Projects Update

Just a little update on the projects I'm working on and getting ready to work on. 


Blue Rayon Pants-I have these pants to the try-on stage and they fit! I need to tweak the side seams just a bit, but at this point the whole take-them-apart-&-recut-them-in-a-smaller-size seems to be working out. I should have these finished by the end of the weekend. 


Dahlia Knit Cardigan-I'm just knitting away on this cardi. I'm almost finished with the 2nd sleeve. After that, I sew the sides of the lace panel to the body of the sweater, weave in the ends, block it and I'm finished. This should be completed in the next week. 


Calendar Quilts-I'm pretty excited about the Calendar Quilt project coming up. I have almost everything I need for the first month. 

Ready for September

I have all the fabric except the backing for September. I also purchased Steam-A-Seam2. When I bought the fabric last week I found a 6-1/2" square ruler and bought it to use for cutting all the 4-1/2" squares that make up the background and border of each quilt. Today I was at Hobby Lobby and found a 4-1/2" square ruler! Woo-hoo! So I'm thinking I'm about ready to start this project. I don't think there is any way I can complete one quilt every month but it sure would be nice. 


Friendship Triangle Book Cover-I haven't started this yet. In fact, I'm so excited about the Calendar Quilts that I've moved this project down on the priority list, right behind the Calendar Quilts. 


Secret Project(s)-I have several secret projects I'm working on also. Two are knitted items and 3 are sewing projects. None of them are very complicated and all are coming right along. And that's all I can say about those projects.  


I'm heading back to my sewing studio to spend time among all my fabric, yarn and patterns. I have a little saying that fits me to a "T". It is, "My soul is fed by needle and thread." It is so true!

UFO's To The Rescue

I was so bored at work yesterday that I was motivated to finish 3 knitting UFO's. What's a UFO, you ask? UnFinished Object. I bet every crafter, regardless of medium, has them. In the knitting and sewing world, UFO's abound. I've been reorganizing my sewing studio and found way more sewing UFO's than I care to reveal. I'm working on finishing up many of them. It is puzzling to me why some projects get set aside with so little left to do to finish. A thought for another day. I want to write about what I finished. 


Socks
I finished these 2 sock projects. 

The colorful red sock on the left is the dreaded "2nd sock" from a pair I started last summer in the Purl Hunter KAL. The mate has been in my sock drawer for 9 months. Here is the perfect example of "Why didn't I finish this?" I had 10 stitches to bind off. That was it! Bind off 10 stitches and it was completed. It took me about 10 minutes. Now why didn't I finish it? Why did I lay it aside with only 10 stitches to bind off? No clue, but it's finished now and happily united with its mate. 

The odd looking socks on the right are yoga socks. They have neither a heel nor toe to provide grip when doing yoga poses. I only started these in June so they've not been laying around long. Still I'm glad to have them off the needles and available for my weekly yoga session. 

Cardigan

I also finished this cardigan. This was a KAL at my LYS last early fall. I actually had finished this and worn it a couple of times. Then I realized that the sleeve seams were finished on the right side. Oops! It was a pain to take out the seams. The yarn is thick/thin and because the fabric is so open, the seams had been crocheted, not just regular-style seaming. So the cardi sat around for several months before I tackled taking out the seams. Then it sat around a couple more months before I resewed the seams. Again, it took me all of about 30 minutes to accomplish the seaming. And now I can wear it again. 

I know this doesn't look very exciting, but the yarn is interesting and the cardigan was knit and constructed in an interesting manner. Instead of a back, 2 fronts and 2 sleeves, this is knit in rectangles that are then seamed together to create the garment. It can actually be turned upside down and worn that way, but I think it creates too much fabric around my neck, not a good look for me. I wasn't that crazy about the color, but I was matching it up with tops I have and it looks great with a navy or dark brown knit top underneath. 

So I'm really pleased with what I accomplished yesterday. With these 3 projects complete I'm pretty sure I have only 4 projects left on my needles. 

• My Dahlia cardi which is coming along nicely. I'm about halfway finished with the 1st sleeve. 
• My Bayarri cardi. This is a challenging entrelac cardigan. It's another knitting project way above my skill level so it's slow going. It will move up in priority once I finish Dahlia.
• A simple fuzzy scarf for Miss Riley's Christmas present
• A simple g-string project to match a knitted nightgown I made a couple years ago. This is going to be one of those projects I finish up in 30 minutes and wonder why it took me so long. 

So I celebrated my accomplishments by ordering yarn for a project I'm planning. And that's all I'm going to say about that!

1/2 Yard Purse

Michelle mentioned to me recently that all her purses were wearing out. She has a remarkable knack for making shoes & purses last longer than any person I know. I once spent $80 on a pair of dress shoes for her for a high school dance. She loved them and assured me she would wear them $80 worth. She did. Ten years later she was still wearing them. What a girl!

So I made her this purse. I had the fabric in my stash--materials I had purchased for a class I never attended. The fabric is very soft, kinda suede-y feeling. Very soft. The lining is some kind of black soft, slightly nappy fabric. I added 3 suede stripes on the front. The purse closes with a handmade button from my friend Londa's shop. The directions for the purse came from Judy Kessinger. I was on her mailing list for a while and the purse pattern was a free pattern from her. It takes only 1/2 yard of fabric (add'l 1/2 yd. for the lining.) It was pretty simple to construct. The only issue I had was stitching through all the layers at the top. Part of that problem could have been my fabric. I also lengthened the straps since Michelle likes a shoulder bag.

The bag looked pretty good and she loved it! Happy Momma!

The Chef in a Sundress

My youngest daughter, Michelle, is a chef and spends most of her time in chef's attire, white jacket and black & white check chef pants. I love making her something soft and feminine to wear.

Michelle & I were shopping at our local Jo-Ann's on July 4th and she saw this fabric. The colors are perfect for her. She wrapped the fabric around herself and it was so cute, how could I resist? I bought what was left on the bolt, about 2-1/2 yds. At 50% off it was very affordable. The fabric is 100% polyester-easy care for my busy chef!

I sewed rows & rows of elastic thread at the top of the dress. Then I sewed the fabric in a tube, hemmed it and added a halter neck tie. Oh so easy! And it will look beautiful on my beautiful daughter.

Weekend Sewing Part 2

I had a very productive day. 

Here is the bread cloth for The Coach. It took me a lot longer to finish it than I had figured. I had calculated around an hour or maybe an hour and a half would be all that was needed to do the outlining and the message. Three and a half hours later I took the last stitch. I hope she likes it. 














Here is The Coach's birthday present. I have knitted things for both The Chef and The Son but never anything for The Coach so I told her to pick something and I would make it for her. So on one hand she knows I'm making it for her. She doesn't know it's finished and I'm giving it to her for her birthday. 

And, here is the final project for today. A kimono dress for The Princess. The Coach had asked me about making a dress in this Asian style for The Princess. I used a ModKid pattern, Kyoko. It was surprisingly easy. The one thing I was disappointed in was the amount of fabric the pattern called for to make the bias tape. The pattern said to buy 1 yd. So I did. And I cut it all into bias 2" wide bias strips. And now I have so much leftover. I'll have to find some project where I can use it. 


I finished all three projects I had designated for today's marathon sewing session. And, I got in my 4 mile run! Good day today!

An Apron and Napkins, Totally Unrelated

This apron was supposed to have been finished for my ASG Annual Meeting & Tea last Sunday. My neighborhood group was hosting the event. Alas, it didn't quite make it. But I did finish it last night.  The pattern is the Vintage Style Apron from Sew4Home.com and the  fabric is from the now-closing The Quilt Shoppe.(I will miss this shop. I don't quilt, but they have wonderful fabric and their level of service cannot be surpassed!) The fabric is from the Caffeine Cafe collection. The front of the apron is Coffee Cup Toss and the accent fabric is Coffee Beans Dark Blue. The apron is lined with Coffee Beans Tan. The lining makes the apron reversible. 

 The apron is unique because of the way the ties attach to the apron body. The tie ends are inserted through buttonholes on the apron and tied in a knot. The neck and side ties are both handled this way. Here's a close up. I really like how it turned out and probably will make some more aprons like this when I find great coordinating fabric. 










When I attended the Original Sewing & Quilt Show in KCMO a couple of weeks ago I found this fall-themed fabric in one of the booths. Since I love using cloth napkins I cut the fabric into 18" squares and serged the edges, actually a rolled hem edge. I used bright orange wooly nylon in the loopers and a variegated brown thread in the needle. It looks really great. 

I made 6 napkins and have decided I will give 4 to The Chef. She & her SO will be celebrating their first Thanksgiving in the house they bought this year. Maybe these napkins will add to the festivities. 

You Can Start Every Monday…

so says Dr. Rosenfeld. Of course, he's talking about making healthy choices in your life, but hey, if it works for health, why not for blogging.

I just returned from the Original Sewing and Quilt Expo in Schaumburg IL. I worked for my friend Londa @ Londa's Creative Sewing. We had a wonderful time! I love spending time not only with my friend, but all the people you meet and befriend at shows like this. The added bonus for this trip was I stayed with my daughter and son-in-law and four absolutely awesome grandchildren! I was very happy to share when my favorite youngest granddaughter preferred curling up on Londa's lap rather than mine. Londa doesn't have a granddaughter (just a very handsome grandson) so she reveled in all the little girl love.

I found the most awesome brand new vendor at the Expo, Textile Lifestyle. This is a brand new, family-owned business focusing on gift items for all kinds of fiber artists. They have coffee mugs, mouse pads, note pads, note cards, magnets--all kinds of cool gift items to give, or, better yet, buy for yourself! The thing that makes these items so great is the images they use. They are beautiful full color, professionally photographed images from different fiber artist venues, knitting, yarn, sewing, quilting, etc. Take a look. You will fall in love with these items just like I did. I picked up the mouse pad, note cards and a magnet at the show. And I just placed an order for some other things at their website.

I haven't been slacking during the past month. I have been busy knitting and sewing Christmas gifts. Unfortunately I can't reveal them here since some of the gift recipients read this blog. (Thank you, dear children!) I have almost all the gifts completed so I can get back to knitting and sewing for me! (You know, one of my very favorite songs is by Toby Keith, "I Wanna Talk About Me".)

Needles and Needles

I am working on a couple of projects, one knitting and one sewing, one almost completed and one just getting started.


On my knitting needles I am about to finish my first pair of toe-up socks. First let me say I am not a "Knitter". Only in the past 3 or 4 years have I started knitting again and I knit my first pair of socks about 2 years ago. I just walked into my LYS and said to Hannah, "I want to knit socks. Fix me up." Wisely, she handed me Sensational Knitted Socks and sat me down to read. I walked out with the book, dpns, and yarn. I had little trouble, except they were way too big when I finished. So recently, I undid them, washed the yarn and picked a different pattern from the same book, a smaller size and started over.


Since I didn't want to run out of yarn I thought I should do them toe-up. I hadn't done toe-up socks even though I hear them talked about on a lot of podcasts and had seen them in all the sock books I have purchased. I ended up using a toe-up sock pattern from Sensational Knitted Socks book. I had a terrible time with the cast-on and Tweeted about my problems. Heather Ordover from Craftlit came to my rescue with the Magic Cast On from Knitty.com. I've been happily knitting since and am about finished. Yeah!


On the sewing side of the needle issue I am starting a table scarf for DD1. It is made from green duppoini silk. I had in my head I would do a decorative hemstitch. I bought the wing needle and sat down to work last night. Boy, did I find out there is a whole lot more to a decorative hemstitch. Right now I am doing my homework. Luckily I have the book, Fine Machine Sewing by Carol Laflin Ahles. She does a great job of explaining how to do hemstitching. I will be practicing a lot before tackling the actual table scarf. But I'm looking forward to learning this new skill.

Just Resting Between Sets

A local gym is running some clever commercials right now. The set up is a question-and-answer period. In one of the commercials the "customer" asks, "I've not been working out for a while. How do I get started again?" The announcer replies, in this deep, booming voice, "Don't say you haven't been working out, say 'I'm just resting between sets.'" I love that line! It is so appropriate for many areas of my life right now.



I have done some sewing over the last few months. Here is DGD2's dress for her baptism and birthday celebration. It is a Bonnie Blue pattern. I added lace inserts in the skirt and to the angel flutter sleeves. It is made from white handkerchief linen and her initials are embroidered on the yoke. She was, of course, beautiful in her dress, white sandals, gold cross necklace and pearl bracelet. I painted her toenails hot pink to match her older sister. After the ceremony a good time was had by all at her princess birthday celebration.



DH & I met our DD1 and her family in the Smokey Mountains for vacation in late June. We all shared an awesome cabin on top of a mountain for 7 days. I made a couple of pair of shorts from KwikSew 3614. I made View A for both pairs of shorts. I really liked the way they turned out. One pair of was navy blue from some stash cotton. The other pair was a black/white cotton twill with just a touch of Lycra. The shorts went together easily and this pattern has the best fly instructions I've found. Very clear and concise.

I'm starting to think about fall. I need slacks mostly. So I'm checking both the pattern & fabric stash to come up with a plan.

I Think These Are Great!

I was surfing around the 'net just now and found these great gift tags for handmade items. These are designed for hand knit/crochet items, but they would be super easy to create on my computer and adapt to any number of handmade/homemade gifts.