On the needles

It's been a busy summer, but now I'm finding more time to create.  Usually I only work on one project at a time, but I broke that rule because I had to many ideas floating around in my head.

The first one is finished, so I did actually accomplish something.  Actually I've knit 3 of these hats in the last month.  It started as idea, and the first one came out a little to small so I put it in the shop as a child's hat.  Seeing how cute the first one was my daughter requested one for herself, with steampunk buttons, and after I saw how cute her's was I decided I needed one too but with a cool chunky button I bought from a seller at Zibbet.

Next is a sweater I'm knitting for myself, unfortunately I'm not making much progress.  I'm finding it very boring.  If I ever finish it, it will just be a plain hooded cardigan to wear around the house.

Next is a scarf/cowl that I'm making for the shop.

And last, although I don't have a photo because I haven't actually started it, I'm in the process of designing pants for myself again.  I have a pattern that I need to make a few tweaks to and then I can start cutting the fabric, but I have a good idea where I'm going with it.  I'd show you the sketch, but I'm a really poor artist.

How did I go so long without these?

In exchange for some yarn, I received a couple knitting books that I don't know how I went so long without them. 

Cast on, Bind off is just what it says, a book full of different cast ons and bind offs and when to use them.  Until recently I no idea there was more than 2 ways to cast on and this book came at the perfect time when I was finishing up a project and needed a bind off that would stretch just a little.

I haven't had time to really look at the finishing book yet, but I'm sure it will come in handy when I get closer to finishing the sweater I'm working on.

Jean Mulsin: Take 2.1

 I spend most of yesterday working on these.  I scooped out the back about a 1/2" and added to the back inseams which seem to help with the winkles some.  But now there's bagginess right under the butt and wrinkles in the front.  I'm going to rip them apart today and try adding to inseam again but this time extending it down to the knee.  I added mostly to the crotch point.  Also I'm thinking some of the winkles are coming from the sides being pulled up to far.  From the side view you can see the balance lines pulling up just a little, which is weird because it looks straight in the mirror.

I'm also thinking I might widen the pant leg a little, maybe give it more of boot cut.  I haven't made any changes to the leg width.  This is how how the pattern was designed.  Although I do like a tapered leg, I think this is a little much.

Jean Muslin: Take 2

The last pair I made were to tight, so I went up a size.  These fit better in the hips, but now they're to big in the waist.  Since it's usually easier to take in a larger size, I'm going to work with this muslin.  I'm running out of time so I may not get them to fit perfectly but if I can get them at least wearable without crotch lines and fix the waist, I'll be happy.

The front looks ok.  I will need to drop the waist band a little and move the pockets, but other than that I don't think there's to much to fix there.  The back, well that's going to take a little work.  First things that come to mind is scooping out the back crotch.  I don't have a wedgie now,  but if I pull up the back to make the balance line straight I will.  I'm also thinking I might need to add to the back inseams to get rid of the wrinkles coming from my inner thighs. So that's what I'm going to work on the next couple days.  Keep your fingers crossed that I don't cause more problems.

Jean Muslin: Take 1

I started working on jean pattern yesterday.  I'm working on Connie Crawford's Woman's Jean pattern Butterick B5403.  I was a little leery of starting this because I had read some bad reviews, and still being fairly new at fitting pants I was worried I might be in over my head. 

I chose my size based on my measurements and traced it.  I got a little concerned when I noticed the size I was tracing didn't allow for any ease in the hips.  I know jeans are suppose to be close-fitting, but the pattern was listed for 2 sizes, with no ease at the smaller size which meant -2" of ease at the bigger size.  I thought this had to be a mistake because the folks at Pattern Review kept saying when 2 sizes are listed like that, the pattern should have enough ease for the larger size.  And since my measurement was just an inch smaller than the smaller pattern recommendation I thought it would be ok.  I was wrong.

I didn't make any changes to the pattern yet.  I wanted to see how it was going to fit right out of the package.  The first thing I noticed is it's to tight in the hips.  The other thing that really jumps out at me is the back crotch.  I need to scoop it out a little to get rid of that wedgie, and I might need to add a little to the inner thigh.  The bottom of the back yoke feels really low.    First I'm going to try going up a size and see how that looks.

Back to the cutting table.

A sewing success!

A few weeks ago I when shopping looking mostly for jeans but I also looked at capris.  I found a few pair that I really liked however they didn't fit.  Then a light bulb went off and I realized I could make something similar with the capri pattern I was working on.  I pulled out my cell phone and took pictures from every angle and close ups of the details I wanted to copy.  When I got home I uploaded the cell phone pics to the computer I found they were mostly useless.  Blurry, I was in a rush because the sales clerk kept knocking on the door asking how I was doing, and the back shot was completely useless because trying to take a pic of one's backside in a mirror over your shoulder without looking is almost impossible.  I tried to sketch to the best of my ability (I'm no artist) the capri details, and had a fairly good representation but I was still missing somethings.

 A few days later I got an email from the online version of the store I was at alerting me to an upcoming sale.  Although I have sort of a love/hate relationship with this store (at this particular time it was in the strongly dislike phase) I decided to take a look and there they were.  The capris I wanted to copy.  All the angles I needed.  I tried downloading the pics but they were copyrighted, so I had to print pages and pages to get the pics I needed.

After doing a few final tweaks to my capri pattern, this weekend I went to work on my copied version of the capris.  Mine aren't exactly like the rtw ones, I guess in the end I used them more for inspiration than anything.  I really didn't care for the zipper in the side of the leg, because it was useless.  It didn't open to a hidden pocket, it was just there, almost like they were trying to hide a fabric flaw or a cutting mistake.  I did like the felled seams on the side pockets and decided to incorporate that into the back pockets as well.  On the original the front pockets were sewn on the outside, and I thought about doing that but wasn't sure how that would look with the waist darts that I have on my pattern.  Maybe if I can find a pattern with a flat front, I'd consider front patch pockets.  I thought about doing the top stitching around the pocket and knee, but by the time I got the pockets sewn on I forgot about it and then decided it would look silly with it.  I love the finished product and can't wait to wear them, I just wish the weather would cooperate.

Up next: Going to try making my own jeans.

  

Building my fabric stash

With finishing my one pair of pants last week and they actually look wearable, I'm still working on a decent pair of capris, I got excited and went on a fabric splurge.  I have 8 yards of  linen/cotton blend in the tan, which really is more brown than tan, 5 yards of cotton/poly twill in the blue, 6 yards of cotton twill in the olive green, and a 24 yard bolt of 12 oz denim for jeans.  The last time I bought a bolt of denim like this it lasted for years.  Unless I really get into making jeans this bolt should last me the rest of my life.  I plan on making pants in all of these and I possibly have enough of some fabrics to make more than one.