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3.11.12 Dress finale

I finally finished the dress that I have been working on for a month! 

 

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The bottom hem was a simple turn under press and stitch with mini zigzag stretch stitch then cut away excess. This is the best thing about knits, the edges finish themselves.

The bodice facing/lining was not so bad after all. Here is is shown inside out.

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 I don’t know if I said previously but I eliminated the back zipper and cut the front and back pieces on the fold to eliminate seams.  Made sense and it still does.  (Does a knit dress really need a zipper? Who likes putting zippers into knits?) The bodice facing went in by stitching around the entire neck edge right sides together then turning it to the inside.  I then stitched the armholes of the facing to the sleeve seam and underarms by hand (old school method) rather than using the machine and having the stitching show on the outside.  The bottom of the facing was finished with lingerie elastic (I could only find pink!) so that it did not add bulk to the waist area by having a casing with inserted elastic. 

I added self made twill tape lingerie strap holders to the shoulder/sleeve seam on the inside. You can also see at the neck edge that the facing is slightly smaller that the face fabric so that the seam falls to the inside of the garment rather than having the seam showing on the right side.

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I think I will go back to sewing something other than knits.  Plus my Viking needs a tuneup and I will have to pull out another machine if I want to sew.  I need to make a window treatment for my kitchen bay sometime in this century!

3.5.12 Snow in March

What happened to winter?  It is here now.  We had a little snow this morning which is typical for Central VA and it only lasts a few hours.  Now it is just wet out there. Now it is snowing again!  Suzie the Fiberdog gets me out in all kinds weather, bless her little furry heart.

Isn’t this a fun woolly pillow?  I ordered it from Scandinavian Stitches along with a tiny Christmas cross stitch bell pull kit. Do I have a bell?  No…but I will by Christmas. I really want a tree skirt kit but can’t bring myself to buy it.

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This past weekend I did a little of this and that. Laundry. Vacuuming. Craftiness in spurts. This post is a bit of a catch up on what I have been doing for a while.  I did not do all of this in 2 days just a little on each!

I worked a bit sewing on the dress I am making for my daughter.  Me and knits…not so friendly but it is getting done slowly. It is not difficult but I chose to cut all the pieces on the fold and omit the zipper since it is a knit.  Now I have to put the lining in the top….it is a puzzle.

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I dressed Harrisville with a handpainted scarf warp that I bought in Asheville at Earthguild some time ago.

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I waited in the queue at Eyemart. Ordered new glasses. Knitted at home waiting for Eyemart to text me. Waited at Eyemart again to receive my glasses. Retro. Old Lady. Poindexter? Never underestimate a lady in man glasses.

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Crocheted a granny square for the everlasting Granny Cheerful afghan that was started last year in a wild fit of stash busting.

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I wove a little on the 8 yards of scarves while wishing I had put in some solid between and outside the warp chains as a border. Meh.

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I rearranged my sewing room so I can watch TV with my ancient and gargantuan telly that does not get very many channels.

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Then I nursed my sore shoulder and back (see: rearranging my sewing room) whilst watching Downton Abbey Season I DVD, eating dark chocolate M&Ms and knitting. This is the Sylvi coat, yarn is Briggs and Little Atlantic 3 ply in Mulberry. I got so caught up in Downton that I knit the piece without the buttonholes.  Doh!!  I had to frog and do over.

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Next: on to figuring out how to watch Netflix on my Kindle Fire.

2.21.12 Spinning. (Again)

Spinning.  Love it. I don’t know why sometimes I get obsessed with spinning for days.

Anyway, I have been meaning to write about the fact that last year I joined up with the Fiber Binder Club. It is the brainchild of Benita and Sandy.  Every month I get a little package on my front porch.  My Fiberdog scares the crap out of the post person and lets me know it is out there.   This month it was some Lincoln fiber from an adult ewe named Chocolate who really likes to snuffle in snow to get a bite to eat. Lincoln is new to me and I have been spinning wool for over 20 years.  When I first joined the club I received the binder along with the first sample. Each generous sample comes with a fact sheet printed on cardstock with raw and washed fibers attached to it. This is the 14th installment! Mailings have included different wool fibers, flax, silk, and llama. Sampling the fibers has taught what no book can. I really love down wools like Dorset but would have never known that. I dislike spinning camelids like llama. I would love to have more experience with flax. Every month I take out my reference materials and read all I can about the fiber of the month.  Mr. Lady can even recite Bradford counts and suitability of spinning styles and uses of some of the fibers.  Apparently he has been paying attention after all and seems to look forward to each month’s delivery as much as I do.

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