Procrastination central

I know. This blog has languished neglected of late. My apologies, but looking after a household of invalids while rehearsing a variety concert is enough to keep anyone busy.

Recently: I learnt to make jam in the microwave, and made a small batch of strawberry jam by myself and assisted with a large batch of mulberry. Blueberry jam may be just around the corner.

6 mice are finished and another two are WIPs.

I plan to make a diagonally striped top very soon - I've figured out the alterations needed to the pattern and hopefully can get it one this week. It's a Kwik-sew pattern but I can't remember the number just now.

I also made mulberry muffins using a variant on the blueberry muffin recipe I worked out last year. Nice!

Commercial break*

Hear ye, dressmakers of Australia.

I know many of you don't like Spotlight very much. A lot of the time I agree with you. It's certainly no substitute for the many Little Fabric Shops that have gone under from financial pressures.

But I'm here to tell you, they have the BEST product I have ever found for dressmaking toiles: Trace and Toile Interfacing.

You trace the pattern on to the interfacing. Then you cut out the pattern pieces in the interfacing, and sew up the garment in the interfacing (using a good big stitch). Try it on. If you need adjustments, you mark it on the toile - which means you are marking it directly on the pattern! Unpick the seams at the end, and voila, you have a pattern already altered to fit.

I found it pins and sews beautifully, without tearing or stretching, and isn't too stiff when fitting it on the body. This is definitely one product I'll be keeping around.

*This is a completely gratuitous recommendation of a product. Spotlight have not given me any incentives to write this entry. However if they would like to send me free stuff or filthy lucre they are welcome to.

Look up in the sky! It's a UFO! It's a WIP! It's... way too many projects

WIPs:
- Knitted Alpaca scarf - Still about halfway.
- Crocheted Scarf for Mum - A quarter of the way.
- About to begin tracing off shirt patterns for Mum and me, as we are both in DESPERATE NEED of tops. This has taken Total Priority over any other projects atm. Functional clothing is needed.
- Blue/green top - finished all sewing, but one side of the neck came out longer than the other, so a gathering thread needs to be put in.
- Navy skirt - still needs waistband finishing
- Light blue blouse - fronts and back cut out but not sleeves

 
Recently finished:
- Blue/green crochet hat - Made from Cleckheatons California 8 ply in Ocean.
- Grape wristwarmers - Made from the leftovers of the grape hat.


 
UFOs, temporarily abandoned while I think about the direction these projects are taking:
- Doll's Kimono - Made from Bendigo Classic 5 ply wool, in Butternut (a sort of apricot colour). Back and fronts done, tried on two dolls and it has come out way way WAY too long, also the wrong shape... yeah, stuff it.
- Slip-rib tunic - Decided to start over with a different pattern, as I like everything except the shape, which is, y'know, a pretty big problem.
- Navy jacket, White shirt, Wool skirt - all temporarily put aside.

Current activities

 In a rush, so just a quick run-down of what the current projects are:

Knitting:
- Alpaca scarf - Made from 3 balls of an alpaca boucle that's been floating around for a while, in a 3 by 3 rib stitch. About halfway.
- Doll's Kimono - Made from Bendigo Classic 5 ply wool, in Butternut (a sort of apricot colour). Back done and half one front.
- Doll's Welsh outfit - done
- Slip-rib tunic - UFO

Crochet:
- Scarf for Mum - Made from Bendigo Classic 2 ply wool in Cherry Red. About... 5 inches done.
- Doll's Welsh hat - done
- Blue/green hat - yet to start

Dressmaking:
- Navy skirt - still needs waistband finishing
- Navy jacket - cut out but not sewn
- Light blue blouse - fronts and back cut out but not sleeves
- White shirt - stuck at the collar which doesn't seem to fit the neck
- Blue/green top - cut out, marked and pinned
- Blue green skirt - done
- Wool skirt - still figuring out how to do the yoke

Recent baking:
- Butterscotch brownies
- Survival bikkies
- Lemon curd

Normal service will resume next week

The medieval costume is nearly done!

Ok, so the braid decorations for the upper sleeves didn't work and were removed. The brown 'mudguard' on the hem looks GREAT though, as do the sleeve linings and edgings and cord trim.

I'm using a pair of old cut-off sleeves as the undersleeves - cut off a long-sleeved top because they were getting little holes in and so I turned the top into a short-sleeved one. They are knit, hence non-authentic, but on the other hand they will be quick to finish. All I need to do is sew elastic around the tops to keep them in place above the elbow. (The question of sewing them to the dress was explored and rejected. It's hard enough getting in and out of this costume without adding yet another layer of difficulty!)

The main thing I hadn't anticipated was the sheep weight of this costume - especially the sleeves. I can't even imagine how the original medieval ladies would have managed with several more layers as well. I suppose at least it would have helped to keep them warm.

Some updates

Some quick updates on the medieval costume:

1. I started re-attaching last year's braid neck-trim... and it looked awful. One quick trip to Spotlight later and I have new braid. (Discounted and discontinued, so I got extra.) It is a dull gold. I also got some cord to match.

2. The sleeve linings are sewn but not attached to the dress yet. They are a vivid rust colour. They look good.

3. I am about to cut out the edgings for sleeves and hem. They will take time and energy and may not work. They are a boring brown. They will look... authentic. Also, due to the weather forecast, the hem edging may actually have to be functional in keeping the mud off, so I have to make it deeper.

4. This is turning into a very busy week. I have no idea how much time will be available for doing this costume.

5. There are a few spots on the dress where the dye blotched. I probably don't have time to do anything about this. Unfortunately, it's in a rather visible area. Well... visible from certain angles, anyway.

Recovering

I've been taking things pretty easily for the last week, on account of not wanting to precipitate another bout of RSI (one was most definitely enough!). Also, I seem to be on a doll-clothes kick as far as knitting goes, and doing a lot of work with fine yarn and needles really doesn't help wrist tension. I've being trying to use ergonomic techniques for knitting - like using different hand positions for knit rows and purl rows - which work pretty well until you get to a rib section, and then you're basically stuffed. But basically, I'm recovered, and am trying to create a Welsh costume based on the patterns in the old Patons booklet I got the Russian doll costume out of: "Dolls Clothes Around the World".

I'm a bit annoyed with the dressmaking at the moment, as I've been trying out the patterns from the Surefit pattern making kits, and have made a pair of trousers that still don't fit despite having followed instructions. However, I've now got some interfacing that can apparently also be used for toile fitting - BEST idea ever if it works! - and will try again. I'm also going to try the blouse from the same kits and see if it fits any better.

Meanwhile my baby twin cousins are rapidly approaching their 2nd birthday, and of course I need to make their presents. These are going to be co-ordinated wall-hangings featuring their names and some nursery-rhymes, in the same style as the ones I did for my other little cousins when they were babies - made from cardboard and ribbons, the name is on one side and the nursery rhyme on the other. Hopefully I'll have enough time to get these done!

Silver lining

Silver skirts are DONE! Bound the hems with polyester interlock - 1m was plenty - cut into 1.25 inch strips across. Using a rotary cutter and mat to cut the strips made it go so much more quickly than using scissors - more even, too! I co-opted a volunteer to try on a skirt and the length seemed fine, so hopefully the same will be the case for all of them.

I'm about to try mending the frayed bits and opened seams on the gold skirts. Since they were made out of lame/lurex about 7 years ago, and have been worn in a number of theatrical productions since... they're in bad shape. Mostly the fabric is fraying too badly for me to do much good mending them, but I'll have a go so I can say I have.

Rainy Days vest is almost done - coming down on the far side of the button band now, with only a few inches left. Then I'll need to find some buttons. Unfortunately, the pattern doesn't say anything about blocking after finishing, and it's going to really need it as all the 'rib' bands are curling like blazes.

Forgot to say...

I realised after yesterday's post I'd forgotten to mention a few of the recent lot of creative pursuits. So without further ado, they are:

1. The 'Rainy Days and Mondays' vest from 'Crochet Today!' - using Bamboo Ewe (wool/bamboo blend aran weight). I'm up to the bottom band, halfway through that, and then it'll be time for the button band/collar. It's required MANY samples and test swatches for stitch, tension and just about everything else as well. But it seems to be going fine now. (Touch wood.)

2. 'So this isn't Home Sweet Home - Adjust' cross-stitch designed by Joan Elliott. Features a lot of teddy bears doing cute but destructive things all over a traditional 'home sweet home' style sampler. Very funny and although it is quite large, it breaks down nicely into smaller motifs of 1-2 bears. Almost halfway on this (although in the interests of full disclosure I should point out that it's been sitting around for over a year with almost this much done).

3. Researching a costume to make and wear to the Abbey Medieval Tournament and/or History Alive events. Having temporarily given up on the full-skirted medieval gown, I'm looking at doing an Anglo-Saxon style outfit, using this:


as inspiration, more or less (I have a black-and-white version of this picture in a costume book, but couldn't find it online). For a better idea of the style, go here and look at the Anglo-Saxon lady half-way down the page.


Meanwhile, the silver skirts have all been cut out. They did all fit on that piece of fabric - worth remembering that circles can be cut out more economically than squares - but I'm now a bit worried they may be a bit short. As I don't have heights for the ladies, I'll just have to see how things go - worst case scenario there is a fair bit of fabric left over, so maybe I can fudge lengthening them. Also, they need binding with black at the bottom hem, so maybe I can use that to lengthen a trifle. 5 skirts are now ready for binding/lengthening, 4 still to go. I may yet throw them on a bonfire.

She returns

So, He Who Provides A Shoulder told me to get back to doing this (probably because he doesn't want to hear about it). So here I am, back again!

Life's been hectic, but at least it's changed from a moving-house sort of hectic to more of a spinning-around-in-circles kind.

Also, the camera is out of action at present. This will hopefully be remedied soon. Putting batteries in would be a start.

But without further ado, a brief summary of things since I last updated:

Solomon's shrug: DONE! Also I made another one in navy Sirdar Snuggly Baby Bamboo. VERY nice.

Medieval doll's dress: Abandoned. The fabric just wasn't doing what it needed to in terms of drape etc. The polycotton poplin was definitely too stiff. Linen or wool would obviously be better, but Pricey! Anyway, I achieved my goal of trying out the medieval dress cutting/sewing diagram and now have a better idea of how it works for a adult.

Navy skirt: Um. No progress. Definitely will get it done soon though.

Baking: Belgian Chocolate Cake made successfully and to rave reviews. Very complicated to make though; I don't think I'll be doing it too often.

I also signed up to help make costumes for my favourite local theatre group who are doing a 60s theatre restaurant. This is what's currently driving me round the bend (in a good way, mostly).

First off was making 16 tulle petticoats - I used the tutorial here for the construction except that I didn't sew the fabric yoke into a tube as I didn't have hip measurements and wanted to make sure people could get into them. Polycotton poplin yokes (Spotlight) and the stiffest, plainest, cheapest tulle/netting I could find (Lincraft), with 1/4inch elastic. I also tied the elastic in a knot so people can adjust if needed.

Now I need to make 9 silver satin circular skirts to match the 7 existing gold skirts. Requested 11.7 metres of fabric, was presented with 10 (all they had on the bolt). Which means, according to my calculations, that I'm going to get 7.5 skirts out of this length, and then hopefully I'll be able to match the stuff or I'll have to get enough for a full two skirts. One skirt is made already, so I'm planning to get the cutting out all done this afternoon, and then see where I am. (There's always a chance my calculations may be a bit off...)

Anyway, I'll keep you posted. Hopefully I can edit this later to add pictures.

WIPs

So yesterday was surprisingly productive. (It did rain, but only for ten minutes.)

I worked on the Solomon's Shrug

No, it's not finished. That's the amount I got done out of one ball (Sirdar Juicy). AND it finished the yarn at the end of a row!

I also worked on the Full-skirted Medieval Dress:

which I've been working on for a couple of months, on and off. The instructions are from Medieval Costume and How to Recreate it. Please note I said 'instructions' not 'pattern'. There is a diagram on page 99 of the book showing how you layout the fabric and manipulate it, but a lot is left up to the dressmaker to interpret.

I'm hoping to make one to wear to the Abbey Medieval Festival in July (I go every year, it's awesome, if you're in the area check it out) but I thought I'd better make sure I wasn't going to stuff it up hugely and waste a lot of fabric, so I made a doll's version first, which is being modelled here by Kim. Please make her welcome.

Here's another picture of the dress which shows more of the skirt:

It is an ENORMOUS skirt. A full circle reaching down to the floor is a LOT of fabric. The good thing is that the actual yardage to buy isn't that much, since there's some pretty impressive cutting and piecing going on.

And in other news:

The skirt waist has been gathered and the waistband is pinned on ready to sew. The colour is actually a very dark navy - imagine a blue-black. The pattern is from No Time To Sew, with a few alterations. (Like shortening it by 5" and tapering the panels in an extra 6" at the waist and even then it needs extra gathering. And yes, I did make the smallest size.)

Next up, hopefully I'll be finishing these off. Although, there's always the next project to start on...

Ta-Da! (Belatedly)

Many thanks to all of you for your patience! A combination of RL commitments and technical issues has meant I've been running around in circles for the last few days. Hopefully it should all be straightened out now!

Finally I have photos of the new top:

The pattern is Simplicity 5759
I made view D, size 12. The size I chose was a bit larger than I would normally wear, but I was making the pattern in a less stretchy fabric than the pattern envelope recommended and didn't want it to come out too small. Actually, the pattern envelope says you need fabric with 50% stretch, but I think this is more applicable for Views A-C, which include quite tight-fitting ruching. Views D and E seem to need fabric with more drape but less stretch.

Fabric used here was called 'Megan', bought about four years ago through Knitwit Australia - it's a polyester/spandex jersey-type knit with about 20-25% stretch and great drapability. One metre was plenty to make this top.

In the pictures I'm wearing the top with a skirt I made about the time of purchasing this fabric. This was the first time I used the pattern and fabric shown here, and they have both come to be firm favourites.

The fabric used is Knitwit Monaco in Violet, also purchased through Knitwit Australia. It's a polycotton double-knit which is made so that the right side of the fabric is polyester-rich, and therefore durable, while the wrong side is cotton-rich, and therefore soft and breathable. It sews up like a dream and produces a really tailored look - comes in about 15-20 different colours - I have have 6 skirts made using it.

The pattern is Kwik Sew 2771, 8-gore skirt. I made view B but lengthened the pattern 1.5 inches as I wanted it to hit just below the knee. I've since made several skirts using this pattern with the length modification, and it is a great classic basic. If your fabric is 150cm wide (60") and has no nap, then you don't need more than a metre of fabric - ignore the suggested layout and put your pieces top-to-toe for a more economical use of your fabric. It also makes up very quickly - I made one in a single day when I desperately needed a black skirt.

The next project is a 6-gore navy skirt - stay tuned, because it's driving me to frustration!