Swift Thrift

I'm calling this my "Fly the Friendly Skies" scarf. I found it at a delightful new vintage shop - what's with me these days, I cannot remember the name of anything?! - but it's on the north side of College St. between Euclid and Manning. It was 5 bucks! (It's totally poly, but still the drape is lovely and the design is so me.) I also bought a terrific, granny-chic porcelain cake stand (I've been looking for the right cake stand forevah!). It was $25.00.

Putting My Money Where My Mouth Is

Remember how I said I should make a couple more Senchas and a pair of my TNT pants, though not in denim (BTW, I actually rotate 3 of those TNTs in denim, not 2 - as I originally stated in that post. I forgot about one pair, proving the point that I need to make something that maintains the line but doesn't look more or less the same as the others).

Well, a couple of days ago I found this silk in the garment district:

$15.00 a yard - very reasonable for silk of its quality, IMO

It will do the Sencha justice though, having never sewn with silk, I'm understandably apprehensive. (Note: for those of you asking about my pin tuck adjustment to remove fullness from the waist area of the Sencha, here's the post outlining my process.)

Just thought of a potential challenge (inasmuch as I'm not trying to reinvent the wheel on this project, simply to gussy up the fabric choices): In the past I have used fusible interfacing to stabilize the button facing. Can't do that here. I guess I'm going to have to underline the facing for more stability. Anyone have any idea of what fabric to use - fashion fabric, organza? (or how to do sew it up with a finished edge)? I'm heading over to Tasia's underlining post, but I don't know if I can use it to help me with this little piece of a larger garment.

I also bought a beautiful silk in taupe (matte one side, satin on the other) but I can't find the photo I just took of it?! Oh well, you'll have to enjoy this one twice as much!

I've had the proposed pants fabric in my stash since I purchased it from my fab RTW designer and store-owner acquaintance (it was overage). It's got the tiniest bit of stretch and it drapes beautifully:

So, there you go. I'm about to take the beautiful/fancy-fabric plunge with tested designs. OMG, why don't you do this too?! Let's do fancy fabric sewing together! Choose a pattern you love and make it again in the nicest fabric you can afford / bring yourself to cut up. Let me know if you're game and then I want to hear all about it!

Lost and Found

Leave it to me to turn one of the busiest weekends in the summer into an estate sale extravaganza. Sadly, an elderly woman up the street recently died. I discovered, while walking up the block to go to the butcher, that her daughter is selling many of her vintage treasures on this, perhaps the most beautiful day of the year so far.

Is this coffee set not the most beautiful thing EVER??:

Here's a shot of the full set of 6 - doesn't show it to its best advantage, but it captures the whole haul...

I've never owned a coffee set till now because, I've never before found one that thrills... This is in mint condition and I got it for (don't gasp) $3.00. Yes, three dollars. I seriously considered offering the seller much more money for it, but she seemed very grief-stricken and old-school Italian. I didn't want to somehow offend her...

And then there are these:


I got a full set of 6 but I just photographed these 4...

I'd love to know what these shot glasses are called (or anything about them). The metalized rims have been well-worn (to show the most beautiful patina). They'd be perfect with an ice cube and some Aperol, for example (something I intend to try in 10 minutes...). These were $4.00.

I told the seller we would be sure to toast her mother with these gorgeous glasses, whereupon (sadly) she started to cry. So, here's to a woman who had beautiful taste in china and glassware - one whom, I'm sure, enjoyed many beautiful events with these items and her family and friends. And here's to the joy they'll bring with every use.

Bespoken For

As you can see, there's a lot of aspiration going on in the sewga room:

This weekend is Scott's birthday (let me tell you his number is high!). And let's not forget Father's Day. Amongst other gifts and activities, I decided to draft a bespoke T shirt pattern for him, based on an existing T shirt - a really grimy, seen-better-days-so-throw-it-out T shirt - he really likes.


I followed a method I found online, but stupidly didn't bookmark the site, and now I can't figure out where it is. It involves pinning the existing T to a flat surface and tracing out. Sounds simple but you have to use pin marks to delineate the seams on the parts of the shirt you cant actually draw because those seams are enclosed within the shirt (i.e. shoulders and neck line - remember T shirt necklines and sleeve openings are ribbed).

Then you have to take that 1 piece sloper and cut out the individual pieces (front, back, sleeves) and add seam allowances. Then you have to draft your ribbing separately. To make 1 inch ribbing for the neckline, I cut 2.5 inches (enough for fold over and seam allowances) and made the piece 2/3 the length of the open neckline. I followed the same ratio with the sleeve ribbing.

The prep has taken a few hours, but the sewing will begin apace. Wish me luck. I have enough fabric for 2 Ts...

Eleven Going on Fifteen

My daughter, after her latest hair appointment.

Fave Pieces

I've been noticing recently that I wear my own homemade garments regularly (score!) but not all of them (no surprise).

The pieces that get the most wear (once or more than once a week) are:

• 2 pairs of denim trousers
• my burgundy Sencha (the smaller of the 2)
• my navy rayon 3/4 sleeve T shirt
• my crazy pattern rayon jersey T shirt
  
• my DKNY cowl sack dress
• my handknit sweater (what kind of summer is this?!)

Natch, this is a summer mix. In winter I have worn other items more frequently...

Why? Well, they fit the best, IMO, they drape and wear well, they're practical (and easily restylable depending on what I wear them with) and I've managed to block out their imperfections (so, when I wear them, I'm not simply thinking about how badly they were made).

Intriguingly, no handmade skirts figure into the high rotation schedule - although I do wear a couple of them on a semi regular basis i.e. once every couple of weeks. Those would be the skirt I made for my sister (which didn't work for her) and my crazy patterned pencil skirt.

Peeps, I think it's time to add a skirt to the mix. A kind of sassy one. And another pair of those TNT trousers (but not in denim). And then another Sencha.

I've also realized recently (since the poly jersey dress) that the better the fabric, the more desirable the finished object. That means, even if I need to take a risk on ruining beautiful, expensive fabric, I'm going to have to do it. The pay-off makes it worth the risk.

What homemade items do you wear most and why? Do share!

The Forest and The Trees

Occasionally I'm blown away by the generosity of people - namely those as invested in social media as we all are.

I have been tremendously supported over the last week by numerous blog and Ravelry friends, amongst them:

Mardel
materfamilias
Ms. Modiste
Raven
Miss Sophie
Ingrid
Gail

You have all helped me to get from ground-zero to a finished row 8 and I can't tell you how much I want to give you all hugs and share some aperol and prosecco. (Hell, let's make it champagne.)

I finally understood what I was doing wrong after a whack of emails with Gail - who, BTW, is making the same Jan sweater right now and it's amazing. It finally occurred to me - after little clues were making themselves known - that the interweb would probably have a video to explain what I was trying to do. I mean, just cuz it's new to me, doesn't mean it isn't a popular stitch loop.

And, voila, here's what I found...



Not that this will interest anyone other than me, but I was short on stitches because I didn't realize that YO (yarn over) isn't the stitch you knit into, but the act of looping the wool in front of the stitch. So YO, K2Tog doesn't mean: loop your yarn, knit into a stitch and then knit 2 stitches together.

It means: loop your yarn and then knit 2 stitches together.

Massive difference peeps.

OMG - I was starting to lose my mind over this.

Now I just have to determine whether I need to redo row 4 because I def didn't do this for that row. Mind you, I have nice little holes evenly interspersed and the right number of stitches coming out of that row, and I SO don't want to rip this back again...