Spring Break Sewing!

It's finally spring break! I thought it would never get here. I get a week off from teaching --- but that does not equal a week off from work. Nevertheless, here I am at home, drinking my coffee in my pajamas on a Monday morning. I have a huge pile of grading to work on today, and lectures for next week, but I'll work from the comfort of my own home and on my own time today. Tomorrow I'll go back into the office and actually try to get some research done (yay, research!).

In the spirit of actually having a bit of a break, though, I'm going to make sure I am not spending 10 hours (or more) at work every day and I'm going to get some sewing done. My plan is to jump into the vintage patterns that have started appearing in my pattern library.

Up first is Advance 3540. I won this pattern and fabric in a giveaway hosted by Gertie back in June. I'm not sure about the size, so I started making a muslin of the short sleeve version yesterday out of some cotton fabric I cannibalized from an early sewing project that turned out just ok (meaning: I've never worn it). I figured this would at least be a useful reason for cutting it up. So far, the pattern is very simple and once I get the fit settled, the actual dress should go very quickly. There's no zipper, just two buttonholes in the front for the tie at the empire waist.

Next is Simplicity 5315, that I won in a giveaway hosted by Leah at Struggle Sews a Straight Seam. I was at Hancock Fabrics yesterday picking up a few McCall's patterns for $1 each, when I saw this aqua and dark chocolate (not black) cotton pique for $2.95/yard and thought it would be perfect for this simple, casual sheath (sleeveless version).

These are both really simple patterns that should go together quickly, but I'll have to make muslins of both to check the fit, and that is what will slow me down the most. I have one more vintage pattern in my library, but I doubt that I will get to it this week. And who knows what I'll be in the mood to sew when I next have time to start a project? I tend to just go with however I'm feeling. I figure that it's my free time and it's supposed to be fun, so why should I stick to a "plan" and have it feel like a chore, right?

Anyway, I should probably get started on that grading so that I can avoid feeling guilty when I stop working at 3 or 4pm and start sewing instead. :P

Happy spring break!

Hey girl

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This really speaks to me right now. I'm watching Downton Abbey Season 2 and I recently had two grant proposals rejected. Thank you, Handmade Ryan Gosling!

No sewing, but...

So I haven't had a whole lot of time for sewing or knitting (or indeed much of anything) over the last few weeks. Here's what I have been doing since my last post a month ago:

1. I was at a weeklong conference in Austin, TX. I ate too much barbeque and now feel sick at the mere thought of beef brisket or pulled pork. The conference was good, but busy, and I was able to spend some time with some great friends and colleagues that I haven't seen in a while.

2. I have been teaching a new class for the first time. Each lecture is taking me ~12 hours to put together. Add to this the time required for creating homework assignments, grading homework assignments, and developing the lab and presentation components of the course, and I have easily been spending 40 hours per week on just this class.

3. It's proposal season. I have four proposals I'm hoping to submit by the deadline on Feb 24. I put one together this week and have sent it to collaborators for comment, one was written last year and just needs to be modified this time around (some modifications accomplished yesterday), another that will require some preliminary results to justify the proposal (analysis started yesterday), and another that may or may not get off the ground in time.

4. James was offered and accepted a job while I was in Austin, and has been working full time since I got back home. His schedule has been all over the map, and it quickly became clear that we couldn't both get to and from work with a single vehicle. So extraneous free time has been spent researching vehicles online, and culminated with the purchase of a 2009 certified used Honda CR-V EX 4WD in silver last weekend. The freedom to come and go on my own schedule has been really nice this week!

5. We're hiring some additional faculty and have had ~60 job applications to read and 3 meetings to discuss and rank candidates.

I'm sure there's more that I'm forgetting, but isn't this enough? I feel tired just reading this list. I can't wait for February to end, and with it, all the craziness I've been living under for the last 6 weeks. The proposals will be submitted, for better or worse, spring break will happen, my class will move from being lecture-heavy to being student presentation and project-heavy, and I'll be spending more time interacting with interviewees in person and going out to dinner with them than trying to learn about people from what they decided to write on a piece of paper.

I think I will try to spend a little time sewing or knitting this weekend (even though I need to put together a homework assignment and a lecture for Monday) just so I can try to relax a bit.

Vogue 8555

I finished Vogue 8555 a few days ago but was just able to get modeled pictures today. I'm really happy with how it turned out!

The fit is not exactly perfect, as you can see with the wrinkles radiating from my waist in the picture below, but it's pretty close and allows me to move without constriction. I shouldn't have any problems sitting down in this dress.

The skirt isn't quite as pegged as the illustration on the pattern would lead you to believe. If I make this again (which I might), I might try to peg the hemline a bit more.

Here I am being silly while James was taking pictures. I think the colors are more accurate in this picture, because the flowers in the pattern actually borde on turquoise.

Ok, on to the details. The fabric is a stretch cotton poplin from Fabric.com in ivory with turquoise flowers and dark brown leaves and stems. I used about 1.5 yards of the 2 yards in my stash (purchased for $4.19/yard on sale).

I originally cut an 8 for the bodice and graded out to a 12 at the waist and a 10 at the hips (my typical sizes), but I ended up taking in the waist quite a bit (probably ended up with a 10 instead). I still have a bit of ease left in the waist that I could happily lose and still be comfortable with, so I might have been able to get away with an 8 there, which is odd because I can't do that with Big 4 skirt patterns or else I end up feeling like I'm wearing a corset. Several other reviews of this pattern have noted that it runs a bit big, but I didn't see that anywhere except the waist. The bust and hip sizes are right on.

I didn't make that many modifications to the pattern or instructions. I did tuck out about 1/2" total at the back neckline, which I have gotten in the habit of doing to avoid gapping in the back (I just tape a small dart in the pattern paper before cutting). I decided not to line the skirt and to just wear a half slip instead so that the material skims over my hips better, but I did use a nude-colored cotton lawn for the bodice lining. I put in an invisible zipper and enclosed the waist seam with seam tape (the turquoise ribbon in the pictures below).

I didn't want too much bulk in the side seams, so I skipped my usual French seams and went with a turned-under seam instead. I almost always have to shorten Big 4 patterns by 3-4" in the skirt length, but not here. I decided to put in blind hem, which worked pretty well with this poplin.

Overall, I think this was a very successful Christmas project, and I have another fun dress hanging in my closet in anticipation of the hot, humid summers ahead!

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!