Wednesday 28 January 2015

left overs from the knit marathon

this is a bit of a collection of bit and pieces that were never big enough to warrant their own post thus got left behind a little.

It was my only UFO of the year 2014: a little night dress for my daughter, already cut out in March, but never got anywhere afterwards. It only took 2 hours and it was done. It is very similar to her birthday dress, except the front is a bit gathered.



It is lovely, especially with the gathered front. Maybe I should make some t-shirts from this pattern once she's outgrown her current size.

Now, for the past 2 years I have been trying to create my own perfect T pattern. It was based on an old worn out t-shirt and the muslin was great, but I never got around to making more. That was 2 years ago ... then ... this last year ... I got this idea 'WHAT IF ... I made it even better and make it cap sleeve and thus eliminate the need to set in sleeves ... wouldn't that be just AWESOME'. Hmm okay, except by then I couldn't remember whether I had added seam allowances to the pattern or not and the next muslin was made with a 'not as stretchy' jersey, so the result was quite tight.



Totally wearable under a jumper and a cardi, but not perfect. We are going to do more testing with this in March (after the next round of birthdays), but this is where we are now.

Finally, I thought I needed a knit mini skirt to wear with some of the more looser tops I own, so this bit of organic bamboo ribbing that feels a bit like ponte worked well. It's self-drafted, which is really a fancy way of saying I drew up a rough shape and because it stretches, it hides any imperfections that might be there.



It could be longer, looking at it critically, but it works for it's purpose and what I am really going to try this year is being less critical of myself :-)

Sunday 18 January 2015

Goodness me - it's already 2015

Where has the time gone ... I still have lots of things to post that I did in December, but never got around to posting ... sigh

I think I am giving myself an amnesty and just post them as I get the pictures done and uploaded :-)




I think I'll pass on the New Year's Resolutions, because I am still working on the ones from last year and this year I have even less time. I have purchased less fabric this past year then before, BUT when I did, I bought more of it. However, according to my motivator, I have sewn 31 items and used 39.5 meters of fabric, so all in all not bad. I have no UFO's this year, another improvement to previous years. I have mended 11 things from the never ending pile and done 8 refashions. There is plenty more where this came from :-)

Although I don't really want to do a hits 'n misses post, I have to point out a surprise hit New Look 6803. It has been worn countless times, it wears well, washes and dries within a couple of hours, it feels like you are not wearing anything and it is not see through ... perfect for Queensland summer ... yes, it is another 35 degree day with some 60% humidity. I wish now that I had marked down all the changes that I made to the pattern so I could easily make another one, but alas since I didn't like the dress when I was making it, there is no record ... live and learn.

I hope you all had a lovely start to the new year.