A Little Bit Country

One of my guilty pleasures in life is Time-Life Music infomercials. There's something endearing about the standard formula of past-their-prime musician + woman-of-a-certain-age co-host + those 5 second clips of unforgettable hits of the 60s and 70s. On a lazy Sunday afternoon Mr. Cleaver and I will merrily let it run for the full half-hour and our ultimate favorite collection is "The Golden Age of Country."

My costume this year is a tribute to the Golden Age of Country, the Grand Olde Opry, and fantastic country songbirds of the age like June Carter Cash, Loretta Lynn, Tammy Wynette, and Dolly Parton in all their big-haired, chiffon-clad glory.

I came across Simplicity Pattern 2180 a few weeks back, and thought it would be the perfect starting point for my costume, but it was out of stock in my size. However a kind friend in my knitting circle picked it up for me on a trip to Augusta, so I was in business!!

I knew the dress would have to have a gauzy chiffon component, preferably in a pastel shade and this Jenny Lewis video inspired me to pick up some lace trimming as well. I treated the seafoam-y tafetta-esque base fabric as an underlining, and sewed the two layers together before making the darts/seams/etc. which made dealing with the top layer chiffon a bunch easier.

It's not the best sewing job I've ever done, I skipped a few steps like the waistband facing and replaced the sleeve cuffs with elastic, but for a Halloween costume, I think it turned out pretty swell.  I'm racking my brain for occasions/places I could get away with wearing this dress in ordinary life, because I kind of love it (and I'm definitely remaking the pattern in a more casual fabric at some point).

Mr. Cleaver joined in on a more modern take on the theme, thanks to a cowboy hat from Target and some clothes from around the house. Our first thought was to do a more "rhinestone cowboy" look (like Buck Owens), but this was easier.

We went to a Halloween party over the weekend, where Mr Cleaver claimed to alternately be Toby Keith and/or Hank Williams Jr.

Even Steinbeck got in on the action (he is from Texas after all).

I even tried to keep the pumpkin in the country theme, though it looks more like a Holstein pig than the cow I was going for.

But while we may look country on the outside, inside we're both still rock ' roll.

PS - thanks to Bristol (and her dad) for the loaner cowboy boots!!

Fall Update

On Thursday I finally got around to making my annual apple pies. Technically you could say I made six, but I ended up with two, as four went to my co-workers who came over for a pie-making lesson/afternoon.

I might of eaten pie for breakfast. Twice.

In other news, I've planted about 100 bulbs for the spring,  raked some leaves, put the down comforter on the bed, finished my first sweater of the season, and sewed about 70% of my Halloween costume.

Yep. Looks like fall.

[PS - want a sneak peak of my Halloween costume or other projects in process? Check out my twitter account! ]

A Home for Hedgie

Back in the day when I was first introduced to needlefelting, I made Hedgie, got bit by the needlefelting bug, and picked up a feet kits at Fiber Frolic.

One of the things that drew me to needlefelting was the instant gratification (and sculptural) nature of the craft, but you wouldn't know it from the four months that passed from my starting this kit and finishing it yesterday.

But that's life for you, right?

In any case, I'm one kit down and Hedgie has a nice mushroom grove to reside in. Next up - Gnomes!

Fall Palette Challenge: School House Tunic

  It's rare that a project comes together quickly for me, usually because I gravitate toward patterns with lots of fiddly details (see dress with bow neckline and pleated sleeves). So while it's been in my to-sew queue for quite some time, the School House Tunic, was a bit out of the norm for me - particularly since I cut it out and sewed up it in about a day.

I made the shirt-length pattern exactly per the instructions with one addition: a button and thread loop mid-way up the placket, which I find to be a neutral additional. It doesn't really add anything, but it doesn't detract either.

The fabric was from my stash, and considering my usual fabric shopping habits, it probably came from Denver Fabrics. The texture is akin to those soft cotton dishtowels, which makes for a very cozy shirt.

I'm not sure if the empire-waist and pleated skirt are the best shapes for my figure, but the shirt is so comfy that I'm pretty sure I'm going to make a at least one more in flannel for the fall/winter and another in white linen for the summer.

Fall Palette Challenge: the Houndstooth Dress

  Even with a trip to the Botanic Gardens, I managed to finish two of my Fall Palette Challenge pieces this weekend, which I'll cover in two separate posts this week.

First up: The Houndstooth Dress

As I said in my original palette post. I saw this dress done up as a sample in JoAnns and knew I had to make it. The pattern is New Look 6909,View C and while I debated about doing the pockets,fearing they'd "poof out" I eventually decided to the pattern as is.

The seams were finished with a zigzag stitch for exposed seams and pinking for covered seams, as the fabric tended to be rather fray-prone (as I find is often the case with woolens). Though it tends to wrinkle a bit more than I like (!!), and the curvy fit makes me feel as if I should be wearing control top pantyhouse, I love this fabric as this dress.

I'm particularly found of the details on this one, the funnel collar, the bow, the pleated cap sleeves, yes, even the pockets and while it took a bit of time nothing was particularly difficult to put together. A declare this one a win!! (especially with the red shoes)

Oh and according to Wordpress, this is my 300th post! So yay for that too!

Introducing: Shoots & Ladders

I'm pleased to formally introduce Shoots & Ladders, the design I teased a few week back. Shoots & Ladders is an any season cowl, inspired by the orderly rows of plantings in gardens. I wasn't able to plant a big garden this year, but I did produce a few of these cowls.

The spring/summer version of the cowl features Elsebeth Lavold's Hempathy, which results in a drapey cowl, with well defined lace motifs

The more ethereal Winter version is knit in Rowan's Felted Tweed DK, resulting in a more structured cowl with a bit of halo.

Both cowls utilize approximately 300 yards of DK weight yarn and is knit in the round. The lace pattern is charted and decreases in the "ladders" section give the cowl a pleasing tapered shape.

The pattern is available for $4.00 USD

or you can queue it up on Ravelry

Photos, except detail shots, by Bristol Ivy.

Fall Palette Challenge

Although historically my sewing tapers off after summer, I've decided this year to participate in Colette Patterns Fall Palette Challenge. The goal - make a unified palette of items within 8 weeks! I'm going to be overly ambitious here with my challenge projects, but here we go!

For the challenge, I'm using all fabrics from my stash. They are (clockwise from top left corner): super pale peach silk charmeuse from Denver Fabrics, large check gingham shirting (source unknown), green stretch twill from Denver Fabrics, and blue/black wool houndstooth from Fabric Row in Philly.

My first project up will be New Look 6909,View C. I saw this dress in a display at JoAnn's and knew I had to make it. The fabric will work perfectly, as it's both warm and work appropriate!

Second up, Clover from Colette Patterns in the green twill. I was so excited to see Colette do a pants pattern, especially since pedal pushers/clamdiggers/capris have been on my to-sew list for ages. If I have time, I'd love to do a pair in black as well.

Thirdly, Sew Liberated's School House tunic in the gingham. This is a pattern that's been on my wish-list for ages and I think the fabric will be a great fit. I'm leaning toward the shirt length version.

If I have time (and I assuredly won't) I'm aiming to use the silk charmeuse for a Cinnamon Slip.

So there's my pieces for the Fall Palette Challenge. I'll keep ya'll updated as I go along, and let me know if you're playing too!

Introducing: Zoetrope

I had so much fun coming up with this pattern, though like most of my patterns its seems,  it had a long time going from inspiration to release.

Shortly after I took up running* last year, I quickly learned that if I wanted to run in the cold I would need a good hat and being a knitter, I thought I could create an awesome running hat. I was in the midst of a colorwork binge and thought a running hat with a running motif would be fun, and then I remembered my history of photography class from college and Zoetrope was born.

In that class, one of the photographers we learned about was Eadweard Muybridge, who in 1877 accidentally helped create the motion picture by winning a bet for a friend. The bet was whether or not all four of a horses hooves left the ground while in a full gallop, by utilizing a series of cameras, Muybridge proved that they did (wild times in 1877!).  Muybridge also discovered that by placing the series of images on a spinning disc, when viewed though a single opening, the spinning image appeared to move. Like this!

History lesson aside, I took Muybridge's "Horse in Motion" images and converted them to a colorwork chart, which is framed within a filmstrip. Each of the horse panels are different, meaning that if you spun it fast enough and while looking through a slit, the horse would appear to be running. Or you could just look back up at the animated gif above.

The hat is knit out of Quince & Co's DK-weight Chickadee in Egret (white) and Crow (black). One of my testers also successfully used a fingering weight yarn.

Zoetrope comes in three sizes: 17.5, 20.5, 23.5 inch/ 45, 52, 60 cm circumference, features an optional braided tassel, and, if I may say so, is a little addictive to knit, as once the horses start to appear, I just wanted to keep going.

Zoetrope is available for purchase for $5.00 USD

or you can queue it up on Ravelry.

*haven't really run since.

Lonsdale in Bloom

Although my internet pal Tasia at Sewaholic launched her pattern line in November 2010, it wasn't until this week that I finally got around to making one of her patterns, the recently released Lonsdale Dress.

When I first saw the pattern in her newsletter I knew I had to make it, and furthermore that I had the perfect fabric for it. Except that turned out that I only had half as much of it as I needed, in a one-way large repeat pattern and there was no way that I was going to make it work.

So I did some stash diving and pulled out this purple chrysanthemum (?) print I snagged at Marden's on a field trip with Maggie almost two years ago. It was still a one-way pattern, but with a bit of shifting pieces around, I got the whole thing cut out. Which was the most difficult part of the whole project.

I threw caution to the wind with this project and cut it out in my recommended size (all one size! thanks to her "pear-sized" grading) and just went at it  - no muslin, no tissue fitting, no nothing, and it fits great.

Tasia put together a truly lovely pattern. The whole thing is seven pattern pieces, with simple construction, which meant I could take the time to focus and finish the project really nicely. The included instructions are clear and I used the sew-along posts to do some additional details like French-seamed pockets and stay-tape on the bodice. I'm super proud of the way the inside of this dress  from seam finishes to zipper to hem.

I love the way this dress turned out, and if you're reading this Tasia, I can't wait to see what you come up with next!

The Things We Do For Our Craft

Bristol and I headed out to the Falmouth Nature Preserve this past Saturday to do a photoshoot for a pattern I'll be releasing in a few weeks.

The things we do for our craft. :)