Fiber Friday

I finally made something for me! I was going through my clothing and noticed a few tank tops and tee shirts with those very tiny holes near the front hem. You know the ones that are almost unnoticeable but technically holes so the shirt is a bust? I was pretty bummed until I remembered seeing a cool tutorial online for sewing a dress from an existing shirt by just adding a skirt.

Here are a few of my inspirations:

Basic Tee into a Summer Dress

Black Striped Two-Tone Dress

Lace Two Toned Maternity Dress

I knew I had enough gray linen and plenty of shirts to choose from so i go started. I used french seams so it would be nicely finished. But when I got the waist section I was skeptical about getting it over my head. I wanted the waitlist to be high, almost empire waisted so that it would drape over "the bump". I had squeezed into a summery dress the day before and it was so comfy and forgiving I hoped this would give me lots of wear. But I had merely gathered the waistline and was going to attach it to a jersey knit top. So instead I went simple and found some elastic. I made it into a skirt instead and in the end, I have about 6 or more dressed in one!

Since the linen is a nice dark gray color, it goes with pretty much any top I owned pre pregnancy, including the ones that definitely are too short to wear. But with this skirt, I can put it over the top and it looks like a color blocked dress!

I know it's a bit wrinkled and simple, but imagine it with a black and white striped, coral, or mint green tee shirt or a tank top peaking out the top and a cardigan. I'm so in love. I also made the hem just below my knee so that it is long enough to go without leggings and long enough that as the baby grows, the skirt will still be long enough in the front.

Such a simple skirt and I hope that it will last me after baby comes. I could also alter it a bit after baby and make the intended dress, but right now, I'm loving the versatility. The only enhance would be pockets but since I was making the pattern up, I decided to to try anything too wild!
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quilt update

Oooof... Feels like a long time since I updated! Partly because it's been awhile since I worked on my quilt, but I'm here with a but of a progress report:

I cut and prepped the center square and finished two more triangles. Seeing this photos helped me decided to be sure and include some pinks, yellows, and orange in the final triangle. I like the fun randomness, but can see a lot of blue and green in the top and right triangle. Hoping to bring a bit of balance with the last one.

Early last week I finished hand stitching the center block. It was so fun and really quite manageable. This gives me hope for the next set of hand stitching - all the squares that make up an inner border. I purchased some grey fat quarters in different shapes and patterns to use for the background. It's also been lovely to have a sewing buddy who has a fantastic stash of scraps to choose from! My supplies are currently housed at Juliann's house since she has a dedicated sewing space. My home is a music studio during the week with students/families coming and going so this allows me to have a bit of freedom in my sewing schedule without having to pack up each evening.

Speaking of quilts, I started quilting my tree quilt! It was a Christmas gift last year so my goal is to have it up on the wall by this December! I hemmed an hawed over the many possibilities for quilting and finally decided to go with hand quilting some wonky stars. I'm doing them in the grey background between branches and they are each a little different.

I'm using grey thread on top and white on the bottom so that the stitches are pretty subtle. I like how the stars pop up without distracting from the fun color blocked tree.

I used chalk to draw the stars free-hand and then mostly followed the shapes on the machine, though in some places I went outside the lines. It's been a fun process and is faster than I'd expected! 

So there are my quilt updates. I'm glad to have a few sewing projects to work on and while it's fun to have a goal, I like that the Jen Kingswell quilt is going to be a longer process. Sewing is a hard hobby for me to fit in weekly, probably due to the lack of space. It is great to have some hand stitching to keep by the couch for evenings. I will admit though, it's about time for a new glasses prescription so my hand stitching has to happen in the morning when the light is good :)

Fiber Friday

So many fiber takes to tell!

This is a washcloth I made on a road trip last week. I'm on a mission to use up my stash and leftovers so I packed all my cotton yarn in a bag and have been picking away making simple garter stitch washcloths. This is organic cotton from various other patterns.

Yesterday I made progress on my quilt, thanks to a little sewing date with Juliann.

I also cut the leaves to start the appliqué border just outside this center square. I'm hoping to go to the fabric store this weekend to pick up some neutral greys for backgrounds.

So fun to dive back into the fiber world! Hoping to get to clue 4 on my summertide mystery knit along this weekend. Happy stitching!

 

fiber friday

I'm making tons of progress on my Guernsey Triangle Shawl. I love this project, even though I had to tear out a few rows. I feel good about my choice to go back and fix a few tiny things because it looks so nice now. I'm close to finishing and hope the rain will pause for long enough to get some good photos outside.

Also, I joined Helen Stewart's Mystery Knit Along! Many factors in my choice:

1. I love her percentage patterns, easy to follow and I always feel accomplished!
2. I am ready for a new pattern and shawl not that the Guernsey is close to done.
3. My dear friend is going to knit it as well so we will have another reason to check in on each other and chat knitting! I love the idea of accountability to be working on it steadily.
4. It means I get to go yarn shopping with my mom (love this!)
5. I feel confident in my skills to try this type of project. When I told someone about it they asked if i was nervous there would be a stitch that I didn't know. I love that I feel like I have the ability to work through new stitches and try something new!
6. I love Helen's patterns, they are beautiful

I'm off to the yarn shop this weekend but to prepare I assessed my current stash of shawls to look for colors I don't have much of. I'm leaning toward coral, pinkish, orange since I have a lot of blues, greens and grey in my collection.

I'm also using this cool tool from Quince & Co Yarns so compare colors online. I'd love to use their yarn for this and while I'm not sure if that will work out, it's fun to play with their colors.

I also want to dive back into some sewing. I love my new mustard yellow dress and think that a long weekend is the perfect time to get out the sewing machine! Happy weekend!

fiber friday

This is where I learned to sew. I was shorter and younger. The furniture has been arranged and rearranged at one point moving rooms altogether on,y to return. The machine has changed and the projects ebb and flow but the thrill of taking a flat piece of fabric and creating something new remains.

Sewing garments is something I have love hate relationship with. I remember the pattern choosing being difficult because the fabric shown on the model wasn't my choice and it's hard to imagine how the sketch on that page will transform into something wearable.

Last night I returned to this room to sew and mom my- who introduced me to all things fiber related- gifted me with cutting and prepping all the piece. I am grateful that she didn't have to rip seams for me, like the olden days and instead could pass on this gift her mom gave to her. Seam by seam I stitched, then ironed then tried it on. I am still not great at remembering easy to try on clothing when garment sewing, something that comes on and off quickly so the fit is most accurate.

Interfacingm French seams and pockets are done, just need to hem the bottom and sleeves (great fridaynifbt project!). I'm in the last stretch of the garment process, the one where I imagine all the different ways to wear the dress: the shoes, leggings vs no leggings, necklaces, shawls, etc. Then I imagine which occasions it will be best for and wonder if I can really hold off until Tuesday (first day of school) to wear the dress or if I will cave and wear it Sunday...

 

Fiber Friday

I finished the winter sea shawl! It's funny because I knit this in the summer in the woods, but I still love it :) it was a fun quick knit and great for working on during our road trip, movies and while listening to podcasts. I am so excited to officially block this when I get home. I did a makeshift blocking since I'm away from home because I wanted it to lay a little more flat for the photos.

 

I'm so close to being done with my whispering pines. After the shawl recovered from surgery I have just 58 more stitches to bind off. That picot binding is tricky for me so I'm taking it slow. Maybe next week I'll have photos! For now here is a photo of me working on the bind off while at Holland Lake. The island just behind me we dubbed "Whispering Pines" :)

In the fabric realm I'm considering joining this Quilt along and making this quilt. I have tons of fun vibrant colors and just need to figure out a good goal and rhythm for regularly working on it.

I cast on my guernsey triangle shawl and will have to give more details later. So far I'm taking it little by little so I do it well. I also need to get yarn for a gift shawl so lots of fun projects on the horizon!

 

 

Fiber Friday - gift edition

The main fiber event of the last 5 days has been a baby quilt for my friend's first baby. We worked together to pick fabrics and a playful pattern that felt like a good blend of our two styles. I cut the triangles months ago but didn't start sewing until last Wednesday.

I love the triangles and the zigzag quilting. I also enjoy the way the colored triangles pop off the light background on the front. When I was searched for a backing I fell in love with the dots especially as it is dark and contrasting. It seemed to pull the whole quilt together and kept this from being too much of a baby quilt and something that he could carry around as he grows up.

A fun part of this project is the challenge to add a fox on the back. She didn't want a thematic quilt but a nod to the woodland theme of the nursery.

I searched around Pinterest and decided to dissect a fox block that I saw repeatedly, so I got out my graph paper and ruler and went to work. He couldn't have turned out any better! And I love that he is peeking out of the corner of the quilt!

When consulting my quilt guru (my mom!) she suggested the little tag for a label. I am the worst at remembering to label gifts so this was a great idea as I was already handstitcheping the fix to the back. I wrote the baby's name on one side (blurred out on this image) and then the date and my name on the back of the tag.

I loved working in this project (despite the limited time I gave myself) and I certainly learned a few things:

• Piecing is fun! I loved making the fox block - perhaps it's time for more piecing?
• Triangles are harder than I remembered, they take lots of brain power and cautious working. Time for a break from triangles!
• I need to practice my hand stitching in a serious way
• I can finally make pretty corners on my quilts thanks to this video tutorial!
• I love using vibrant colors and big sections of black, white, or grey so the colors "pop"
• I like small quilts and have now made 4 quilts about 40"x40" - the perfect lap quilt/wall hanging/baby quilt
• Taking photos is important and sometimes precarious (thanks hubby!)
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