{ ON THE CUTTING TABLE } Denim shorts…

I mentioned many weeks back that I was wanting to make these New Look 6100 shorts. I was not settled on the fabric choice so I decided to “sit” on it until the fabric choice was clear.

A week or so ago I had to pop into the fabric store for some lining & zips…lo & behold there sat the most amazing denim. So unusual, I just had to have a piece. There was not much fabric left on the bolt but it was sufficient to have the piece I needed. The salesman pointed out that there would be less than a metre left on the bolt after my cut so he offered the remainder to me at a very reduced price – I couldn’t say no. { AND } I promise I did not plan that *evil grin*

Slowly becoming view A  & Im so excited to see these finished. I have thought about playing with a trim, perhaps a cotton embroidery anglaise peeking out the bottom or some cotton lace…maybe a little piping ??!! Lets see.

Last week I had asked about your experience (if any) with sewing & weight loss etc. The general consensus was to stitch things with knits etc to allow for the change in sizes which I have been doing. I considered those thoughts with this project but ended up deciding I dont give a damn…I want shorts. end.of.story!!

{ NEW LOOK 6088 OOP } Moody mauve …

I had such great results sewing my first NL 6088 a few weeks back that I decided to try one of the other versions { VIEW D } of this pattern because I loved the gathered bit at the front. 

Below the deets :

{ DESCRIPTION } Easy top options (seven in this pattern) to combine as you like however now OOP, sorry if you dont have it!

{ FABRIC USED } A mauve single knit however not nearly as soft as the red used previously & therefore not nearly as much stretch or comfy feeling.

{ SIZING } I cut my usual size

{ INSTRUCTIONS } Good

{ CHANGES } With the previous top { VIEW B } I left the facings off which worked extremely well with the red fabric. This time, the fabric was curling like crazy so I was forced to insert the facings. They worked however Im not wild about them.  For the arm holes, I simply folded them over twice & top stitched them evenly. When I tried the top on it looked a little strange having the top stitch around the arm holes & not along the neckline so I finished the neck line with a topstitch to match. Looked better & solved the problem with the facings curling up & bunching. Thank goodness I had a good colour match for the cotton…. { WHEW }.

{ LEVEL OF DIFFICULTY } * Super easy

{ TIME } From start to finish, this top took me around 1 & a half hours.

{ SUM IT UP } I definitely prefer the previous top in red more than this one. I love the mauve shade of this but for some reason the knit just wasn’t the best match…I think the red knit had more viscose whereas the mauve is more cotton. I would use a softer knit for these tops in the future however still a highly recommended pattern for a quick, instant gratification project.

Thanks for stopping by.

{ SPIRIT } is here…

Kim Hargreaves has released the new spring/summer book & it does not disappoint….. { SPIRIT } is here!

How beautiful are some of these designs?! 

{ all images via kim hargreaves }

Knitting does not exactly conjure up spring or summer thoughts but for those still chilly-ish evenings, these totally work. When I lived in both Holland & the UK, it seemed like I always needed a cardi or something warmer in the evenings irrelevant of the season.  Also, by just changing the colour of yarn, you can make a design work for autumn or winter too.

Love this new book however of the 21 designs, only 2 are suitable for novice knitters. The majority of the designs are suitable for knitters with a little experience so I would try although, since good quality yarn is fairly pricey these days, I would hesitate in purchasing this book based on my skill level.

Im looking forward to seeing what the ladies over on Ravelry make from this collection. Happy Knitting x

 

 

 

{ KNIT } Its ready when it sizzles…

The Sizzle is 100% complete. { HOORAY }

I think I started this mid-Feb when I was still on the couch recovering with the ankle shackle. It actually knitted up fairly fast however I tend to only knit in the evenings & for some weeks I did not lift this at all so all in all, I would say it took me about a month and a half excluding the mini vacations in between.

{ THE YARN } I used Rowan 100% Handknit Cotton in Bleached as advised & I cant rave about this yarn enough. Its so beautiful, soft & extreme white – I just want this yarn in every single colour possible….my life would then be complete!  I ordered 6 balls and I used { EVERYTHING }.

{ THE PATTERN } You will find the Sizzle in the Whisper book by Kim Hargreaves. Pictured it was in the white and I was quite tempted to do this in red, but Im glad I went for the white because I have so much more to wear it with. The pattern was not terribly complicated however at first I was quite confused by the pattern & had to frog back a few times before getting it right. Even though I consider myself a beginner, I found this easy enough to knit guided by some YouTube tuts to explain the things I didnt understand fully.  Its a basic knit and purl stitch  with a twist in every couple of rows by adding a YRN2 or YRN3 to create the ladder pattern you see. Effective and easy! I followed the pattern exactly and I did not have sufficient yarn to do the sleeves however once I finished the back & front, I realised I dont need the sleeves so I left them off & didnt bother ordering another ball to do these.

The pattern repeat bit is shown in chart form as opposed to written out so I wrote the pattern out as I found it easier to follow and duplicate as I went along. To be honest, since the ladder is so random, adding an extra YRN2 here or there was not going to make any difference so dont stress too much about very single stitch.

The seams are tricky to do at the YRN2 edges because there is nothing to stitch into and I did see a few of the other knitters over on Ravelry advise to not YRN2 right off to the end but to include a normal knit stitch to allow for the seaming to be easier. { GOOD IDEA }

Sizing wise :  Im disappointed that its so big in width. I would probably knit this 1 or even 2 sizes smaller if I were to make it again however I dont think I need 2 of these anyway. I placed my bets that a wash & a { HOT } dryer session would shrink it sufficiently to make me happier & guess what ??? { IT WORKED – KINDA }. It shrunk the length to exactly what it should be for me & although it shrunk the width, its still not sufficient enough, for me. In the book you can see the Sizzle is wider than your average sweater but for me, this ease is a little too much.

I would recommend this pattern, its fun & interesting & it looks harder than it really is.  Thanks for stopping by x

 

{ MMMAY’13 } Week 2 & other questions…

I sucked so bad last week with the me-mades….Bloody hell, I managed one day…

& if I have to be 100% honest, it wasnt even a full day because I took the darn pullover off half way through the day because I got itchy hot!

{ Day 7  } { PULLOVER/JERSEY } : Me-made  Smoulder 

 Moving swiftly on from the { FAIL } of last week…

Its been 16 weeks since I broke my ankle & as you know, the recovery was slow & believe it or not my ankle is still not 100% recovered. I still have swelling & dull ache especially in the night but its bearable & I know its not going to be completely healed for quite some time. Irrelevant, I had to start my exercise routine up again so I started jogging & Ive found that its working wonders for both my mind & my body.

It got me thinking about how to handle my sewing. How am I going to keep sewing & maintaing a good fit with my weight loss? Do I need to give up my sewing until Ive reached my goal? Should I sew for the size I am at that particular time & then do alterations? Do I sew for my goal size or do I resort to baggier me-mades until I hit my goal?? the mind boggles.

The DKNY V1027 I made a few weeks ago is already too big! Ok, it was roomy when I finished it but now that Ive shed a few, its already fast becoming unwearable.

So I would love to hear if any of you have had to consider these thoughts before & how you dealt with it. Any tips/tricks are welcome…

Thanks for stopping by x

{ WINNER } We have one…

is my { WINNER } for the giveaway. Congrats girl!

Laura, I will be sending you an email shortly, so have your deets ready

Blessed day to you all x

{ MMMAY’13 } Week 1

Lovely things, here is my breakdown of MMMay’13 Week 1.

Not terribly exciting since I had some stay-at-home days this week. I tweeted that I think I should make me-made pjs just so I can feel like even SAH days are me-made days. Enter Vogue 8888.

{ Day 1  } { SKIRT } : Me-made BurdaStyle Tulip Skirt

{ Day 4 } 

{ TOP } : Me-made BurdaStyle Frills & Thrills

{ Day 5 }

 

{ TOP } : Me-made B+W Vogue 2563

Taking pics of yourself is one hellava hard thing to do when you dont have the right equipment { OR } when you have the right equipment but the damn focus is being a pain.in.the.ass! { AND } there is so much to get done in 10 seconds before the self-timer hits the shutter…who knew! I had to have a good giggle at Dibs & the machine as she wrote about the trials & tribulations of self-portraiture in her post “How do you do it?” That last image with the apparatus over her head has got to be the savviest bit of photography Ive seen in a long time…it really made my day

I trust all is going well in your land of MMMay’13…

Also, dont forget my giveaway closes on Wednesday so be sure to get your comment in if you want to be entered! Good luck x

{ MUSLINS, TOILES } Call them what you want…they suck!

See, this is the reason I absolutely HATE doing a muslin/toile.

Every single time I muslin, I lose interest.

I muslined up the maxi dress bodice & now Ive lost the will to actually make the real-deal dress. What is with that ?

Its annoying..

Does that make me an instant gratification sewer…is there even such a thing?

Muslins, in some instances, are VITAL, especially when you fear cutting into an expensive piece of fabric.  Now Poppy is sitting pretty with a great fitting maxi bodice & Im over it. Im so over it, I feel like the maxi is done & dusted – moving on.

& I was so darn excited about my maxi.

*boohoo*

{ GIVEAWAY } May Day & Birthday month…

Welcome to May 2013….can you even believe its May already?!

Back when I was younger, birthdays were all about THE DAY only but these days I think its über cool to celebrate the whole darn month! & why not right?! Since May is the month of my birthday, I thought I would do a giveaway – so this Vogue 8872 pattern is up for grabs! Its in size 14-22, brand new & uncut. It features 6 lovely dress variations/options which can be sewn as & how you like.

If you would like to enter the giveaway, please pop a comment down below telling me whatever you’d like  I will close entries at 09h00 GMT on the 8th May 2013 & I will generate a winner soon thereafter. I post worldwide so dont be shy. { GOOD LUCK }

Also, { GOOD LUCK } to all of you participating in Me-Made-May ’13 kicking off today. Im so excited to see all the reviews on how you all put your MMM into action. I did not pledge to one handmade garment per day because thats just a little too much commitment for me but I did pledge to as many as possible. I will try to do a weekly roundup of what I wore & which days.

Ok girlies, get your comments in for that giveaway if your’e interested & have a lovely May x

PS { This is not a sponsored post. I purchased this pattern with my own hard earned cash }

{ ME-MADE-MAY 2013 } Challenge…

Ive signed up for the MMM-2013 challenge.

#getexcited!