which hasn't broken yet and that makes me really happy (I haven't had the best of luck with invisible zippers, such as with this dress).

Do you see that invisible zipper? Me neither.

For next time (there will be one!), there are a couple things I would do differently, other than adjusting the darts properly. I would probably do the under collar and facing in a lighter weight fabric because it's a little bulky at the shoulder seams, even with all the grading that I did. I might also take in the hips just a little bit. I'm not quite as pear-shaped as the pattern is designed for, and I think it could be a little narrower at the hips. The sleeves could also be just a touch narrower, but none of these are major fitting issues and it's very wearable.

Overall, though, I'm very pleased with this shirt. It's loose enough to be comfortable yet fitted enough to be very flattering. It looks great untucked with jeans, or tucked into a skirt with heels for a dressier look. My only regret is that this version isn't that great for fall, despite being in nice fall colours. With the sleeves and the collar, it's difficult to layer pieces over top, and it's too chilly to wear it on its own. Oh well, I got lots of wear out of it this summer.

One of the reasons I prefer skirts rather than pants is that I can hold them in pictures so my arms don't look so awkward...

If these pictures look better than usual, it's because my brother took them during the summer, and it just took me a while to write about it. (This also explains why I'm outside in a short-sleeved shirt, because there's no way I would do that with the chilly fall weather.)

Oh, and since today is Thanksgiving in Canada, I'd like to say thank you to all my readers and followers so far, and thanks for all the wonderful comments! Happy Thanksgiving!

Blouse: Sewaholic Alma

Jeans: Consignment, CJ by Cookie Johnson

Shoes: Consignment, Hego's

Vintage: My Grad Boat Cruise Outfit

I usually try to avoid social interaction with large groups of people at all costs, and the last time I went on a boat was definitely not a fun experience, so I was a little surprised to find myself buying a ticket to the first grad event of the season: the grad boat cruise. 

This is a pretty standard grad (or grade 12, if you will) event for schools in the Vancouver area. The cruises start in Coal Harbour and then go around to False Creek and back again, lasting about three hours. There's dinner, beverages, and a dance floor (which, after standing awkwardly on the sidelines for about a half hour, I actually participated in, heels and all). 

Ours was on Thursday, September 26. I honestly thought I would regret it for a few reasons (missing dance and being prone to seasickness being a couple), but I actually had a really good time (partly thanks to Gravol...). The weather couldn't have been nicer, especially since it started pouring rain early the next morning and has barely stopped since!

The event is semi-formal, and I unfortunately didn't have time to make a dress. I could have over the summer, but only decided that I was going to go a week beforehand. However, I had a couple dresses lurking in my closet that would have worked just fine, so I didn't want to buy one (especially not with such a tight deadline). To my knowledge (although my knowledge is pretty limited because I pretty much only talked to my close friends the whole evening), I was the only girl who didn't buy a new dress for the occasion, or at least wear one they'd never worn before. But honestly, I really don't see the point of buying something new for every occasion! I would way rather have a few nice dresses, and wear them lots, than buy a new $10 dress for every single event. I actually heard quite a few girls bragging about how cheap their dresses were, which makes me very sad. Most of them will probably never wear them again.

It was a close call between two dresses, but after seeing all the brand new dresses girls posted to the Facebook group for grad dresses (yes, every grad class has their own group to post pictures of their grad dress so no one buys the same one, *sigh*), I decided to be a rebel and wear vintage.

That's not a stain on the front of the skirt, the nap is just a little crushed. Keeping velveteen nice is really tricky!

This dress was given to me by my aunt, who made it in the 60's. She didn't say exactly when, but my guess is early to mid-sixties. It's velveteen, and saying that it's turquoise doesn't really describe the colour very well... it's like no turquoise I've ever seen in modern clothing! That's part of what I love about it - it's so unique. It's quite difficult to capture in photos, though! It's a little greener than it looks here.

The style is simple but very flattering, and I'm amazed at how well it fits. My mom took in the shoulders a little bit, but other than that it didn't need any alterations. I didn't take a picture of the back (and I'm not about to put it on and take pictures outside, it's been nonstop pouring since the cruise), but it's a low v. Well, maybe I shouldn't say "low" because nowadays a low v seems to mean down to your butt. No, this "low v" is pretty much down to my bra band in the back. I really love how it's high in the front, and low in the back. It shows a little skin, but in a very elegant way. 

I wanted to go for a "simple elegance" look with this dress. I paired it with simple black heels, a tiny black purse (yes, that's tiny for me. I like big bags), and a black bolero for when it cooled off later on. The heels unfortunately aren't vintage or even a vintage style. I have a pair of black heels that I think might be vintage, although I don't know much about dating shoes so I don't really know. They can be seen (sort of) here and here. I found them at a thrift store for $5.99 and LOVE them, but they need the heel strap shortened a bit and there wasn't time. The heels I wore were just fine though. My best friend wears heels quite a bit, and I think she and I were the only girls who managed to keep them on the whole night. Honestly, I don't understand why girls wear heels if they plan on taking them off. Sure, they look great for half an hour, but then walking around barefoot for the rest of the night doesn't look so great. Wouldn't it look better to wear flats or low heels and keep them on the whole night? I don't get it. 

The purse I borrowed from my mom, and I believe she bought it at a consignment store. 

The bolero (or blazer - I call it both) my mom made for me to go with this dress when I wore it to a wedding last year. I wore it in a couple of the photos in this post, and I wear it quite a bit.  I normally don't go for boxier styles but this one really suits the dress and, because it's cropped, I find it pretty flattering. I wanted something pretty specific and couldn't find an appropriate pattern, but I found Vogue V8673 (which isn't actually out of print - I made a mistake in my previous post) in a clearance bin for $5 and thought we could use it for the basic shape, and then modify it to what I wanted. I modeled it after a bolero I found in a knitting magazine dated 1965 that I found in my grandparents' house. Someday I will actually knit it, maybe once I finish what I'm working on now. It was shown with a similar style of dress, and I really liked the two shapes together.

I made a muslin in a size 6, because although I am technically a size 8, I've always found commercial patterns to be big on me (the exception being a rather disastrous pair of Burda shorts from their magazine. I figured they were a lost cause and they never made it past the muslin stage). The pattern fit me pretty well so we didn't have to make any fitting adjustments, we just changed the shape. 

We bought some black double knit for the main fabric, and a remnant of white satin with black polka dots for the  lining. The two fabrics behave very differently and probably weren't the best fabrics to use together, but if I'm careful when I lay it out flat to dry it usually works out. I actually had every intention of making this myself, but ran out of time and my mom ended up making it. I'm really happy with it though - it seems to go with just about everything.

I'm really glad I had something to wear over top that actually went with my dress. Most girls brought something, but didn't want to wear them because they didn't look good over their dresses. Although with the wind it was definitely cool enough to wear it from the start, I kept it off for photos until it really was too cold. Do I look freezing in the photo above? It was taken after dinner, when it had already cooled off. I think I ran downstairs and got my bolero right afterwards!

Okay, I realise that this is a horrible photo, but it's sadly the best one of the bolero. I roll up the sleeves to show off the polka dot lining!

Anyways, back to this outfit! For jewelry, I went with my favourite dangly pearl earrings, a pearl bracelet, and a decorative headband (which you can't really see in any of the photos). This would have looked great with a pearl necklace, but I didn't have one, and that probably would have been a pearl overload anyways. In some of the photos you can also see a pin on my bolero, too. That was also borrowed from my mom, and is probably old enough to be considered vintage by now. 

I didn't do much more than everyday makeup, just a little eyeshadow and my favourite lipstick. For hair, I conditioned it in the morning (I usually don't bother), and put in some anti-frizz serum that I had left over from my long-haired days. It was really windy, though, so I'm not sure it did much good.

On the whole, it was a really fun night and I'm glad I went. It was a great way to start grade 12!

My Sewing Wishlist for Fall

Today is the first day of fall! I've always loved the fall - coloured leaves, hot tea, baking, cozy sweaters, and rain. Yes, rain. I love it. Call me crazy.

I always have the problem of getting far too ahead of myself for sewing projects, and I'm sure everyone knows the feeling. I spend far too much time looking at what other people are making that I get all these brilliant ideas, and yet never spend enough time actually sewing to put my brilliant ideas into action. So, to organise my thoughts, I've created a list of everything I'd like to sew over the next couple months.

Just a heads up, this is actually quite a long post, considering it's not about anything I've actually done. I wasn't expecting to write that much, it just kind of happened. It's also very text-heavy. There were pictures, and then I realized that I don't know anything about copyright, and I thought that I might not actually be allowed to use them, even though I did put a link and state that they weren't mine. I was starting to get worried, but instead of losing sleep over it, I just took them off. So, no pictures. Sorry.

1. 1940's-style wool dress

I've wanted to try a 40's-style dress for a while now, as opposed to the 50's styles I usually gravitate towards. I love all the subtle details, which, in my opinion, are a lot more suited to fall (and school, for that matter) than 50's full-skirted dresses. I also thought that a 40's project would be great for challenging myself and learning some new things, because of all those little details.

I really wanted to sew a 40's dress for the Fall for Cotton sew along, but as I've mentioned before, cotton dresses are really not the most practical for fall in Vancouver.

I spent an excessive amount of time searching Etsy for the *perfect* pattern, but it seemed like anything that was around my size that I liked had pieces or the instructions missing. I suppose it's quite hit or miss, but I've decided that I'll save looking for vintage patterns on Etsy (or elsewhere) for when I just want to browse, rather than searching for something specific. I've had far better luck finding patterns when I haven't really been looking for them.

Something else I noticed about genuine 40's patterns is the sizing is quite different - not just that the sizes are much smaller like with all vintage patterns, but it seems that the body type that patterns were designed for was a lot more rectangular than nowadays. If I found one that fit my bust measurement, it was often at least 2 inches too big at the waist, and too small at the hips (although being too small at the hips is a problem that I have with most patterns). Not that it would be too difficult to fix, but I just thought it was interesting how different the sizing was back then.

Anyways, I've actually already started on this project. I decided to try the Colette Ceylon dress, since I've always wanted to try Colette patterns. The only problem is the sizing - I'm smaller than their size 0, *sigh*. So, I tried my hand at sizing it down and it so far seems to have worked.  

I think this pattern is a really good choice, because for a while I've been wanting to try Colette patterns, make a shirt dress, and make a 40's style dress. This one checks all three boxes!

I haven't bought any fabric yet for this, but I went by a local discount fabric store today and was surprised to find that they actually had a fair amount of wool crepe and wool gabardine, which I think would work for the dress. I was honestly quite surprised - I was expecting it to be one of those places where everything has mysterious fabric content. They had a turquoise wool crepe that I loved, but wasn't really a fall colour, nor the best colour on me. They also had some amazing royal blue wool gabardine, but again, I think the colour might be too overwhelming. I can't remember exactly, but I think they had a dark red and a dark purple, either of which would be great if the weight is okay.

I'm making a muslin right now in a medium weight cotton (I think, maybe poly-cotton) and I'll see how well the weight works, because it's quite similar to the weight of the wool I was looking at.

Wow, that was a lot to write about this one project considering all I've made so far is a partial muslin. Here's the rest of my list:

2. Bombshell swimsuit

I definitely missed jumping on the bandwagon for this pattern this summer, but I still absolutely love it. It's like Heather of Closet Case Files read my mind when she released it, because I was thinking about making a swimsuit at the time, but wanted a one-piece and didn't like any of the options out there. This one is so cute, though!

And yes, I realize that it's not really bathing suit season anymore, at least not in the northern hemisphere. But honestly, I don't really like swimming, and I burn like crazy, so I don't spend that much time in bathing suits in the summer. In the fall and winter, I go in our hot tub all the time, so now is when I really need one!

I know that I'll have to order fabric online, since I doubt any of the stores around here will have any bathing suit fabric left. I found this really cute watermelon print fabric a couple days ago, and I wish I'd bookmarked it because I can't remember which site it was on.

3. Another Sewaholic Alma blouse

I've made view B, the peter pan collar version, once before, and I literally lived in it all summer. It's very flattering and comfortable, although the mid-length sleeves and collar aren't that great for layering. I haven't decided whether or not I will make the view A and plan to wear it with a cardigan or view C with the view A notched neckline, but either would be great fall pieces.

First, though, I have to attempt my first ever full bust adjustment. I've looked at several tutorials on the internet, and I honestly don't see what all the fuss is about. It doesn't look to hard to me (famous last words...). Although it fits me well, I neglected to make a muslin on my first version and ended up having to fiddle with the darts quite a bit. I cut out a straight size 0 so that the shoulders would fit, when my bust measurement is actually between a 2 and a 4. The darts end about 1/2" away from each other now, which I'm sure wouldn't look very good in a solid colour. Luckily, I made this version in a very small floral print so you can't see the darts at all. Overall, I love the blouse and I'm definitely willing to give it another try.

4. Bluegingerdoll Mae blouse

I absolutely LOVE this blouse. There's actually a sew-along for it that finishes today, but I had too much going to to be able to participate. Still, this blouse is absolutely gorgeous! I think it could definitely work as a layering piece, too, because the neckline is narrow enough that it would be visible under a cardigan. I might change the sleeves a bit to make it a bit easier to get a cardigan over it, but I seriously want this pattern. 

Plus, there's free worldwide shipping, which is definitely incentive to buy it. Living in Canada (even though Vancouver is so close to the border), shipping charges are absurd. I paid almost $13 in shipping for an $18 pattern when I ordered my Ceylon dress, which kind of irritates me considering it would have been only $5 or $6 to ship to Bellingham, which is just over the border. I suppose I shouldn't complain, though, because I always get my money's worth on all my patterns. I trace all of them in case I change size, and I make them over and over. 

5. A self-covered belt

I was reading a blog post somewhere (can't remember now, oops) where a dress ended up too big at the waist, and to fix it, she made a self-covered belt instead of fixing it. I thought this was a great idea! I've always loved the look of self-covered belts, and I think one would look great with my duvet dress, which is a bit big at the waist. I just need to find a kit that would work. I'll keep an eye out on Etsy for one, and my mom and I are planning a trip to Dressew sometime soon, which might have the supplies. For all you non-Vancouverites, Dressew is this store in the *ahem* not-so-great part of Vancouver that has pretty much all the notions you could possible imagine, plus a bunch of bargain fabric. I've never been there, so I'm pretty excited to have a look.

6. Jeans?

This has a question mark because they would be a pretty big project, and I have no idea if I'll have enough time to make a pair. I've never made pants before, and I'm not looking forward to fitting them. I also haven't found a pattern that I really like. I like a straight (or a relaxed skinny) fit that sits right at the waist, with all the classic details, like five pockets and a yoke. I hate jeggings, or anything that's so tight you can barely walk in them. And I don't know why so many people insist on low-rise jeans. They're quite possibly the most unflattering and uncomfortable design possible. 

The closest I've found to a pattern I like is this one by Style Arc. They at least aren't super tight and sit at the waist, although they say they're not meant for stretch denim and i like my jeans stretchy for comfort.

My excuse for not sewing jeans used to be that I didn't think my machine could handle denim. It's a good basic machine and I've made lots with it, but I don't think it's quite tough enough to sew through multiple layers of jeans-weight denim. But... I recently acquired a machine that can handle denim (more on that later), so my excuses are running out.

Anyways, as much as I would love to sew a pair of jeans, I don't think they're exactly a realistic project for me at the moment. Maybe in the spring... but then I'll probably have another project on the go. Read on.

7. And finally... a grad dress (or, a prom dress, for all you in the US)

Okay, I'm not planning on starting this right away. I just really need to decide on a pattern and start on a muslin, at the very least. I just really don't want to leave it to the last minute so that I'm rushing to get it finished while trying to study for finals (including provincial exams) and fit in a bunch of extra rehearsals for my year-end show for dance. I really need to make myself a schedule for it, which means I should probably find out when my grad actually is. Yes, that would be a good start.

Making a post like this seems to actually be a really good way to organise my thoughts, so I might do one with grad dress ideas too. That way, I can get some feedback, too, which would be great because I'm seriously terrible at making up my mind.

On a side note, does anyone have any idea why it's called grad in Canada, and prom in the US? And if anyone is reading this outside the US or Canada, what do they call it there?

That's it for now - thanks for reading, if you got this far. This actually turned out to be quite a bit longer than I was picturing. Now to get back to that homework I've been avoiding by writing this post...

Exciting News!

I won a prize!

A couple weeks ago, I saw a post on Sew Mama Sew reminding readers to submit their photos for the Super Online Sewing Match Community Match. I had been following the Super Online Sewing Match all summer, but hadn't really considered entering the community match because I'm terrible at sewing to a deadline, and thought that you had to sew your project at the same time as the contestants to enter. Well, turns out that anything sewn between July 8th and September 10th was eligible! 

So, I decided, just for fun, to enter my Duvet Cambie Dress, since I started and finished it in August. I can't remember the exact dates - I started a few days before finishing summer classes on August 9th, and finished about a week or so after that.

Anyways, it turns out I actually won something! I checked the website today and the winners are announced. I honestly wasn't expecting to win anything at all! I had seen all the entries in the flickr group, and there were so many beautiful creations I didn't really think I stood a chance. But hey, I won a $50 gift certificate to Pink Castle Fabrics! I was so surprised that I literally did a little happy dance around my room for a few minutes. I'm not joking.

I took a look through their fabrics, and although they look a little more focused on quilting, they have lots of fabrics that I can picture using for clothes, and lots of organic cotton, too! I have no aversion whatsoever to sewing with quilting cottons - in fact, I can't help but spent an entirely excessive amount of time looking through them at fabric stores! I love all the fun prints, and of course they're a dream to sew with.

They have lots of linen (and in really fun prints!), velveteen, flannel, and voile, too so there's definitely lots to choose from for garment sewing.

On a side note, I'm also thinking of buying a course from Craftsy while their sale is still on, but I'm torn between classes. I've it narrowed down to:

• Custom Fitting: Back, Neck, and Shoulders (because I apparently have oddly shaped shoulders - nothing seems to fit them!)
• Jean-ius (because I have a pair of jeans that are ALMOST perfect that I would love to replicate and tweak. I could buy another pair, but they're $170 new, plus shipping since I can't find anywhere to buy them here.)
• Adjust the Bust (because, well, enough said.)
• Sew Retro Perfect Bombshell Dress (because I think this would be a great way to learn techniques like boning that I could use for a grad dress, and I might even use the circle skirt version to make my grad dress.)

So, I'm really horrible at making decisions and can't make up my mind. Chances are, I will think about this too much and realize on Sunday that I missed my chance!

The Bombshell Dress course is the best deal, but it's less expensive than the other in the first place. The other three, at around $50 each before the sale, are a little pricey. But then again, maybe not, when you compare them to the Palmer/Pletsch fitting classes offered at my local fabric store that I'm considering taking, for $144 each, plus supplies. Hmm. Decisions, decisions.

Anyways, I just wanted to do a quick post to share the news and my random, sewing-related thoughts. Thanks for reading!