Short Lace

As much as I've been enjoying making things for myself lately, I really haven't been doing enough textile experiments. I've been meaning to revisit needle/tape lace for a while, I wasn't really satisfied with any of the project I did with it. So just to get back into it, I did a little sampler to play around with stitches. I just laid down some twill tape and basted it to a thick piece of wool to stabilize it.

 It came out a little rumpled. Part of it was that I didn't put paper behind it, so I caught a fair amount of wool in the stitching. The other part was that I didn't put it in a hoop. I thought the wool would be stiff enough to not warp, but that wasn't the case.

 I like the finer meshes, and the 'woven' effect on the big square. You can also see I changed threads--the more off-white thread was softer and I think made for better-looking stitches.

 I've been really intrigued by all the loose, drapey pants and shorts I've been seeing around lately, but have had a difficult time figuring out how to make them work for me--any gathering around the waist is super unflattering because of the size of my legs. Starting with a bunch of images, these two (Comme des Garcons and Rick Owens) included, and an $1.50 pair of very large old-lady linen pants, I think I'm on to something.

I cut off the bottoms of the legs, and opened up the seams on the sides and crotch. I used the excess leg fabric to make a melon-shaped 'crotch gusset.' Unfortunately, due to limited fabric, I had to put a seam in the middle, which I think affects the drape a bit weirdly. If I make another pair, I'll make sure not to do that. I then pinned the sides up, put them on and carefully took in the side seams and added front pleats. 

I didn't have enough left over for pockets either, so the butt looks a little naked to me. I like the cuffs at the bottom though, gives it a little more structure.

Now here's the problem...I can't quite figure out what to wear them with? Loose top? Tight top? Tucked in? Or not? Most people seem to wear them with big drapey layers, but that's not really something I have much of...

 Trying things out. I think I need a looser tank top to make it work. I think the fact they are off-white is also a little hard to match up. I'd really like to remake them in either an olive linen or blue chambray.

I did pick up on my Dear Jane blocks. I had to take down the design wall, so it's harder to pick colors without seeing the previous rows. I have them charted out, but it's not the same. Row I, Blocks 3-6.

In a Groove

Sometimes I'm just feeling one process more than another. This week, I was really into the tiny hand piecing of my Dear Jane blocks and knocked out a whole bunch of them. I'm finally feeling like the end is in sight--I've got 5 rows left of blocks, and then it's on to sashing, borders, and triangles. Debating whether to hand sew all the sashings, or take the easy way out and use a machine. I'm leaning towards machine, if only because I know I'll have to hand quilt it, and doing both by hand is the way to madness.

Can't quite remember where I left off last time, so here's most of Row H. Circle-and-bowties was a tremendous pain, but most of the others were pretty okay. I don't think I'll ever want to applique another tiny melon/diamond shape though. My corners are pretty much the worst. 

End of Row H, I-1 and I-2.  Felt like a break, such an easy bunch! Even the applique one was not as bad, at least the pieces were bigger. Peeking ahead there's some multi-piece monsters coming up. 

Also got back on a quick knitting trip since it's getting cold. The scarf I finished last year, but just never got around to blocking. It look so much better now that it lies flat. It feels softer too! I also knocked out a quick hat, but like all hats I make, I get impatient like an inch too soon and start doing decreases, so it's a little small on my head. I swear next time around I'm going to make the biggest, floppiest hat to try and avoid it. 

Stretching Out

Ohhhh boy did I wait too long to update. Get ready for a lot of pictures! I think getting a smartphone has been detrimental to the blog's updating schedule because I get too focused on twitter/tumblr/instagram and forget that I'm not also posting updates here. Hopefully now that the novelty is wearing off I'll do better. 

So, when last we left the pile of old bathing suits, I had made a few nine-patches. A bunch more followed--in fact way too many, I have a lot left over now! Here I'm lying them out and taking a look at sashing. I wasn't sure about the sashing initially, but I'm glad I went with it. Now I needed a pattern!

These ridiculous shorts came from the thrift store, and I've loved them for working out and running, Tracing them out was a pain with the elastic waist, but I managed to stretch them out and tape them to the floor to do it. 

My latest thrift store run netted me this thick cotton plaid and this leopard spandex. I decided to use the leopard as a test run for my shorts pattern before messing around with my ninepatches. 

It came out quite well! I used another scrap of Hawaiian print bathing suit for the waist band, because why not? It was, like the original shorts, a little high-waisted, so I cut the waist down a bit on the pattern. 

Ok, ok, I know they look a little weird and wrinkled like this, just wait, they stretch out and look much better down the page when I put them on! But can I just say I'm tickled pink that the patterns match up pretty nicely? I wasn't even really hoping for that, but the patches were just about the perfect size to meet in sashing in the center seams.

Back. Next time around though, I will make them slightly longer so I get a full block on top, and the sashing forms the waist band. 

And they are actually reversible! There are so many seams from the patchwork, they definitely needed to be lined, or else they'd be really uncomfortable. I don't have access to a coverstitcher (on my short list of things to save up for) so I had to improvise with finishing techniques, and  full lining worked out well. 

See? Once on, all (well, most) of the weird wrinkling/rippling goes away! Hoping with more practice on a serger I'll get smoother seams.  And they are actually quite comfortable, a little thicker than normal shorts, but they still stretch just as well, and feel very sturdy. 

For laughs I decided to use the rest of the floral material to see if I could work out a singlet pattern. I just sort of stuck a tank top shape on top of the shorts pattern, I think next time around I'll add a side seam so I can get some more coverage around the arm/neck hole. I didn't really bother finishing this, it was a just a tester, so ignore all the nasty edges. 

Ridiculous. 

In non-spandex news:

Took a regular XL thrift store sweatshirt, re-cut it to my size. 

Then, I traced a quilted pattern onto tracing paper, and basted it onto the sweatshirt, with a backing fabric behind it. I then quilted it directly through the tracing paper. The tracing paper then gets torn away as I finished. 

Finished quilting on the inside, you can see the back fabric here. Sadly, I didn't take an pictures of this process, but I then ran thick yarn through the 'channels' I'd quilted to create a raised quilting. This, if I'm remembering correctly is sometimes called Italian or Corded Quilting. 

Closeup on the quilting. 

Then, of course, I sewed the sleeves and body back together! One of my favorite 'wearable' pieces I've made lately. I've already worn it a few time this week, it's perfect weather for it right now. 

And this is just in it's beginning stages, but a new shirt is coming together! Finally cutting into this paisley/plaid fabric. 

Gathering Mode

I'm back in that gathering mood. Back to scouring the thrift stores for big chunks of certain things with only a vague idea of what they'll eventually become.

Blue bathing suit bits? Watching too much wrestling has gotten me into a mood to work with spandex and garish patterns. Not that I can really do much without a serger/coverstitcher, but these things might be in my future, I think, and I'm getting supplies ready. 

And for my class, terrible thrift store garments to transform. The theme this years seems to be 'terrible patterns and embellishments.'

Been knitting away at what I think will be a hat, if I've planned right. I'm sort of making a pattern up on the fly--I couldn't find a flat-topped flapped hat design that I liked, so we'll see how this goes. 

Close up. Loving the fair isle so far, should really work more with it, I enjoy the process a lot. Maybe time to break out my graph paper book and work out some designs. These were mostly just chosen at random from a book. 

And what post would be complete without a couple Dear Jane blocks? G-6 through G-10. Nothing too tricky in this batch. Don't know why people find y-seams tricky, I never have a tough time with them. Then again, after doing an enormous bit of hexagon patchwork by hand, I've got lots of practice with them. The pink and blue one here was probably the worst, but it was just tedious, not difficult. 

Back to Braids

After a long hiatus, I'm back on the braid coat. The amount of time sunk into this one is getting ridiculous, and I need to finish it to move on, so I'm trying to buckle down. 

Progress has been made, a side has been joined together, and it no longer quite looks like just an odd flat rectangle with long bits attached. I'm liking how it curves away a bit in the front. 

And the inside, looking good, just gotta keep on it. It's not the most exciting project, and progress moves very slowly on it, which is why I think I've been dragging my feet getting back to it. 

More Dear Jane Blocks this week. These, on the other hand are just super fun to make, even if the quilt as a whole will take forever to finish. G-1,2,3 and 4. G-3 is really pretty lopsided, my applique is never going to be all the great, I think.

It's been a while since I posted the entire thing so far. I'm nearly half way through the blocks. I'm thinking now I'd like to sash them with chocolate brown. I know I don't want to use black or white, but I'm between a medium gray and a brown. I think a brown will give it a bit of a 70's feel. 

Toting, Sketching

Row D is finished, Row E is just begun. At this rate, I'll be done with this quilt in 4 or 5 years, haha! But I keep on trucking, slowly. This is D-11 to E-2. Pretty straightforward blocks, I think the diamond-in-a-square might have been the easiest one yet. A lot of teal and purple in these blocks!

A quickie project. I was sick of carrying around ugly freebie totes that I've gotten from shoe companies, so I decided to make one myself. Super easy, and I quite like it, I might go to Jomar and get some more ribbon/tape for straps. It's a little hard to get in a photo, but the straps on this are a floro, safety orange. 

All nice and clean inside! I modeled it after one I got from Sofft shoes. It's about 3/4 of the size of that one though (the side pieces are 8"x16") I might make a full sized one too. 

Quite pleased! I know it a really simple thing, but I wonder if I could sell a few of them? Anyone interested?

I've also been taking a lot of time to sketch lately, trying to get back into drawing for the possible-comic-project I don't really want to talk about yet. I feel super, super rusty but it also feels good to work it out. 

Practicing with brush-and-ink. I searched 'lounging' on flickr, had a lot of fun drawing all the weird ways people 'lounge'

More brush and ink and watercolor. Trying to break the sort of anime-ish 'one-face' syndrome I had when I was younger--working on giving the characters very distinct body and face types. 

More watercolor sketching.

And even some creature creation, which is something I really have never done before. It's a Maid-Troll, a sort of low-level demon you can summon to clean your dorm room for you. Or something. Really I just wanted to try and draw a very ugly creature in a little maid outfit. 

A Large Quilt!

Well, I think this is officially the largest thing I've ever sewn. It doesn't fit on the floor, and it juuuust fits on the wall. I think it's about 108" x 108" I'm going to have to bring it to school to baste it on the print tables. Right now I'm waiting to purchase the backing and batting (since I'm pretty sure those will cost way more than the quilt itself did) I was going to back it with muslin, but I realized it's so big I'll have to turn the edge down on my bed, so I want to get something a little more decorative. 

And here's me for size reference. I'm looking awkward! On the bright side, it is certainly big enough for both me and my boyfriend. All my previous quilts have been sort of one-person sized. 

So I worked on the quilt the majority of this week (I'd really like to finish before it gets cold) but I also did a little dying--I still have a lot of this silk/wool blend from the first Mariah coat. The top row are the colors I dyed originally, the bottom ones I just did. There's a bunch of regular cotton thread left too, I really want to dye a full range of colors and get back into embroidery. Because I need another thing to be working on. 

Current things-in-progress:

-Irish Chain Quilt (top done, needs to be quilted)

-Braid Coat (still making braids)

-Dear Jane Quilt (nearly done Row D)

-Red Cableknit Scarf (haven't been taking pictures, but it's about 2/3rds done)

-Repairing old Cape (going to start over)

I'm sure there's other things I'm forgetting too. And I'd like to make some clothes to wear for fall too-I donated/threw out a lot of clothes due to our short-notice move. 

Lots of Progress, Not a Lot of Pictures

I've been working quite hard this week, but mostly on rather slow-progressing projects, so it doesn't look like much!

The braid coat is starting to look like something! Very exciting to see it start to come together, I had lost a bit of steam on this project--so labor intensive--but seeing this is getting me excited again. Imagine the middle of the 'long' strips is the shoulder seam--the short ones end at the neck. So you're seeing a vest laid flat, basically, with the side seams open. Just one more 'long' strip and four 'short' ones. Then we'll see how much silk I have left, which will decide how I tackle the sleeves. 

Broke out the colorwash Irish Chain again too. I'd really like to finish this before it gets cold. That seems  long way away in the 90 degree heat we're having now, but I know it'll be here before I know it. So another diagonal row was finished this afternoon. It's definitely going to be big enough for our queen bed, the only problem is that it's so big I don't know how I"m going to baste it together!. As you can see, it doesn't even fit on my studio floor as it is.