Month: April 2014

  • A Finished Skirt!

    I went on kind of a finishing spree this week and picked up a few things I haven’t worked on in ages. I actually really enjoy cleaning out the stash and WIP baskets…sometimes. It comes with the changing of the seasons, right?

    It’s not sunny or warm yet, but I’ll be ready for when it is with this skirt!

    finished gathered skirt

    finished gathered skirt

    I used quilting cotton and the Zinnia pattern pieces, but heavily modified for a gathered waistband – no pleats, shortened a bit, drafted my own waistband. I did the side seams on the serger, which was a bit complicated by the fact that I also did in-seam pockets. There were a few funny places that I had to fix up by hand, but it wasn’t too bad. I also attached the waistband piece with the serger before folding it over and finishing it by hand.

    finished gathered skirt

    Is it the most flattering skirt shape for me? Not really, but I dislike that “flattering” seems to mean “makes you look skinnier” these days. It fits, it’s comfy, and I like it. It’ll get lots of wear this summer, I think. I can’t for the life of me remember what fabric line this is, but I’m sure someone out there knows – can you tell me in the comments? It’s driving me nuts!

    hem detail

    I tried to really take my time with the hem, pressing it properly and stitching slowly. I’m pretty proud of it. As much as I like hand sewing though, I think it’s time for me to just buy a new regular sewing machine.

    adorable sheep pin

    New trinket from the One of a Kind Show – this adorable sheep pin from Mehoi. Knitters will buy anything with a sheep on it, eh?

  • Tax Refund

    I haven’t been able to buy much in the way of fun stuff lately due to lack of funds, but I did get a tax refund! So after putting a bunch of it aside for this year’s taxes (responsibility!) I ordered some more yarn to finish up my crocheted blanket.

    alllllmost done

    alllllmost done

    It’s so close to done now – just a couple rounds of double crochet around the whole thing for a border, and the ends. I’m not planning to write up a pattern for this but here’s what I did with the Wool-eater pattern:

    • I used a size F / 3.75mm crochet hook and fingering weight yarn: scraps of Koigu, STR, and Casbah for the edgings.
    • I worked 4 tiers for the square centres, joining new colours for each tier.
    • For the solid border on each square, I worked a Round 3 (cluny group round) then a round of double crochet, with a couple chain stitches between the dc’s on the corners.
    • Then I slip-stitched the blocks into rows and then the rows together.
    • The 16 blocks with borders, put together, measures 36″ square, but it’ll be a little bigger once I put the last border on.

    new fibres

    I also ordered some colourful new spinning fibres! These pretties are from Woolgatherings on Etsy.