(Crummy lighting due to night-time indoor photography, we have glamorous Saturday nights ironing.  Although come to think of it my house is really really beige, at least it hides dog hair.)

I started this back in 2005, put it down for two years, made a few more squares in 2007 and finally finished the squares in 2011. Then I realized that my gauge changed (or maybe I picked up the wrong hook during my push to finish the last of the squares). I also missed one square and duplicated another.

At first these mistakes got me down, but then I realized, the intended baby just turned six and her sister is two, maybe two doll blankets would be just the thing and so I tossed out the original layout.

But I still have to block all these squares and I’d like to find some 1/2″ gingham to aid me in that process.

I’m a slow quilter, and I spent the first 4 hours of the day in a vague fog due to lack of sleep, so while some people made entire quilt tops, from cutting, piecing blocks and assembling the top… I made one 12 1/2″ block and almost finished a mini-quilt top (16 5″ blocks).  Of course I also had 3 mini fabric shopping trips, 1 lunch out with a friend, several good and sometimes long conversations, and gave a tiny bit on input into a charity group our guild is working on.

First up, my quilt-club (a group/class at a local quilt shop that involves making one block a month):  I would have never picked these fabrics myself, but I do like them.  However I’m not so happy with my which-fabric-where decision.  Oh well, I suspect the entire will work nicely when it is finally put together.  And these blocks are learning tools for me.

And now my mini quilt.  In my quilt guild we have some amazing artists, creating their own patterns and it is very inspiring.  But I’m mostly a copier, I see a quilt and think “I want that” so I set about to recreate it.  In this instance I spied a block that was part of Black Rock Stitchery (5th photo down) and  an entire quilt of them flashed before me.  And since I’ve had a piece of aqua fabric hanging around I decided to copy the color scheme too.  Now individually this block is a wonky cross and there are some beautiful wonky cross quilts out there, but I had a slightly different vision for it.  I did make a couple mistakes in my process, but overall I am pleased with the progress and execution of my vision.  The top isn’t quite complete, but after working on it for a few hours I decided it needed to let it sit for a bit.

All in all, I really recommend putting effort into turning what can be a solitary activity into a social one.  But, if you notice, I only used the 3 fabrics sitting on the top of the pile and a small roll of fabrics (just enough) that I was given for the quilt club block.

I F.P.S two shirts and she F.P.S. two shirts and we shared all four paint colors (though we each had our definite palatte).  And of course I forgot to take photos of her shirts, oops.

The above mentioned shirt copy

And then I traced a few butterflies from my Sublime Stitching book and made this (I used a tiny paint brush and free-handed the small swirly details)

At some point I learned that there would be a baby shower so I decided that I needed to have more than two little infant  if-your-lucky-they-will-fit-in-it-more-than-once onesies so I made a small stack of flannel burb cloths.

They are simply two rectangles (10″x16″) of coordinating flannel stitched right sides together (with rounded corners, I used a cd as a template), turned right side out and top-stitched. The first two are made of the top two fabrics and the second two are made of the bottom two fabrics. I’ve had conflicting reports from mama-friends of mine on the best size for burp cloths….

And finally I knit them a useless yet ridiculously cute stuffed owl.

This owl is from a pattern written by Susan B Anderson, the queen of cute knit stuff for babies, and published in Knit Simple’s Holiday 2010 issue. I left off the feet and modified the irises of the eyes to be crocheted because I could not managed to knit a decent looking circle that size. I think I made 6 sets of irises before settling on the dark blue. This was also a very refreshing “screw gauge” knit.

But then I realized that the v-neck, when worked according to pattern was incredibly shallow, and it didn’t follow what the pattern image showed (though it did follow the pattern diagram, I was swayed by the pattern image showing a deep, wide v-neck).  And so I snapped this photo right before I ripped the whole thing out.  Luckily I was at knit nite at my LYS and so I was able to use their ball winder to rip and re-cake the yarn in one step.

Since I was reknitting anyway, since my careful calculations weren’t working, I decided to follow my knitting gut.  The fabric I was creating with US 5 (yes 5 when the recommended needle was a 7 and I was still a smidge too big in gauge) felt a bit stiff so I decided to cast on with a US 6.  I figured that since I had picked the smaller size that would give me negative-ease as written (the next size up had too much positive ease) it would work out.  Oddly enough my gauge (pre-wash measurement) is now closer to pattern (and yarn ball band) than before.

And I did a little perusing of other v-neck, top-down raglan rates of increase for the neckline and decided to modify my cardigan to increase at a slower rate (every 6th row), thus creating a slightly deeper v-neck.  And now two weeks later, I’m ready to divide my sleeves and work on the body of the cardigan.  Which means my knitting looks exactly like it did two weeks ago in the picture above.

I managed to turn this:

into this:

A was picture graciously taken by April of Bolt Fabric, where I bought the fabric last fall and stopped in for a celebratory purchase, wrinkly because I’d been wearing it for around 6 hours, sitting eating lunch and ice cream.

This skirt was my first foray into must-trace pattern territory.  I’m sure that pattern sheet is a piece of cake compared to Burda, but it still challenged me (each pattern piece is partially printed on side A and side B of the pattern tear-out sheet).  I ended up tracing things multiple times and coordinating (trace side A of sheet, trace side B of sheet, put side A piece and side B piece together and trace again for whole pattern piece).  And then ran out of tracing paper 3/4 of the way through the process (not good on a Sunday evening) and ran around town looking for a new roll of 24″ wide trace paper (the nearby craft/art stores only carry 18″ wide so I had to stop by a true art store).  In the end I picked up both trace paper and my first roll of swedish tracing paper, though I finished this pattern out with tracing paper.  Of course once I had the pattern puzzle put together I realized that it was way too long as drafted – those horizontal pintucks would have been below my knee so I had to trace it yet again.

Once the tracing was complete I think I cut out and stitched up this skirt over the course of 2 or 3 nights (most of my time was spent bemoaning the tracing process and then worried that I’d cut out too small a size when I held the skirt front up to me); really this should have only taken a day – next time perhaps.  I used a 52″ (ish) wide cotton twill fabric and a 9″ invisible zipper, no interfacing, no hook and eye, oh and bias tape to finish the hem since I probably cut the skirt 1/2″ shorter than ideal.  The waist and hem are simply folded twice and stitched. I didn’t follow the zipper directions, but put in an invisible zipper following my Vogue Sewing book.  I’m still not thrilled with my invisible zipper application – I had to hand stitch about 1″ between the zipper and the rest of the seam), but I do like how it mimics rtw more closely.  Sadly due to side-zipper placement I was not brave enough to add pockets.

The good news is that this skirt, for short me, took less than a yard of fabric and I had almost enough to cut out a second skirt (different pattern, different story) – which I did, riding on my sewing success wave, Friday night.

Yarn: 1 skein of Stitch Nation Full o’ Sheep (Honeycomb)
Needles: Us 9 (harmony)
Size: hypotenuse measures 34.5″ after blocking, 14″ from center point to hypotenuse (was is that called?  geometry fail)

But then I thought about the things I’ve been meaning to make and how they kindasort fit my color palatte. And so I created this nice little outline of my intentions. I’ve yet to sew a thing but I am feeling more focused. And I put together this nice basket of fabric and patterns – everything else is stashed away in the garage (except some quilting stuff).  So I’m thinking of this as my fall challenge (summer was the UFO challenge).  And while my fabric doesn’t exactly match my ideal palatte, I think it will all fit nicely within my wardrobe (I have a mustard cardigan and a peacock/teal cardigan that fulfill those colors).

Knitting: Indigo Playmate in Lorna’s Laces Shepherd Worsted in Blackberry (I’ve started this!)

Sewing: Pintuck Skirt from Stitch Winter 2008 in grey cotton twill fabric (pattern has been traced, adjusted and traced again… it is cutting time)

Sewing: Boat-neck, 3/4 sleeve knit top in raspberry mystery fiber knit fabric

Sewing: Denim pencil skirt, most likely with Butterick in ages old dark denim fabric (IIRC it has a touch of spandex)

Sewing: Dress in purple and white houndstooth fabric.  Most likely with Butterick 5277 view C (though the new Collette Peony is tempting)

Sewing: Embelished bag in grey faux-suede fabric.  I scored this fabric (it is woven, but reminds me a lot of ultrasuede) from a thrift store several years ago.  I think I bought it inspired by a Blueprint spread on ultrasuede; and then I’ve plotted several bags.  Then I saw this flower adorned grey bag on Pintrest, and then saw a non-fringed version of the Amy Butler round hobo bag and I knew that was what I wanted to do (though if I found straps I liked U-Handbag’s pleated tote looks promising).

Sewing: Blouse, but in which pattern? in this slinky poly I bought from JoAnn’s.  The colors aren’t quite right for my palatte, but I have the fabric and believe they will work with my closet overall.

And thus ends my fabric-pattern combinations.  I have a few more ideas and if I make good progress on culling the stash I will buy more fabric.

Sewing: a jade colored camisole to go under a sheer chiffon blouse I already own.  (Oh please don’t sell out of the fabric I’ve been eyeing before I get to this).

Sewing: a shirtdress.  I have several possible patterns, but no fabric in mind yet.

And then there is that pinstripe brown fabric in the basket. It just doesn’t match much in my closet, I don’t, as a general rule wear brown, but it is definitely a fall fabric. So I might aim for a wearable muslin… not that wearable has worked for any of my muslin’s yet.

In May of 2010 I decided to make this cute pattern (Rav link), the Two Summer Sundress by Natalie Larson, involving a quick knit top and sewn skirt, to be exact I decided to make three of them.  I managed to finish two of the three tops last summer, but only finish one completely, which worked just fine since that little girl lives in the tropics, but once September hit I put the other two away since sundresses are no good in Nebraska falls, winters or springs.  But I tackled them and sent them off before this summer was over, thank goodness they are sized to fit for more than one year (though it is yet to be seen if they will fit the girls for a second summer due to my procrastination).

The first completed Two Summer Dress.  The 18 moth size was made with one skein of Cascade Pima Tencel (a lovely soft yarn), dot fabric (Robert Kaufman IIRC) and some heart lace trim I’ve had around forever.  I finished the inside with ribbon per the original pattern, but I followed my own sewing-sense for the skirt construction.

The second Two Summer Dress. Another 18 month size was made with one skein of Knit Picks Shine Worsted, a yard of quilting cotton (I’ve forgotten the line, I bought it summer of 2010 though), and I finished the hem with a fabric ruffle.  I made the ruffle 2x’s the skirt width.  I also used straight grain strips instead of ribbon to finish the inside.  I hand stitched the strips in place, but machine stitched the skirt to the bodice since I could hide that line of stitching between garter ridges.

And the final Two Summer Dress.  This is the 8 year old size and it took 2 skeins of Knit Picks Shine Worsted, the skirt is made from a Robert Kaufman print I found at Jo-Ann’s at least 4 years ago, the inside is again finished with straight grain strips and the rick rack was picked up recently to finish the skirt.  The rick rack is larger than average, but not jumbo rick rack.  As you can see the straps look significantly longer than the 18 month size.  This is the bodice that required re-knitting since my first version ended up not following within pattern schematic measurements and the top originally would have fit me and I don’t fit in girls size 8 tops.  I found the back fastening on this bodice to be problematic.  I think the physical weight of the bodice was too much for the simple buttonholes and buttons so I added a hidden snap to hopefully mitigate gaping in back.

I wish I could further explain my skirt modifications, but all I remember is this: 1) I attached the skirt to the bodice while it was flat and sewed the final back center seam just before hemming and 2) I followed the pattern’s finished measurements but not the sewing instructions.  A few more pictures are in my flickr account and perhaps a wee bit more information in my Ravelry Project Notes.  And while I enjoyed these projects overall I think I will probably try another knit bodice+sewn skirt=dress pattern that a knitting buddy told me about next time since that pattern uses raglan shaping for a pullover with little cap sleeves instead of long skinny garter stitch straps.  Though that will probably only make a one summer dress.

This particular piece is a bit unintentionally wonky and getting it attached to the chain was much more difficult than I anticipated. I’m hoping to make some improvements on the next one that I make.