Black Ribbon Necklace

The necklace was not expensive, perhaps $10, but it was difficult to string the beads onto the ribbon. I copied a necklace I saw Zooey Deschanel wear in a Cotton ad recently that I really liked. Then, the next day, I dropped into my local Wally World and found similar necklace/earring set for $8. Well, I bought them, too so I'd have matching earrings and another layer of black faceted beads in case I felt MORE IS BETTER!


Project: Black Ribbon Necklace
Cost: $10
Project Time: 2 hours
Note to Self: Next time check Walmart first?? Nah!

Sound of Music Dress

The Sound of Music dress... Why? Like our lovely Maria, I used old curtains to make a play dress! These used to be my living room curtains and since we moved, I've been using them to line my cutting board for slippery fabrics, for muslins, and just to look at on my shelf! The dress is constructed from the muslins for my Coral Silk Cocktail Dress which makes it NEARLY free. All I had to buy was a zipper. And since I'd already cut the pieces in the construction of my silk dress, I only had to cut the lining from the fabric leftover from the shirt dress I made for my daughter for Easter. So, on both the moolah and time fronts, this dress is super economical.

Also, very cute, I think... it has a rather 1960's feel and is in a cool cotton for summer, with a shell print or anemones or just... what are they??? Whatever they are, they will be perfect for our trip to the beach this summer! It's styled with a thrifted white woven belt and a necklace I made of ribbon and black faceted beads.

Project: Sound of Music Dress
Pattern: M5972
Project Time: 4.5 hours
Cost: $3
Note to Self: Wear with black flats or brown sandal wedges and rock it, Girl!

Making in Blue

I've been working from a palette for a bit now... blues, greys, mushroom, salmon, and coral pink. This is an aqua heathered baby alpaca yarn, a whole skein, it's soft and warm and beautifully dyed...

I have a whole skein left after making this, and Japanese Butterflies Neckwarmer:

I made it in honor of the cherry blossom festival in DC, this year, celebrating the anniversary of Japan's gift of cherry trees to the US. See the butterfly motif?

Oh, and here it is on me, as well as a little preview of a project not yet blogged but finished today!

A baby gift from organic cotton, another blue project I'm working on:

Project: Japanese Butterflies Neckwarmer

Cost: Cascade Pure Alpaca, less than one skein, $16

Time: 10 hours

Note to Self: If only you looked good in cowls... this is a great color on you.

Coral Silk Cocktail Dress

I wore this dress the day I finished it... which was New Year's Eve 2011, styled like this.

It's a delicious red 4 ply silk, drapey and brilliantly dyed, in a gorgeous coral red.  I've worn it to the theater with my husband (there was a handmade trunk show... all the makers were able to spot a kindred spirit in me), to Smoke in NYC, and to the wedding... and each time I got tons of compliments, which is really super fun for ME!!  I think the collar has a sort of 1960 feel to it, which I love.

My first silk dress has been a success, and given me confidence to try more "difficult to work" with fabrics.

Pattern: M5972


Fabric: 4 Ply coral colored silk, tangerine rayon for lining


Cost: $65

Time: 18 hours, including cutting, which was challenging

Note to Self: Make sure to interface the collar next time you make this dress

Dressform

I have a new model... She's a trooper, I tell ya! Just stands there, modelling my clothes quietly, and she's just my size! Here she is in my new top and skirt... 

And here in my new top and an old skirt that I made two years ago.

These are both Lisette patterns, which aren't difficult to sew at all... the top was actually cut out on Tuesday morning and worn to quiz night at a local pub Tuesday night... of course, someone said it looked like blood spots were on it (sob). It's actually made from Japanese double gauze by Naomi Ito, and a dream to work with... presses beautifully, and has just a tiny bit of bite, I hardly had to pin the straight seams at all! It's thin but not see through, cool, and the prints have that lovely Japanese minimalist aesthetic and refined feel. I bought some that's a wee bit thicker for a summer dress that's coming up soon in the queue. The color of natural muslin, that thick cream color is good for my coloring.

The skirt is a nice cream corduroy... Good for spring or fall, though it's a wee bit short for my taste... perhaps I'll have to fit the next one more carefully at the waist and lengthen a smidge. For there WILL be a next one, the pattern is simple and clean and not difficult to sew. 

I think the buttons are sweet, but I've already replaced the ones I used for a St. Patrick's Day dance.

Patterns:  Both Simplicity, Skirt: 2211, Top: 2245


Cost: Skirt: $20, Top: $26


Time: Skirt: 8 leisurely hours, Top: 6 hours

Springtime in NY Socks

J'adore these socks, oh so much!!!! This is my souvenir yarn from my NYC trip in March... this is the color everyone was wearing... a toned down version of tangerine, perhaps? The color of the year is one that most people would rather die than appear in, though I look darn good in it. These socks were begun in the hotel in Manhattan and finished two days ago. What took me so long? I didn't bother to read the pattern thoroughly before beginning and got confused. Silly me.

Soooo, I actually knit four socks total.... two false starts, pulled out and re knit.... then a complete sock, but wrong, then a correct sock, then pulling out and re-knitting the first sock. It's good I don't have SSS (Second Sock Syndrome, the waning of love for a sock pattern upon completion of one sock, resulting in single socks with matching balls of yarn sitting in your knitting basket) or TSS (Third) or FSS (Fourth), though those last two aren't real things at all... Okay, so maybe SSS isn't a real psychiatric diagnosis, either... Although, I maintain that knitters are different from ordinary humans, better in many ways.... ha!

Mmmmm, I think they're gorgeous... Hello, Springtime in New York.

Pattern: Cadence Socks

Time: Endless hours of knitting the same yarn over and over

Cost: 2 skeins of KPM for $26 purchased at Purl Soho (notice I said AT, not from... I loved the shop in Soho!!)

Note to Self: Read the entire pattern before beginning and save yourself some time, Lady!

Gingko Leaves Shawl

Here is a knitting project I've had done for a while, but it was a birthday surprise for my model, so I couldn't really take pics till her birthday! She, like most adolescents had an ambivalent attitude to the gift, so I think from now on I'll just let her pick her knitted and sewn things herself... blah!!! I am, however, proud of the finished object, the yarn is a graduated hand dyed yarn called Galadriel's Crown. 

Project Cost: $36


Yarn: The Unique Sheep Verve


Pattern: Ginkgo Shoulderette Shawl


Time: 12 hours, I think


Note to self: Ask Prairie Princess for gift guidance next time... but forbid puppies.

Fitting a Grey Dress

A couple of pics of a dress I'm working on... And a shot of my iron and nails... Someone's favorite color just never gets old!!!

Making Small Bouquets

My Austen rose, Carding Mill, is blooming again, and my mint is taking over the space beneath some bushes in front of my house... So I thought I'd make a little fresh smelling bouquet to grace my sewing table.