a nighty or is it nightie ???

As the pyjama party sew-a-long is in full swing over at Karen's I felt inspired to make something for sleeping in as well. Sadly I don't wear pyjama pants and believe me, by the amount of enthusiasm for the sew-a-long I really wished I was, but my legs just get too hot whereas my upper half is covered in icicles. I felt I need to give Audrey C another twirl.

It's made from organic french terry ... so so soft, but not very stretchy. I added a whole 2 inches to the front piece and another inch to the back piece to accommodate the lack of stretchiness. I changed the back darts to a back centre seam and it worked fine, but the lovely Carolyn suggested to take it out of the side seams, so that'll be my next try. To reign in the neckline I made a little pleat out of the 2 inches that I added and I salvaged one of the previously discarded neckbands from the Audrey C in Raspberry.

That'll teach me to do something like a neckband right after I had problems with the darts. I was probably all huffy and puffy from the darts and the poor neckbands never stood a chance ... sigh. I lengthen the arms - I like half of my hands covered as well, but shortened the overall length. To finish it off, I appliquéd 2 little hearts a la Alabama Chanin onto it. I had her books out various times from the library and just love them.

I will spare you all the picture of me in the nighty as it is a bit shorter then I am comfy to post on the internet for all and sundry to see :-)

Fastest Cardi EVER

I did it ... I knitted something wearable that is not a scarf ... go me. I give you the tonsil cardigan - Mr. Giggles is cringing at the name, but if the shoe fits ... :-)

It was part of my New Years resolution, because I have been knitting for a long long time (over 25 years) and whilst I was a girl, I did make tank tops for myself as soon as I got breasts and curves and anything really that might require fitting, I stuck to scarves and blankets.

Anyway, I have a lot of yarn left over from my dad's blanket and whilst it is not a natural fibre, it is very soft and chunky. Two weeks ago my daughter had her tonsils and adenoids out and, as she was operated on, I cast on the first stitches. The shape is based on the Shalom Cardigan, but I had a different gauge, I changed the yoke, I did different increases etc ...

I used 9mm needles, because I had those and the swatch looked nice. I know, I should have probably chosen something where I had the correct gauge and where I just had to follow instructions, but I knew that 3 stitches and 4 rows made a 1 inch square and I went from there. I had to redo some bits, for example, when I finished the top grey stripe I realised I had cast on too large a neck line and the entire bottom blue stripe had to go, because I had calculated the increases from the waist wrong and it looked more like a peplum. Nevertheless, even with all the changes I worked on this cardi for a total of 6 days, although 2 were long days (I finished the yoke), because they were spent in the hospital with a drugged 4 year old ... a luxury that I normally don't have, as said 4 year old likes to keep me busy.

I have no ideas whether it'll wash or how it'll wear, but I have been agonising about knitting cardigans and pullovers for so long and in the end, there is only so much thinking you can do before you should start doing. It doesn't close in the front and there were moments when I contemplated of redoing the bottom section again, but in the end I'll see how this one fares. I have still got more of this yarn (Moda Vera Shiver), so I'll make a couple of cowls maybe either for myself or maybe as presents :-)

Audrey C in Raspberry

Finally back to Stashbustin'. It's been a longer break then I intended.

This dress had been waiting to be hemmed for some time. I am still unsure of whether I should shorten it a bit more. If I would wear it mostly with tights then yes, but in reality I am most likely to wear it without, it being Queensland and all, and then I probably don't want to shorten it, cause those little dimples on my thighs don't need to be shared liberally with the world at large.

This is the Audrey C Dress from Maria Denmark. I used a bamboo knit with 4% lycra from the Bamboo Fabric Store. I was under the impression I ordered the colour red, but after I washed it it looked definitely hot pink.

I have mixed feelings about this dress ... sigh.

It promised to be such an easy dress, essentially a long t-shirt. The printout of the pattern went together very well, although I had to trace my size with a colour pen as it printed out in light grey. The neckband didn't print out correctly and no matter what I did, it refused ... the joys of technology

However, the fabric was a 4 way stretch not a 2 way as the pattern asked for. I graded out for my larger hips, but it's still a bit tight around my hip/bottom. I made the skirt more A-line and I shortened the arms a little.

This is a rather unflattering picture of my back, but it probably illustrates all my problems with the dress.

It came out a little small. Either I got the sizes wrong (always a possibility) or the fabric stretched whilst I cut is or even a combination of both. Either way, combined with my least favourite bra and a pair of tights that digs in a little, it is not particularly flattering look on me. However I have a wide belt that I could wear with the dress and thus eliminate at least one of the rolls on the back.

You can't really tell from the picture, but the patterns has 2 back darts and there my fabric choice came back to bite me. I did the darts in a straight stitch, but because it is a 4 way stretch it didn't really work. I had to shorted them and resew them in a small zigzag stitch and then I struggled getting them to lay flat.

I don't know whether I like darts in knit fabric, but since this is the first time I came across them, I am keeping an open mind. My personal preference leans towards adding a back seam and omitting the darts if I make this pattern again.

Finally, after the issue with the darts, which only became apparent once I tried the dress on, I started on the neckband ... ohhh the neckband. I screwed up the neck band REPEATEDLY, no really, this is version 4 and it's staying, I don't care that it is not laying flat.

All of the issues are issues that arose with my lack of experience, so overall I think it is a wonderful pattern. I do like the idea of knit jersey dresses, but I mostly wear separates, so I've got to see how much I'll actually end up wearing the dress and see whether I should make anymore :-)

the Cricket Scarf

No, don't worry, it's not a scarf worn by either cricketers or the people watching the cricket. We're not that crazy here in Queensland ... yet ... the heat gets to us all :-)

It is a scarf that a mother with little interest in the game knits whilst watching her son's training and junior games. Go supportive Giggles ... I even stood on the side of some field in the middle on nowhere, watching in the pouring rain, wondering whether my car would make it off the strip of grass it was parked on since it is not a four wheel drive, cause Junior cricket gets played regardless of the weather.

It has been finished for a while, but somehow I never found the time or weather to take the pictures.

It's a teal cotton/soy mix I picked up at the fabric-a-brac almost a year ago and my own pattern. It has a 5 stitch garter border and then alternates 5x5 stockinette and reverse stockinette stitch.

I loved knitting it and I adore wearing it. It is so soft and beautiful. The colour is not coming out in the pictures with the white background, it is more vibrant in real life. Happiness and joy :-)

gardening endavours and lemons

Ever since I moved to Australia I have had this fascination with growing my own food. We don't have a backyard, but books like The Edible Balcony keep this flight of fancy alive despite its varies issues.  My maiden name was Garden and for some reason, I carry this idea that I can do anything garden-related if I just put my mind to it, because, you know, with a name like that, how could you not :-) Oh, what I would give for a balcony like this ... (it's from the book)

We had a variety of plants on it over the years, but the strawberries have always gotten some sort of mouldy disease, the tomatoes also struggled, and the lettuce is bitter. On the herbs side we were slightly more successful. Thyme, Oregano and Dill do really well. Basil is a bit temperamental, but okay. Rosemary always dies eventually and coriander, when it actually germinates, gets eaten by something.

My husband dream of an orchard, so for 3 years we had a dwarf avocado tree, that eventually died due to some type of grub eating it's roots. I tried to get rid of the grubs, but they always came back. Eventually I bagged up the tree and the soil and threw it out. Not to be defeated, a year ago, we bought a lemon tree ... inspired mostly by Carolyn's lemon tree.

And looksie ... 6 lemons survived to ripen. 5 on the little tree ...

and we picked one ...

for our lovely Greek inspired lamb roast on Sunday. Disaster struck when our internet went down on Saturday and we had no recipes printed out ... only a shopping list. We decided to improvise on the recipe (a mix of oregano, rosemary, thyme, mint, lemon, garlic) and defer the baking part to a later date, but the leg of lamb looked and tasted great. It made for wonderful leftovers that were put in some pita bread with some yoghurt, garlic and cucumber mix :-)

Lekala 4099

I wanted to thank everyone for the kind comments on the Pumpkin Scone Recipe.  In fact, the comment from velosewer about Greek pastries led me to the conclusion that Greek cuisine is mostly ... well ... Greek to me. Brisbane does have a wonderful Greek community and they just had their festival, but, alas, various Kindy fetes, birthday parties and sleep overs conspired against me actually attending it. Thus I have declared next weekend to be a Greek weekend ... I shall research the menu extensively (i.e. spend a leisurely hour surfing velosewers food blog when I really should be doing other things) and let you know how I get on with this. Hopefully we'll end up with something all children and adults will eat and maybe like to eat again :-)

Anyway, back to Lekala. I love them in theory, no seriously, the idea of having made to measure patterns for my measurements is great. Their website is like a candy store that offers new surprises every day. However, like a candy store, it has a few drawbacks. The biggest, I think, is the instructions. They are minimal, translated somewhat questionable from Russian. The PDF pattern fits together mostly, but that could very well be a printer issue. Over all the PDF is not onerous though. Having downloaded a skirt pattern from somewhere else and ended up with 60 odd pages, the Lekala patterns I have range from 17 pages for a T-Shirt top and 24 pages for a coat. The price is great. Once you register on their website you get a 10% discount on the pattern and you have to register to buy, so the pattern is like $2.10. I keep reading about the $0.99 US sales, but that never quite happens down here ... sigh ... it's probably a good thing as I have no self-control :-)

Lekala 4099 is a dolman sleeve jersey top with a gathered wide sleeve. I had intended to use Cation Design's free Dolman Sleeve top and modify it, but I thought it might be a good way to try out Lekala. I had read some bad reviews, about their sizes being too small (no ease etc), so I was a bit weary.

I used Spotlight's new brushed Jersey for that (yes, I know it was not in my stash), but I really wanted a black top and there was nothing in my stash. I lowered the neckline a bit and shortened the sleeves, but looking at the pictures now, I didn't actually need to shorten the sleeves as they ride up a bit.

This might well be the white sponge of cake sewing. It is perhaps the most useful thing I have sewn so far (except for the sleep masks that we use daily).

It's not as fitted as some of my other tops, which probably means I wear them too tight usually. However, Jersey and I am going to become best friends in the next few months, because I have started to exercise in the lost month of April. I can see some results already and I don't really want to go through the pain of fitting things that don't fit right a few months later. Overall, I was really happy with the pattern and the fit. I didn't need any instructions really and I imagine I will make many more tops from this pattern.

Mother's Day Baking - Spiced Pumpkin Scones (egg and dairy free)

When I first started this blog, I had intended to also write about my adventure in cooking. You see, I knew how to cook in my youth, but, to be honest, I preferred take-aways or just already prepared food like fresh pasta where all you had to do is put it in hot water for 3 min and heat up some sauce in the microwave. Then I had my son and at 6 months, he all of a sudden started choking at the dinner table and it turned he was allergic to dairy and eggs. My finely crafted dinner plan was all of a sudden shot to pieces ...

Prior to my son I had always left baking to Marks and Spencers, but alas, at 4 my son wanted a Dinosaur cake just like his friends ... so the journey began. We had some spectacular mishaps especially with baking, but now I can't imagine going back. We were pleasantly surprised to find that last year, 7 years after his first trip to hospital, he had outgrown his egg allergy.

For Mother's Day today, they baked me some pumpkin scones ... and I thought I really need to share, because they are just soooo awesome. I have already eaten 3 :-)

The are both egg and dairy free and we usually use Jap pumpkin for it. It is a particularly sweet pumpkin and I had first found here in Australia, but it is also sometimes called a kent pumpkin.

To make the pumpkin purée, you cut the pumpkin in half , clean out all the seeds, put it cut side down on the baking tray and roast it in the oven at 180C for about an hour. It really depends on the size of your pumpkin and your oven, but it is really not hard. After it is cooled, you purée or mash it. Any that you don't use, you can freeze for later.

For the scones, you'll need:
1/2 cup of brown sugar
3 1/2 cups of plain flour
2 tsp of baking powder
1/2 tsp of bicarb of soda
3 tsp of ginger powder (or mixed spice if you prefer that instead)
1/2 cup of dairy free margarine (in Australia we use Nutelex)
2 cups of puréed pumpkin

1, in a large bowl, mix all dry ingredients well
2, cut in the margarine
3, add the puréed pumpkin and mix thoroughly

Please note that if the puréed pumpkin was stored in the fridge, the dough is less gooey and can be kneaded by hand on a floury surface. If the pumpkin is still a bit warm, it melts the margarine a bit and the dough can't really be kneaded as it is too sticky (as you can see above). In this case just use a spoon and mix it well. The end product tastes great regardless.

4, form the scones and put onto a baking tray that is lined with baking paper. Some people form a rough circle and then cut 12 triangles, others just form 10-12 rough circles. In our case, the kids added some more pumpkin and it was a bit sloppy, so we used  metal spoon and put blobs unto the tray.

5, bake at 200C or 425F for 12-15 min or until done (our oven always takes longer)

In the mean time, amuse your children with the left overs to prevent them from climbing into the oven :-)

I like to eat mine as warm as possibly ... maybe I could have another one for desert.

Happy Mother's Day to everyone.

the lost month of April

after the production of the Gridlock dress I was a bit at odds with what I wanted to do next. I needed a pallet cleanser - the sorbet of the sewing world - but I struggled making my mind up.

I bought and downloaded the Audrey C dress from Maria Denmark. As far as PDF patterns go it was a pleasure to put together and it all went well until I got to the neck binding/facing and somehow it all didn't work. I ended up doing my own neckband and now it has been patiently waiting to be hemmed ... and it is still waiting. I am undecided to the exact length and how to do it. I bought myself a twin needle for just that occasion, but ...

As it got colder here in Brisbane I was reminded of my New Years Resolution: to knit myself a jumper. It'll be a short-sleeved top I think as I messed up the sizes. The pattern is from a book and whilst I was reading it, the 2 inches wearing ease made perfect sense, however once I got to the bust and I tried it on I realised that I NEVER EVER have 2 inches wearing ease in my jumpers, because I like it more fitted. I couldn't bear to start again, so I omitted some of the increases and added some waist shaping and it is not too bad now. Also it'll serve as a test case as to whether the cotton will shrink and how it wears. It's like a muslin really and I have an awful lot of the yarn ... 12 balls to be exact and I only need 2 per top (it's the Bendigo Woollen Mills Cotton 200 gr balls and they go far)

About 6 nights ago, I was fortunate enough in that my daughter started to sleep through the night, after waking up 2-3 times every night - she is 4 years old so take note people without children sometimes they don't sleep through at 6 months. I am sure it won't last, maybe she is coming down with something, but you know what they say about gift horses, anyway after 2 nights of uninterrupted sleep I felt much more energetic and started to declutter my stash.

I donated about 10m of fabric to my daughter's Kindy and 15 balls of yarn that I was never going to use. The fabric were pieces that were given to me or that didn't survive the wash or that were plain ugly - what were you thinking Giggles when you bought a yellow/orange/pink piece of mostly polyester seersucker. I still have more to do, but it feels much less oppressive now ...

the final act - the finished Crepe Dress

I thought about writing the skirt section, but really, nothing interesting happened other then I took out a lot of fabric both on the sides and from the bottom - when I say a lot, I mean about 5 inches of each skirt seam - obviously not near the waist area, but further down - and about 8 inches in length.

I don't think it looks tarty though. Looksie ... I even found some heels to wear even though I have worn heels 3 times in the last 3 years, well 4 times now :-)

Another view from the side and back, please ignore the dying tomato plant, I have a new one.

Now, for the lining. One of the challenges was the opening to feed the tie through. I ended up sewing the seam allowances of the lining and the outer fabric together in order to create a stable non-fraying hole. It can be seen on the top on this picture. I also finished of the seam allowances of the skirt section by wrapping the lining around - a bit like the Hong Kong finish. I think Karen from Did You Make It wrote about it a while back ... obviously hers was neater.

As my final act in making this dress, I hand-stitched the bodice lining to the skirt section with a slip stitch. It's not totally neat, but who cares. I think it look great :-)

Now that it is finished I feel a little lost. I know I should get back to stash busting ...

Crepe Bodice or we're getting somewhere

You know why I don't particularly like muslins? Because by the time I got the fit right - or rightish, let's face it, I have little idea how things are 'supposed' to fit - anyway, by the time the fit is doable I have lost all enthusiasm for the projects. I have in fact got several skirt muslins ready to go, I have even paired them up with all the correct fabric and notions and yet they are sitting nicely in their little bag waiting patiently for the muse to return ... sigh.

I was determined to keep going with this project so here we are.  I cut the lining on the bias, so that the front piece has a bit of stretch like the gridlock fabric. It also stabilised the back piece where it crossed over. Originally the cross over is on the bias and now on the lining it runs with the grain, so hopefully it'll be less likely that it stretches out on that bit.

The original crepe dress is not lined, but due to the poly I really really really needed it lined. I was going to interface the whole neckline, but the bulk was a bit too much, so I just interfaced the tip of the V to ensure stability. Also I pinked the seams within the lining, because both fabrics frayed like mad ... is one supposed to finish seams that are within the lining?

I under-stitched the neckline and changed the darts of the lining into pleats to allow more movement - I think I might have read that on someone's blog, but I can't remember where.

I have made the ties out of the lining material (a ivory cotton sateen from Spotlight) and attached them slightly higher then the pattern asked for. It worked better on the muslin, so hey, who am I to question the muslin. Next up - the skirt :-)