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.

Knitting, sewing and visiting an exhibition

At the NWCQ meeting last week we were messing about with fabric paper - using PVA glue, paper and a calico base covered with tissue paper to hold it all together. These are my two pieces. I used some Japanese wrapping paper which had been around a couple of gifts I have received over the years, along with some rather nice paper bags and other papers from my stash. Coincidentally, they all used a similar colour scheme.

Neither of these are quite finished yet, they need some stitch and embellishment before turning into book covers. Well, that is the idea at the moment.

During the week, I also bought myself some lining fabrics for the two skirts I intend to make. The fabric on the left is a polyester habotai and is gorgeously light and soft, just right for the skirt fabric. Unfortunately, they only had white and I could really do with other colours in this weight. The other fabric is a standard dress lining which is just too heavy for the projects I have in mind, but will be extremely useful at some stage for something else. These were bought from Abakhan in Chester. Yes, I know I could buy this online, but there is something rather nice about visiting a shop and being able to handle the fabrics.

There has been knitting. This toddler size hat is well under way. It needs to be finished before the 4th April. The cuff is designed to be worn double, although I do wonder whether I should sew it in place. This is another test knit, this time using remnants of Debbie Bliss Rialto 4ply from my yarn stash.

The knitting experiment has been completed. This will turn into a cushion cover. I just need to start on the reverse. The back will use stripes of the yarns used on the front. 

I visited this small exhibition on Sunday. It was delightful, with a lovely range of techniques with needlefelt, weaving, free machine embroidery and beading amongst quite a range of others. The cards give a very small indication of the quality of some of the work shown. They were made by Susan Marsden and Elsa Buch. The items on show were all beautifully displayed too. It may sound a strange venue, but this is apparently where the group meets. Also Marbury Park is a wonderful spot for dog walkers and families out for the day. On Sunday the weather could not have been better, bringing out lots of families eager to enjoy the sunshine. I hope they had a lot of visitors to this exhibition. I look forward to the next one.

Knitting, sewing and future plans

The Unicorn Jumper is now completed, I just have a few ends to sew in. When I'd almost finished knitting this jumper, I was told of a technique called Ladder Back Jacquard for colourwork like this design. You will find a video about the technique here. The knitter who suggested it is really talented and I feel I ought to give it a go if I could just knit as neatly as she does. Can this old dog learn a new trick? I really ought to try.

There was a second completed item too. My green cardigan which has languished forgotten for too long is now ready for some buttons. I could do with wearing this cosy cardigan, especially with the chilly wind we have whistling around the house.

As I write this, I have a pair of shorts awaiting completion on my work table. As I mentioned last time, they are a trial run for a pair of trousers I intend cutting out and making. I needed to get the side seams sorted out to get a better fit. They just need finishing off. The brown fabric for the trousers has been languishing in my to do pile for rather too long. My next job will be to get these cut out.

I managed to get myself up to date with the Design Your Wardrobe course from Seamwork. This has now just finished. As a result I bought myself some fabric. Very naughty. It made me realise just what I found I missed from my spring and summer clothes last year. A nice soft skirt. I had had a beautiful silk skirt bought in Hong Kong. It had to be retired a couple of years ago.

These first two pieces - 3m metres each of Nugget and French Navy Viscose which are intended for two skirts I need to make. The pattern I will be using is the Zinnia from Colette patterns. I will make one of each - the first will have buttons down the front like my original skirt, while the second will have the pleated front. They will both have side seam pockets.

The third fabric I bought was this Trailing Leaves stretch Ponte Roma in a dark navy. I intend making a Neenah dress from Seamwork. You can see the design here. All the fabrics shown came from Minerva. This is rather a challenge for me since I have not made a stretch knit dress before. I think a trial run is required if I can just find the time. I still haven't started that quilt I mentioned last week and that deadline is looming ever closer.......

This last sheet is the collection of designs which I put together during the Design Your Wardrobe course. How many of these will eventually get made is quite a different matter. I think I have fabric for all of these in my stash, or most of them. I need a couple of the patterns too. I don't have the patterns for the Style Arc top or the Hot patterns dress and cargo pants. I also need to get on with designing that dungaree dress. Hopefully I will have made a start by the time I next write a post for this Blog. Wish me luck?