Baby Bolero

Ok,  Next up, the Baby Bolero from One Skein by Leigh Radford.

 

This was another sample for work.  Since we don’t carry the recommend Blue Sky Alpaca’s yarn, I used Lion Brand Organic Cotton in the “Bark” colorway.  It was a reasonable substitution, but I remember that I really don’t care to knit with cotton all that much.  All the cotton yarns I have worked with shed and split a lot.  This was really no exeption.  But it did block out much nicer than I had thought it would.

I have discovered, despite sewing for many many years now, that I really hate seaming my knitted garments.  Its not second nature for me like hand sewing is.  The blocking definitely helped with the poor seaming job, but I’m still not really happy with it.  I probably need to break down and take a class on finishing, since once I see how things are done, I can usually copy them with reasonable success.

Despite my issues, I am still thrilled with how nicely this turned out, and I’m ready to jump into more knitted garments.  I’m not quite ready to do sweaters for myself yet…..I wan’t to work out my issues with finishing before I try that.  But still. this was a fun little knit, and only ended up taking about 8-9 hours of work.  Someone faster could certainly turn this out in a day. 

*Note - There are errata for this pattern listed at the designer website.  I also increased the number of sleeve stitches by 2 on the sleeve increases.  I don’t think I could have gotten them to fit otherwise.

 

Amy Butler ~ Kimberly Bag

Well I guess Amy Butler improves a bit upon reflection.  I made up another of her patterns, the Kimberly bag as another store sample for my employer. 

Here is the pattern cover and made up sample from the pattern.  As is normal for me, I really dislike the fabric choices for the bag.  I find the floral prints she uses are really not to my taste, and really cause the patterns to look like they were made for someone 3 times my age.

 

                                                           

This was a significantly easier pattern to manage than the Weekender.  There was no piping to fight, and there was hardly any Timtex.

The supply list for this project included:

Exterior fabric, lining fabric, thread, zipper, small peice of timtext for base, and fusible interfacing.  I chose a home decorator faux suede in lime green, and another Alexander Henry home decorator weight cotton in white and lime.  I lucked out and found a matching zipper in our “Make a Zipper” zipper by the yard selections.

                         

I still have the same complaint as before as far as the quality of instructions.  The pattern instructions are still overly verbose, but knowing the issues, I just went through them ahead of time with a highliter and marked the critical parts.

This was a super fast bag to make.  It only took about 5 hours from cutting out to finish.  I did do a little additional trimming of bulk that wasn’t called for in the original pattern instructions.  But everything else worked out nicely this time.  The larger challenge for me, was doing all of the construction without pins.  This is the first time that I have worked with sueded fabric, and I had noticed as I was laying it out to cut out, that pin holes were showing somewhat.  So I broke out the trusty binder clips that I used while making the weekender, and they worked fine.

 

While I think the bag turned out nicely.  I was not very happy with the scale of it.  Once finished it is so long and squatty that it looks like a loaf of french bread.  I like the overall shape, but it either needs to be shorter in length or taller in height to be a good scale for me.  At the moment, its not a really good size for me.  Despite carrying a rather smallish purse myself, this really is so short that my wallet wouldn’t really fit in here, and with the length of the bag, all my stuff would slide forward or back and cause it to look lumpy.  A scarf or tassel might help the scale a bit, but at the moment my fellow staff members at work have been teasing me about it being a case for a lady’s pool cue.

                                       

Needless to say, despite my issues with the scale of the bag.  I still liked how it turned out.  There are definite possibilities for this bag, and it wouldn’t be to challenging to remake this pattern to better fit me.  I liked how easy to construct it was, and a different fabric choice would let me use pins, which would really make this quicker.  While I still wouldn’t call this an absolute beginner pattern, it is simple enough for someone with a few sewing projects under their belt, and is a good introduction to putting in a simple zipper.

 

A quick knit top

Hi everyone,  new content is coming, I promise.  I have plenty of stuff to update you on.

 

First is this super simple Kwik Sew sleeveless tee from  Womens pattern 3277.  This was made from Sophia knit in black and red.  I decided to use the black just for a little fun and contrast.  This is to be a sample for a class at work.  We shall see if it actually happens….so far no one has signed up.  It was definitely a challenge to come up with a project that could be completed in 3.5 hours of class time for relatively new sewers….that would accomodate both misses and plus sizes.  If I am teaching someone how to make clothing I want them to have a reasonable chance at finding a suitable pattern that will fit.

Kwik Sew is an excellent pattern company catering mostly to the intermediate sewist, and folks who want lingerie or athletic clothing.  Unfortunately Kwik Sew as a company has not yet realized how badly their photographed models, and artists renderings of their patterns portray their patterns.  They have very little current styling, and most patterns tend to look pretty frumpy in the pattern books.  Look beyond this and their can be marvelous rewards.  They have excellent swimwear, dancewear, outerwear, and lingerie. 

 

  

 

 

Coming soon:  another Amy Butler bag

 

Cute Pattern; Miserable Fabric

I have finished another sample for work.  This one was a request from my co-workers, definitley not something I would normally choose to undertake on my own. 

While the disco look certainly isn’t my style, its a style that could be adapted in many types of fabric in the other pattern views to meet most lifestyle clothing requirements.   I have been disappointed in the last 5 years or so in the patterns available for pre-teens and young teens.  Most pattern books trend towards the early elementary school set then jump straight to older teen looks with an emphasis on prom dresses.  It can be frustrating finding patterns that are tasteful and age appropriate for that middle group.

This Hannah Montana pattern from Simplicity was chosen.

I made the version that the live model is wearing, in a similar fabric seen under the trade name of confetti dot.  I wanted something similar enough to the pattern that would attract the little girls.  It did turn out very cutely:

Despite the fact that this is pretty see-through, I think this could make a very cute little outfit for a pre-teen girl.  Put a little pink tank top underneath, and wear it with a cute little pair of jeans jazzed up with some pink rhinestones or other embellishment.

The only specific difficulty I had with the pattern was applying the bias neckline binding.  The fabric did not have a terribly high degree of stretch, so getting the bias stretched around the neck was difficult, and caused the fabric to pull and start raveling.  Because of the raveling issue, I would reccomend anyone trying this pattern at home, cut out a wider neck binding.  If there is too much extra once its applied, it is simple to trim shorter.  But that would certainly alleviate the issues I had. 

The sleeves are really the main feature of this garment.  They are self lined for a cleaner look.  The pattern instructions were reasonable clear and illustrated everything well.  I think they really do make the pattern in this case. 

I used my serger to clean finish the inside seams.  This is particularly important since the fabric was fairly translucent.  I just did a very narrow three thread serged hem stitch.  Alternatively, one could increase the width of the seam allowances and do french seams….but that seemed like it would add too much bulk with the metallic dots on the fabric.

The only place I made any major deviations from the pattern was to do a rolled hem on the bottom.  Since I couldn’t really press confetti dot to make a nice hemline, that seemed the best alternative.  I really can see a difference that pressing makes in how a garment hangs…..if this had been pressed the handkerchief hem would certainly be more visible…..but I am ulitimately happy enough with how this came out.

Here is a view of the sleeve stretched out a bit more to show the construction:

 

Conquering Amy Butler

Well, I have finished another sewing project.  Actually, it was finished a couple weeks ago……but I needed some distance to try to write about my experience objectively.

I decided to try out Amy Butler’s Weekender Travel Bag pattern.              

My goal was to make a bag as a store sample for my fabric store employer.  Now I already knew that I wasn’t a real fan of Amy Butler’s fabric designs.  They just aren’t to my taste and remind me of my Grandma.  That being said, I really do like some of her bag designs.  They are great tailored looking little pieces reminiscent of vintage luggage.  In more current fabrics, I think they can be pretty fabulous. 

I chose a really nice Alexander Henry fabric, a decorator weight oxford cloth cotton in the black Michi Kanji design.  Timtex, hevyweight pellon, Upholstery weight zipper-by-the-yard in black, black thread, quilting template plastic, and a set of silver bag feet completed the necessary supplies.  I gave my bag a finished looke with a red handkerchief and a red tasseled zipper pull.  Here is the finished look!

      

I am extremely happy with the finished look of the bag.  But the process was far from easy.  I have always been under the impression that Amy Butler really catered to the newer sewist.  Any newer sewer attempting this pattern would be hard pressed to get anything usable from the pattern.

My first major complaint is the instructions.  They are written in a very “folksy” conversational style that ends up being really wordy.  Too wordy for me to follow, and I am the queen of superfluous information…..just ask my english teachers.  Patterns are one area where “less is more” in the instructions.  The critical information was so buried in the paragraphs of writing that I made mistakes more than once.  The process of putting together this bag would have been much quicker and easier had the instructions been edited more carefully, and the repetitive information been eliminated.  I don’t need to be told 4 times to slow down while sewing over pins in order not to break my sewing machine needles.  My other major complaint with the instructions is that instead of listing all the prep work for cutting out the pieces was spread out through the body of the instructions.  There was a lot of cutting out to be done on this project.  The bag is fully lined and additionally all the major pieces have stabilizing layer added.  It took me nearly 3 hours to get the entire bag cut out, and to cut out the bias strips to make the cording.  It was really annoying to get halfway into the making of the bag to find out that buried in the instructions are the dimensions of another piece to cut out that, which was mentioned no where else previously.

My next major complaint is the lack of instructions for pressing and trimming seams.  Any sewist worth their salt will tell you that if you aren’t spending at least as much time at the ironing board as you are at the sewing machine something is wrong.  This bag needed lots of pressing to get the crisp tailored finish shown on the pattern envelope.   It was certainly difficult pressing as well.  I broke out my tailors ham to work the curves, my clapper to help flatten some areas out, and my seam roll.  I had the bag completely assembled and sitting on my ironing board with my iron down in the bag, pressing.  I had my ham stuffed under my arm trying to hold it in place to get the curves to lay right……By no means was this mentioned anywhere in the pattern instructions.  Also, receiving little mention was clipping the seams!  What a major error, considereing that at times I was stitching through a layer of piping, 4 layers of decorator weight cotton, two layers of Timtex, and 2 layers of pellon interfacing!  Trimming out the bulk around the curves really helped get everything together, and then look good during the finishing process.

Complaint number three is the cost of the materials.  To do this bag justice, I ended up spending about $60 bucks.  That was half off the retail cost of all the materials….Doing the math that adds up to over $120.00  I could buy a really nice bag for that amount!  The newer sewist taking on this project could really end up in a pickle with a lot of wasted money if they don’t finish this project.  I was really tempted to toss this project…..but really felt like I had to finish it for work.

You really do need a heavy duty sewing machine to do this bag justice.  I have a Bernina 830 mechanical machine.  Its about 30 years old and sews like a champ.  I broke out my denim needles, and changed them 3 different times, to keep a good sharp one in the machine at all times.  I just don’t think some of the newer lighter weight machines would handle the bulk of this project.  I had to resort to large binder clips instead of pins will sewing on the piping!

The piping itself was another issue.  The pattern calls for 1.5 inch bias strips to wrap around the .25 inch cording for the piping.  That ended up being very narrow.  I had a difficult time with it, and had to re-do a lot of my piping application to get a consistent look.

My last complaint is really very minor, all things considered.  I really think this bag needs bag feet.  The pattern didn’t call for them, but knowing that I really do plan to use this bag a lot, I wanted to add a little more protection to the bottom of the bag to avoid scuffing and wear and tear.  A set of four bag feet cost me a couple bucks, and I think they are well worth it.

What Amy Butler did right:

Her yardage requirements were extremely accurate.

It’s a really neat looking design.

She mentions centering directional prints and needing extra fabric to make the most of printed motifs.

She does have tips for sewing on bulky fabric.

She does a nice job of defining unfamiliar sewing terms for the newer sewist.

She did a fairly good job of using products that are readily available for the home sewer to use.  The only exception was trying to find a 30″ closed bottom zipper.  I settled for zipper by the yard.

The finished product looks like the picture on the envelope.

My best advice to anyone who wants to make up this pattern is to make sure your sewing machine is up to the challenge, read the instructions several times over and highlight the important stuff, be prepared to press a lot and trim a lot, and most of all bring your patience.  If you are a beginner find yourself a sewing buddy with lots of bag making experience, or try an easier pattern.

The project itself was rewarding because it was so difficult.  It became a personal challenge to finish the bag and make it look good enough to hang in my store with my name on it!  I did learn a lot about bag making, making and working with bias piping, and being patient.

 

Oceanic Chevron Scarf

Well, I found another knitting project to embark on.  I have started a chevron scarf from Joelle Hoverson’s Last Minute Knitted Gifts So far this is a super simple project.  I have been eyeballing this project for a while and just happened upon my ideal color scheme.

I chose Socks that Rock Yarn in medium weight from my stash in the Lagoon and Algae colorways and away I went.

Here a couple pictures of my scarf thus far.

 

I’m very much liking this color combination.  I was really wondering what I was going to use for this one, but seeing those two colors next to each other really jumped out at me.  I wanted something a little more subtle than some of the other versions I have seen.  I think this one will be for me, unless one of my family members really just decides that they must have it.  Now I will just have to order another skein of the algae colorway, since I had bought it for a different project.

Happy knitting

 

How I backed the Lizard Ridge

I had a few questions come up about this, so I thought I would address it.  The original Lizard Ridge pattern did not call for a backing.  The blanket was just supposed to be seamed.  After looking at the back of the blanket, I didn’t care for the look of the seaming and garter stitch fabric on the back.  I just really prefer a more finished look, especially for the amount of time and money spent on this piece.

 First of all the choice of fabric to back the blanket is extremely important.  I chose a light weight polar fleece, because it had similar degree of stretch as the knitted blanket did.  Also, fleece is 60″ wide and the blanket was 54″.  I wanted to make sure that I didn’t have to piece the back side to make something big enough. 

 Had I chosen a woven (non-stretchy) fabric I would have had a miserable time trying to match up the the edges because the knit fabric would stretch out.  I layed the fleece out on the floor, making sure that it was particularly smooth, if just slightly stretched.  I layed the blanket on top of the fleece, and smoothed it and stretched it taught.  I trimmed the excess fleece away making two matching layers. 

After getting my two layers set.  I took large safety pins and pinned through both layers of fabric at the corner of each square to keep things from shifting around.  I took the yarn that I intended to use as edging and also used it to whip stitch each layer together.  I kept the stitches approximately 1/4″ apart.  The most difficult part of this was getting the yarn through the very tight weave of the polar fleece.  In order to get the needle through the fleece easier I used a rubber jar lid gripper to get a good grip on the needle.

In the pictures you can also see that I tied the blanket, rather like a quilt.  I tied through to the back of the blanket so I wouldn’t have visible ties on front.   Each tie is at the corner of each square, and trimmed to about a 1/2 inch on the back of the blanket.  The tie is hidden on the front, so it doesn’t distract.

In order to pick up the stitches for the crochet border I used the whip stitching as a guideline to pick them up evenly.

If there are anymore questions on backing, please let me know.  I will be happy to answer any additional questions.

 

Lizard Ridge Finished!

After a years worth of work, a lot money the Lizard Ridge is finally finished.  I absolutely love how it turned out. 

 I did end up backing it.  I found a lightweight polar fleece that matched the edging yarn exactly and stitched it to the back.  I chose fleece because the stretch was similar to the stretch of the knitted fabric.  Sewing together two different fabrics with different degrees of stretch is a real mess, but because these were so similar, I just slapped one on top of the other and whip stitched around the edge.  The beauty of this is that the whip stitching is completely hidden on the front by the crocheted edging.  I did end up tieing it as you would a quilt, but I tied it on the back rather than the front. 

 Without further ado, here are pictures of the finished blanket.

~Finally Finished~

 

Pretty Shiny Things

Not too much exciting to report.  I did finish a new project though. 

 A Rubblework Scarf from my sewing guild friend Kathy at Pink Chalk Studio . 

 I chose two asian themed quilting cottons, a varigated black/red silk duppioni, a grey suiting wool, and black bemberg rayon lining from the fabric store where I work.  I loved how the pattern came out.

I swear I really wasn’t going for the surly motorcyle chick look…..but that last one sure doesn’t show my bright cheerful side.  I couldn’t figure out how to photoshop a realistic smile on, but on the bright side I did figure out how to airbrush out the zits

 Happy sewing and knitting.

 

More Projects!

Arrgghhh, you know I set deadlines for myself with the best of intentions……but egads trying to get stuff done around the holidays is hard for me.  It was a big change for me working this year.  This is the busiest time of year for retail sales, and then everyone always wants time off to be with family.  To further complicate matters, my wedding anniversary is the 28th, so we have definitley been busy.

Anyway here are a few more pictures of my Christmas and pre-Christmas projects.  These American Girl Doll clothes were given to my nieces for Christmas.  Yes, that is my doll from my own childhood.  I particularly liked how the pajama outfit turned out.  The robe and slipper material was a Minkee knock-off from JoAnns remnant bin.  It was fairly difficult to work with, given the thickness.

My other project was this portfolio.  The Fancy Cats fabric was found where I work.  The pattern is from a  local sewing guild friend and pattern designer.  You can find her blog and online store at Pink Chalk Studio

So these were the last of my holiday time projects.  Work has slowed back down to normal, and all my co-workers are back in town, so I have more normal hours now.  I have finally finished seaming the Lizard, but before its final photo shoot I will back it and maybe do a border.  I also have a new camera, from my inlaws for Christmas, so hopefully my photography for this blog will improve a bit! 

Well, back to my sewing!  I am working on a simple rice therapy bag.  They make a great heating pad for sore joints!  See ya soon!