Combining Two Crafty Loves

I'm back with another Sew Over It garment.  What did I tell you?  It's going to be a #sewoveritsummer LOL

This time it's a Betty and I've combined two of my crafty loves into one dress.  Last summer when I found the Cotton and Steel yarn ball fabric from the Cat Lady collection on Craftsy I had to snap it up.  It was a ridiculous purchase in which although the sale price was great, the shipping was insane.  It was before Craftsy lowered their shipping costs and I paid more in shipping then I did for the fabric.  But hello!  Fabric.  With yarn on it!!!!!!  Sometimes you just need to be a bit frivolous and ridiculous.

I knew the minute I saw the fabric that it was destined to be a Betty dress.  I've never made Betty before so first things first.  I whipped up a muslin.  And then I did nothing.  I needed to do some alterations and I was perplexed how.  I just could not wrap my head around it so there it sat.  Untouched until a few weeks ago when I decided it was silly to just let it languish and come hell or high water I was going to get it figured out.  

Really the biggest problem was gaping in the V at the back.  I knew that if I pinched out the excess into a dart it solved it, but who wants darts there?  So on my pattern I created the dart where the gaping was then rotated it into the back waist darts.  Problem solved.  I also made the neckline a little deeper and a little less wide, widened the shoulders a smidge, did a sloped shoulder adjustment and finally added a bit of length to the bottom of the bodice.  Sewed up another muslin and was quite pleased with the fit, so cut out and sewed up the dress.  Of course my muslin was playing tricks on me and once the dress was finished I tried it on and gaping was happening everywhere.  Damn it.

I ended up fudging things a bit rather than go back to the drawing board and cut a new bodice because I was pretty tight on fabric at this point as is.  I took up almost an inch in the shoulders and shaved a little off the side seams and that has solved the problems for the most part, except I now have bust darts pointing way off course and some weird bunching at the lower armscye.  I am not going to quibble though.  I'm willing to bet only a seamstress would even look at the darts at all and if they're rude enough to point out that they are looking at my bust that closely then I'm really not interested in talking to them anyways! Ha ha!  In retrospect it occurs to me that perhaps a lot of my problems would have been solved if I'd gone down a size... sadly that didn't occur to me until after the fact.  

On the plus side of things, this is number three for my #2017MakeNine!  More bonuses are that I added pockets (used my favourite pockets which are from the Emery Dress pattern), my invisible zip went in without a hitch (thank you double sided tape - where have you been all my life?!?!) and most importantly I LOVE my new dress!  

#2017MakeNine - Make Two

So happy to have finally sewn a Jasper!

I promised I'd be back to talk about make number two.  It's my favourite make of the year (Ok - so I've only made four things and two were duds, but let's not focus on that, alrighty?).  For make number two I chose a pattern that I've been wanting to sew since it popped up on Pinterest long before it ever became a pattern.  Of course I'm talking about Paprika Pattern's Jasper Hoodie.

It's a bit ridiculous that it's taken so long to make, but full disclosure here, I was scared of messing up the welt pockets.  I have no idea why.  I've sewn welt pockets before.  I've sewn much harder things than welt pockets before and yet for some reason I was so intimidated.  I can't even tell how many times I bought fabric specifically for Jasper, chickened out of making it and made something else instead.

This time I decided that if it was in my Make Nine choices I was going to use that as my accountability factor and I would have to make it and it worked. And boy am I glad. As I said this is my favourite sewn make and I wear it several times a week.

You might recognize this quilted jersey.  It's from the same collection as the fabric I used for my Sew Over It Heather dress back in the fall.  It's not quite the same though beyond being only one shade of grey instead of having a lighter and darker side.  The other difference is that this one has WAY more stretch than the original fabric.  Knowing that the original fabric didn't have much give I sized up on my Jasper.  I also added a bit of length. Obviously I did not need to worry about sizing up or adding length and my Jasper is a whole lot more relaxed than intended.  No worries though. It's cozy and snuggly and I really love wearing it as is!

As for sewing it?  It really wasn't a problem.  In fact I would say it was pretty easy.  The only tricky part for me was lining up those welts perfectly straight and even that wasn't too arduous a task in the end.  Mine are a smidge off from the seam line, but I'm not going to quibble over such a miniscule amount.

Check out those "not really scary after all" welts!

I do have one tiny little grumble about my Jasper and that is the pocket lining.  It has a nasty habit of curling a bit at the top where it's not attached along the front, which occasionally leaves me with a bit of a lumpy looking line across my midsection.  Have you made Jasper?  Does yours do that?  What did you do about it???  I think I may just tack it down with a bit of hand sewing.  If I ever get around to it that is.  As I said, I wear this several times a week so it doesn't leave a whole lot of time for fixing it and it definitely won't stop me from wearing it.

I've been actually feeling a bit down about my sewing lately.  I'm not sure if it's because I'm tired, or if it's just fabric/pattern combos I've chosen or that I'm rushing a bit when I do sew since I always feel I have no time for it anymore.  But having two out of four projects turn out pretty lousy was quite a hit to my confidence so I've taken a bit of break from my machine and focused on my knitting and spinning instead.  The break has done me well and I'm getting some sewing mojo back.  I've even been so bold as to start cutting out my third Make Nine project this evening!

#2017MakeNine - Make 1

Holy smokes!  Would you look at that!  I said I'd be back and here I am and months haven't gone by.  It's some sort of blogging miracle!  LOL

As a recap, the #2017MakeNine challenge was started by Rochelle of Lucky Lucille and I picked the following nine for myself.

The patterns I chose are the following:

By Hand London : Anna
Closet Case Files : Ginger Jeans and Morgan Boyfriend Jeans
Colette Patterns : Myrtle Dress
Paprika Patterns : Jade Sweater and Dress
Sew Over It :  Anderson Blouse, Betty, Molly Top and Vintage Shirt Dress

I feel like I took the easy way out and started with my TnT (tried and true) Sew Over It's Molly Top.  This is my third one and I reach for it all the time.  I wasn't sure if I liked it in the super drapey viscose blend jersey that I ordered from Minerva Crafts in January.  The jersey is absolutely heavenly to wear, but I wondered if the top itself was a bit too flowey for my curves (as in I hope it doesn't look maternity-ish - yikes!), but I've decided I don't care.  It is so comfortable.  I did add a wee bit of length to it as I wear it often to work and the last thing I feel like worrying about as I climb up and down ladders or bend and stoop to grab things is if my fish white belly is hanging out or even worse if I have the dreaded "plumber butt" look going on.  Eeeek!  I was generous with my length adding too, because if I have no other talents in this world, I excel at the one in which I can shrink pretty much anything at all.

When I ordered the blue marl jersey I also ordered a pink and purple striped jersey as well.  I had started out initially to make a Day Tripper by Schwin Designs.  What a disappointment.  Sizing seems to be huge on it (of course nearly every review I read after the fact mentions the sizing), the length was laughably long on me and the width careened towards sack like rather than merely slouchy or relaxed.  Given I was worried about it being too small going off my measurements I was pretty surprised by the end result.  (Note to self: read reviews before starting out.  Not after.) Also?  Every time I look at the fabric I think of the damn Cheshire Cat from Alice in Wonderland.  Not that I have anything against it per say.  But I do NOT want to look like it.  I think it'll become a pj top at some point.  It's not a going out in public top.  That's for sure.  I really wish I'd stuck with my TnT Molly.  The fit is great and it always looks good in a stripey jersey.  Woe is me.

So that's update number one.  Next time I'm back I'll talk about my second make of my #2017MakeNine patterns!

A Little Bit of This and A Little Bit of That

I don't even remember when I was here last.  I'm not even going to look. It leads to all sorts of misplaced feeling of guilt and disappointment in myself.  Life has been soundly kicking my butt lately with everything going on, the sloth has become my spirit animal.  It's hard to accept given I normally like to be busy, getting things done, and more importantly used to relish in my night owl tendencies.  What was that meme going around Facebook awhile back?  "I'm not an early bird or a night owl. I'm some form of permanently exhausted pigeon."  That pretty much sums me up right now.

Despite all, I have been getting a few things done here and there.  I've actually even finished a few things!  I often listen to podcasts on my drive to work and one I really enjoy is The Knitmore Girls.  They have an ongoing instagram contest in the works called "Operation Sock Drawer" and Gigi often talks about the socks she's working on or has already knit.  Listening to all her talk of socks inspired me to pick up a long standing work in progress and get them done.  I actually started the Tin Can Knits SeaWall socks on March 11th last year.  (Bear in mind it normally it takes me a few weeks at most to knit a pair of socks.)  I finally cast off these babies on March 8th of this year.  What happened????  It's an interesting enough pattern.  The yarn wasn't horrible.  How did it take me just shy of a year to knit them?  It wasn't even a case of second sock syndrome holding me up.  Sock number one took until mid-February this year.  Ridiculous!  I'm super happy to have them off the needles and out of my knitting bag!

Seawall Socks by Tin Can Knits

I also finished my Andi Satterlund cardi, Henriette for the Selfish Sweater KAL in the Untangling Knots Ravelry group.  This one thankfully went quicker than the socks and I finished knitting it in exactly a month!  I'll show you some modelled pics of it at some point - I want to make a dress to actually go with it first, and quite frankly it's still sitting on top of my dresser waiting to get blocked.  But here's a sneaky peek at it, taken while I was doing the finishing!

Henriette by Andi Satterlund

And you know, since I have so little time for knitting, I've decided to cast on ALL the things in the last few weeks.  This is so weird for me.  I'm usually such a monogamous knitter that I have no hot clue how I'll ever manage to finish any of it. Really.  No clue.  How do you decide which project to work on when you have more than one on the go?  At first I justified it.  Sock knitting for portable knitting (hockey practices, car knitting, waiting rooms, lunch breaks etc.).

Lumberjack by Tin Can Knits

Shawl knitting for at home.

Polarity by Elena Nodel

Seemed reasonable.  Except I keep picking up the sock at home, and the shawl has been languishing. And then I decided that I should cast on a Greyson for Little Man on Thursday night.

Greyson by Julia Stanfield

WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME????  We won't even discuss that even though I have three projects already on the needles, it hasn't stopped me from downloading patterns and picking yarn out (from my stash at least) for other projects.  Someone needs to intervene and put a stop to this madness of multiple works in progress!

I've finished very few things at the sewing machine, but do have two of my 2017 Make Nine projects finished.  I just haven't taken photos of them yet, although I've been wearing them loads since sewing them.  Also.  I've been collecting WIP sewing projects in a similar fashion to what I've been doing in knitting.  I'm like a magpie -  Ooooh!  Must have all the shiny new things!!!!  Seriously. Someone send help!!!

So that's at least a bit of an update on my crafty doings as of late.   I'm going to try to get my sewing projects up here on the blog in the near future (no promises though - who knows when I'll actually get back to blogging again it seems to be so hit or miss for me lately).

Happy New Year!

I hope that the New Year is finding you all healthy and happy and looking forward to the blank slate of possibilities that is 2017!!

Baby Boy - #7 Timbits Initiation 

I've not had time for much blogging for quite awhile now.  Life seems to have a way of getting increasingly busier every time I turn around.

Hockey seems to have taken up a lot of the spare time this fall.  Not that I'm complaining.  The boys love it and it's been great for them!  Little Man has finally started coming out of his shell at the rink and the day he was giggling with one of his team mates in the dressing room was a great day!  I love seeing him making friends on the team and gaining confidence on and off the ice!  However, it is a time consuming sport.  I'm at the rink three days a week with the boys for practices and then we had games every weekend, often a game in one town in the morning for one boy and another town and another game a few hours later for the other.  I had commented that I should just send out change of address cards listing the arena as my new home since I was there so often.

Funny story about that was when we bought our new truck last month every time we turned on the maps in the Car Play function it would reference a weird address as "home".  I couldn't figure out why or even where the address was originating.  That is until the day I was looking up the hours for public skating at the arena and realized Siri was using the arena's address as home.   LOL! I really must spend as much time as I feel like I do there.  Ah... the life of a "hockey mom".  Could be worse. I know some families are juggling around practices and games for four kiddos and their spouse.  I've only got two to manage and every second year they should nicely end up in the same division.  PHEW!

Little Man - #7 Novice 

In other news, tomorrow, I'll be heading back to work full time.  I'll be trading my sewing shears for work boots and a hard hat as I've taken a term position in a parts department!  I'm both excited and terrified all at the same time.  It'll be totally different for me, but I'm looking forward to a new challenge!

I'm not sure what time that will leave me for sewing, knitting and spinning, but I'm hoping I can still manage to squeak out a bit of time every now and again to enjoy my crafts.  I know I used to manage it.  I know that many people do manage it every day.  I just need to wrap my head around the whole time management thing that is working outside of the home again.  It's been nearly seven years, so I think I've just forgotten how to do it!

It's timely that Rochelle of Lucky Lucille has started her #2017MakeNine.  Inspired by the challenge and all the sewists taking part over on Instagram I've decided to jump on board.  Going back to work doesn't change my personal goal of having a self sewn wardrobe, so this feels like a great way to keep it going in a more manageable way.

For my patterns I've chosen the following:

By Hand London : Anna 
Closet Case Files : Ginger Jeans and Morgan Boyfriend Jeans
Colette Patterns : Myrtle Dress
Paprika Patterns : Jade Sweater and Dress
Sew Over It :  Anderson Blouse, Betty, Molly Top and Vintage Shirt Dress

I've already dived head first into my fabric bins and come up with some fabrics for my Make Nine projects!

The top fabric with the balls of yarn is for Betty.  It was supposed to be made last summer, then in the early fall, and then for Christmas and well... you know how it goes.  I already  knit a cardi to match it a few months ago (more on that in a future blog post - how am I so behind on blogging about my projects?!?).  The second from the top is a slinky, silky poly fabric that I bought ages ago for an Anderson Blouse or Pussy Bow Blouse and this is going to be THE YEAR that I get it sewn up.  I'm thinking of using a gelatine treatment to tame that fabric into submission for cutting and sewing.  Third in the stack is the denim I bought well over a year ago to make another pair of Liana jeans after I did the test for Itch to Stitch.  Obviously they never got made, so hello Ginger Jeans!  (another pattern I've had forever.  It's even been printed out and assembled for probably a good year and a half...).  The bottom fabric is another long time stash dweller.  I've got to take a better look at it, but if I think it'll drape nicely, it's going to become Myrtle for next spring/summer.

So those are my upcoming plans for sewing.  I'll have to catch up later with my annual round up of holiday crafting post and my plans for knitting and spinning, because I think I've prattled on far too long as is here today! (Thanks and congratulations if you're still reading!)

Happy New Year!