Progress

I've made some progress on Vogue 8555. I think it's coming together really nicely. So far the fit seems like it will be okay, which makes me very happy because the construction order for this dress will make it very hard to make any adjustments later on. I'm not quite sure when my zipper foot is supposed to arrive, but it looks like I'll get everything put together on this dress and end up letting it hibernate a bit while I wait. I'm planning to sew and attach the skirt today, and I'll baste in the zipper to check how everything fits.

I think this dress is going to look great when it's all done, and I was browsing Etsy last night and couldn't help purchasing this delicate mother-of-pearl and coral strand that I found:

The peach color of the coral should provide a really nice contrast to the aqua flowers in the dress, and will also probably go very nicely with my recently completed Simplicity 2177.

I have been making some progress with my knitting as well. I did indeed start with the Leif Slipover (see here). I had to pick up a set of size 17 circulars (the largest needle I had in my collection was a 15 and the swatch was just too small). It's not going as quickly as I had hoped because the pattern is quite intricate, but it is coming along. And one nice thing is that it's all knitted in one piece, so I don't have to worry about seaming the pieces together when I get to the end. I like that detail very much!

I was a bit worried that the yarn, being a bulky weight and not a super bulky weight, would be too thin and wouldn't look quite right, but it's giving a nice lacy effect with the cables. I think this will work out quite well. I have such a small frame that I look overwhelmed by chunky knits (and chunky necklaces; chunky anything really).

My yarn order hasn't arrived yet, but I'm waiting impatiently for it. Once it does arrive, I'll have that added incentive to finish this pullover so I can cast on for the Briar Rose Tunic.

I already have my next sewing project in mind. I picked up a copy of this vintage pattern from the 1960s in a size 10:

I have a green rayon/linen blend in my stash that I'm going to use to make view 2 (the mock-neck sleeveless dress without the waist tie). This will be my first foray into vintage patterns, but the dress looks simple enough that I think it should be fairly smooth sailing.

Next Sewing Project

I cut out a new dress today. I've decided to go with Vogue 8555 next and I'm using a floral stretch cotton poplin from fabric.com that's been sitting in my stash for a few months. I've decided to line the bodice only, and I'm using a nude-colored cotton lawn for that.

I chose view B, which is the sheath with the shorter skirt. With my fabric, it should turn out looking something like this:
The scale of the floral pattern is probably a bit smaller than reality in this image. I wasn't sure about using this fabric, but figured I'd give it a shot. I really like the way the line drawing ended up with the pattern fill, so I'm hopeful this will work out. The colors are a bit different on the fabric than they appear here. The background is a dull white or pale ivory, not a bright white, and the stems and leaves are a dark brown, not black.

The pattern calls for cotton sateen, broadcloth, or lightweight linen. I went looking around on the internet trying to figure out if poplin would work as well, since I'm still not all that sure about the differences between various cotton fabrics, and I discovered that poplin is basically the same thing as broadcloth these days. In fact, I found this article about shirting fabrics on a men's clothing website extremely helpful, and figured I'd put it here for future reference.

I cut out all the pieces and fused the interfacing for the waistband this evening. I'll start sewing tomorrow and I expect it should go fairly quickly. I don't have an invisible zipper foot for my Bernina yet, but I just ordered one and I'm hoping it will arrive soon. I don't think I'll be wearing this dress anywhere anytime soon, so if I get slowed down a bit waiting for the foot to arrive, it shouldn't really matter. I'll just work on something else in the meantime.

This is my first Vogue pattern. I used all the typical sizes I've found to work for Simplicity patterns (bust 8, waist 12, hips 10). The finished garment measurements showed quite a bit of ease for this dress, so I may find myself taking the seams in a bit, but I'll have to wait and see how it goes.

Blue Flowers Lace Scarf

I've been knitting this scarf over the past 6 weeks, and last night when it reached 6 feet in length, I decided that was enough (even though I still had yarn from the skein left!)

The yarn is Cascade Yarns Alpaca Lace Paints in their blue/green/purple colorway (9788). The purples didn't come through so well in the photo, but they're there. The pattern is a free download from Heirloom Knitting called Field of Flowers. I didn't knit the edging, just the center portion with the garter stitch border. I think it came out quite well, especially after blocking opened up the lace pattern. My lace blocking wires came in quite handy last night for blocking this to a 7" x 6' rectangle, but they left a bit of a scallop along the edge because I was a bit lazy I didn't thread them through the border often enough. I suppose I could just say I meant for that to happen. :)

Time to move on to a new knitting project! Especially as my only unfinished object is a lace weight mohair sweater that I've been working on off and on for the last year. Well more off than on most of the time. I've almost finished the front!

I just got my copy of Interweave Knits Winter 2011, and I'm amazed that I want to knit 4 full sweaters from this edition (usually it's a stretch to find two!). The first is the Leif Slipover by Adrienne Larsen.

I already have some yarn that I can use (Cacade Yarns Eco Wool), so I think I'll start here. It will be a nice change and should knit up quickly after the lace weight yarn for this scarf! There's a hood on the back, but I'm going to leave that off and just finish the collar instead. It looks like it will be pretty straightforward, but I'll have to check the fit carefully to make sure that the crossover detail ends up in just the right place under the bust.

After that is my absolute favorite pattern from this issue, the Briar Rose Tunic by Elisabeth Parker. It's also on the cover of the magazine.

I'll shorten the length so it hits my hips, as I'm not much of a tunic person myself, and I might slightly shorten the sleeves so they're more of a cap sleeve. The key is going to be making sure that there's some negative ease when this top is finished, so I'll have to be careful with my gauge.

This tunic is just plain gorgeous, and I've already ordered the yarn to make it -- a full bag of Kashmir Aran in Lady Bug Red from Little Knits.

The next up is the Fauna Pullover by Shirley Paden. It doesn't seem to have gotten a lot of love on Ravelry, but maybe that's because the suggested yarn is Jade Sapphire Mongolian Cashmere, 9 skeins for the smallest size and $45 per skein!

I love the zigzag lace on this sweater and the oversized collar, although I'm not sure what I'll do with that tie detail on the front of the collar. I may leave it, or I may remove it. I'll have to look carefully at the schematic to decide.

While I'm sure that a $400 cashmere sweater would be lovely, I decided on a still scrumptious but more wallet-friendly yarn -- Tosh Merino Light in Lapis from Little Knits.

Little Knits assures me that "[the] photo does not do justice to the rich and silky royal blues and deep blue-purples". I'm excited for my yarn to arrive!

And up last is Bettie's Pullover by Maria Leigh. I might get around to knitting this, but chances are pretty good that I'll get distracted by something else in the meantime and this will sit in my queue forever.

There are just too many knitting projects and sewing projects and not enough time to fit them all in!

Simplicity 2177 Modeled

It's actually very pleasant outside today, so I made sure to get some pictures of me wearing my recently finished Simplicity 2177 (see here for my post detailing the construction). This dress is quite comfortable and made of a nice, lightweight cotton shirting, so I am sure I will wear it a lot once summer returns. Here's another shot of the front:

And a shot of the back:

I think this dress would be really cute with a red belt (if I had one). But since it's certainly not weather appropriate at the moment, that gives me quite a bit of time to find a suitable belt.

Merry Christmas to me!

I've been a little self-indulgent lately and here's the proof, sitting under our (as yet undecorated) Christmas tree.

The most obvious item is a 1985 Bernina 930, complete with all accessories, that I picked up from an older lady today who likes to "collect" Bernina sewing machines. She mentioned several others that she was thinking of selling to winnow down her collection. Wonder why I bought a sewing machine that was built in 1985? Well, just type "Bernina 930" into Google, read the glowing opinions. They are Swiss-made workhorses with extremely powerful motors that are still highly sought after today (and bidding on them on eBay can get a bit ridiculous!) I was shocked to see a hit pop up on Craigslist and immediately contacted to the seller to find out if it was still available and try to get some more details. I was very happy to bring it home with me today, and can't wait to put move my Singer out of the place of honor and replace it with the Bernina.

The second item in the picture may be a bit unassuming, but that is real, authentic Blair clan tartan from a Scottish mill. One whole meter. That cost a lot. That I will turn into a very cute skirt using Gertie's tutorial so that I can use every last expensive bit of this fabric. I looked for fabric while I was in Scotland, but the Blair clan tartans are a bit harder to find. So I searched online a bunch after getting home and finally ordered my precious meter.

Modeled photos of my finished dress are still in order. Hoping to have more free time for myself after giving my students their final exam tomorrow morning. :) Yay! The semester is almost over!