January 29, 2008
Just Like I Said I Would
So I said I would show you some pictures of my sewing nook. And so I shall. I didn't say it would be a *good* picture...
Yay!
That's the little sewing table I bought, my new pretty sewing machine, and my ironing board (and new Rowenta iron). The little piece of furniture to the right is a vintage sewing/knitting/crafting box that my sister-in-law, Alison, gave me as a wedding present. It's really cool - it's made of wood, and it folds out and has little trays for notions. I should take some good pics of it, actually, and post them.
The nook is in our kitchen - we have a pretty big space for dining/hanging out, and for now, I've taken over this corner for crafting. And it's a good thing, too, because I just started my first quilt and I need room to cut strips! Here I am, cutting strips....
One down.
I've done one so far. Gah. It turns out I'm bad at cutting straight. But I'm going to keep trying, even if this first quilt is a bit wonky. I'm okay with that. I learn from my wonkiness.
I'm also still working on the neverending Drops Jacket - the one that I was going to finish as a Christmas present, ha - and I've finally got two beautiful sleeve caps. YAY. Now I have to try and finish the sweater before I run out of yarn. I think I can do it. I need to hurry up and finish it, because I'm starting to have wandering eyes ... the new Interweave preview is up, some Knitty surprises, and pretty pretty knitting in blog and Ravelry land is making me want to drop the Drops and cast on something new. Must. Be. Strong. Yes, I must, because I really want to wear this sweater before it gets warm again here.
(but I really, really, really want to knit a pretty skirt too. Just sayin'.)
I've been so busy lately that crafting of any kind isn't always on my schedule. Apparently, school and work are supposed to come before knitting and sewing. Sigh.
You know what is definitely going to be on the schedule this week? Watching the season premiere of Lost. OH YES. I'll probably get some knitting done then too. Happy, happy times!
Last, but not certainly not least, I wanted to mention: Two sweet bloggers gave me a "Make My Day" award: Sophia and Frida. Thanks, ladies! You made my day by thinking of me. :)
That's all I've got in me tonight! Hopefully next time I post, I'll have a finished sweater and a few more perfectly straight strips to show you. Har.
May 22, 2007
Finishing
I'm very, very close to finishing BigHeadSchmoo's very first handknit sweater: Trellis.
Seaming.
Here's me setting in the sleeve, with my trusty Vogue Knitting. I get nervous about seaming sometimes, so I like to keep my Vogue Knitting reference nearby.
And here is a sock monkey wearing an almost finished Trellis.
All I have left to do now is pick up the stitches for the cute seed stitch collar, and put some buttons on it. And take a gazillion pictures of my nephew wearing it. OH BOY! His first birthday party is this weekend... It seems like this was only yesterday.
Time flies.
In other crafty news, I may have been dabbling in some sewing. Er, quilting. Well, I'm not quite to the quilting part yet. I guess I'm piecing. A while ago, my lovely sister Michelle gave me an enormous stack of Amy Butler sampler squares, and I'm using some of them to play. Disclaimer: I don't know much about quilting. For now, I'm just practicing cutting things and sewing in a straight line.
Log cabin. Sort of.
Pieces.
One day, I will actually make a large quantity of squares, sew them together, and make a quilt.
Until then, I will play and cut and sew, and maybe make a pillow. Or a dress for a sock monkey.
It's been very nice lately: work is quiet, it's hot outside, our flowers are blooming, and most major decisions about our wedding are made. That leaves more time for knitting and playing the Wii with Jacob. And watching ridiculous amounts of television. That's what summers are for.
Now, if you're feeling curious, click on the extended entry for 8 random things. I was tagged by Jeanne of Knitty Banter, and I'm feeling sort of random today, so here ya go!
July 28, 2006
On Sewing
Maybe it's because I've been watching Project Runway, or maybe it's because I spent several hours looking through the Craftster archives...but I've got the sewing bug. Anne Marie is very concerned that the sewing will replace knitting as my obsession of choice. This will not happen, because you can't take sewing in the car, you can't sew in the movie theatre, and also, because KNITTING. I LOVE YOU SO.
But. It's nice to change it up every now and then, right? Especially since I have (literally) 15 or so bags of old clothes in my attic, and a big old chunk of those are t-shirts. Time to deconstruct!
So here's my first attempt: from too-big t-shirt to tube top.
It was too baggy so I never wore it.
and it became this:
A tube top that fits.
Now, I don't have tons of events where a tube top would be my attire of choice, but it was a good way to practice. Here's what I learned from Tube Top: I can sew a (mostly) straight line, and I can take in the sides of a shirt to fit me better. I just put a tank top that fits me well on top of the baggy shirt, traced the sides with a pencil, and sewed up the sides. Zip, zip.
Okay. My next shirt was a little more ambitious, and it's got lots of issues, but again, I learned from it. I forgot to take a before picture, but I used a stretchy long sleeved v-neck and a black plain t-shirt:
Sorry for the crappy picture.
This one I probably would wear out. And AM tried it on and she looks really good in it. I cut the top of the long-sleeved shirt off, added some black fabric to the top, and used the bottom of the black t-shirt to make it longer. If I could redo it now, I wouldn't use quite so much material at the top...it took me several tries to make it look right.
And yay! Now I'm getting closer. I forgot to take a before picture again, but it was a little yellow t-shirt that says "Florida". Cute design, but the sleeves were too tight, and the truth is that I'm just not much of a t-shirt girl.
And here's the reconstructed shirt:
Florida!
I used the bottom of a HUGE red t-shirt for the collar, and the bottom half of a super old white tank top for the bottom half. I cut the sleeves off the Florida shirt, and cut a big old square collar.
Glamour shot:
Yay new old shirt.
With this one, I learned that you can sew two right side edges together and get a seam that doesn't show your thread (!) and ... if you use thread that's the same color as your fabric, it doesn't show as much. Duh. I realize this is totally elementary for the real sewers among us, but I'm Not So Good at sewing, so I'm learning as I go. And Having So Much Fun. Yayayayayay.
I love the collar on the Florida shirt, so I'm going to try that again with some different shirts. funfunfunfun.
This weekend is going to be superfuntimes.com. I'm going to see Quintron in Atlanta tonight, and then hanging out with friends all weekend. The start of school is nearing...so I must max out the fun times NOW. By the way, thanks for all your encouraging words about working/grad school/weddingplanning, etc. I'm glad there are lots of other people doing it and surviving and being happy about it. Yay bloggy support.