The Itch to Stitch Poas Jacket

 Well, it's been a bit longer than I though since I last wrote a blog post.  What can I say?  It's been a ridiculously busy fall.  I won't bore you with the details and instead am going to get right down to the point! 

I just wanted to stop in and show off the newest Itch to Stitch pattern that I was lucky to test!  It's the Poas Jacket - a cropped semi-fitted woven jacket with all the trimmings of double princess seams and lots of opportunity for topstitching.  It's in the not so new size range and includes cup sizing making fitting so much easier!

I'm so enamoured with this jacket.  I really had no business sewing a test project when I have a million and one things on my to-do list, but I love wearing my cropped denim jacket I bought about 15 years ago and thought something similar but different would be a great addition to the wardrobe.

I mentioned there is quite a bit of top stitching, which I definitely think adds that professional touch to the jacket, but it was time consuming because I had to keep changing out my threads from seaming to top stitching.  No different than making jeans but to be honest most of the the things I've sewn over the last few years have been pretty basic, so it was a bit of an adjustment to have to slow it down a bit.  Not that it's a bad thing.  I think a "hefty" project every now and again is a great way to get back to the basics of the craft.  Don't worry though - it may have made me slow down my sewing process, but it's not hard to make.  The instructions Kennis provides are, as always, top notch and easy to follow.  She breaks everything down so well.

I think spring and fall is going to see a lot of wear!  I can pair it with my jumpsuits, my dresses and my jeans.  

So I'll leave you with the link in case you want to give it a go yourself.  Click here to go to the Itch to Stitch Website for the Poas Jacket Pattern.  It's even on sale for the release week!

I've got to dash...  It's high time I get the boys and myself out the door to school and work.  

Basic Black - The Summer Sewing Edition

So, if there's one thing that I think is fairly obvious, I normally gravitate towards bright colours.  Throw in a bold print and I'm even happier.  However, in August I suddenly seemed to gravitate towards ALL the black fabric.  So much so that I even ran out of black thread.  I never run out of black thread.  

I sewed five different garments in the month of August and three of them were black (save for the dress that had a tiny white spotty print on the black background).   What a contrast from my eye searingly bright orange tropical Charlie Caftan!

My first black garment I sewed was the Marcel Dress from Chalk and Notch.  I used a rayon challis that I have had in my stash for a few years and chose the long version of the dress.  The Marcel dress is a whole lot of dress.

I wasn't sure actually how I felt about the sheer volume of it, so did make a waist tie in the same fabric to see if I liked it cinched in at the waist.  It's not bad, but there's something I still am unsure of.  I had a bit of gaping in the bodice that I tried to fix and made a dog's breakfast of, so now there's a bit of pulling, but I think the only way to correct it, would be to take the top of the bodice off entirely, cut a new one and reattach. Which seems like a lot of work for a dress I'm not in love with. Although I'm actually thinking of taking off the bottom section from the last tier down to see if I like it a bit better with a little less length.  It might be just the fabric too.  I think the volume would have been better suited to a brighter fabric. Or maybe it's just generally I'm suited to brighter fabric.  We'll see... maybe I'll appreciate it more next summer.  

My next project I sewed up was an Oasis Top from Sinclair Patterns.  It's the first women's pattern of theirs that I've made.  I did make a men's cardi for my husband last winter that both he and I were really happy with - me for the pattern drafting and sewing of it and him for the fit and the style of it.  I wasn't sure though how a women's pattern would work out.  I initially bought the Oasis to make the dress, but though making a top version first would be a good way to check out any  issues I might have.  I had none.  The top was perfect.  I didn't even add any length to it!  The great thing I've discovered about Sinclair patterns is their sizing includes petite, regular and tall.  How handy is that?!?!  Like the Everton Cardigan I'd sewn last winter, I was really impressed with the pattern drafting.  

The Oasis top has become a go to top for me.  I made it in a pointelle knit from The Fabric Snob that I picked up at their VIP night back in June when they opened a location in the city and it's in constant rotation! (Can I just say how excited I am that they have opened that location?  It's conveniently located in the south end of the city, a short drive away from my husband's work and right on the route I take whenever we go to Costco or the zoo... although my bank account might not think it's as convenient as I do.  ha ha!)

My third project in basic black is another favourite.  Made out of The Fabric Snob's boyfriend knit in the "Robert" colourway, my Love Notions Sunday Romper is the comfiest garment I own.  If it was at all hygienic or acceptable I would never take it off (alas, it does have to get washed and I'm pretty sure people would start to look at me funny if I wore it every single day)  

I made the dolman sleeve version and used the cropped leg length and it is definitely LOVE.  With it's double v-neck design it's super easy to get in and out of, which is an extra bonus when it comes to jumpsuits.  I though it needed a little something to define the waist a bit better (or my lack of defined waistline in any case) so I made a self tie belt to go with it.  Did I mention I LOVE this outfit?  I keep toying with the idea of making a full length velour one for Christmas Eve this year.  I've had that velour in my stash for about four years now for a Christmas Dress, but maybe a Christmas Eve jumpsuit would be better?  What do we think of that? Would it be too much?  Hmmmm.  I need to ponder this more.

So those were my three garments I made in black.  With the left over scraps from my Oasis top and Sunday Romper I decided to try my hand at making some undies.  While I've sewn just about everything under the sun, that is one thing I've never bothered to make, although I keep meaning to  because I've got so many left over jersey scraps. 

I'm not going to show you them.  That just feels weird for me.  But I'll tell you that I tried out three different patterns - The Acacia from Megan Nielson,  the SoZo Undies from the So Zo What Do You Know blog and the DL21 pattern from Make Bra that is now called the Retro Panties patterns.  The first two are free patterns. Acacia requires a sign up to Megan Nielson's newsletter and So Zo has a link that you give her a donation if you'd like - did you know she also has a brand new podcast out?  It's called Check Your Thread and I've really been enjoying it so far!  The third pattern is under 5 Euros, so a pretty good bargain.  I will definitely use up my knit scraps on the Acacia and the SoZo in the future, but personally I think I'll skip the third pattern.  It a good pattern and I like the design, but for me personally I like the fit of the other two better and for a scrap buster type project I just can't be bothered to fuss with doing a lot of fit modifications.

So that brings me to the end of my month of sewing a lot of black fabric.  I'm craving all the colours and all the florals now even though I ended up with two new favourites and a sundress (that maybe just needs to wait till the heat of next summer hits for me to properly appreciate it)

School is back in session though as is tackle football for the boys.  Which means between feeling a bit run off my feet during the day and then getting home from work in time to turn around and head back out to the football field four nights a week, I've been too tired to even head into my sewing room let alone work on any projects.  So I'm not sure when I'll next stop by to talk crafty persuits with you because I think any progress is going to be slow as molasses until I get into the groove of back to school.  

PS:  I don't mean to sound humdrum about work.  It's exhausting to be sure, but so great to have students back in the school and back in the library.  It's crazy to me to think I've not held proper classes in the library since the 13th of March, 2020.  I hope with the vaccine/mask mandates here in our province it will help keep us in there this year!  It's been such a delight to see the wonder on the student's faces as they rediscover the library, and some discover it for the first time.  My travelling library gig last year sufficed, but this is so, so much better!  I'm excited about all the possibilities this year holds!

A Summer of Sewing with Minerva

 First can we acknowledge that summer just flew by?  It feels like only a few days ago I was shutting the lights off in the library on the last day of June and here we are, three weeks into August already.  I have one week left of summer before I head back into the school for what I truly hope will be a better year than last year.  

Instead of dwelling on that though, I thought I'd focus on happier things.  Like sewing.  I've done loads of sewing for summer this year!  (My sewing room shows it too.  OOOH boy!  It's a complete disaster zone down there.  I really, really have to clean it up one of these days.  But I digress!  Back to happy thoughts!  ha ha!)

As I've mentioned before in previous posts, I am part of the Minerva Brand Ambassador Team.  I have been a customer of theirs for a long time.  With their selection and customer service they are definitely a go to for me so I'm honoured to be part of their ambassador team and so very grateful for the fabric they send me to work with.  Over my time being an ambassador for them I've had the opportunity to use some absolutely beautiful fabrics and these last few months have been no exception.  So I thought I'd do a quick run down of my summer of sewing with fabric provided by Minerva!  (By the way, I have more in depth individual posts complete with links to the fabrics on each project over on the Minerva site under my profile that you can find by clicking here)

So let's get down to it shall we?  First up, from back in May, was my Sonia Estep Designs Mandy dress.  This was my second time using a SED pattern - the first was the Danielle Cardi which I made for my daughter for Christmas then made three more of for myself during the winter.  I was a little nervous making a more fitted garment from a pretty new to me designer, but forged ahead knowing a knit would be pretty forgiving.  Minerva provided a beautiful Art Gallery jersey print for this project and it was both amazing to sew with and to wear.  It's so soft and luxurious and I love how the only pop of colour is the pixelated butterflies on the pale lilac background!

My next project a few weeks later was a Sew Over It Sylvia Robe in a beautiful, crisp floral cotton lawn.  I liked that there was lots of colours I could pull from to pair with tops.  (In this photo I've paired it with a viscose Ashton Top - fabric is also from Minerva that I bought during a sale and of course my well worn Lander Shorts)

For my next project I used a stretch viscose in a floral linen look print.  I have worn this dress over and over since I snipped the final threads from my sewing machine.  I love absolutely everything about it.  For this one, I used the Helen's Closet Ashton top and added some gathered tiers and waist ties.  It's cool and swishy for the hottest of days and I literally live in it.  

Since one can simply not have enough "throw on and go" t-shirt dresses (or at least I think you can't anyway) my next project was from a favourite tried and true pattern.  This is the Sew Over It Heather dress of course and I believe this makes my fifth version of it.  Let me see... I have a quilted one that was my first, a t-shirt one I did, then my third one was a ponte one - you can see that one under my Minerva profile if you scroll back a ways - oh, and yes.  There was one in between that I still need to fix pockets on and hem that I wasn't sure I liked the fabric on so I abandoned it... I should dig that one out and finish it for winter!  And then yes.  Number five is this one!  I love it's sweet dragonfly and floral print!

Ooooh!  I really like this next project, although I haven't actually really worn it yet.  I'm planning on getting oodles of use out of it when I head back to work thought.  It's in a great border print chambray.  I'd never worked with a border print before so was a bit hesitant, but I love how it turned out!  I can't wait to wear this Itch to Stitch Recoleta Dress* in a touch cooler weather!

This next project was made using a new to me fabric and new to me pattern designer.  The fabric is an Art Gallery poplin and the pattern is the Paddington Top from the Peppermint Magazine, designed by French Navy Patterns.  I've never used a Peppermint Magazine free pattern before.  I know they're very popular - you can't swing a cat on social media without bumping into a photo of the wildly popular wide strap maxi dress they have, but I had never got around to trying one of their patterns out.  I was so impressed with the pattern and instructions for this top and the fabric, being Art Gallery, is absolutely top notch!  

My last project of my sewing for summer with Minerva is one that I have been wanting to make since last summer's Instagram "Caftans and Cocktails" challenge that I never got around to partaking in.  Partly because I couldn't find Charlie Caftan worthy fabric and partly because I was too intimidated by the centre front panel from reading too many blog posts that told me how terribly hard it was to do. (For anyone out there feeling overwhelmed and intimidated here's my take on it now that I've made the pattern. Don't let it put you off.  Mine may not be 100% perfect, but I'm here to reassure you that it's not as awful as everyone makes it out to be.  My only words of advice are to take it slowly, mark your sewing lines clearly and I found using pins to be helpful.  You can do it!!)  This bright orangey coral tropical rayon challis pretty much screams "swan about it a caftan" doesn't it?  I liked how it turned out so much I've got another one in the works as a very last minute summer sew - providing I get around to it that is! LOL)

So that's been my summer sewing with Minerva!  I'll be back soon (well, I'll try anyways - I always have the best of intentions to get my blog posts done and then I seem to not have enough hours in my day for all the things I want to get done).  I've got some more summer sewing I'm hoping to show you though before we're fully back in the swing of all things fall.   

The Reynolds Top

Here we are the middle of summer and it's finally a rainy day - we've had such a hot dry summer here in the prairies, so it's very welcome.  It also means that I have some time to sit down and write a blog post that I had actually intended to write at the beginning of July instead of August.  However, since I've left it so long, I now have another project to add in here. Procrastination at it's finest.  Ha ha!

One month ago today, I turned 50 years old.  Leading up to my birthday, I decided that a 50th birthday was an occasion that definitely was deserving of a special new dress, even if my plans for my birthday included nothing more than sticking around home for the day other than a short hike at our favourite spot to take our dog Jasper for an off leash walk.  

When Helen's Closet released the Reynolds Dress and Top pattern I snapped it up the minute it was released, printed it off and assembled the PDF the same day.  I had my fabric cut out by the next day. And my dress was sewn and hanging up waiting well in advance of my birthday.  It took quite a lot of restraint to not wear it before hand, but what is the point of a special birthday dress if you're not going to wait until your birthday to wear it?

I love this pattern so much!!  It's quick and easy to sew which is my favourite thing these days!  It's a simple design so it lets your fabric really shine as the star of the show.  As with all of the Helen's Closet patterns the instructions are well thought out and include all sorts of helpful tips throughout.  The attention to small details is there as well with mitred corners on the side slits of the dress and the option of doing flat felled seams.  I sewed up a straight size 18 D with absolutely no changes to the pattern at all.

I knew exactly what fabric I was going to use on it too, without any hesitation.  In fact, I had my fabric picked out of my stash from the minute Helen had said on the patreon podcast that she would be releasing it soon. I had my eye on this large scale floral linen at Fabricland for over a year!  When it came out, I fell in love with it, but it was just too expensive to justify buying.  Every time I saw it in the store I was tempted to buy it, but even when it was discounted it still wasn't justifiable.  Then earlier this spring I was wandering through the clearance section of the store just having a browse about and suddenly I spied the bolt of fabric marked down to 70%!  Hello!  That's a completely justifiable purchase in my books!  I couldn't believe my luck.  I bought it and tucked it away in my stash waiting for the perfect pattern to come along. 

I was thrilled with how my dress turned out!  The Reynolds is great to showcase the large scale print, and it's so comfortable to wear.   I wore it, as planned, all day.  I even swanned about Tourond Creek in my hikers and dress when we took Jasper for his walk that day.  It was quite a look, I'm sure.  Ha ha!

I kept thinking that a Reynolds Top would be a great addition to my wardrobe too.  I have a couple pairs of cropped Itch to Stitch Samara Pants* that I made a few summers ago.  One pair I pair with a modified Crystal Cove Cami as a faux jumpsuit, but the other pair I really have nothing to go with so they continually just sit in on the hanger unworn.  I had bought some linen last summer with the intention of making a Ashton top out of it, but never got around to it, and thought that it might work out nicely as a Reynolds, so I sewed it up on Monday morning in about an hour and a half.  (Had I not had to change serger thread, ran out of bobbin thread and broken a needle it would have been even quicker).  

The only difference from the pattern was that I lengthened it because I'm not one for wearing cropped tops at all.  Otherwise, like the dress, I made no modifications.  I'm really happy with how it turned out too.  Don't mind the wrinkles.  I ironed it, then sat down for a bit in it before taking the photos and well, it's linen.  You've just got to embrace the fact it wrinkles if you so much as look at it.  

While I'd made my top originally thinking solely of having something to wear with my purple and blue Samaras, I was pretty excited to realize that it would go with my other pair as well.  It's nice to have a different look for them than just my faux jumpsuit one! Win! Win!

Now I'm wondering how many Reynolds are too many Reynolds?  I have some more fabric that would be perfectly suited to a top and I've got some cotton that I'm thinking might be cute in a shorter version of the dress... decisions, decisions...

The Glenelly Top

Hello dear readers!  I'm back again with a quick little post about my newest sewing project.  I'm sure it will come as absolutely no surprise at this point when I tell you that it is, of course, also the newest pattern to be released by Itch to Stitch.  Once again I got in on the ground floor so to speak with this one, and was a pattern tester for it.

I love wearing tee shirts but tend to stick with a few tried and true patterns that consist of either raglan or set in sleeves and either a plain round or scooped neckline or if I'm feeling particularly adventurous, a v-neck.  But you know what they say.  Variety is the spice of life.  And Glenelly definitely provides that!

I was really drawn to the open neckline of the Glenelly top with it's angled front corners and wide sweeping cut. It takes the idea of a plain tee and dials it up a notch in interest both in design and the sewing of it.  Of course, like a lot of ITS patterns, it looks more complicated than it really is.  Kennis is always very thorough in her instructions and walks you through those corners step by step.  

Once you've got the corners down pat, the rest is easy peasy and goes together like any other t-shirt neckline really!  And the rest of the shirt?  Well, there is absolutely nothing complicated about it at all!  Raglan sleeves, side seams, hems.  That's it, that's all.   Did I mention that the neckline really only looks complicated?  If you take it nice and easy and follow the steps it shouldn't cause any aggravation and I think it's well worth the effort!

I was quite pleased with the fit of this top -  I always say I have line backer shoulders so I found it really suited to my shape as is.  But don't worry!  If you've got narrower shoulders, Kennis has a modification you can do to bring the neckline in as necessary.  Just check out her handy post that's linked from the instructions!

My top is sewn out of the famous Fabric Snob "boyfriend knit" (Sorry I can't remember the colourway - maybe it was Joseph?  Not sure! I don't actually see it on their website right now).  For size reference, I sewed an 18 (full bust) and sized down to the 16 at the hips.  Only alteration needed was my standard 1 1/2" length.

I planned all week to get a dress version done as well to show you, but here we are, release day and I've not even dug out my fabric that I want to use, so I guess that's not going to be happening just yet.  What can I say?  It's nearing the end of June.  There's seven more school days left to go in what feels like a year that's lasted approximately eleventy million months.  I'm just plain old worn out.  (Pretty sure everyone is at this point.  Not just me!)  The end is in site though.  I did my last library classes yesterday and started the year end inventory.  And in a little more than a week I will be on summer break.   And one of the first things I plan on doing is sewing up a Glenelly dress! (I also have another Recoleta planned for those first few days of summer break too!)

Anyways, I hope you'll check out the Glenelly pattern and give it a go.  If I get that dress made next week as planned, I'll pop up an update here to show you how it turned out as well! (although don't hold me to it... I may well be sitting on the deck just staring off into space for a bit. LOL)

My Favourite Pants

 

Hello, hello! I'm here today to talk about my FAVOURITE pants.  Now, if you follow me on Instagram at all, this will be absolutely no surprise because they have shown up over and over again as part of my Me Made May outfits this year.  I wore them on the first day and I wore them today on the last day and I wore them multiple times in between.

I'm talking, of course, about the True Bias Lander Pants.  Several summers ago I made a pair of Lander Shorts to try out the pattern for the 2018 Outfit Along and see if they lived up to all the "Lander Pant Love" hype.  Reading back on that post I was surprised to see that I'd not been very happy with them at first.  I'd completely forgotten all my trials and tribulations in sewing them up. All I knew was that as far as I've been concerned over the time since making them, they most definitely were worthy of "Lander Pant Love" because I've worn those shorts every summer since - they are literally my favourite pair of shorts.  After wearing the shorts so much the first summer, it was always my intention to make a pair of cropped Landers.  It's the same old story of procrastination though and those cropped pants took me almost three years to actually sit down and make. I really think in the interest of not wearing the same pair of shorts or pants day in and day out this summer, I should really get going on making another pair of each.  

I did have to tweak the fit of the Lander Pants this time around again just a smidge.  I took a bit of a wedge out of the centre back at the waist, then I took in the side seams a bit more than last time, but my biggest change and it's a definite game changer in the fit, is that I went ahead and altered the waistband from a straight to a curved one.  I LOVE the fit of them now!  

I did have some adventures in cutting out my waistband.  Don't forget my pattern has been sitting around for three years now.  I guess glue stick glue doesn't last forever maybe? Long story short, part of my waistband pattern piece went missing (unbeknown to me) so I drafted my curved waist band according to what I thought was my original waistband.  Spoiler alert:  It did not fit.  Of course it did not fit!  I was missing a good chunk of length from it.  Agggghhhhhhhhh.  I ended up piecing it together on the outer layer strategically underneath where the front belt loops sit so no one is the wiser. (Well obviously you all know now, but you can keep a secret right?)  I did the facing with diagonal seams to piece it together a little more discreetly, although now that I think about it, it's really not like anyone is going to be seeing the facing of my pant's waistband.  Huh.  Could have saved myself some time if I'd thought of that fact earlier and not been so stressed about disguising my pieced together fabric!  Ha ha!

All's well that ends well though and I really love wearing these cropped denim Landers.  They are the comfiest pair of pants I own and as you can see from the photos I've shared here from Me Made May,  I reach for them time and time again. 

Now I just need to figure out what fabric to make my next pair out of.  I have some green twill that I'm hoping I have enough of for a pair of shorts, and I've got some light blue denim I could make another pair of cropped pants, but maybe I should do a twill of a different colour?  Or maybe a heavier linen? (I wonder if that would work.  Hmmmm.)  In the meantime, while I'm pondering my fabric choices, I guess I'll just have to keep washing and wearing these ones on constant rotation!

The Recoleta Dress

Well hello again!  This is getting a bit embarrassing... I always have the very best of intentions to post and then somehow another few weeks goes by and I don't do it and then I casually saunter back into the blogosphere with another new Itch to Stitch* pattern.  I do other crafty things besides test for Kennis.  Really I do!  One of these days I will hopefully get around to sharing some of those other things...

But today is not that day.  Today is the latest pattern from Itch to Stitch and I am really looking forward summery weather that I can wear it in! (It was only 5C the day I took my photos.  I would have appreciated some summery weather l tell you! Brrrrr.)  

Let me introduce you to the Recoleta Dress. 

Recoleta is in the new Itch to Stitch size range of 00-40 and A-DD cup sizes. It's a empire waisted dress that gets it's shaping thanks to bodice and skirt darts.  It features short or 3/4 length sleeves and has a pretty split neckline.  The neckline is completely faced (and enclosed) which has got me thinking of doing a version with some floral embroidery on it... maybe in a lightweight denim...

Sorry.  I was just daydreaming there.  There are just so many projects I want to sew and so very little time to do them in.  So.  Back at the project at hand.

I chose to make my Recoleta out of a Rose and Hubble Cotton poplin.  I bought it a few summers ago at the Fabricland in the city because I loved the little flamingos marching across it.  Then I had no idea what to make with it, so into my stash bin it went.  I actually had forgotten about it until I went looking for something suitable for my dress.

After I cut out my pattern, I came to two revelations.  The first one being that my flamingos were indeed marching in neat little rows across my fabric.  My second revelation that came close on the heels of the first was that those rows basically acted and stripes and I hadn't given a blessed thought to matching the pattern up at all when I cut it out.  With disappointment at certain looming pattern matching disaster I sat down to sew.  I can not express how shocked I was to find out that somehow my lines were matching up.  Coincidental pattern matching is not something that ever happens for me.  Did I mention it NEVER happens??? I'm the one that will end up with a inconveniently placed flower or a two headed animal, or... well you get the idea.

The one place the pattern did not match up was on one of sets of front neckline.  Easy peasy solution?  Make the unmatched set my facing.  Only I know! (well and now all of you too, but whatever.  Only I will ever see it so that's what counts!)

The only changes I made to the pattern were that I added my standard 1 1/2" of length to the bodice and then I took off 1 1/2" from the bottom hem.  That's all!  I love that I can always count on ITS patterns to pretty much fit from the get go!

I'm pretty happy too that my Flamingo Recoleta goes perfectly with my red clogs and my red Sunshower cardi!

If you're wanting to pick up your copy of Recoleta, it is on sale now for the release week over on the Itch to Stitch site!

Seychelles Top

Well, well, well.  Here I am again with another brand new Itch to Stitch* top pattern that I just tested.  I am a sucker for the patterns Kennis designs, especially since they require very little alterations to fit me (just some length in the bodice) so when the testing call came out for the Seychelles Top I filled out my application pretty much immediately.

Seychelles is a fun v-neck, pull on woven top pattern that has two sleeve options. You can choose either short sleeve with pleats at the shoulder or long sleeve with gathers.  Or be like me and make one of each!  The pattern is suited to so many different fabrics and can give a completely different look depending on what you choose.  Medium weight linens to lighter weight lawns and anything in between really is going to work, I think.

For my first version I decided to make the short sleeved view and bought some cotton shirting fabric at Fabricland in the city. It was on sale so my top cost under $13.00 which seemed a pretty good bargain for a test project. It has a bit of an embroidery detail which I thought was quite pretty, but simple enough to not be too fussy.  When I bought the fabric is was sleek and smooth, but when I popped in the machine to prewash it got a crinkly, puckery texture.  I wasn't quite sure at first and felt a bit disappointed that it wasn't smooth anymore, but I went ahead and cut my project out anyway.  I'm so happy I did!  I love the texture it has now and I think it's actually even better than it was in it's original form.

I really like how comfy the top is.  I often struggle with woven tops being too tight across the back and if I don't do a broad back adjustment I end up feeling like I'm trussed up, barely able to move my arms and needing something akin to the escape skill level of Houdini to get me out of my top.  Let me tell you I have got stuck in many a top in my day.  It's a horrifying feeling when that happens. I was super relieved to find that not only can I get in and out of my top without assistance or the prowess of a magician (thank goodness! No one wants to be trapped in their clothes!!!), but I can also move freely about.   Imagine that.  Full range of movement! LOL

I was so happy with how my short sleeved version came out that I immediately dove head first into my fabric stash to find something I could make a long sleeved version with.  What I came up with was a lightweight, silky feeling polyester that I had bought three or four years ago (intending to make the SOI Anderson blouse that I never got around to making).  Every now and again procrastination pays off. I'm glad I had it saved because it turned out to be the perfect fabric for those gathered sleeves! 

The only problem with my long sleeve top is that it is quite staticky.  How do normal people deal with this?  Am I the only one who walks around with clothes perpetually sticking to me with static? (insert lame "electric personality" jokes here should you wish - I'll leave that to you dear reader because telling jokes is apparently not in my skill set.  Or according to my children anyways, who routinely respond with an "Ohhhh.  Mom." and a groan.  LOL)

Anyway, static not withstanding, I really love my long sleeve version too.  I probably could have lengthened the sleeves just a teeny smidge, but I think they work fine as they are.

I suppose another problem with my tops is what to wear with them.  I think my cotton one is perfect with jeans and will go well with my Lander Shorts, this summer, but not sure what to pair with my long sleeved one.  I don't wear skirts anymore and don't really have anything except jeans to choose from.  I know a lot of the testers were pairing theirs with ITS North Point Trousers, which have definite potential. Or maybe I'll finally get to work on a pair of wide legged jeans like Landers or maybe the  Anna Allen Persephone Pants.  Or more than likely I'll just continue to pair it with my jeans I already have. 

So there you go!  That's the low down on the latest pattern from Itch to Stitch!  If you're wanting your own copy of the pattern, it is on sale as per usual for the release week over on the ITS site.

Gothenburg Top

I'm back again with another test subject!  

It's probably absolutely no surprise that my latest pattern test is for Itch to Stitch* given it's no secret how much I love Kennis Wong's designing and pattern drafting.  Her sizing is always so consistent and I know exactly what size to make every time with no surprises.  For tops and dresses the only change I ever have to make is to add length in the bodice. (Pants are another story and are my nemesis no matter what brand of pattern I use and always require various adjustments that I never feel I've quite figured out. But that's another story for another day)

The newest ITS pattern is the Gothenburg Top.  It's in the new size range of 00-40 A-DD and is a long sleeved funnel neck top with a gently dipping hem in the back that requires a structured knit to keep the neckline from collapsing.  Ponte, sweat shirting and scuba are perfect choices.  You'll want to leave your drapier bamboo blends and light weight french terries for another project probably.

It's a super simple sew with only three pattern pieces! (Less paper to print and tape! WHOOOT).  I made mine out of a 1.5 meter cut of mystery fabric that I can't figure out what it is.  It has the weight and hand of a ponte de roma, but has the look of a double sided jersey (floral on one side, solid black on the other).  Who knows what it actually is.  What I do know is it is soft and cozy and I'm all about purple lately, so I love it.  It's also been in my stash for a few years waiting to be sewn up into something.

I think my fabric may have been a bit too "soft" as I feel like my neckline is collapsing in on itself a bit. It also has a bit of a sheen to it it that makes it slippery, which thankfully was tamed by some quick hand stitching on the inside. I'm not used to the funnel neck (I don't think I've ever owned one before!) so find I do fidget with it a bit, but I think I need to just get used to the look and feel of a funnel neck and also next time, I'll be a little more careful about my fabric choice.  Kennis gave us a tip in choosing fabric that I thought was ingenious, and that was to fold the fabric in half vertically and hold it up.  If it collapses it's too drapey.  If it doesn't you've got a winner for having a great structured funnel neck!  I'm going to be on the lookout for something more structured than this one to give it a try!

You can get the pattern over at the ITS site and it's on sale for the release week!

 

Picking Up the Needles

Knitting content has been few and far between over the last few years.  I still do pick up the needles every now and again, but not like I used to when I'd spend hours sitting in a comfy spot working on my latest project.  Now it's a bit hit or miss although  I am enjoying knitting much more than I did the previous couple of years when I didn't pick it up at all and had no desire to do so because every time I did it felt forced and like a chore.  Who needs a hobby that feels like a chore?  Certainly not me!

I'm a lot slower at knitting now then I used to be - I'm so out of practice, it doesn't seem as intuitive as it once did - but I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing.  Unless, let's say, you decide on a whim that you should knit something for your kids for Christmas and then you find out that whereas you used to be able to knit a hat in an evening or two it now takes you the better part of a week (or longer) and you run out of time to knit one kid something and you take until January to finally get it delivered to said kid and feel like a terrible mom...

Sorry.  I digress.

I won't show you all those projects.  I didn't take great photos of them.  Although I did a photo of the gnome ornaments I knit for each of them. 

Gnomes are magical and I can still knit those pretty quickly!  I even knit the "ADVENTure Gnome KAL" from Imagined Landscapes during December (Huh.  Maybe the gnomes were what was slowing my progress on hats and mitts... )

What I really want to show off is two projects I did for myself!  I'm so completely in love with both of them!

The first is the Midwestern Afternoon Shawl by Paper Daisy Creations.  I started knitting this way back in the summer - working on it through the boys' swimming lessons, then draping it across my lap (hello warmth! LOL) and working on it in the stands while they were on the ice during two weeks of hockey camp in August, then sporadically throughout the fall until it was done.  

It's knit from Indigo Dragonfly Fibres Filament o' Squid that I won in a knitalong years ago and a Little House in the Big Woods themed mini skein set, also from several years ago from Bluebird Yarns on Etsy.  I wear this shawl at least once a week!  It's my current favourite of all my shawls.  It's the perfect size and weight!

My other new selfish (uggh.  No.  Not selfish! *more on that in a moment*) selfcare knit is a brand new Myra hat from Knox Mountain Knitting Co. I knit their Laurel shawl for my mama for Christmas this year (unfortunately no great photos of that one either.) as well as other patterns in the past and have really enjoyed their pattern writing.   Part of what sold me on Myra is how darn good it looks with a big fluffy fur pompom.  

I fell down a rabbit hole of faux fur pompoms earlier in the fall, when I discovered Canadian Peony Lane Poms.  As a result I now have a healthy stash of poms at my disposal.  (Clearly I have no restraint.)  But, let's circle back to my Myra hat.  I do have a point to this meandering, I promise.  A few years ago I bought a skein of Malabrigo Rios in the Arco Iris colourway and tucked it away in my stash.  When I discovered Peony Lane Poms, I chose a pom in the peacock colourway and the rosehip colourway specifically to go with  my Arco Iris Rios.  Of course then I needed to find a pattern that would go with my pom purchases and as I said Myra looked amazing with a furry pom in the pattern photos, so that was that.

I couldn't actually decide which pom I liked best with Myra at first, but then decided that since the Peony Lane Poms attach with a snap, I could sew the snap on and interchange my pompoms whenever I wanted.  Some days felt like a peacock pom kind of day and others felt like a rosehip pom day.  Lately though I'm pretty much solidly in favour of the peacock pom.   Who knew pompoms could be a whole "thing" LOL!

I've worn my Myra hat so much since finishing it.  It's warm and just the right length that I can wear it slouchy on warmer days and on the freezing cold days I folded the brim up so that it gave me a little more warmth on my ears. (something that was definitely necessary walking in -40C windchills!!) 

Currently I'm working away slowly on my Garden Variety - it's another pattern from Paper Daisy Creations that I initially started during the KAL that Lisa was hosting for it back in the fall.  I fell behind pretty quickly and then put it aside to do my Christmas knitting and Adventure Gnome KAL.  Since picking it up again after finishing my Myra hat, I've finished Clue Two and have started Clue Three and I'm starting to feel excited about finishing it up!  It may take me a bit though given last night it took me an entire two hours to do one single row.  I kept knitting it, tinking it back, knitting it, tinking it back over and over.  I couldn't get past the center stitch because something kept not working out.  Eventually it dawned on me that I might not be knitting this particular row wrong, perhaps my stitch count was off.  Spoiler alert:  my stitch count was off.  Sigh...

It may be a little while before I'm showing off this particular project!  Along with knitting my Garden Variety, I've also been busily sewing - a few projects just for fun, a few for Minerva and most recently a test for Itch to Stitch*  I've also been bit by the "embroidery bug" and have been thoroughly enjoying that as a new crafty venture!  Needless to say, there's not enough hours in my day!

So all that being said, I'm off to go sit in front of the TV and watch a bit of Netflix and try valiantly to knit at least one more row on my Garden Variety!  I hope you are all staying healthy and happy and finding ways to get through these crazy days we're living in.

*PS: I just remembered I was going to revisit the selfish/selfcare thing.  I used to have no problem with the term "selfish" when talking about knitting and/or sewing for myself.  In fact, I took part in several knitalongs and sewalongs over the years called selfish{whatever} without batting an eyelash.  However, recently I started thinking about the term selfish and the connotations it evokes and I realized I didn't really like it being attached to my crafting. The idea that what I was doing as a means of a meditative and often healing process and other times just for the shear sake of the joy of doing it could be perceived as being selfish (and all that entails) could easily become a slippery slope leading to feelings akin to guilt that I was doing only for myself and not for others and therefore should be considered wrong or at the very least frowned upon.  By using the term selfish it devalued what was and continues to be, in reality, a very valuable process in taking care of myself.  In a time that I am trying to be mindful of being kinder and gentler to myself, clearly this was not going to work anymore. By using the term selfcare instead of selfish I'm choosing to reframe, if no where else that my own mind, what this process of crafting means for me.