Me Made Everyday - Week 2 and other projects

Records for Me Made Everyday - week 2

I have continued the Me Made theme for the second week running. You will note that some items do get worn quite a lot and will feature in future weeks records too. I brought my warmer clothing down from the loft today, so some of that will start to feature as the weather gets colder. Some of my cardigans have featured this past week and I have also started to need my woollen hats and fingerless gloves.

Culottes and blouse as worn on Friday.

I am still trying to remember to take photos each day, but find keeping the records in my notebook rather more practical. It is interesting to find out exactly which pattern was used for each item, especially when they were made some time ago. It was a really useful reminder for the blouse shown above since I found it very comfortable to wear and it would be nice to make another from the same pattern at some stage.

I have started knitting a rather attractive jumper to replace one made last year which my elder daughter now has. This one is another test knit from Aidasofie. I have made a number of Yvonne's delightful designs over the past few months. This one will be a light green since this is a colour I do not have a great deal of in my wardrobe. I look forward to getting this one finished so that I can wear it.

Since the weather is getting colder, I bought some lovely needlecord to make another, warmer pair of trousers. Not sure which pattern I will use yet. This brown will look really nice with the green of the jumper I am knitting......

A project which I will need to get on with this week is the t-shirt toile for the "Artful T-shirt" course. I got this cut out on Wednesday at Moulton Sewing Group, taking full advantage of the large tables they have available. My worktable is just not big enough here in my workroom.

The fabric is some jersey which I bought a few months ago for a different project. This will help me check the sizing before starting the course properly. I have started watching the videos which explain the processes required. The main t-shirt will be an interesting project. I think I now have all the fabric I need, but will check again once this trial piece is finished.

The "Sew the perfect fit" course is still ongoing with the next fitting session coming up very soon. It will be interesting to compare notes and see how close this next set of toiles is to a "perfect fit". I haven't got any fabric in line for the final dress, so I will need to start hunting around for something suitable. Hopefully, there will be a suitable weight in my stash. 

Ongoing projects - plenty of sewing and even a little knitting

Back pocket

Well, I had a bit of a disaster after my last post. I was well on my way to completing my cargo pants - see pattern photo below - when I ran out of thread!!! Well, that shouldn't have been too much of a problem had it not been for the fact that I was doing rather a lot of top stitching and even a slight change of thread colour would have been obvious. None of the local suppliers had this colour in stock - Gutermann 208.

Well, I had a long think about things and placed an order with Minerva. I had bought the fabric and thread from them some time ago to make a rather different pair of trousers. I bought some extra thread for the blue pair of cargo pants I intend to make next. Whilst waiting for the order to arrive, I set about making up the blue floral fabric I showed here. Making a second Elani tunic. I forgot to take photos of this once I'd made it and so now, of course, it is in the wash. Such a useful top.

I also made this blouse:

This really loose fitting blouse comes from this vintage Butterick pattern - 6301. If you recall, I made a toile after grading the pattern to fit me. It might not be the most flattering of styles, but is so comfy to wear in the hot weather we are having at the moment. I started cutting this out and sewing it together at a new sewing group which has started up in the village where I live. It was so useful to have access to a large flat table whilst chatting away to like minded new and familiar faces.

My order arrived on Thursday bringing with it some fabrics which I had ordered for the Marci and Katherine Tilton Craftsy course "The Artful T-Shirt". I can't wait to get started on this one. The fabrics are all medium weight jerseys.

Yes, there are four different fabrics here. All are based on a navy and ivory colourway. The pattern we will be using is the one shown below.

View D is the design we will be tackling for the course. I have just watched all the classes for the first time, but know that I will have to view the first three again at least once before cutting into a toile let alone the fabric shown above. I'm hoping the experience will make me brave enough to tackle a Marci Tilton jacket which has been in my possession for quite a few years now.

I really fancy making the long sleeved version on the left.

I also stitched one of the pieces made at one of the NWCQ meetings earlier this year. It needs a bit more work to make the whole thing more stable, but this is a start. I just need to get the second piece to this same stage before venturing further.

I'm also working on another test knit. This time for Maria Socha. An adult version of this lacy beanie. The colour I have chosen is a deep jade.

Northwich, Cheshire, my local town, is in the middle of an Arts Festival which will last all month. Last month we had an interesting Literary Festival. Part of the events is this Art Trail. It is well worth a walk around the shops seeing all the different pieces of work.

On Saturday it was Northwich Art Shop's Grand Day Out. This was a very interesting event with plenty to see, interesting demonstrations too. I hope it is repeated next year.

Such a range of techniques - from needle felt to acrylics, woven pieces to woodturning. It was so good to see three textile artists involved too. The hall was full of visitors when I came along. It was lovely to see a group of children having a wonderful time using alcohol inks.

Projects in the pipeline - part one

You will have seen my tissue fit of the Roslyn tunic dress in my last post here. Since that time I have made a toile of the tunic length. I used an old sheet which had ripped. It was just the right weight of fabric.

I think the toile looks good. The body fits well, but I will need to work on the shoulders since there really isn't any room for movement in that area. Luckily, I have a date with a friend coming up next month who will be able to help with these fitting problems. We are both working on the Craftsy course, "Sew the perfect fit" by Lynda Maynard. So will be working together on the toiles required for that series of lessons. Luckily, one of these sessions addresses just the issues I am having with the shoulders on the Roslyn.

I did get the Elani tunic finished and have worn this a lot in the recent hot weather. It is so comfortable and the side seam pockets are wonderful. As you can see, I didn't do the turn up sleeve endings on this version. I felt the fabric was really just too busy.

These are the fabrics destined for the Roslyn and the second Elani. The plain blue is for the Roslyn dress whilst the floral pattern will be for the Elani.

The Penny Rug bin is now complete and is being used to store my dressmaking pattern tissue rolls. So useful to have these close to hand rather than stashed away in my wardrobe. The bin has been fully lined with acrylic felt and has pelmet vilene inside the sides and base to keep it rigid.

One more project on my list which also got finished is the next page for the Pinfold Book Challenge. This theme was "Flowers".

The pages comprise printed samples using wooden block prints and thermofax prints onto my own dyed fabrics.

This last photo shows the thermofax print which I designed and had made up some time ago. For this one I added the petal colour and the dark centre to each flower using dye pens.

Finally, I got the second toile for the cargo pants finished and found myself ready to alter that dressmaking pattern. More on that next time.

Getting back into the flow

The elements for my Scania Shawl arrived on Saturday. The yarn is Cloudborn Fibers Highland Superwash Sock Twist. I wasn't sure what to expect from the yarn since I had never seen it anywhere before ordering this kit. It is rather nice, 80% Superwash "Fine Highland wool" and 20% Polyamide from Peru (via Craftsy in the USA). It has travelled rather a long way.........

The colours are: Black, Charcoal Heather, Grey Heather, Oatmeal Heather and Ecru. The pattern asks for two colours to be knitted together for each section making a marled appearance. Yes, I haven't knitted much. I started late on Saturday night after a very lengthy time trying to work out what the pattern meant. It is written more like a recipe than a traditional knitting pattern. It certainly challenged my "little grey cells". Yes, I do rather enjoy watching Poirot / Miss Marple or Agatha Christie stories on the TV. So relaxing since I know the stories relatively well and they do not interrupt the thinking behind working out a technical section of pattern.

I've rather given up on the cardigan for now, but can pick this up at any stage to carry on. The back and left front are complete and the ribbing for the right front is well under way.

The NWCQ quilt is coming together. The background has now been quilted and the bits and pieces for the applique are being auditioned ready for the next stage.

At Pinfold this week, I picked up these two silk shawls from the sales table. Not sure what I shall do with these.The one below the floral patterned shawl is actually to printed shawls side by side. They have never been cut apart and hemmed. I need to think about whether to use this for nuno felt or to make these up as gifts. The one on top I shall keep for myself and wear. It is rather a pretty shawl and I can always use it for nuno at some future date. For now it will be washed and then put aside to be worn.

I took my husband out for lunch during the week and we explored Blakemere. After looking round the antiques, we visited Peepultree where I picked up these lovely blocks to add to my collection.