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hi.

things are so, so busy. in the past month, I've been to Chicago (for fun) and New York (for work, and fun). I've also been teaching knitting classes at the yarn store, and sewing like a woman obsessed. (because I am.)

After I had some small successes with the Spring Ruffle Top, I decided to branch out and try some other clothes. I started with a skirt.

This is from the book Sew What! Skirts. It's a book without actual patterns in it - you take your measurements and draft your own pattern using the formulas they provide. It works pretty well, because you don't have to worry about picking the right size pattern - you just have to take your measurements right!

A-line skirt.

I totally recommend this book - I see myself making many more skirts using it.

So, after the skirt success, I got excited and decided to try for a dress. My first try was a dismal failure ... documented here ... but I decided to chalk it up to the pattern and fabric and try again.

The second time resulted in a wearable dress.

Simplicity 2925.

I learned a lot on this one - I put in a dress zipper, worked with curves, discovered that my upper and lower body are NOT the size in Simplicity dress patterns, and just got more comfortable trying a commercial pattern. I've already worn it to work!

And then I sewed a few more dresses:

1. 365.2.155 simple sundress for me., 2. Simple sundress., 3. Simplicity 2587, 4. Simplicity 3778 - without sash

The top two dresses were made from a free online pattern, Heather Ross's Simple Sundress. If you are on Flickr, you've probably seen this dress and heard lots of discussion about the pattern. For me, it was one of the easiest things I've made thus far, but I did have to wing on a few things, mainly the seam allowance (there isn't one in the pattern) and hemming the dress (there isn't a specific way mentioned in the pattern.) The shirring at the top is created by hand-winding your bobbin with elastic thread and using that along with regular thread. Despite those things that could possibly cause you trouble, I still think it's a good beginner pattern, because it's basically just two pieces of fabric, shirring, and voila! dress!

Commercial patterns are still very hard for me - I hate cutting the pieces, and all the fiddly bits that go along with it. But, three of the dresses on this page were sewn from commercial patterns, and I'm slowly learning to not be afraid. Simplicity has been my friend - the easy Simplicity patterns are actually easy - or easier - and I've been able to make wearable garments so far. All of this is to say, be not afraid if you want to try to sew clothes! Obviously all of these dresses have issues (sketchy zippers, uneven hems, and oh lordy the raw edges on the insides!!), and I still have a lot to learn, but I'm feeling more confident with every piece I sew. and OMG I am having so much fun.

Lest you think I've TOTALLY abandoned knitting, I have a finished knit too!

Featherweight Cardigan!

I finally finished this sweater, and I love it. (More details on Ravelry if you're interested.) It's perfect for wearing in the air conditioning in my office and I think it will be warm when it's cold outside too. I'm seriously considering making another one - it's just so wearable.

In other news - did you know that I started my knitting blog on June 5, 2003? here's what my first blog post said:

june 05, 2003. 3:18 PM

so here is my first attempt at having a web log. or a blog. i'm really doing this so I can keep track of my knitting. Can you believe how many people have knitting websites? It's a craze of monstrous proportions.

i am a brand spanking new knitter, and i still make lots of mistakes, but i really really love doing it, and i want to get better, so i can knit fancy cardigans and bee-yoo-tee-full sweaters,

and i have nothing better to do at work than surf the net for knitting pages, knitting patterns, knitting blogs.

my left hand actually is hurting from knitting, and probably from typing so much. (because I am a secretary, not because I am a crazy blogger. remember? this is my first one!)
email me with any good patterns that aren't too hard. or anything else you wanna say.

HAHAHAHA. that makes me giggle. That also means I've been blogging for 6 years earlier this month. I had plans to do a sappy blogiversary post but then work got busy and I had to travel and I just didn't have time. I just discovered my very first blog posts on my old geocities website a few weeks ago, and it was really fun to read through them and see where I was then. I'm so glad I have those posts to remember that time in my life, and I'm so glad I wrote that first post, because having this blog has literally changed my life - I've met some of my dearest friends through it, and tried many things and visited many places that I never would have otherwise.

So, thank you, bloggy readers, for making this such a fun thing to do for six years. We all have reasons for blogging - and I do it mostly for myself - but it sure is nice to have a fabulous community of people to share it with. Thank you so much!