NPRINS

Dear readers, I'm so close to finishing this St. Patrick's Day inspired cowl.  I took the class in January - and it has been literally dragging on.  The yarn is fantastic - Merino, Silk, and Cashmere.  The yarn is scrumptious in aran commercial moss.  The pattern is   Tule Fog Cowl by Karinknits Designs on Ravelry. I wanted something Celtic but yet modern.  So, I will try to finish this in the next few days. . Pixie photobombing my project (as usual!). She's love this yarn . . . . a bit too much - the second skein, below. Ugg!! Can I never finish this project!!! Have your knitted projects ever driven you mad? P.

Dear readers, I originally planned to join the Colette Anise Sew-Along! I fell in love with Sarai's version.  So, I planned to make my own version as well with the green wool below. Oops - only 2.5 yards rather than the 4.5  3 and 3/8 yards the pattern calls for (ed.  oops!). So, this project is (sadly) delayed until I find a fabric I'm equally in love with.  I am going to make a flowy skirt with the green wool from a self drafted pattern. Has this ever happened to you?   True, I normally buy 2.5 yards when I'm out and about - I never think about 4 - 8 yards.  I guess I need an attitude adjustment while fabric shopping and stashing. P.

Dear readers, I have begun my entry to the world of Decades of Style patterns.  This is the pattern I am making - with princess seams -  - the 1944 House dress.  I love princess seams and my sloper (or basic bodice) is perfect for that.  So, I am taking the original pattern (traced) and marking, what I hope, are the correct pattern adjustments.  The original pattern is very close to my sloper - very unusual. Below is the original fashion fabric - I hope to make it up before St. Patrick's Day.  It is a linen and I plan to underline with batiste.  It's an expensive fabric so I am making a toile or muslin before cutting (so unlike me!) As you can see the alterations are in green.  WARNING:  My alterations are a swag - measured from the slopers -  *real* pattern making and adjustment involved detailed measurements and math.  So, I am using the "swag" method - we'll see how it shapes up!  One note is that I did "rotate" the dart to ...

Dear readers, I'm probably the last person to pin on this - but I love it - how fantastic!! Thanks to  Sister at Dr. Fun Living La Vida Loca :) And Katie, MD at Katiekadiddllehopper  for linking to this. And, a big thanks to Another Sewing Scientist  for this fantastic creation. View Map the Sewintists in a larger map If you haven't pinned yet - this will kill half your day browsing other pins! Highly recommended. P.

Dear readers, I've been in a two week class and haven't been posting as much as I'd like.  Here's what I've been up to:  Another wonderful scarf from the Reversible Cable Pattern on Reversible Scarves on Ravelry  - the scarf is a belated Christmas gift for my sister-in-law to be - she picked out the yarn color - Misti Alpaca in Falstaff.  It's going to look fantastic with jeans - unfortunately she and my brother live in small town adjacent to Sarasota, Florida (the rest of my family lives there). . . so she'll need a ski trip to wear it!  Todd, are you listening? I also took a class on fingerless mitts - a simple class, really - but I learned to use Double-Pointed Needles (DPNs) - so easy - I'm glad I learned the technique.   J. and my co-workers call them my "homeless mitts" but they are good at typing on the computer.   These are a very soft merino wool in worsted weight.  I want to make a few different patterns for fingerless mitts -  whic...

Dear readers, Between ruining my waistband on my pants and finally fixing it - I was sew restless!  So, what did I do - bought some Moda by United Notions (5.49 yard) dishtowel fabric from a local store and made gifts! I also made two pillowcases (no pictures but similar to previous pillowcases). . .one tool bag for knitting (a later post), blind-hemmed suit pants (super easy with my blind hemming foot) and tailored an anthropologies dress to fit better (lots of ripping). I had a difficult time finishing the dish towels, I tried my binder foot, my roll foot, my hemmer - nothing worked exceed good old fashioned folding and top stitching. . . so not perfect - but my first try. I've decided to do the Colette Anise Sew-Along.  I am getting my tailoring tools today or this weekend from B. Black and Sons, Shoulder pads, sleeve heads. . . I'll set up a post so you can follow along - I expect plenty of disasters!! This will probably be my last bit of winter sewing - and after this - I...