I went shopping for a piece of jersey knit last week. I needed only 1.2m of knit. Thats all.
I walked out with 2m of stretch denim, 1.2m of the knit and 3m of this :
It feels & looks like a cotton voile but its a viscose voile…or so he says. Im gonna have to do the burn test & see what gives but isn’t it so crazyprwiddy. The colours are a wild combination of yellow, orange, blues, purple…. { YUMMMMMMMMMMMM YUMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM }.
I think I did pretty good this year, certainly managed to make the most Ive ever made in 12 months…. { EVER }. 28 or so garments (including my 3 knitting projects) but excluding some little kiddie crafts and one or two projects from yesteryear that I had to go back to for whatever reason.
My favourite me-mades were these…
These are the NL6191 pants which I {ADORE}. So comfortable & effortless, easy to dress up or stay casual. I’m pretty sure I’ll be making more of these soon.
This lovely V1027 dress is a super huge hit. I love the fit, the monochrome fabric choice allows it to be paired with absolutely any colour. Its such a fantastic pattern that comes together in no time, with very little hassle. I know some of you have had fitting issues with this pattern & Im so sad for you, honestly. Ive worn this to death & I’ll be making more!
You can read all about my love affair with this NL6150 pattern here & here. I cant count how many ways I love this pattern. The autumnal colours came first followed very shortly by the white version with the protea applique. I wear these both regularly, in fact, Im wearing the floral one today!! I will be making more of these in 2014 for sure.
This little red number was a happy accident really. Its made using the S1642 pattern which had to be adjusted but Im loving it & its always in the wash when I look for it so that means Im wearing it too much 🙂
Last but not least, my Sizzle knit which I haven’t had the opportunity to wear that much but when I have, Ive just wallowed in it. Alot of work, but fun to knit. Im obsessed with the white & get a real kick out of wearing a knitted garment in summer-ish…ok, perhaps not on those strip-down-and-sew-in-undies days in august,but youknowwhatimean.
Ive already got some plans for my 2014 sewing schedule, some challenges indeed. The crazydontgiveafuck ange decided to order 3 wishlist patterns recently before the sensiblegivesafuck ange could kick in. All 3 are big hits in the sewcialist world & I would not be at all surprised if I am the last to join the rodeo. Let’s see shall we 2014.
On that note, {HAPPY HAPPY}. Stay safe wherever, whatever or however you celebrate the New Year.
Thank you all for sharing your 2013 with me x
Friends – I have a hard time believing its almost Christmas again…{ HOLY MOLY } where on earth did the year go huh?! Im trying to sneak in as much sewing as I can into the little free time I have at the moment so this top comes courtesy of November.
What should have been a quick ‘n easy project turned into a near nightmare. The nature of knits coupled together with THAT gap almost drove me to the looney bin. Which gap you ask?? (Scroll down to see what this little pretty should have looked like).
I had intense issues trying to get the gap level & pucker-less, let alone sans frilly stretch. I eventually decided it would be much safer for me to just stitch it closed & try again another time, than to keep torturing myself. Funny how the easy things sometimes end up giving you the biggest headaches.
I used a piece of the same red knit I bought to make my #RedOctober Polly. As you know, this wasnt my first knit/stretch rodeo so its not like I was novicing this one but for some reason, everything I stitched stretched & warped, rolled & sent me into fits of cursing. I lowered the pressure on the pressure foot right down to zero which helped slightly but I still couldnt get that darn detail on the front to give me what I wanted.
My machine needs an urgent service so Im not too surprised its misbehaving….the agent I had bookmarked to service Sapphy has been closed for months while the centre renovates & every time I look at their website its another month & another month….Im thinking I may just have to take that day off & drive across country to get her to the doc!! The joys of living { WILD }.
Anyway peeps, here are the deets :
{ DESCRIPTION } Simplicity 1642 – top & skirt. 
{ FABRIC USED } A red jersey knit purchased for €6/m.
{ SIZING } I cut my usual size. The bust area fits like a glove but I had to make adjustments to the sleeves because they were way to wide.
{ INSTRUCTIONS } Good to follow & understand.
{ CHANGES / ALTERATIONS } I cut 2 neck bindings in error & didnt want to throw the extra one out. Instead, I cut the extra one in half & used it to bind the sleeve edges. I topstitched the bindings down on both the sleeves & neckline giving them a nice finish. I used my twin needle to finish off the waist hem.
As I mentioned already, I also sewed that front gap shut!! Yes, SHUT. It looked really nice open but no matter what I tried, I just couldn’t get the edges of that opening to sit flat. If anyone has any advice on tape or some kinda trick then Im all ears. It was gaping & misbehaving like a child, I couldnt take it any longer.
{ LEVEL OF DIFFICULTY } Really quite simple if you dont have the gaping issues.
{ TIME } November. I was bad!!
{ SUM IT UP } While I do love the idea of the original top with the gap/slit in the front, I dont mind the shut-up version at all really. Its a fantastic basic tee for layering or for when comfort is key & lets face it, there’s less chance of catching a cold. Id recommend this pattern though even if you leave the gap out of the front all together & just use this pattern as a basic basic starter knit tee. There is nothing wrong with having basics in your wardrobe, especially when they come in the form of { RED }.
From friday I will be on a little 2 week holiday from school. Crikey, I need it. Firstly I cant tell you how disturbed my sleep has been since enrolling in Deutsch school. I wake at all hours of the night mumbling stupid german phrases. Have any of you ever had to immerse yourselves into full time, intense language school? Did you also find your sleep was disturbed in the way I described above ? Is this even normal ? Is it a good sign??
Ive also been working again part time with the hubster, assisting with some admin stuff as he’s taken on a new project. It means more traveling (which isn’t necessarily a bad side effect) but less time with the hubby (which is a terrible side effect). We’ve also had to purchase another car because sharing one became almost impossible. Between the school and the work & trying to find a decent car, its left very little time for sewing. I haven’t even begun to think of knitting…..
So with that, I wish you all a good weekend. Don’t forget to enter my { BLOGIVERSARY GIVEAWAY } which closes on the 20th December.
Till next time xx
Ive sewn New Look 6150 before, remember ? 
The reason I sewed it again is because I have a little crush…it fits so well { PLUS } I had this white knit lurkin’ in my stash for about 3 years so I figured Id better dig in while its still white. True, Ive had fabrics lurk in my stash much longer than 3 years but this white was looking particularly needy & with autumn knockin’ who doesnt need a plain white tee-type with some extra spunk?!
It was View E, again…you know, the one with the puffy sleeves & plain crew neck. Remembering the little bagginess I had with the first attempt at this tee, I cut the entire pattern one size smaller than last time. I also cut the back piece on the fold. Not only does it all fit better but I love that the back has no seam down the middle – so unnecessary IMO. 
I tackled the sleeve elastic without measuring anything prior this time. In other words, I took the long piece of elastic & just sewed it in, pulling the elastic as I went along…It gave me more control of the elastic & it meant I could use as much or as little as needed until I got the poofiness I was looking for. I simply snipped off when I was done. Far easier than using the elastic guide length included in the pattern & then not having enough to grip as you near the end.
And my twin needle came in excellent use again!
I had some left over fabric at the end so I thought maybe a flower or something could be pinned to the tee to give it some detail…as if the poofy sleeves aren’t enough. I played a little & came up with the protea so I drew it out, cut & started to sew randomly. I stitched it straight onto the tee, without any backing or interfacing….straight on. I wanted it to stay soft & take the shape of the tee rather than feel stiff & badge-like. I was quite impressed with the end result. What do you think of my fabric protea ? 
I doubt I will ever grow bored of this pattern. Its one of those that hit the favourite list at first sew. Its easy & it doesnt munch up stacks of fabric so I may just head to the fabric store next week & grab a navy & black or a red to make another one or two or three. I have to go into the fabric store anyway because remember the Vogue 8827 I mentioned was on the cutting table? …yeah well, I dont have enough fabric…but I am determined to make it in the berry colour jersey.
Well my friends, Monday my german course kicks off…can you hear the enthusiasm?! Im expecting next week to be one big headache, literally. I know Im not going to drink or eat enough while Im in class & just the sheer shock of having to do german all day, every day is going to be headache inducing. Perhaps my sewing will come to the rescue on the afternoons I have off – lets see.
Whatever your’e up to this weekend, stay safe xx
I mentioned a few weeks back that I was almost finished on the silver grey bolero I was knitting up so as promised, here it is. 
{ THE PATTERN } comes courtesy of the Drops Design website using the Cloud pattern. Its terribly easy to follow but saying that, Im not sure I followed it to the letter. Almost as soon as I had begun, I had made a few changes to the amount of stitches required & how many to increase & decrease to allow for the “sleeve”. Since it is so simple, the changes were minor & purely added because I wanted a bit more slouchiness than usual/advised. You could crank these out in no time if you focussed purely on knitting but you know me, Ive got my fingers in too many darn pies!!
Even though its quite simple, its still rather versatile too. I like that I can hike it up more around the neck for extra warmth or leave it single layer & therefore have it fall lower on my back…pretty neat, but maybe that happened because I allowed for some extra length & width giving me more bolero…dunno!
I also like that since this is really just a long rectangular thing, it could double up as a scarf without anyone knowing the difference! Wrap, tuck…off you go.
{ THE YARN } I used Rico Design Fashion Romeo which sounds like a mouth full but its a lovely silvery grey 100% cotton with sparkly silver sequins incorporated. This is my first time knitting with sequins so at first I found it a little strange but you get used to it pretty fast & the sequins will just knit through as normal. You do need to take care if the sequins falls right inside a stitch but since this was quite a loose knit using UK size 10 needles, it wasn’t too much of a hassle.
The yarn is super soft, feels like cashmere to be honest. Unfortunately, it comes in limited colours (black, royal blue, green, fushia, turquoise, white, silver) & Im all over it like a rash. I even purchased the sister yarn, Julia, which comes in the same colours however instead of the sequins, it has lurex thread…. { PRETTY HUH }. Not sure yet what Im going to make with Ms Julia, but rest assured, I’ll find something. Oh, & I purchased my yarn during the last sale at Deramores – where I purchase all my knitting goodies.
Would I recommend this ? { OF COURSE I WOULD }. Its a lovely little knitting project to keep your fingers occupied while you catch up on telly or travel & the sparkly sparklies are super cute & make an otherwise boring bolero into something glamourous & girlie.
Thats all for today folks…see ya soon x
Ive been quiet, I know! It usually means our lives have been filled & therefore busy.
Beginning of last week I started on a dress which I hoped would be finished by the time I had to travel on sunday morning…alas, it was not, but it is coming together nicely so far. 
Yip, we jetted off to the UK, arrived early sunday evening, straight off to friends for sunday dinner. The hubster needed to be in a meeting first thing monday morning so I took the chance to catch up with a friend while we visited Cliveden nearby. Tuesday I assisted the hubster with some work related stuff in the morning, before we set out to the stores to shop all the goodies we long for but dont get here at home….ie. Bovril was first on our list 🙂 Tuesday evening we were invited to more friends for dinner so we had long days filled with love & laughter all round. Wednesday we flew home late afternoon.
We should be spending more time in the UK in the coming months (providing we get this contract) so I look forward to meeting up with some of you UK sewcialists should I be there when you have your get-togethers etc….I missed the UK! Might I even go so far as to say the weather was a welcome relief from the 40 degrees we had last Thursday in our ‘hood…why thank you, I just might.
I used to be all over summer but these days Autumn is more my thing. Last week I battled to work in the { SEWING SAUNA }. I resorted to stripping down to almost nothing which helped somewhat. Im sure thats too much info for you all { SORRY }. Anyway, back to the UK, everything felt so familiar & I wont lie & say I couldnt have been bothered not hearing Deutsch for 3 days but as always, its good to be home too!
There is nothing quite like jumping into your { OWN } bed after travels…or arriving home to a healthy looking package containing a selection good enough to eenie meenie miney mo…
Peeps, I splurged….on dye!!
Last week I realised I was having such fun with dyeing things I just want to do more, more, { MORE }. My mind is racing with colour. Here in mainland Europe, its hard to find liquid dye. In fact, the only dye I could lay my hands on was powder dye which in my opinion is not nearly as accurate or consistent as liquid dye. Yes the RIT liquid dye is more expensive, yes its a beeeatch to find this side of the pond but I found these at Minerva Crafts & I ain’t looking back. I still want to experiment with natural dyes but from what Ive read thus far, natural dyes are colour limiting & the results are inconsistent even when handled by dye specialists. So, being the instant gratification monster that I am, liquid dyes will have to do.
Being thrown out of routine for a few days meant I did no blog reading..so arriving home to Bloglovin’ and seeing I had more than 600 blog posts to read freaked me out….311 of those were sewing related. I will admit to skipping through many of them because I simply dont have the time to read 311 posts immediately but rest assured, I will get through them because reading blogs is one of my all time favourite things to do….reading anything really 🙂
So my lovelies, its good to be back. Im going to get stuck into finishing my dress and photographing the bolero knit I finished some time ago but was too lazy busy to photograph and also, getting down ‘n dirty with some dye. Next week another { TIPTRICK TUESDAY } & hopefully some more sewing.
Wherever you are, have a lovely weekend xx
{ source : lisa mutch via ravelry }
I may be slightly obsessed with this Obsidian knit from Lisa Mutch, just slightly. And I would assume that 100-odd other lovely ladies were obsessed too.
It may be the height of summer but I am already thinking about knits for the winter & this pattern isn’t going to know what hit it….the trouble is, I have to decide on a colour! I think Im going to go with either a dark ruby red or a dark intense purple…no surprises there really. Although….I am thinking a black with a drop of sparkle would be good too….hmmmm.
Its so farkin’ hot here at the moment that I can barely think, let alone sit at my Sapphy in the sewing suite. We have a passive-blah-blah house which is supposed to keep everything cool as a cucumber however it would appear to be battling under the heat. The only cool place to retreat is the basement really, or a pool…. { ANY POOL }.
Im also waiting on some new patterns (hooray for pattern sales) and we have a bumper packed weekend ahead of us so I doubt I will get any sewing, or knitting for that matter, done this weekend. I downloaded 2 new BurdaStyle patterns recently (while I killed off a forest in the process), one of which is already pieced together & ready to rumble, the other still requiring some attention which I might go & do now…down in the basement 🙂
Whatever your plans, have a great weekend x
Ive been a very lazy knitter lately, mostly because the weather has been a humdinger!
With summer comes the extra long days and where I would usually be bundled up on the couch watching the news, Mythbusters or perving over Harvey Specter while I knit away, Im now still watering the plants & sipping spritzers al fresco while I terrorize the neighbours cats from our garden. I like cats, I do, but there’s a reason I dont have cats so I { DEFINITELY } dont want my neighbours cats lurking because well…I dont want cat shit in my garden. Simple.as.that! I have tried everything to keep them out, it all only works for a day or two & then they back. Pepper, hosepipe. I do a great evil stare. Short of getting a dog, Im outta ideas. I have heard the sensor sprinklers work but I cant find one locally & Ive been too forgetful in looking for one online. Anyone have any ideas or tips on how to keep unwanted cats out?
But I digress, back to knitting – the last couple of days I have re-applied myself to the little shrug-type-bolero-thingie I had started & its safe to say Im around 90% of the way. I had started using a pattern but it all went pear shaped within the first couple of rows.. I carried on doing my own thing so lets see how it turns out shall we…
Do you find it difficult to knit in the summer months ?
Ive been doing a fair bit of jersey/knit sewing recently & this top caught my eye when I saw Annika’s version in a stripe. Before my pattern even arrived, I had selected fabric from my stash. I went for the floral matte jersey I had left over from the Butterick 4788 dress I made a few years ago. Can I just say until now Ive always loved seeing twin needle work & Ive always had a twin needle (three in fact) but never used them. I wasnt scared of trying it, I was just lazy to try it I guess. While I was sewing the DKNY LBD, I made a promise that I would make use of the twin needle whenever I sewed my next jersey/knit. Boy am I glad I did. How easy does the twin needle make sewing knits??? { INSANELY EASY }
Anyway, I used the twin needle for the first time on this top & its { LOVE AT FIRST STITCH }. I cant get enough. It was in no way perfect but DAMN it looks sooo much better than a single stitch. Now I just want to sew everything with a twin needle. I need to tweek my tension because I think its making too much of a welt between the 2 lines of stitching. The curse of the computerised machines means Im battling to figure out how to adjust my bobbin tension but I will conquer. Ok, moving along…
{ DESCRIPTION } New Look 6150 knit top with various options. I sewed View E which is a basic crew neck with ruched sleeve detail
{ FABRIC USED } A floral matte jersey
{ SIZING } For the most part pretty spot on. I do have some loose fabric around the upper arms but I will get to that…
{ INSTRUCTIONS } For the view that I made, instructions were not necessary but I browsed them over anyway.
{ CHANGES / ALTERATIONS } Initially I sewed in the exact length elastic they advised via the elastic guide however I didnt think it gave me sufficient ruching so I removed the elastic, cut it slightly shorter & stretched it more to give a nicer, fuller ruching. I still would like the upper sleeve to be poofier but hey ho, I know this is not the last one Im going to make so I will make the adjustment on the next. At the underside of my sleeves I have some baggy-ness so next time I know to cut the whole sleeve slightly smaller. I did not use binding around the neck as advised, I ironed on some bias tape & then turned it over & stitched it down using the twin needle. Again, its not perfect but for a first timer using the twinny, I think its good! Also, Im not entirely sure this top needs a seam down the back to be honest. I think the next attempt will have no seam & maybe a size smaller…lets see.
{ LEVEL OF DIFFICULTY } ** Easy, however anything with sleeves automatically gets another *.
{ TIME } A couple of hours – I didnt really check on this one.
{ SUM IT UP } Such a basic T-shirt pattern but the ruched sleeves give it a little kick in the ass & I like that. To make this top fit the last of the fabric I really had to do some genius cutting which had me scratching my head for a bit but it worked & Im so glad I took the time to find a solution. I reckon I can wear this summer & winter but I am looking forward to layering this with scarves & light jackets for autumn. 
Sewing has been a little slow of late because we are having an awesome summer. When I sit & sew I feel bad because the sun is shining & I should be outdoors enjoying but then when I sit in the sun & think about sewing I feel torn – first world pains huh !! { PFFFT }
I am embarrassed to say Ive had this V2091 pattern, now OOP, since 2001 & never made it…hence the title!
But the shame ends there peeps. 
This little number is gorgeous in every way – comfortable, easy to sew & versatile. What more could we want from a pattern right. & since this is my first me-made LBD, I couldn’t be more satisfied with the result.
Im not sure why it took me 12 farkin’ years..since it requires no zip or button or any of that crap, it really is probably one of the most rewarding 1 hours Ive ever spent in front of my Sapphy. { YEEHAA }. The last DKNY pattern I sewed was the V1027 & I fell head-over-heels for that one so Im thinking I may be developing a serious crush on these DKNY numbers.
So below, the details of whats & hows :
{ DESCRIPTION } DKNY Pullover, tapered dress with right side pleats
{ FABRIC USED } Black cotton knit jersey – 2 way stretch
{ SIZING } I cut the 12 & decided to wing it. Sizing turned out great – no thanks to the stretch & the spanx!!
{ INSTRUCTIONS } Easy, simple. Had me snookered for a second at the construction of the darn cap sleeves but otherwise A-OK.
{ CHANGES } None – however next time I do plan to increase the width of the shoulders slightly.
{ LEVEL OF DIFFICULTY } * Super easy, this is beginner frockery at its { BEST }
{ TIME } 1 hour, no serious!
{ SUM IT UP } Easy, comfortable, simple, classy, casual but can be dressed up ….in one word { MAGIC }.
I look forward to making many many many more of these. Im thinking I should be trying View C next.
Thanks for visiting lovelies…trust you all had a fabulous weekend x
b l a c k l a b e l 