Thursday, July 31, 2014

When the going gets tough, the tough get ear warmers

I ran into this photo I took back in 2012.

It made me smile and I thought that it might do the same for you.

Apparently it seemed like a good use of my time to make leg warmers for my niece and matching ear warmers for this Ugly Doll.  


I get these creative urges sometimes and in hindsight I do at times wonder what possessed me.

Anyhow, I'm sure these things were appreciated at the time.

It will be cooling down soon enough (right?  please?) so quilting and knitting will seem like less of a sweat-inducing activity.  For now, I plan to cower somewhere that has A/C.  Sans ear warmers.

Stay cool people!

Tuesday, July 29, 2014

Hand Stitching - Alabama Chanin Pattern


It's been forever since I have had the itch to write a blog post. 

This blog has for many years been my baby and my happy place.  


This summer has been a complicated one for me with my immediate family (DH and kids) doing very well, but a couple other family members were working through health challenges that kept me from hanging out here as much as I would have liked.

That aside, I have still been stitching away and I'm excited to share something that I actually finished with you.

In the Alabama Stitch Book by Natalie Chanin there is a pattern for a corset.  I cut out Nani Iro knit jersey some time back to make this but it was not easy for me to finish it.  Other projects kept making it higher in the priority list.  I finally sewed all the seams down and added an edge band (kinda like a binding) to the neck and arm openings.

I'm happy with how it turned out but it is maybe a little loose in spots (neckline/armpits).  I may try making another one in a slightly smaller size.  I've found their patterns in general run a little small so I have been going up a size so I don't feel like a human sausage.  

The edge treatment I put on is also a bit too thick.  Next time I'll make a thinner one.

The Nani Iro jersey I used is not easy to find.  SuperBuzzy (very cool online shop) has it - along with a big collection of other awesome Japanese fabrics.


They also have some cute jersey by Heather Ross that might be fun to play with especially for a kid/niece project.

Anyhow, just a quick post to let you know I haven't fallen off the deep end.  Hope your summer is moving along smoothly.  I have a London travel brain dump on my mind still, stay tuned for that soon.