~ Craft Happenings 2013 v. 9 ~

May 182013
 

I’ve been a most seriously busy bee.  BZZZZZZZZZZ!

Featured FO

Spending time with my sewing machine, I have cranked out a few sewing FOs!  Featured here is another Tiny Pocket Tank by Grainline Studios made out of some scary ’70s polyester that I procured from a thrift store.  This fabric feels pretty awful to the hand, but surprisingly is comfortable wearing against the torso.

Knowing that I would never use this fabric for much else, I decided to make up another tank and consider this fabric stash-busted.  I’ve really been trying to bust the stash, so this feels nicely satisfying.

On the Knitting Needles

I’ve been clicking away at this sweater-thing.  Finished one sleeve and am almost done with the second.  I’ve lost my size US4 12″ circular needle (which I use for knitting sleeves) and am knitting these sleeves with DPNs… while I’m not one of those knitters who shies away from DPNs, I am definitely faster with a good circ, so these sleeves are taking a while.  Also, the collar will be a stand-up thing with buttons, instead of the floopy droop you see.

As a side note, I have to say that I just love it when I receive nice notes from knitters about my patterns.  I’ve been in a designing funk for a while – -  I don’t really know why I feel all funkified but I do.  Perhaps I should go back through my emails and find some nice words that knitters have written to me, and post them on my craft room wall for inspiration and motivation, to escape my funk.  Yesterday, I received an email from someone inquiring about how they might go about lengthening a sweater, and she mentioned that she had knat THREE of my sweater patterns and ended her email, “PS, write more patterns!” and it really made my day.

On the Sewing Machine

Well Readers, that dotty dress I’ve been working on has gone away for good.  Last weekend, I made a concerted and methodical push to create an FO, but my efforts were all for naught.  After FINALLY finishing the bodice, I discovered that it was irreparably too small for me.  So then I had a BRILLIANT idea to just make the skirt portion of the dress as a stand-alone skirt.  NOPE!  After spending three extremely aggravating hours trying to hem the skirt, I gave up.  While the pattern is a “Very Easy Very Vogue” pattern, my fabric choices were not a recipe for success.

After tossing my failings into the rubbish bin, I whipped up the above-showcased Tiny Pocket Tank, which was a quick, easy, relaxing, and confidence-enhancing success.

Then!  I made another Truffle Dress, which I will be writing an FO post soon.  Having made two Truffles, this came together frustration-free and fits perfectly!  Josh and I are hosting a Garden Soirée tomorrow and I made this dress specifically for tomorrow’s gathering.

It has a floral pattern that I really love, which I think will be extra pretty at the Garden Soirée.  I don’t know if anyone else is going to dress up, but I sure am!  I did some extra spiffy stuff on the finishing so I think this might be my most finely made sewing FO to date.  (Stay tuned for that post!).

And now!  I’m about to start on Jasmine, also by Colette Patterns.  Having read through all of the reviews of this pattern, I’m going to include a few recommended modifications (ie, hiking up the neckline and narrowing the shoulders).  I’m still trying to decide which fabric to use.  All of these fabrics are semi-sheer (and the fabric in the pattern photo is also semi-sheer) but I don’t really DO sheer of any degree, so I’m thinking about fully lining it (like I just did with my latest Truffle Dress).

Feathered Friends

My little ladies are growing up so fast!  This week, they transitioned from chick starter to pullet developer feed.  Also, last week they enjoyed my gross okra, and this week they enjoyed an eggplant disaster.  You know, I don’t always cook, but when I do, I generally set off the fire alarm.

We had a sudden heat surge last week and this week (with record high temps at 95F… it was horrible!) and the ladies didn’t take it very well.  We don’t have much shade in the backyard during the height of the sun (I’ve planted several bushes in their paddock area, but the bushes are still too small to provide much shade).  We do have the lean-to thing against the shed and I hung up a shower curtain (another thrift store find) for more shade, and I’ve been adding ice to their waterers with added electrolytes and sprinkling their favorite grassy areas with water.  I also brought out a fan for them, but they just seemed scared of it.  Despite my attempts to help them beat the heat, they were panting and holding their wings away from their bodies, and I was very worried.  Fortunately, temperatures are now down to a reasonable 65-75 degrees and everyone is much happier.  I’m hoping that it was just the suddenness of the spike in temperatures that made it seem so bad, because this is supposed to be a really hot summer.

Yard & Garden

Lots of changes in the yard and garden this week!

In response to the aforementioned lack of shade, I have bought two apple trees and a shade structure.  The apples are for dwarf Gala apples and I need to get them in the ground ASAP.  They were on sale for $10 each (probably because it’s getting kind of late for planting trees).  I’d like to plant both of them in the chicken paddock (for much needed shade) but there might only be room for one (I need to research what kind of spacing they need).

As for the shade structure, I decided to purchase a canopy/gazebo thing.  This past week during the heat surge, the complete lack of shade was very uncomfortable and the heat is only going to get worse in the summer.

I’m proud to say that I was able to construct most of the structure all by myself.  This shade structure thing was on sale for really cheap (like, two digits cheap!) – - I’ve been shopping all around town and am just aghast at how expensive patio furniture is.  So when I located this two digitly-priced canopy thing, I was really chomping at the bit for it (even though I dislike beige).   I also found the sheer white curtains on clearance for $4 each to hang around the perimeter.  I need to add some weights to them and sew a pretty sash to tie them up.

I also procured some flowers for my pots.

Furthering the aesthetic enhancements of the backyard, Josh set in some slabs of stone behind the house for a walkway.  I’m going to sow in some creeping thyme and some other kind of filler (rather than bare dirt and crabgrass).  Again, I’ve been aghast at the price of stone and pavers, but these beauties Josh dug up from our own backyard!  It’s so interesting – - this house is fairly old and there are so many buried treasures.

For example, while I was planting my blueberry bushes, I found this porcelain rabbit.  I’ve also found marbles, little Buddha’s, GI-Joes, doll’s heads, a helicopter toy, and all kinds of other treasures.  In a way, I wish that I had been keeping all of the buried treasures, but most have been junky and broken and it’s not like I want a bunch of junky broken crap lying around.

Okay, so the garden is all planted.  I know that I should have waited another week or so to plant my melons, cukes, zukes, and the like, but the timing was convenient for me to get them in the ground this week.  Unfortunately, something is eating off my zucchini.  I’ve scattered a bunch of Sluggo around them and am covering them at night, but the damage may be too great.  I might also set out some beer traps.

With regards to other pests, I finally conquered my ant problem with some food grade diatomaceous earth.  I’ve had three big ant colonies in and around my shed / chicken coop, and several big ant colonies at the back, where I had planned to plant my tomatoes and then squash.  While I was preparing my tomato beds, I discovered a HUGE nest of ant eggs and larvae and decided to take drastic action.  Perhaps some gardeners do not consider ants much of a pest, but they most certainly have not been eating whatever pests have been eating my veggies (so I question the supposed benefits of ants as predators), but seriously, six big ant colonies in one backyard is too many ants.

In other disappointments, I’m trying to be positive and consider it a scientific experiment, but some of my onions and leeks are doing fantastic and others are failing to thrive.  Please behold, thriving onions and leeks…

… and failing to thrive onions and leeks.  I’ve made an inventory of the differences in planting location, sunlight, fertilization, soil composition, soil temperature, and planting time, and by all accounts I don’t understand why those that are failing to thrive are doing so, considering that I believe they have the optimal growing conditions.  Maybe onions and leeks prefer sub-optimal growing conditions???  Also, for your information, the thriving onions and leaks are a month YOUNGER than the failing to thrive ones, yet they are about thrice the diameter.  Please tell me, what is up with this?

Also disappointing, the heat wave killed some of my pea plants.  Squirrels are still eating my strawberries.  Cutworms have eaten almost all of my beets.  I killed one of my bare root rhubarbs and bare root raspberries.  And some of my basil has died.  POOP!

The good news is that a lot of my plants are doing really well.  I’ve planted lots of pretty flowers around the house and have been eating spinach, kale, and red leaf lettuce from my garden.

Gratuitous Kitty Photo

That’s all for now.  Garden Soirée is tomorrow and there is SO MUCH left to do!  I’ll try to get some photos of my new party dress making it’s debut at the Soirée.

~ Craft Happenings 2013 v. 8 ~

May 082013
 

Happy second week of May everyone!  Thank you all for the reassuring comments on my last post, with regards to my bicycling (lack of) fitness.  Rather than feeling lame, I’m trying to get back on the bike and just ride as much as I can.  I’ve been having some very fun rides.  Over the weekend, Josh and I had a small bicycle adventure, which was smaller than we intended because (1) Josh forgot a few key pieces of cycling gear (including cycling shoes!), (2) there was an approaching storm, and (3) we got really lost.

We had been trying to ride out to these big craters in southern Idaho, but found ourselves on a free ranging cattle pasture with many roads to nowhere.

As for Me Made May, unsurprisingly, my desire to take a photograph of my daily Me Made Outfit has failed to manifest itself, particularly because I am knee deep in gardening work for The Average Last Frost Date and not wearing many Me Made Outfits.  I actually took off this past Monday and Tuesday to work on yard and garden projects and I’ve barely managed to scrub the dirt from underneath my fingernails for my return to the Day Job today.

Anyway, today’s Me Made Outfit features my Truffle Dress, my Zest Cardigan, and my Dreaming Shawl.  This Truffle Dress turned out a little too short for my comfort (particularly in the back) so I feel compelled to always were leggings or tights with it.  Also, I hope you all don’t mind my pairing an orange cardigan with an orange shawl, but I find this pretty fantastic.

As for the craft happs, I continue to knit and sew, but right now my world is ALL ABOUT the garden.  OH!  I did some thrift store shopping this weekend and, in addition to procuring some useful gardening implements, I found two pretty pieces of fabric for super cheap.  I’m not sure how much fabric this is (both fabrics reek of gross thrift store perfume) but once I give them a good laundering, I’m excited to use them.

Anyway, the chickens.  After much hemming and hawing, Josh and I decided to no longer let the chickens totally free range around the entire back yard.  Don’t get me wrong, I loved watching them run all over the yard, but they’ve started to reap havoc on my veggies.  I experimented with fencing off the veggies but ultimately decided to fence off the chickens into a good sized paddock area.  It’s about 10 feet by 30 feet, which is still a good amount of space for four chickens, and I’m working on planting some bushes and maybe a tree for them.  Over the weekend, Josh installed a lean-to structure from all of the scrap building materials that we had leftover from the shed roof project and the plan is to expand this to a more permanent run enclosure.  I’ve been seeing all kinds of hawks and falcons circling our neighborhood (there are a lot of backyard chickens in my ‘hood) and thought that by using some of this shiny metal roofing material that it might help to detract birds of prey.

Their paddock looks kind of junky right now, but we’re going to make it much nicer.  Along the perimeter, I’ve sowed several rows of corn and sunflowers, to give them extra shade and nibbling opportunities, as well as some nice currant and blueberry bushes in the main open area (not pictured).

Somewhat related, over the weekend, I made for myself some okra that I didn’t like (as much as I try, I just don’t enjoy eating okra… too slimy) and so I gave to the chickens the okra, and they LOVED it.  I have seeds for two varieties of heirloom okra and I can’t decide whether to grow it.  Clearly, I won’t want to eat it, but the chickens will.  So Readers, help me decide about the growing of okra… yea or nay?

As for the garden, this past week I’ve been focusing on preparatory work for planting ALL of my seedlings this coming weekend.  Weeding, preparing planting beds, weeding, turning the compost, weeding, rinse and repeat.  It doesn’t sound like much, but it has been a lot of work.\

Tangentially, please regard this fine lettuce.  I foresee a home-grown salad in my future.

I did take some time to plant a variety of ornamental plants, in an effort to beautify the rather stark backyard.  I selected some partial shade and mostly low water needing plants for the ‘drainage area’ at the back of the house, using some of the river rock and large slabs of wateverrock that we’ve dug up from the ground as a pathway and ground cover.  It’s still a work-in-progress, but it’s nice to finally have something pretty in the backyard.

Knitting and sewing continue.  I hope to have a finished sewing project to show you soon and next week I will hopefully have everything planted.  Also, I may or may not have a significant change in my existence coming up, which may or may not alter my crafting and/or blogging capacity.  (It’s nothing that you’ll find exciting and it’s nothing that I’ll be blogging about except in passing, but it would be a very big deal for me… so feel free to send some confidence-enhancing wishes my way, as I’m pretty nervous and excited about it.)

These are the strawberries that I grew from seed.

 

~ Craft Happenings 2013 v. 5 ~

Mar 272013
 

So many projects, so little time!… seems to be my echo from week to week.  This week, however, I can almost see a light at the end of the tunnel.

On the Knitting Needles

I continue to work on some secret projects that are occupying a lot of my time.  I have now worked on them long enough, however, that it finally feels that I have something tangible to show for myself.

On the Sewing Table

I am currently working on Vogue 8469.

I took a cue from the pattern drawing and decided to use some dotty fabrics in my stash.  These are both lightweight and sheer fabrics that I am sewing together and treating as one fabric, and I am using another mystery fabric that I found for very cheap at a thrift store for the lining (it is medium weight and very very soft).

The two dotty fabrics are very slippery and prone to unraveling, so I am being extra meticulous in their cutting and sewing together.  I’ve cut a size 6 for the bodice and 12 for the skirt, which are the sizes I cut for my most recent (and very successful) Vogue dress.

My local Hancocks is currently having a Big 4 pattern sale and I procured a few patterns and fabrics.  I had wanted to stock up on some pretty knit fabrics, but my local Hancocks is currently stocking only extremely fugly knits.  I was actually pretty disappointed in their selection of knit fabrics, to be honest, and am contemplating making a trip out to Joann’s (which will really involve some pre-meditation (as in, meditating and calming myself beforehand) considering that I would prefer to stab my eyes out than go to Joann’s).

Anyway, the fabrics are both rayon challis and I think they are very pretty.

I was surprised at how few patterns I procured – - I had actually wanted more patterns but they were out of my size block.  However, I am very excited to have gotten the pattern for V8884 because I really want to make for myself a cool weather trench coat.  (I’ve included the below photo for V8884 because I find it more stylish and inspirational than the pattern drawing).

In the Garden

Carrots and radishes are germinating in my raised beds, and the spinach, lettuce, and kale that I have planted are all doing well.  I could make a teeny-tiny salad with my baby spinach leaves at this point.

The other seedlings are all doing well.  I sowed tomatoes this weekend and they have already germinated.  My broccoli are all getting big and I’m wondering if I should transplant them into larger pots.

I constructed a raised bed for my strawberries, adjacent to my rhubarb bed (which is made from concrete blocks) using scrap untreated wood leftover from my compost pile and other raised bed projects.  Because I used scrap wood, it’s not the prettiest bed, but seems to be fully functional and was free.  Inside of the individual holes in the cinder blocks, I will try planting some companion plants (onions, marigolds, etc.).

I broke down and bought some strawberry plants because the ones I’ve been raising from seed are growing so slowly that I doubt they will produce berries for some time.

Here Chick, Chick, Chick

The chicks are outside more and more.  I constructed an improved outside enclosure for them, using hardware cloth, and included a bale of hay to help provide a wind buffer and to give them an extra warm spot.

It’s working out very well and they seem to really enjoy being outside.  Also, switching their bedding to children’s play sand has been the best decision!  It is almost completely dust-free and is so easy to keep clean (and is so inexpensive – - a 40 pound bag was $3.00).  I am still reviewing the pros and cons of different manure management systems, and can’t decide if I want to use the children’s play sand in their coop or the deep litter method (which are kind of opposite systems).  I have been reading over on BackyardChickens.com that many people have great success using sand, and my own experience in the current setup is amazing, but I also see great utility and ease in the deep litter method.  Decisions, decisions!

I mentioned before that I am reading this book, The Small Scale Poultry Flock by Harvey Ussery, and I love it.  It focuses on how to have an integrated poultry flock with your backyard garden, and is written in a very accessible and down-to-earth manner.  There is one chapter, “The Joys of Deep Litter” which is wonderful and he’s definitely sold me on the advantages and benefits of deep litter.  However, my reservations about it just stem from my being a novice with chickens.  I suspect that I will revise my poultry care as time grants me enhanced knowledge and experience.

As I was reading a little bit about incorporating cover crops to use for both your backyard garden and your backyard chickens, I was struck when Harvey wrote the following:

Always leave room for serendipity in your flock management (p. 226).

I like his approach and attitude to poultry husbandry.  Just getting chicks in the first place was something of a ‘happy accident’ and I like the idea that it can be a dynamic experience that evolves alongside the changes of the humans, of the backyard garden, and of the chickens themselves.  I get lamed out when I encounter some person’s personal opinions on animal husbandry that it must be done this exact certain way or else you’re doing it wrong.  What works for one person in one backyard situation might not work for another.

Anyway, I digress.

We’ve made a lot of progress on the coop.  The rain stopped (and the snow melted!) and Josh was able to finish off the structural supports for the roof, as well as install flashing, tar paper, and shingles, and then tarred everything over.  The roof is done!!!  Replacing the roof was the big thing that needed to happen.  Finishing off the interior should be much easier and faster.  We have formalized the plan for the interior and decided to have a very simple and accessible design.  Below is a photo of the scene this weekend when Josh was finishing up the roof.

On the Bookshelf

I finally finished reading The Moon is a Harsh Mistress by Robert A. Heinlein and overall I did not enjoy it.  Basically, it is about a future possible reality where we have a colony on the moon dedicated to mining ice and farming wheat for export back to Earth.  The first generation of colonists are prisoners sent forcibly to the moon, under a penal colony system, but then they all reproduce and have children who grow up and live their lives on the moon.  Readers have the opportunity to ponder the ethical implications of a penal colony system where children are forced to perform the same labor as their parents, even though they didn’t commit a crime.  Because of this ethical discrepancy, the people of Luna do not feel that they should all be treated as convicted criminals and forced into slave labor, and decide to have a revolution to gain independence.  There is also a master computer who controls everything on Luna and he supports the revolution.

Sounds exciting, right?  I thought so too.  What made the book unbearably BORING for me was the excruciating detail that the author continually provided about everything.  At first it was interesting reading ALL ABOUT how everything in Lunar society worked… how the air was filtered, how the temperature was regulated, how the master computer was programmed, how society was organized…but then it just became boring.  In between the excruciatingly lengthy details of how everything works, the characters also engaged in extremely long and detailed conversations about how they should structure their revolution.  This could have been more interesting had I not become bored out of my mind reading in detail all about the transportation and monetary systems.  Eventually, the revolution is underway, but to me, the reader, it seemed like hardly anything was happening because I spent hours reading all about the construction of their primary weapon.  Then a few things happen, and the characters spend an incredibly long amount of time debating the merits of representative government.  This was actually interesting for me, because I am interested in governance structures.  Then a few other things happen, and the characters have a really long conversation about whether they should continue their revolution.  This was particularly boring for me because they had already had an extremely long conversation where they agreed to have a revolution, so I didn’t understand why we were revisiting that already lengthy conversation.  Also, I was pretty annoyed about it because their conversation hinged on the fact that people were dying as a result of their revolution and they were having second thoughts about it.  If history teaches us anything, it’s that revolutions are bloody.  I’m no Karl Marx, but you really should consider the human cost of your revolution during the planning stage.  Then the revolution wraps up and the characters that I expected to die die and the expected result of the revolution is as expected.  The End.

YAWN!

I managed to finish this book on the day that it was due back at my public library.  I decided to finish reading it because some of the characters were sufficiently interesting that I wanted to experience their development and I was curious how the revolution would play out.  Considering that we all find different things interesting, and considering the variety of topics that are expounded upon ad nauseum, I’m certain that everyone would find something interesting in this book.  However, considering that few of us find everything equally interesting, I suspect that many would find this book extremely boring.

In view of the rather favorable reviews that this book has received on Goodreads, however, I must cite the statistical conundrum that book reviews are typically made after people actually finish a book, not necessarily by all of those persons who start reading a book but fail to finish reading it.  Upon finally finishing the book myself, I can see why some might rate it favorably; it had a good ending that was wrapped up well, and throughout the book there were a few interesting discussions and some interesting characters.  Even still, BO-RING!@!

Gratuitous Kitty Photo

~ Sewing FO’s: V8663 & V1236

Mar 232013
 

After hardly sewing for the past two months, I have completed two dresses in the past three days!  One dress is awesome and I love it; the other dress is horrible and the fabric is back in my fabric stash.

First, the happy-making dress.

Pattern: V8663
Fabric: Knit jersey (2 yards leftovers from my Queen of the Mountains Top)
Notions: Thread, Twill Tape, Zipper
Total Time: 3 Hours
Total Cost: Pattern $3.99, Fabric from leftovers

I made this dress on Saturday, over the course of watching several episodes of some silly TV show.  I didn’t have enough of either fabric to make the full dress, so I combined the two fabrics just like I had for my Queen of the Mountains Top.  To be honest, I felt very unsure about this fabric combination while I was working on it; worrying that it would be some silly dress that I wouldn’t want to wear.  But I was pleasantly surprised when I first pulled it on… it fits perfectly without my having done any formal fitting or thinking very hard about what size to cut, and the fabric combination seems to work very well.

I cut the smallest size for the bodice and then graded out to a size 12 for the skirt.  It is just amazing to me that this dress seems to fit perfectly even though I didn’t do an SBA or anything fancy on the fit (I wonder if this is the magic of working with knit fabrics).  I love the drapey skirt and the fitted bodice. For the armholes and neckband, the pattern calls for using commercially-bought bias tape, however, I made my own using the same fabric as for the skirt.

Here’s the obligatory ‘back view’.  I am confident that I cut the right sizes for both the bodice and the skirt, as everything seems to hang just perfectly.

And below, I am doing a happy twirl dance to show off how much I love my new dress!!!

I made this dress with two modifications, for which I got the ideas from Reviews on PR.  Firstly, I didn’t add the zipper at the back.  As you can see in the below photograph, I cut the back bodice piece as though I was going to install a back zip, but later read about other sewists having good luck with not adding the back zip at all and decided to try that.  I sewed the bodice and the skirt together using a long stitch length and stretching the fabric slightly, and I am able to very easily pull the dress on and off without any zipper and it is awesome (please refer to my happy twirl above).

Secondly, and also inspired by other reviews on PR, I topstitched the front pleats on the bodice and I love the design detail that this gives the piece (see below).  In addition, I think this helps the bodice fit my bust better (rather than having extra poofy fabric, it lays flat against my torso).

Anyway, I seriously love this dress and will absolutely, positively be making more dresses from this pattern again.  It was SO EASY to make and it FITS PERFECTLY after no fitting alterations and is possibly THE MOST COMFORTABLE dress I have ever owned.  I just love love love it!

And here we have one thing that is not like the others, with Kiko getting comfortable in my “sewing queue.”  As you recall, I had written a post about my spring wardrobe plans, and the above dress allows me to mark off one item from that list.  Below, I can technically mark this next pattern off my list, though I do not feel that I have another dress that is suitable for me to wear in public…

Pattern: V1236
Fabric: Woven cotton, 1.5 yards
Notions: Thread
Total Time: 3 Hours
Total Cost:  Pattern = $3.99, Fabric = $10 = = $13.99

So, there are some unfavorable reviews of this pattern over on PR.  A few days ago, I decided to disregard all of those unfavorable reviews and make this dress.  I had this BRILLIANT idea that I could make it more flattering by adding shirring at the waistline.

…And I made the whole dress, with the shirring.  And then I tried it on.  And then I felt badly about myself.  And then I took the dress off.  And then I stuffed the dress at the bottom of my fabric leftover stashpile to be reclaimed for another project.  And I never want to think about that image I saw in the mirror of me wearing this dress, ever again.

The positive is that I learned how to do shirring, and I also learned that shirring is not a magic solution to a dress that fits like a potato sack.  I wasn’t even going to write a blog about this dress (in part because there is no way that I’m going to post a photo of me wearing it; it is so awful), but it feels like such a waste of time and fabric to have made this dress and not even show it off (if only a photo of it laying on my cutting board).  So, BEHOLD! I made this and it is awful!!!  But regale in my SHIRRING!!!

Anyway, I’m very disappointed in the result of this dress – - it looks so cute in the pattern photos but it looks so horribly atrocious on me.  And I think my fabric was so cute, that maybe it could have been such a great dress… you know, if the pattern wasn’t drafted to be the exact opposite style of what I should wear.  I think that this style of dress is best suited to people who are equally proportioned on top and on bottom.  As a “pear”, I generally cut a skirt that is about four sizes larger than my bust, and I usually have to grade the bust down with an SBA.  This dress seemed to emphasize the  disproportionate sizing between my bust and butt, and was incredibly unflattering on either end.

In order to end this post on a happy note, however, here is my happy twirl again.  Yay for being able to make clothing that is well-fitted and flattering to one’s own unique body!!!

~ Sewing FOs: Tiny Pocket Tank & Mint Thurlows ~

Mar 152013
 

Apropos of nothing, apparently Google Reader is going away and I’m struggling to find a new Reader.  Does anyone have any suggestions?  I’m trying out Bloglovin’ (and apparently I need to claim my blog by posting about it, or something, I dunno) – - so I guess you can follow my blog there if you like (Follow my blog with Bloglovin).  But, le sigh, responding well to change isn’t my forté and I haven’t yet developed the lovin’ for Bloglovin.

But I digress.

Anyway, I finally have some sewing FOs to show you!!!  These were in hibernation for a LONG time, due to various home DIY projects and temporary chicken housing that required the total occupation of my sewing room.  Once I got my sewing room back, it took me all of 30 minutes to finish off these projects.

Pattern: Grainline Studios Tiny Pocket Tank
Fabric: 1.5 yards of cotton
Notions: Just thread
Cost: Pattern was $6.50 and fabric was cheap (but I don’t remember how much)
Time to Make: 1-2 Hours

So, I absolutely LOVE my Tiny Pocket Tank and will definitely make many more of them.  It was SO EASY to make and is a style of top that I very much gravitate towards.  I wish that I had made this earlier in my sewing career – - as of this writing, I am approaching my one year-iversary of learning to sew and making this top back when I was a total beginner would have given me a quick and easy project to gain a lot of confidence.  The pattern instructions were very appropriate for a total beginner and there were very few pieces to cut out and piece together (one back, one front, one pocket, and pieces to make bias tape for the arm and neck holes).  I didn’t make any alterations to the pattern (cut the smallest size).  For future versions, I hope to experiment with different fabrics.

(Also, I’m sorry that these pieces look so wrinkly in the photos; I feel rather frustrated with how cotton seems to wrinkle so quickly.)

Pattern: Sewaholic Thurlow Trousers
Fabric: 3 yards of cotton sateen
Notions: Trouser Zipper, Hook & Eye, thread.


This is the third wearable version of the Thurlow Trouser pattern that I’ve sewn.  Now that I’ve made it so many times, the pattern comes together like a breeze.  This version features a sort of mint colored cotton sateen that I was excited about when I saw the fabric at fabric.com, however, I am much less excited about them now that they are made.  Firstly, the color isn’t nearly as minty as the website led me to believe, and I actually don’t like the color all that much.  I wanted a BOLD MINT pair of trousers; these are muted and pretty blah.  I’m thinking about trying to dye the trousers to be more green-green.

Secondly, I’m a little wary of the appropriateness of this fabric for this pattern and am not so sure about the fit.  The fabric is very stretchy and very prone to wrinkling.  And since it is SO stretchy, I sewed the trousers together with a slightly larger seam allowance around the hip area because I was worried that they would stretch way out of shape after a small amount of wear.  Unfortunately, I haven’t been bicycling as much this winter (since it’s been so ridiculously freezing), and I’ve gained some weight in that area and I’m not sure the trousers fit very well, as a result.  (They might fit better once I resume my normal cycling schedule.)  I also wish I had cut them to be more of a straight leg rather than so boot-cutty.  (I might rip them apart and adjust them so).

All in all, these are very comfortable trousers that will be good for the Day Job, although they aren’t as stylish as I had hoped they would be.

For my next sewing project, I want to make a dress and am contemplating the following patterns: V1236, V8723, or V8663.  The last two are “Very Easy Vogue” patterns and the first one appears to also be very easy.

   

~ Craft Happenings 2013 v. 4 ~

Mar 122013
 

So many projects, so little time!

On the Knitting Needles

I have been going BANANAS knitting my Aesa pullover.  I have one sleeve done and am into the second.  The first sleeve fits PERFECTLY and the colorwork is very addictive.  I have so much going on right now that I probably won’t be able to finish this sweater for a long time, but it is very enjoyable to knit nonetheless.  (Also, I’m sure this goes without saying, but I haven’t yet blocked the sleeves, so the colorwork is a little bumpy).

I also have TWO sweater designs in progress!  I’ve been knitting a lot of accessories lately and I’m so excited to get back to sweaters.  And because I like to always knit two versions of a sweater to see how it looks in different yarns, one sweater will feature The Plucky Knitter Primo Merino Worsted as well as Knit Picks Wool of the Andes Tweed, and the other sweater will feature Sunshine Yarns Singly Ply Merino Fine  and another unidentified yarn.  It will be a month or so before I have anything ready for testing, but I wanted to mention that I’ve started running  test knits through my Ravelry Group, which feels kind of embarrassing to have my own group (especially since I’m not very good at the social aspect), but it has proven to be handy for test knits.

On the Sewing Table

Well, I have my craft room back, having moved the chicks to the basement (see below) and am excited to be able to spend time on my sewing machine again.  Last night, I performed a deep clean of the craft room and am hoping to finish my Mint Thurlows very soon, and then move onto my other spring sewing projects.  All that I have to do to finish these trousers are to top stitch the waist band, add the closure at the waistband front, and hem the legs.

In the Garden

My trays of seedlings runneth over as springtime waxes into warmer temperatures and longer daylight hours.  Outside, the kale and spinach that I planted are doing well under my frost-abatement frames, and some carrots are germinating.  Inside, my onions and leeks are going strong, as are my broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, peppers, and whatever else I have growing.  They’re a little leggy, but I don’t know how to get around that and still grow indoors (I do place them outside whenever the temperature is above freezing, which is now becoming more frequent).

I have one tray (with nine flats) of an heirloom variety of strawberries that has fully germinated, but I lost two other such trays (though, un-germinated) during an accident in which the table with all of my ungerminated seeds had tipped over (I can re-sow the brussles sprouts and other similar veggies, but the strawberries are a total loss (I have no more seeds and, considering that they needed a two week cold treatment and were sown 2 weeks ago, I just don’t think I can start the process over again, particularly because I haven’t found seeds for these specific heirloom varieties at local nurseries).  So, that is sad, but I can try again next year.

Here Chick, Chick, Chick!

The chicks are all doing well. They had a very exciting weekend.  Not only did they get a new home (a larger pen in the basement) but they got to spent a lot of time outside.

As for their new home, in consideration of their growth, Josh and I anticipated that they would outgrow their brooder faster than we had expected.  On Friday and Saturday, we built a larger pen for them in the basement (their brooder has been kept upstairs in my craftroom because the heat from our furnace doesn’t make its way down to the basement and I had been worried that they would be too cold down there – - but now that they are four weeks old, I am confident that they can be kept very comfortable downstairs with their lamp).  We had thought that they might remain in their brooder for a little while longer, but then on Sunday I decided that it was time to move them into the larger space; as they get older, their desire to run around, “fly”, peck in the ground, and dust bathe has increased and all of these activities have become challenging and obnoxious in their brooder (not only are they constantly trying to roost (and therefore poop) on their feeder, but they are also kicking and scattering their poopy bedding in their waterer, and on Sunday they completely knocked over their waterer TWICE while chasing each other around and “flying”).  It was time to move them into a bigger space.

(Note, I’ve converted the photos of their inside home to ‘sepia’ because the red light from their lamp makes the photos indiscernible).  (Also, of course while I was taking photos, they were all having a nap in their sod clod box, but when they are not-napping, they are very actively running and “flying” all around the pen).

Their new home is 4′ x 4′ and they have plenty of room to run and “fly” around, and they seem so much happier in their new space.  I placed a bowl of dirt for them to dust bathe (which they seem to have so much fun kicking around) as well as a box of sod clods for them to peck and forage at.  They seem to absolutely LOVE the sod clods and spend most of their time either pecking around or just napping on them.  I also made a small roost area and have observed the chicks roosting there at night.  I  was also able to place their feeder and waterer away from the hub of activity, and so the chicks are no longer soiling their food and water with poop and bedding.  Also, the more shy and anxious chicks seem to no longer be shy and anxious – - having a lot of space has allowed them to come out of their shell and they actively push their way through the more assertive chicks to get a good spot on the sod clods or the dirt bowl and I am very pleased to see this change in their temperament (before, I was worried that they were being bullied into submission).

One feature of their new home is that it has a side door so that when we open it up, we are presented to the chicks on their horizontal plane, rather than swooping down on them from above (as was the case with their brooder), so we no longer startle them by seeming like predators.  Spending a lot of time with the chicks is making them much more comfortable with us – - they will actually walk, of their own free will, onto our outstretched hands.

They also got to go outside this weekend.  It was sunny and warm, and we placed them into an outside enclosure that allowed them to soak up some sun and exist in a more natural state of pecking around in the ground and frolicking in the sunshine.  I was monitoring them very closely for signs that they were cold but they never looked uncomfortable and seemed to be having such a BLAST outside.  I think being outside gave them some very good mental stimulation and an opportunity for physical exercise, and they seem so much happier.  They’re four weeks old now and were ready to escape the confines of their brooder.

I think this chicken pose is hilarious!  Here is Joesphine trying to look at something she’s curious about.

And here’s Penelope showing us her big girl feathers.  Despite being the shyest of the bunch, she had a wonderful time being outside, pecking around in the ground, running and “flying” around, as well as chasing her sisters.

As for their coop, our plan is to convert part of our big shed into a coop (the shed is currently 9′ x 24′ with a 1′ thick concrete foundation and a human-sized door on either end) by sectioning off a third of the back part of the shed.  That would make the coop roughly 9′ x 8′.  We will also need to add a lot more ventilation and plan to fully frame and wall the coop area (as well as adding insulation).  I’ve been doing a lot of reading about different coop constructions, and one feature that I am excited to have is a ”poop board” with zeolite.  I was able to find a 40 pound bag of zeolite for $14 at the horse supply store and have added a little of it to their new home in the basement.  The stuff I bought is the powder version and I’m wondering if the granular stuff would be less dusty.  So many options to consider!

Anyway, you’ve seen photos of the outside of the shed many times, but here is the inside.  The roof has been leaking all winter and needs to be completely replaced (Josh is working on that today) and we’re going to do a full internal remodel.

Anyway, I’ve been learning so much about keeping chickens and I find it actually very fascinating!  Whereas I used to spend all of my internet time poking around on Ravelry and PatternReview, now I’m clicking away over at Backyard Chickens, which is amazing in the wealth of information on backyard chicken keeping.  I’ve also been obsessively reading through the following tomes:

          

Anyway, even though I wasn’t fully prepared to get chickens when I got them (as in, no coop constructed), I am so happy that I took the plunge.  The chicks are such a delight and I am so looking forward to having them part of my garden ecosystem.

On the Bookshelf

Despite all of the chicken reading I’ve been doing, I have also finished two books since my last ‘Bookshelf’ update.

After a non-fiction kick, I had the inclination for some fiction and I randomly decided to read The Inn at Rose Harbor by Debbie Macomber, upon seeing it prominently featured at my local public library.  I have never before read anything by this author, but I found it pleasantly heartwarming.  The story centers around the themes of loss, grief, self-imposed guilt, forgiveness, and redemption, focusing these themes on three characters in a small Pacific Northwest oceanside town.

I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this book.  It is not of a genre to which I normally gravitate (typically, I enjoy more nerdy reads (see below)) but it was a nice change.  In looking at the Goodreads page for this book, I see that it is placed into the genres of romance, chick lit, and Christian fiction… so yes, genres to which I don’t gravitate, but a nice read nonetheless.  Part of what I liked so much about the book was the setting in a small Pacific Northwest town, which was such a quaint little scene that I could imagine retiring to the same town in my old age and being very content.  The book really did leave me feeling all warm and fuzzy inside.

 

Of course, after reading such a heartwarming tale, I had to immerse myself in some solid science fiction to get all of those fuzzy feelings out of my system.  Enter Variable Star, a book outlined by Robert A. Heinlein and written by Spider Robinson.  I haven’t actually read that much Heinlein in my life and I’ve never read any Spider Robinson, but this book made me want to read much more science fiction (in fact, I am currently reading The Moon is a Harsh Mistress by Heinlein).  Variable Star is a story whose outline was discovered by Heinlein researchers several years ago and, during a science fiction convention in Toronto fewer years ago, someone suggested that Spider Robinson write the book to go along with the outline, and things progressed from there.

I very much enjoyed most of the story.  Not having read Robinson before, I wasn’t sure what was his and what was Heinlein’s.  There were a few neologisms and references to current popular culture that I didn’t care for (such as the term “to google” as a way of searching for information on an electronic database, and references to The Beatles and The Simpsons, etc.).  I also didn’t really care for the ending; in the epilogue to the book, Robinson explains that Heinlein’s outline didn’t have an ending and that he agonized about how to end the story for a long time.  I can’t imagine what a difficult decision that would be to make – - trying to decide how to end what is probably the last book by Heinlein (the “dean of science fiction”), and opening yourself to all kinds of criticism for whatever ending you chose.  Nevertheless, I really enjoyed this book and found it was one of those books that are very difficult to put down — on many days, I stayed up well past my bedtime delving farther into the world of Variable Star.

Gratuitous Kitty Photo

I haven’t come close to mentioning a small fraction of the yard work that I’ve been doing.  But the weather has been very nice and Kiko has been enjoying being outside with me while I toil away in the dirt.  She even came outside while the chicks were out and was more interested in gnawing at some grass than her feathered friends.

Nom, nom, nom.

~ Craft Happenings 2013 v. 3 ~

Feb 072013
 

It’s been a few weeks since I posted a crafting update.  This is kind of a meager update because of some  unexpected home improvement opportunities, but I have gotten quite a bit done.

On the Knitting Needles

Due to a sudden need for a mindless small project that would be easy to quickly pick up and put back down, I have started working on a pair of stranded socks using the Parallax doubleknit scarf pattern.  While I would like to knit this pattern as a doubleknit scarf someday, I am hesitant that the psychedelic motif would be rather bold as neckwear for myself, and socks might be better.  For this first sock, I’m using leftovers of my Abstract Fiber Matisse yarn (in the Shady Glade colorway) and a skein of lime green Koigu.  I don’t have enough of either of these yarns to make a pair of socks, so the second sock will be in different colors, which might be nifty.  After all, who said that socks have to match…

I really love stranding with one variegated yarn (the Abstract Fiber) and a coordinating solid yarn (the Koigu), it just looks so neat.  Anyway, I charted out a simple checkered toe for these socks (if you click on the below image, it should become larger for you) and I’m planning on charting out a simple checkered heel as well.  (In fact, it’s so simple that a chart is unnecessary.)  Also, in the photo above, I am only about halfway through the colorwork chart, so you cannot quite discern the pattern yet; check out the pattern page so see what it’s going to look like.

On the Sewing Table

Since I posted my ambitious sewing queue a few weeks ago, I have managed to finish a Tiny Pocket Tank and am well into a pair of mint green trousers using the Thurlow pattern.  I’m hoping that these two pieces will coordinate well with each other, so that I might have a nice outfit.  Below, you can see that I am giving these trousers patch pockets.

I am still committed to sewing from that queue, and was thinking of actually tracking my progress on it and setting a goal to have this queue all marked off by June.  As a recap, here are the pieces I am hoping to make (listing them as follows makes this queue seem much more manageable):

TOPS

  • Colette: Jasmine Blouse
  • Grainline Studios: Tiny Pocket Tank – - DONE!
  • V8856
  • S2050 (OOP)
  • V8815

BOTTOMS

  • v8328 (OOP – Skirt)
  • Mint Green Thurlow Trousers – - In Progress
  • Sew Serendipity: Multi-Fabric Skirt
  • S7329 (OOP – - Gardening Overalls)
  • Colette: Meringue Skirt

DRESSES

  • V8723
  • V8663
  • V1236
  • S8832 (OOP)

On the Homestead

With regards to my garden activities, the seedlings that I sowed a few weeks ago are all doing well.  We haven’t had much actual sunlight, so they are having to endure a plant light setup.  This weekend, I was planning on starting my strawberry seeds but then I realized that I was supposed to “cold treat” the seeds first, so the seeds are now in my freezer getting their cold treatment and I hope it’s okay that they will be sown a few weeks late.  I’ve been trying to keep myself very organized with all of the different seed starting timelines, but this “cold treating” business totally fell through the cracks.  Oh well.

Above are the seedlings for my leeks (Lancelot & American Flag (heirloom) varieties) and my onions (Sweet Spanish and Ailsa Craig (heirloom) varieties) and below are all of my herbs (basil, rosemary, thyme, chamomile, lemon grass, garlic chives, valerian, and others I cannot remember right now).  I actually gave my leeks and onions a big haircut this weekend because they were getting so long that they were just falling over and I read that it’s good to keep them shorter until they have the strength to hold themselves up.  I’ve been using whatever containers I can find around the house for my seed startings; I always keep the plastic containers that plants come in, so I have a lot of those, and I’m also using old toilet papers rolls with good success.  I also procured a box of wooden coffee stirs that I’m using to write the name and variety of each set of seedlings, because I want to keep track of all my plants.

I have also started sowing some flower seeds using a “winter sowing” idea that I found on Pinterest.  Basically, you use old milk jugs to create mini-greenhouses and leave them alone outside until the spring.  I just planted these flowers as an experiment to see how well this system works (I was too scared to try it with veggies just yet).  I’ve started reading all about ‘four season’ and ‘winter gardening’ techniques and am very interested in trying to have a garden going year-round, so I’m planning on doing all of this seed starting stuff for fall crops again in July or August.  I’m also very interested in having a huge food preservation system (including freezing, drying, canning, and root cellaring) so as to enjoy my fresh produce as long as possible.   Instead of going shopping at the grocery store, I’m excited to go “shopping” from my own food stores.

On the Bookshelf

Finished reading Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee: An Indian History of the American West by Dee Brown and it was a really good book.  As expected, it was absolutely heartbreaking but very much worth my time to read.  I don’t think I can write about this book without going on a political and social justice rant, so instead I will just recommend that everyone read it for themselves.

Here is the synopsis from Goodreads:

“Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee is Dee Brown’s eloquent, fully documented account of the systematic destruction of the American Indian during the second half of the nineteenth century. …  Using council records, autobiographies, and firsthand descriptions, Brown allows the great chiefs and warriors of the Dakota, Ute, Sioux, Cheyenne, and other tribes to tell us in their own words of the battles, massacres, and broken treaties that finally left them demoralized and defeated. A unique and disturbing narrative told with force and clarity, Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee changed forever our vision of how the West was really won.”

On the Kitchen Counter

For dinner tonight, I made some Parsnip Fries and they were simply DE-LICIOUS!!!!

~ Spring / Summer Wardrobe Planning ~

Jan 292013
 

In many ways, preparing for spring and summer begins in the depths of winter.  With gardening, for example, if you want to have seedlings ready to plant by your average last frost date, you should start them (depending on the variety) several weeks or months in advance.  Likewise, in attempting to craft a self-made wardrobe, January and February might be an excellent time to start making one’s spring and summer clothing pieces.

To that end, I have tried to create a sewing queue (sorry, no knitting since I knit for cold weather) that uses fabric exclusively from my stash.

Colette Patterns: Jasmine

Much like the Renfrew (which I have made thrice and love, love, love), I do believe that Jasmine would be a perfect wardrobe builder for me.  Cut on the bias, this top doesn’t have any closures yet still flatters the figure, and can be easily dressed up or dressed down.  Unlike Renfrew, this top is sufficiently blousey to be appropriate for more professional work environments but I can easily imagine pairing it with a pair of cut-off jeans and working in the garden (side note, I do not actually own any cut-off jeans because the inner thighs and butt area of my pants wear out much sooner than do the knees, but I digress).  For the main fabric, I would like to use this very light weight floral polyester, and use the cotton dotted fabric for the contrast.

Grainline Studio: Tiny Pocket Tank

While we’re on the topic of wardrobe builders, the tiny pocket tank will be a must-sew for me.  I wear tank tops just like this pretty much constantly during the summer… which has resulted in all of my tank tops wearing very thin over the years.  I can see myself making quite a few tiny pocket tanks, but this one will be the first.

V8328 (OOP)

I’ve already made this pattern, somewhat unsuccessfully, and I think it has a lot of potential as a spring skirt in a lightweight fabric.  My love for polka dots has occasionally landed me with strange wardrobe pairings, and I don’t have a plan for what top I would wear with a skirt in this fabric combination, but I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it.

Vogue 8856

I’ve actually started making this top (View A in gray) out of some scraps of fabric I had leftover from previous projects.  As I was making it, it seemed to be a little above my skill level… and then I realized that I had sewn several pieces incorrectly and I decided to set this project aside.  I would like to return to it and try to finish it.  Since the fabric is all scraps, I wouldn’t feel too disappointed if the top was a disaster, but it could be awesome.

Thurlow / B5614 Hybrid Pants

Using the pant block that I modified from the Thurlows, I’d like to try making a pair of capris using this MINT colored cotton sateen fabric.  I haven’t thought this “plan” though at all, so I cannot answer any questions about the construction as yet

Multi-Fabric Skirt from Sew Serendipity

I’ve been meaning to make this skirt for a long time and I think one of the neat things about this pattern is that you can use it as a stashdown project to use up some scraps.  This fabric combination might be rather tacky, but I could really love it.

Simplicity 7329 (OOP)

Okay, okay, don’t hate this because it’s beautiful!  I found this pattern while I was digging around at a thrift store (procuring it for a measly $0.20) and I think it would be just PERFECT and ADORABLE in this floral UPHOLSTERY fabric!!!  (If the fabric looks familiar to you, it’s the same that I made the kitchen curtains from (which are awesome)). Don’t you think that a pair of floral overalls would be an AMAZING outfit for my gardening activities?!?

Meringue Skirt, Colette Patterns 

I was poking around on the internet recently, looking at finished Meringue Skirts and, WOW, there are some adorable Meringues out there.  This fabric is a LONG and sort of narrow piece of upholstery fabric that I (yes, you guessed it) bought at a thrift store for a few dollars.  I am confident that I have plenty of fabric to make this skirt, but I will probably have to be creative with the cutting layout.

Vogue 8723

I think this dress could look really cute on me.  The only problem is that I don’t have good fabric to use.  So, I am hoping to make a “wearable muslin” out of this gray fabric (not sure what it is… and yeah, it’s another thrift store find).  I suspect that this color of gray isn’t a good color for my skin tone, so I dunno if I would actually wear it, but I would like to get the fit of this dress right and then buy some pretty fabric.  Or, maybe this fabric could eventually be used as the lining for the prettier version of this dress.

Simplicity 2050 (OOP)

These are the cutest little kimono blouses!  Again, thrift stores seem to be a MECCA for finding awesome sewing patterns, fabrics, and notions.  I’ve got enough fabric left over from my Sorbetto to make one, and I am thinking of making View 3 with the contrasting bands.

Vogue 8663

I told you that I am bananas for contrasting polka dots.  When I made my Queen of the Mountains Renfrew, I was concerned that it would bring to mind some kind of Minni Mouse thing.  Fortunately, I don’t think it does and I still have plenty of fabric left to make this dress, using the white with small dots for the bodice and the red with big dots for the skirt.

Vogue 1236

This dress has received mixed reviews.  It appears to be an okay pattern, but I guess the bodice is extra generous and the fit of the dress is very sack-like and unfitted, thus making absolutely necessary the belt.  Nevertheless, I still think it’s a cute dress and I might be able to get it to work out.  Maybe, I dunno.

Simplicity 8832 (OOP)

This is another “don’t hate it because it’s beautiful” combination.  In the way of “Color Me Beautiful”, mustard yellow is definitely a color that I should avoid wearing next to my face.  But, le sigh… I happen to LOVE mustard yellow and I am confident that I will able to rock this frock with a matching pair of gray and mustard yellow shorts (View 3).

Vogue 8815

Okay, I thought this was clever – - peplums are trendy, “putting a bird on it” is trendy, so combining the two in order to have a peplum blouse in a fabric with toucans is going to be the best.  I think the line drawing for this pattern is pretty boring, but there are some fantastic FOs from this pattern.  I’m sure my birdie version will also be fantastic.

… In conclusion, I’m sure that you will agree that this is a completely reasonable queue for a spring and summer wardrobe.  I have set all of these fabrics and patterns aside and am resolved to diligently working on the items in this queue (until such a time that I decide to work on something else).  :)  Now, the only thing I need to make a decision about is whether to start on the Jasmine Blouse or the Tiny Pocket Tank.  Decisions, decisions.

Do you all have any plans for spring and summer crafting?

~ Sewing FOs: Truffles! ~

Jan 282013
 

Little by little, I think I’m getting better at this sewing business, though I still have a long way to go before I can say that I am no longer a beginner.

Pattern: Truffle Dress
Fabric: Moderate Stretch Rayon for Muslin and Moderate Stretch Polyester for non-muslin (3 yards each)
Notions: Zippers
Alterations: Small Bust & Sway Back Adjustments
Sizes: 0 for the bodice, 8 for the skirt

This pattern is from the Colette Sewing Handbook which the author uses to impress upon the up-and-coming sewist to carefully plan out the pattern (measure & alter the pattern pieces, make & fit a muslin) before cutting into your fancy fashion fabric.  Below is my ‘wearable muslin.’  In the making of this muslin, I was very responsible and I engaged in all of the aforementioned best sewing practices.  Even still, when I first finished my muslin, it had a pretty good fit, although there was considerable bagginess at the bust despite the SBA.  To try and correct the bagginess, I pulled the fabric from the front of the bodice up and over to the inside and handstitched it to the lining.  I suspect that was a very ‘slapdash’ way to correct the fit, but I didn’t see any other way and, heh, it’s a muslin anyway.

As for the construction, one major modification that I made to the pattern was to convert it to a side zipper rather than a back zipper.  Please, can someone clarify for me why it seems that most dresses have back zips?  I do yoga regularly and seem to have pretty good shoulder flexibility, but the idea of having to contort my body in such a way as to zip up a back zipper is beyond practical.  Or perhaps there is an easy way of zipping up (and then zipping down) a back zipper???  I have no idea.  Anyway, in employing the Colette Handbook’s recommendation about planning out my pattern, I therefore eliminated 1/2 inch from the back pattern piece (since I didn’t think I needed that space for my zipper installation).  The only funky thing about this pattern modification was that I couldn’t figure out how to then ‘right’ the lining.  Per the pattern, with the right sides of my bodice pieces facing, I stitched the neckline and the armholes, leaving a small hole in one of the shoulders to pull the dress through so that the right sides would be out.  I pulled the dress out of this hole multiple times and each time it was the same; I could pull only one half of the dress through correctly and the other half would be twisted.  Later, as I was pondering this when I should have been sleeping, I realized that I had inadvertently made a moebius (so for the second version of the dress, I cut open the back bodice where the zipper would have gone and was able to pull the dress through correctly).

I spent several days ruminating over what I should do about this lining conundrum and I finally realized that I couldn’t have both the neckline and the armholes stitched the way that I had them, and ripped out the stitches at the armholes and was able to flip the lining over the neckline to the inside of the dress.  I then was faced with two raw edges at each of the armholes and wasn’t sure what the best method of finishing them would be.  I spent a few more days thinking about this and finally just decided to use some of the bias tape that I continue to buy for super cheap at thrift and antique stores.  From my stash, the color and width of bias tape that seemed most appropriate was this kelly green that I actually like quite a bit, though it does make the dress seem more casual.

Having successfully made a wearable muslin, I then confidently started cutting into my fashion fabric, and that’s where it started to go awry.  First, because the bodice of the muslin was so baggy, I decided to augment my SBA even more dramatically and I think I somehow made a concave bust adjustment.  After I initially put enough pieces together for a try-on, I was horrified to find that I couldn’t even pull it onto my body.  Fortunately, I had just enough fabric left over to cut out the bodice pieces again, which I did and tried to re-correct my over-correction in the bust.    Then, I don’t understand how or why, but my front and back bodice pieces weren’t lining up at the sides and so I ripped and re-stitched.

I guess all of this made me cranky (sadly, the Colette Handbook doesn’t have a chapter on what to do when you want to throw your sewing project into the incinerator) and I started losing interest in finishing this dress, instead dreaming about what project to work on next.  However, because I am trying to be better, I persevered and finished the dress without too many more unexpected moments.  I think it turned out okay, but I feel that my muslin was much more successful than this version, which feels like a disappointment.

I think that the business of the fabric print detracts from the design effect of the front drape piece.  Also, I don’t know why this one is so much shorter than the muslin; I definitely prefer the length on the muslin.  And below you can see my side zip; for the fashion fabric version I decided to use just a normal zipper rather than an invisible zip.  However, one good thing about this version is that the fit of the bodice is MUCH improved and I definitely prefer it to the muslin with the weird wrinkles at the neckline where I slapdashed it to fit better.

I’m still patiently waiting for the time when my sewing skills are sufficiently advanced that I can just proceed the sewing best practices of planning and muslining, and then actually make a finished piece with relatively no frustration or difficulty.  I’ll be celebrating my one year anniversary of embarking on this sewing journey in March, so I guess I shouldn’t give myself such a hard time that everything is not easy and perfect yet.

~ Craft Happenings 2013 v 2 ~

Jan 222013
 
Holla, fellow crafters!  I write this thrilling post feeling a little grimy and dehydrated, but chipper and wide awake, as I opted to use my final water ration to make coffee this morning rather than hydrate myself and wash my face.   Yesterday, the main water line leading to the house froze solid and we were without water for about 24 hours.  Boise is currently experiencing a prolonged deep freeze, and this year is on track to be the fifth coldest winter since 1865, with temperatures on average 14 degrees (F) below normal, with some days as much as 24 degrees (F) below normal (source).  We’re talking nightly lows at -3(F) and daily highs of 18(F).  Anyway, the water technician was at our house well into the evening yesterday trying to thaw out the main line, to no avail.  They returned early this morning and spent several hours working on it.  I have learned that we have very thick copper pipes, which are less prone to freezing and bursting (which is good), but unfortunately when they do freeze, they are very difficult to thaw.  The technician also said that they received over 150 calls yesterday about frozen or busted pipes, up from the daily average of 75-100 calls during the last week.  So I guess this deep freeze is kind of a big deal in Boise.

Anyhoo, with it being so ridiculously freezing outside, it has felt perfectly natural for me to hole up inside and work on various crafting activities.

Featured Finished Project(s)

This past week, I finished three pairs of baby pants and four more pairs of baby booties (all in a variety of sizes) for my friend’s newborn.  These were quick and fun projects to complete, and an excuse to use fun fabrics and silly yarn combinations.  Both are free patterns and were very nicely drafted/written.

Baby Pants

 Pattern for Basic Baby Pants
 Fabric: Scrap Cotton (approx 1/4 yard per pant)

Pattern for Baby Booties
Yarn: Scrap Sock Yarn
Needles: US 3

Baby Booties

On the Knitting Needles

I started a new guilty pleasure knitting project, which is particularly naughty of me because I have a HUGE design-thing with a self-imposed deadline that I’m feeling pressured about.  This new project is the Aesa Pullover and I couldn’t resist casting on after seeing some of the beautiful finished projects on Ravelry.  I was able to justify starting this project by telling myself that I already have the yarn in my stash, with further justification in that this would be a good stashdown project.  …sigh, I guess when it comes to yarn and casting on for new projects, I can always find a way to justify it.

Aesa Pullover… first sleeve (unblocked, so it’s a little uneven)

As for my color choices, I didn’t have sufficient yarn in one colorway to use for the main color, so I opted to combine two similar colorways and alternate them each row.  As you can see, I am alternating the darker Garnet Heather yarn with a somewhat lighter Currant colorway, and I really like how it almost looks like I’m using a tonal / semi-solid yarn.  Anyway, because of my strict self-imposed deadline, I most likely won’t be finishing this project anytime soon but I’m sure to sneak in a few rows here and there, when I’m feeling particularly naughty.

On the Sewing Table

I am currently working on a Truffle dress from the Colette Sewing Handbook. Even though I still haven’t finished my Anise Jacket, I was so impressed with the Colette pattern instructions that I bought this book, as it seems to be perfect for my Advanced-Beginner sewing level.  This book really impresses upon the sewist to methodically plan, prepare, and implement one’s sewing pattern, by carefully measuring the pattern pieces against desired finished measurements, making a muslin and incorporating pattern alterations, before cutting into your expensive fabric.

Truffle Dress Muslin

Ms. Sarai of Colette Patters would be very proud of me; as I have done all of the above best sewing practices.  This is my muslin that I am working on and I am hopeful that it will be a wearable muslin.  The fabric is some rayon that I bought at a thrift store for just a few dollars and once this is complete and I identify any needed modifications, I plan to make another version in a prettier fabric.   And I will tell you more about the making of this project in a lengthier FO post.

Around the Homestead

Despite the deep freeze, according to my gardening calendar, it is now time to start a few seeds.  Over the weekend, I received my substantive seed order from Pinetree Seeds and was able to start two varieties of onions (Ailsa Craig and Sweet Spanish), two varieties of leek (Lancelot & American Flag), as well as several herbs (basil, thyme, lavender, oregano, catnip, chamomile, valerian, rosemary, chives),  some catgrass for Kiko, and a tray of alfalfa sprouts.  Onions are so vital to my existence that I’ve started several early and plan to start more in a few weeks (and again a few weeks after that) so as to have a continual onion harvest.  And since onions and leeks are conveniently cold hardy, I am going to try transplanting them outside before the average last frost date, both to make room in the kitchen (which is bound to become a little crowded with all of the seedlings) and to distribute the manual labor involved in transplanting over a longer period of time.

Seed Starting

While I was buying all of my veggie seeds, I decided to buy some sprout seeds and a sprouter.  I have never been a big sprout-eater, mainly because sprouts always seemed overpriced.  One 3-4 ounce packet of sprout seeds (which I bought for $1.95) has enough seeds for 16-18 trays worth of sprouts (and I think each tray is 2-3 servings of sprouts), so they are very economical to grow oneself, and also fun to watch.

Alfalfa Sprouts, Day 2

On the Bookshelf

I finished reading The Great Fire by Jim Murray and I give it 3 out of 5 stars.  This was a quick and easy read about the fire that destroyed a large part of Chicago in 1871, with first person accounts and a brief overview of the root causes of the fire and its aftermath.  I suppose that I wasn’t an unbiased reader for this book, as I finished reading The Big Burn (about a huge fire in Idaho in 1910) by Timothy Egan not that long ago, and The Great Fire pales in comparison to the Big Burn.  Egan’s book was amazing in its breadth and depth with regards to the root causes of the fire, the first person accounts, and the aftermath, whereas The Great Fire was more of a quick overview in all three of those areas.  Egan’s book was also notable in how well it was written; Murray’s writing style was considerably less captivating.  Having a masters in Public Administration with an emphasis in wilderness and natural resource policy, I loved how Egan’s book really explored the public policy implications of the fire, and how the fire and the resulting public policies then shaped the future of the American West.  Murray alluded to how the fire in Chicago exacerbated the social and economic disparities that were already existing at that time by mentioning that the fire displaced the already underprivileged farther into the margins, both physically into the outskirts of the city and also socially in terms of the stigma and stereotypes surrounding them.  However, I was left unsatisfied in my understanding of the fire in Chicago and what it’s long term implications would be, both for the city and the people.

Joie de Vivre

Somehow this winter, despite the deep freeze and the inversion making the air gross and hazy, I have managed to stay feeling happy and haven’t experienced the downward plunge into depression, which tends to happen to me during the winter.  I think part of it is how I’ve really settled into crafting as a way to whittle away the cold winter hours but I’ve also been spending some quality time with friends.   Over the weekend, for example, I went on a glorious hike in the 4 degree temperature with my friend Amy, her mom Cathy, and Bowski.  We were able to escape the inversion and its gross yellow-air quality by driving 10 minutes into the foothills, up Rocky Canyon Road, to hike Orchard Trail.

The snow was so deep at the top of Orchard Trail that it was difficult to not sink in.

Cresting the top of the ridge

Bowski running to the front of the hiking train

Pretty ice crystals

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