Sew I Gather

Posted on July 23, 2013July 23, 2013 by KellyAnnD

This is Simplicity 2892, a cute little summer top from a pattern I vow never to sew again. I think it turned out well in the end, but the gathered yoke with the little ruffle set into the neckline edge was a lot of fussy sewing for what you get in the end. I spent the better part of last Sunday gathering, adjusting and hand basting layer after layer. I made it in a straight size 14. It came out a bit large for the intended wearer, but not much and her measurements would put her right in a 14, so I took in the side seam and gave it a little shape at the waist. That helped, but I might recommend going down a size from what you usually sew if you are brave enough to tackle all that gathering. I think there must be other patterns that give a similar effect with much less effort, like New Look 6895? Maybe I will try that one soon on this stash-busting summer sewing spree. I’m certain there are some fabrics in the stash that would be just the thing…

As promised

Posted on July 5, 2013July 5, 2013 by KellyAnnD

It’s the end of the week and the shirt is finished. This is New Look 6010, size 12. I made a forward shoulder adjustment, not realizing the shoulder seam was already forward, as if there was a yoke, although there isn’t. If I had looked more carefully at the drawings and photo on the pattern I’d have seen that detail and made a more informed decision and probably not done the alteration as it brings the seam farther
forward than I’d like. Still, I think it’s a successful and wearable project that will go with jeans as well as the recently completed red linen crops.

Don’t ask how all those buttonholes went in after all this time. I can’t remember the last time I did buttons and buttonholes. That first, most visible one at the top always goes wrong. I remember that much and this time was no exception. After 2 perfect samples, the machine hung up at the start of the first real buttonhole on the shirt and the two beads of stitching wouldn’t meet at the top. Sigh. Seam ripper to the rescue. The rest went in fine, and then it took an hour sewing all those buttons on to finish just under the wire of the deadline I set for myself.

Radical Transformation Underway

Posted on April 30, 2013April 30, 2013 by KellyAnnD

Okay, maybe not so radical, but it sure felt that way, especially while I was doing it.

I knitted this sweater a few years back and found I never wore it even though I was mostly happy with how it fit and how it turned out. The bright circles are not buttons, but are pins marking the center line for the planned transformation into something I might actually wear.

While they are fast and easy to knit, I find that pullover sweaters are functionally useless for me these days. I like a cardigan I can pull on and off as needed. So I decided to try and make a cardigan out of this pullover that had been malingering on a shelf in my closet.

Having done steeks before, I knew a tight zig-zag would secure everything so I did that first: 2 rows of zig-zag stitches down the center front, about 1/4 inch apart. Then, I took a deep breath and my Gingher shears and started cutting between the machine stitches. Since the remaining yarn from this project is long gone, the option of picking up stitches and knitting a band on after cutting is also long gone. I had to think about what to do to control that edge for…oh about 30 seconds. I chose the fastest, easiest option that came to mind: zig-zagging one more time over the cut edge, and I just let the stretch happen as I noticed it was wanting to do after the cutting and look at that now stable edge with the lovely ruffle, a happy accident that looks planned, at least to me and especially given the current popularity of ruffles.

Say, Sam-I-Am, I DO like this sweater and I will wear it in a box, with a fox, on a train, in the rain…after I trim off the thread tails.

Puppy Love Scrubs

Posted on March 10, 2013March 10, 2013 by KellyAnnD

Long ago I decided I would never “take in sewing” for money. This has allowed me though the years to take on only projects I want to do for people I care about and is no doubt why I still like to sew.

Here’s a fun example: a scrub top for someone dear to me who works in a veterinary clinic and has to wear scrubs every day.

There are so many cute animal fabrics to choose from it was hard to decide, but this one was sui generis, my phrase of the week, lifted from a biography of Winslow Homer.

How many times will I have to use it to cement it in my vocabulary? Sui generis: peerless, without equal, just like the recipient of the scrubs, in fact!