Posted in April 2010

[Adjective] Sunday

I seem to be on a sewing kick these past few weeks. The only knitting I’m allowed (or that I want to do) is Icarus, so that I can get it done in time for a friend’s May 1 wedding. That means that all other crafting is of the fabric variety.

My mom still likes to get us Easter clothes, but I convinced her this year that I would much rather have fabric to make a skirt or dress. So, I walked out of the store with fabric enough for two skirts or dresses (they take the same amount of yardage) and a new pair of Fiskars dressmaker scissors. I’m pretty excited.

  • Over at Casey’s Elegant Musings, there’s a really great post about how to get perfect patch pockets. Which is so very helpful to me, because I can never seem to get mine looking crisp and perfect. This technique will really help next time.
  • Having a travel document holder last time we went on vacation probably would have helped me not freak out about 10 times about where my passport and money had got off to. Luckily, there’s a tutorial over at Thimble for how to make one. Will have to make one before my next trip.
  • From my very own google search: How to sew a blind hem by hand, over at Craftzine. The by-hand part is important, because without it, you get results that require a sewing machine (which I have) and a special foot (which I do not). Very helpful when hemming up my A Plus A Line skirt last week.

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Knitting and Sewing and Thinking

It may seem like I’m not making anything with the lack of posts going on. I found that when I started blogging over here, ideas were flowing like water. Besides, I had a large back-up of things I wanted to talk about, but were too crafty for my personal blog. So, for a few weeks, I managed to get a post up nearly every day.

I kept up hope that my crafty friends would join me. They all craft and blog, and seemed really excited about the idea of a group blog. But the days went on, and it turns out that they were petrified of posting something not interesting, and so it is still all me, all the time.

However, since it’s just me, the posts have been trailing off. I don’t really do too many in-process posts of my projects because either things are going well but slow, or don’t take me too long at all. Also, I try to be crafty every day, but that hasn’t yet translated to writing every day. (Trust me, I’m working on it.)

For the last few days, as I work exclusively on my Icarus shawl, I have been thinking about the differences between knitting and sewing.

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A-Plus A-Line Skirt from Burda Style Pattern

Mosaic image of the A+ A-Line skirt, sewn by Lisa.

1. Left side view, 2. Front view, hanger, 3. Right side view, 4. Right side view, hanger.

Last Tuesday, I had a job interview. Which of course means that Monday was spent creating a skirt to wear to the interview.

I had decided, even before I knew that there was an interview, that I wanted to make the A-Plus A-Line skirt available for free on the Burda Style website. I had printed it out over a month ago, and had been taking my own sweet time in taping the pattern together. And let me just say, taping the pattern together took way, way more time than the actual sewing of this skirt.

I started Monday afternoon, and probably worked on it for about 4-5 hours, which got everything done except for the hems on both the skirt an the lining. There was nothing terribly complicated about the pattern. If you’ve made any sort of skirt before, this one is just as easy, even if you’ve never done a lining before (and I hadn’t.)

The outer fabric is grey wool suiting that I bought ages ago when it was on sale. The idea was to make a skirt/jacket set with it. The skirt is out of the way, now I need to improve enough to feel like I can make a suit jacket. It was my first time sewing with this type of fabric, and it was relatively easy. The hard part was getting crisp lines with the iron. The lining is purple rayon bought specifically for the skirt. I think all linings should be in fun colors.

Over all, I’m really pleased with the skirt. It fits, which I wasn’t particularly expecting (I cut the 16, but have now moved on to thinking I’m larger than I am than that I’m smaller than I am). I had decided if it didn’t fit me, I’d send it off to a friend who is a little smaller than me, and who’s mom could take it in if it so needed.

Pattern Notes:

  • The pattern took about two yards of the wool fabric, and about 1.5 yards of the lining.
  • I hemmed it up to land above my knee, but now seeing the photos, I think I’ll let it down an inch or two. It just looks too short to me to be “professional.” This length would be perfect in a flirtier fabric.
  • I am not pleased with the puckering just under the waistband at my sides. This is obviously a fit issue. My solution would be to either lose weight or to try to figure out exactly why it’s puckering. (At this point, losing weight seems like an easier option).
  • I still need to work on my zipper insertion. If I could afford a pile of zippers, I’d start making little bags to practice on. Even though the zipper is red and I didn’t use an invisible zipper, I think I shouldn’t be able to see it as much as I do.
  • I would love a blind hem foot, but that would probably require a new machine as well. But I did not enjoy hand hemming the outer skirt.
  • The mister and I really need to work on our photograph skills. And perhaps learn how to actually use the little Nikon. And wait until daytime for photographs.
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[Adjective] Sunday

Oh hi! Happy Easter! I totally remembered that I was supposed to share awesome stuff on Sunday!

This week we’re traveling, celebrating Easter + the mister’s birthday together. I like it because I’ll still get my very own Easter basket from his mom (my mom say’s we’re too old for them, but we still get a spring “outfit,” this year it was new gym shoes for me).

Anyways, I found some awesome stuff this week, and not all to do with Easter!

  • I don’t particularly like to eat Peeps, but they do make adorable decoration, especially when reproduced in felt for as bunting, via Dana-Made-It.
  • I love fabric, it’s true, and over at True Up, Kim has an interview with Jessica Levitt on her new fabric line, which I can’t stop thinking about. Also, leave a comment over there and be entered in to win a fat quarter pack of the fabrics talked about.
  • Have I mentioned my love of robots? Over at Stitch-Craft, Holly made a memory game with a robot dingbat font, cardstock, and fabric. I would love just the adorable bag she made to store the game.
  • Even though I don’t have my own dining table (still living at home, sigh), I adored this post by David Lebovitz on the French usage of cloth napkins. And of course am inspired to do something similar at my own table.

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Finally, the second chart on Icarus.

In progress, second chart.
I know iPhone photos are terrible quality, but I’m just not going to pull out the Nikon for an in-progress pic (well, not until I manage to get myself an Eye-Fi card, but that’s another matter.)

I am finally, FINALLY onto the second chart of my Icarus shawl. Where I thought I was never going to get. It’s pretty much the only thing I’ve worked on this week, other than the slight detour for the mister’s birthday present.

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