Spring Wardrobe Planning

Hi! I've been inspired by some of my favorite sewing bloggers (Colette and Grainline) to do some Spring Wardrobe Planning, as I needed some Spring togs to get me through this most fitful of seasons and into Summer (I am also lacking something fierce in Summer clothes). I've been wearing the autumn tees and jeans, which is a little depressing at this time of year. So, I decided to add some peach and grey pieces to the wardrobe... I have some peachy pink fabric that I bought two years ago, with the same goal in mind, but never used to make clothes. This corduroy and tshirt knit:

I've decided that the knit has enough to make two tops if I'm very careful, so I'll be making a 3/4 sleeve tshirt for Spring, and a tank for summer. The corduroy is intended for some pants that I may never wear... pants are notoriously hard to fit and I'm not really an experienced fitter, as of yet. But I plan to do some little things like grading sizes and then hope for the best. It can't be any worse than buying RTW pants and I can get a little practice with a peachy pink corduroy that would be pretty daring for me to actually wear in public anyway (what was I thinking??) maybe I can make some lighter pants for spring/summer if I like the fit.

I also bought this floral chiffon at the local Joanne which fits my color palette. I plan on a loose fitting tank that can be worn with a skirt or shorts, or maybe those pinky corduroy pants, if I ever gather the courage to wear them... I plan on altering the Sorbetto top pattern to get a looser, flowy-er feeling for the chiffon. I DO NOT plan on making self fabric binding with this stuff. That sounds like a nightmare... I'll use the binding I made for my failed pink Sorbetto (which maybe wasn't the rayon I was told it was, because I melted it just a little).

I also have this peachy and grey shirting fabric that I was planning on making a shirtdress with, but haven't gotten around to yet... this project may wait till next year, though. My sewing queue is filling up fast, and I don't have a ton of time to set aside for sewing. Unlike knitting which I can do anywhere in odd moments, sewing requires me to almost always be in my room.... sewing or cutting or piecing, etc. and I do have six children to educate and care for.

I'm feeling ambivalent about this shirting, though... I thought it would be a good wardrobe basic, but now I'm thinking a flesh tone dress might not be just the thing... 

Sorbet

Here's the finished dress, worn by the recipient, a lovely little lady that I just happened to make, too. The linen is a nice heavy weight, soft and drapey, not a crisp linen. It does wrinkle, though. She loves it, and I think it's a perfect summer dress. 

Pattern: See n Sew B5872

Cost: $60

Time: 6 hours

Note to Self: Maybe a preteen doesn't need a $60 dress??? I have one more to make anyway!

Progress on the Girl

So, some progress... these socks are quickly coming along. They're some plain vanilla socks to let the variegated yarn shine. Though plain vanilla socks CAN be boring, they're good for knitting while you're doing something else like listening to a lecture, or reading out loud, or driving (just kidding!). But seriously, I CAN read aloud and knit if I have something to hold the book open for me. Also, I think the little silver fibers are so fun! 

Glamour Girl

What's that?! Why it's some Yarn Love with little silver fibers in it! Yay! It's called Glamor Girl and OHHHHHH, it's pretty. I've had it for a while now, sitting in my yarn bin, and I thought it was time to get it out and make something for MY glamour girls!

The pink is some Knit Picks Bare fingering that I used to exhaust the dye pot when I overdyed orange Shadow yarn to make the cinnabar colored yarn for my Cloisters wrap. I think it'll be a good contrast, if I need one. I'm not sure what else to do with it... it's not superwash so it's no good for socks.

Pointelle

Look how pretty! These socks are so beautiful... I don't know if I can wear them. I may have to give them away.  Look at the mirroring of the patterns, the way it moves diagonally, the way the ribbing flows into the pointelle lace pattern!

Pattern: Pointelle by Cookie A. knit.sock.love

Yarn: Claudia Handpaints Addiction Lipstick

Cost: $30

Time: I really should start timing myself so that I can tell you guys how much time it took!

Note to Self: Why bother with shoes when your socks are so fabulous?

The Sorbet Dress

Here are some little details from the Sorbet Dress. I used Hug Snug as hem tape. Hug Snug is a rayon ribbon that is used to finish seams or as a hem tape like I used it. Here is a tutorial on how to finish seams with Hug Snug. It's a really pretty and couture way to finish seams. On this dress I didn't finish the seams since it'll be gently worn, lined, and handwashed.

Here is a detail I am very proud of. I used a hand stitch called a pickstitch as an understitching for the lining of the dress, since understitching by machine was well nigh impossible and one doesn't want the lining popping out of the dress! Here is a tutorial on how to pickstitch.

More pics later!

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!

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.

Pink Beauties

Well, I used to NOT be a fan of pink... but I'm starting to appreciate it thoroughly. I got this yarn in a sock club by Yarn Love... I've always adored their yarn colorways, but just couldn't choose. I was frozen by indecision and just bought NONE. In the club you only get two choices a month (I can do THAT)and then get 100 grams of whatever you choose... this is a DK weight in the Colorway Cosmopolitan... you can see why it's named that...


I still have like 50grams left... I want to find something WONDERFUL to do with it, but what???

Here's what I did with the first 50 grams! This pattern is inspired by some fingerless gloves worn by a character in one of my favorite shows... and even though I'm afraid you'll all judge me for it... Oh, I'll just tell you... it's Dr Who!!! But holy moley, I love these mitts! Four to six year old girls all over the world agree with me, and you can't go wrong with that! Look how the yarn makes the cables and texture pop, I love it!


Pattern: Rose's wrist Warmers
Yarn: Yarn Love Amy March in Cosmopolitan (all their yarn names are literary figures or characters, I heart them so much!)
Time: 1 week
Cost: $12
Note to Self: Never pass up an opportunity to buy Yarn Love yarn! And make a pink paperbag skirt to wear with them!

Cloister Wrap

I'm still making stuff like crazy!! For example: I overdyed some orange laceweight with pink and got this marvelous soft coral red, and then, to exhaust the dyepot, I threw in a failed attempt at vegetable dying... And I have bubblegum pink fingering weight yarn! This red yarn is for a travel project... I'm going to NYC, and of course, seeing the Cloisters! I found a lace shawl pattern with a cloisters lace pattern... Should be pretty in coral...

Painting in Color

Painting my dining room counts, I think! Painting the ceiling wasn't THAT hard, but it was a challenge. I think it was worth it!

Project Cost: Martha Stewart Paint Colors: Mushroom 1 gallon Satin, Powder Puff 1 gallon Flat. $28


Time: FOREVER I didn't bother to tape the trim, and it was a LOT of trim


Notes to Self: Find those pretty apricot Lusterwear tea things and get them displayed! Find a new china pattern to collect.