I got Little Man to take some photos for me this morning. Between the mosquitoes and the heat they're not the greatest to show the outfit maybe, but to be fair, it is 28C / feels like 36C with the humidity and there's a heat warning in effect today. Great day to pick to take photos of a BLACK sweater, wouldn't you say? By the time we got a few shots I was pretty much eaten alive and wilting from the heat, so I decided it was good enough and we fled back into the house for a cool glass of lemonade. Apparently there are limits to what I will endure for the sake of my project pages and blog. LOL.
As you may recall from my earlier post at the beginning of the month I was taking part in the 2015 Outfit Along hosted by designer Andi Satterlund of Untangling Knots and Lauren of lladybird.com.
The great thing about the outfit along is that while there is an official cardigan and dress pattern, you don't have to use them to participate. The goal being to end up with an outfit you love and will wear, you're free to choose any combination of patterns. One of the participants is doing a sweater and a pair of jeans, so it really is whatever you want so long as it makes a complete outfit that has a sewn and a knit component. So I chose to do the official cardigan pattern, which is Vianne, but chose Violette Field Thread's Ginger Dress instead of the official McCall's pattern.
The sweater went together well, although very slowly (only because I seemed to lose all knitting mojo). I did enjoy the pattern when I was knitting it though. The mesh panel in the back and the lace kept it interesting. I did my usual mods for Andi's patterns and did fewer decreases in the body, so that while it's still fitted there's not quite as much negative ease across my midsection. Other than that I knit the pattern as written. I really enjoy Andi's patterns (evidenced by the fact that this is my fifth cardigan pattern I've knit of hers! I've also knit Miette, Hetty, Myrna and Marion) and this was no exception.
The Ginger Dress was the first pattern I've ever sewn from Violette Field Threads. It was fairly straight forward and the sizing pretty good for the most part - I did have to make some adjustments, but that's not unusual. I did make a few changes besides the ones for fit. I swapped out the centre back exposed zipper for a side seam zipper, so as not to be dependent on anyone zipping up my dress for me. (How does the rest of the world manage with back zippers?!?) I also swapped out the halter straps in favour of shoulder straps. I felt that the dress would be more comfortable that way without the constant need for adjusting and tugging at straps, or tying it so tight I gave myself a sore neck. The third modification was to add a bit of elastic along the top of the back bodice. I do wish I'd modified the pockets. The pockets sewn as drafted are seriously tiny. Too bad I didn't notice their petite size before finishing the dress. I much prefer large, fit everything but the kitchen sink, pockets. Oh well. C'est la vie. I'm not about to start undoing seams at this point!!
Wrapping up, once again this year the Outfit Along was a really great experience. I've got another outfit that I think will get lots of wear and I had lots of fun along the way.
I'm not 100% sure what my next project will be. The knitting mojo is still lagging although I've been working on a pair of socks and I picked up some gorgeous yarn (thank you Mom for the birthday money that I used to purchase it with!) to knit an Antrorse in the upcoming Summer Sweater Knit Along in the Very Shannon group on Ravelry.
I've got quite a few sewing projects lined up that I want to get done so I'll probably try to focus on those for the next while, probably starting with a Sis Boom Jamie Dress using my Gertie Tropical sateen that I ordered from JoAnn's earlier this summer. It'll be another pattern that fits perfectly into Heather's Sundress Sew-A-Long.
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