Finished sweater

I finished my Transverse Cardigan on Monday night and I'm really pleased. I plan to wear it on Saturday. The buttons look good to me, too. It's a great pattern!

I'm not as happy with my red jeans.  I got them all in one piece, but the fit is just not there. I'm going to start by taking about an inch out of the center back seam.  They still seem to be too full in the legs, so I'm not sure what else to do. It's weird because I've made these before and they don't seem so full to me. Maybe it's the fabric. On Saturday, I hope to work on them again and try to figure this puzzle out.

Happy Sewing!

Making Progress!

Even though I've been quiet here, I have been making progress on several fronts. I finished the second book by Kathleen Ernst, The Heirloom Murders. It was quite enjoyable. Next up, I'm reading State Fair which is one of a series that I enjoy. Best of all though, my reading classes started A Wrinkle in Time which is one of my two all time favorites. (The second is To Kill a Mockingbird, of course!)

I've finished the body of my Transverse Cardigan, and it fits! Woo hoo!  I'm going to add a bit to the left front as in this yarn, it rolls badly. For the same reason, I plan to add about a one inch garter border around the bottom edge. I have my buttons, so it shouldn't be long now. I've turned the heel on a sock, too!

Midnight truly enjoyed the blocking stage!

Then on Saturday, I started my wine jeans. I've done most of the fiddly bits, pockets, fly, zipper, so I hope to finish these soon as well. I'm excited to wear these with several of my tops and sweaters.

Happy Sewing!

Finished coat and more!

I haven't posted for a over a week, but I have been sewing. I finished my daughter's coat this week. She plans to pick it up tonight.  I drafted the coat myself after she saw this beauty in a magazine. While hers is not exactly the same, it pleases us.  I hope she's going to enjoy it!







 This weekend, I also made some birthday bags for my students. I teach fifth grade and give each of my darlings a goody bag with a bit of this and that. They are always so pleased that I made them something. I use designs from my Brother 1500D or that I find online.  Here are the latest.

I made this skirt for myself which I had cut out over the Christmas break. It fits!  I'm planning to wear it to school tomorrow with a sweater that I knit.

My Transverse Cardigan is around three-quarters done, so it's coming along nicely.

I finished Old World Murders and started the sequel, The Heirloom Murders. They are not great literature, but they are wonderful, relaxing mysteries with a strong set of characters.

Tomorrow it's back to school, but I plan to cut our the dark read jeans I mentioned in a previous post and knit some more before this day is over.

Happy sewing!

So many ideas...

Well, a sinus headache and absolute exhaustion wrecked my plans for the week, but today, I've made some progress. I'm finally hemming the coat for my daughter. My sweet husband welded the base of Matilda, my dress form, so that I could put her to use for this project. She's a yard sale find and too large for me, but it's working for the coat hem.

Since I didn't make much progress, I thought I'd share an end of 2011 project. I had had this fabric for a while. It's a lightweight jersey knit, I think, which I made from Simplicity 2733. My husband and I both love it! We bought it on a trip to Hancock Fabrics in Murfreesboro. The day was memorable because there was a terrible windstorm while we were in the store. The power went out, but they took all my information and let us leave with my purchases. I've used some of the other fabrics, but I have several pieces to go.




My husband and I often combine hobbies on a road trip. On my fall break, we went to see a motorcycle that he was considering buying and then went over to Sir's Fabric in Fayetteville. If you've never been, I have one word...GO. These two plaids are in my queue, one for me (the small plaid) and one for my daughter.

I also hope to make a pair of jeans with the dark red bottomweight from Joann's and my daughter wants a dress from these two linen colors, also from Joann's. She sent me the picture of the color block dress as inspiration.










The sweater knit is for this simple dress. I need to decide whether to line it somehow or simply make/buy a good dark full slip. Hmmm...


Hopefully, I can finish the hems tomorrow and get on with the topstitching and buttonholes. Then I can start some of these other projects.

Books!

Besides all my fiber-related interests, I love to read. I teach Language Arts so I get to share my interest with my students. From time to time, I'd like to share what I'm reading. Yesterday, I finished the newest book by Rick Riordan, The Son of Neptune. It is a good read which my students are loving, so I wanted to try it myself. Riordan's books are a bit formulaic, but definitely enjoyable.

After that, I started Lonesome Road by Patricia Wentworth on my Kindle. This is the third Miss Silver mystery. I find these to be excellent bedtime reading. Miss Silver is a very clever lady who knits as she interviews her clients. This last one starts quickly, and I'm already engrossed!

I Knit, Too

In all the talk of sewing yesterday, I didn't show you my current knitting projects. I've got two pairs of basic socks going. Both of these are based on Stephanie Pearl McPhee's sock recipe in Knitting Rules. The yarns are Soft and Slim Rayon,colorway Licorice, which I'm afraid may be too soft, and Deborah Norville's Serenity Sock Weight in the Picasso Marble colorway.

I have also started two designs from last Spring's Interweave Knits. I'm doing the Aran Necklace Camisole in Berocco Linsey, colorway 6550, a greenish gold. This is just barely begun, but I'm excited about it.

I've made more progress on Ann Weaver's Transverse Cardigan which I'm knitting with Plymouth Yarn's Encore in colorway 0241, a soft pink. I'm working on this to be sure it fits as the sleeves are reported to be pretty narrow. To offset this, I've started with the number of stitches for the 49 1/2" size, but then added the number of stitches for the 41" size when I got to the body. It is knit cuff to cuff so I think this will work. I've done one sleeve and started the body.

School starts back tomorrow! I hope that doesn't keep me away too long.

A New Year's Goal

For a long time, I've wanted to keep track of what I sew/knit/create in a year's time. 2012 is the year. This blog is for me, but I hope I find some readers along the way. Because I teach school, I don't sew every day or even every week, but I always have some kind of craft going. I'm hoping this blog will encourage me to do a bit more this year.

So to begin...I'm in the midst of making my 27 year old daughter a winter coat. She found a photo of a very good looking coat and I'm attempting to recreate it while customizing it to her body. I've taken the fitted jacket pattern from Built by Wendy Coats & Jackets as my starting place. Then I reshaped the front to make an asymmetrical closing. Today, I attached the lining and the outer coat, so all major construction is done. Now I need to do lots of pressing before I do lots of hemming and top stitching and buttonholes. I hope to finish this in the next week. Here are a couple of photos of this work in progress.

Also, yesterday and today, I've made two cushions for my house and re-purposed a vinyl shopping bag to be my school bag for this semester. I embroidered the designs using my Brother 1500D. The designs are from Embroidery Library which is my favorite site for buying designs. The first cushion is for my bed and the second is for my deck.

That's my start for 2012. I have lots of other projects planned which I hope to share with you in the next few days.

Happy New Year!