Five Days In

September 27, 2019 Vicki11 Comments

Ninety-five to go! #100moredaysknitorious2019

The photo above was taken Wednesday while I hung out in the cell phone lot at O'Hare for over an hour. I would have been really mad if I hadn't had something to do… though I did manage a pretty good nap, too.

The photos above are where I was on Sunday when I began. I've been stitching everyday and trying not to over-think it. I may have to bust out the beads pretty soon, though, just to get the visual/balance.

It was a beautiful day for a drive, and I began by driving my favorite route down the east side of the lake — two lanes, farm country, great views.

Kate's back from the UK, but with a cold! Thankfully, she's not scheduled for work until tomorrow so has been able to rest and recover a little bit. She brought YARN!! I'll share that next week — a hank for me and two for her. It must truly be autumn now because, like clockwork, Kate's got the urge to knit!

Last night, in addition to working on my jacket, I mended a shirt that's been out of commission for quite a few years. It's an all-time favorite, so it's been taking up space in my (very small) closet even though I haven't worn it. I went in search of matching thread on Tuesday and came home with two very excellent contenders. I'm glad I bought both because it's really all about the lighting (and they were 50% off, so it was basically 2-for-1).

In the photo at left, I've already repaired one very very tiny hole (can you see it? click for big), and one of the larger ones has been done in the photo at right. They're not perfect, but they'll do. Honestly, I've had to hunt down the similar repairs that I made in a black dress — I think black is more forgiving, anyway, but still… I made those mends, you'd think I'd have no problem find them again!

Here, they're all finished. I used a hoop, which I never do, but it's how I was taught… and next time I'm going to try without because I feel like it almost made another hole (even though it wasn't stretched or clamped tightly at all). Anyway, this will be laundered today or tomorrow, then worn tomorrow night to a talk about The History of the Handkerchief, the closing event for the textile show SURFACING, which was also related to the Visible Mending Workshop that I attended earlier this month — all blogged about here — and where a few of my fellow workshop attendees will also be present and I can show off! (Haha. I'm not much of a show-off… too much… usually… this might be worthy.)

Anyway, that's what I've been doing all week: working, driving, sewing.

I present this, sent to me yesterday, to end on a high note:

Ali says, "This is baby's face when I say 'smile'!"

Have a great weekend!!

Macro Monday 2019 · Sewing

Macro Monday: So Sew!

July 15, 2019 Vicki8 Comments

I had the day off of work today! I prefer my 3-day weekends to be Fri-Sun instead of Sat-Mon… but I guess I'll take what I can get.

I didn't want to, but I mowed the lawn this morning. Yesterday would have been a much better day for it, but I was otherwise occupied… Kate & I had our shopping/lunch date with Ginny. I know a few of you saw my IG stories about that. She was a HOOT! I'll do a separate little post about it.

I also had a meeting with the house painter this morning.

Otherwise, I've been sewing! I cut all the pieces for the girls' dresses and have been sewing a little bit each day. Plus I hemmed a pair of jeans for Kate last night. I finished Malina's (except for a button) this afternoon. I thought some sewing-related macro shots would be appropriate.

I bought a new machine a few months ago, and I've finally gotten around to actually sewing something. It's a Baby Lock Jubilant. There's a bit of a learning curve, as it has quite a few more features than my old Husqvarna — I have to look up how to do every single thing — but I like it so far and it has some great features, such as self-threading and a drop-in bobbin under a see-through plate. I have wound a bobbin and threaded the machine once or twice now without having to look it up, so that's progress!

Nice, even stitches. The machine has a speed control, so if it's on SLOW, it'll only go so fast (or slow, heh) no matter how hard I step on the pedal. That'll be great if & when the kids want to learn to sew. I can also forego the pedal altogether and just use a start/stop button… but that seems so weird!

I used one of the overlock stitches to finish the edges of the flutter sleeves. It's so cool to be able to do that!

I sewed one of those sleeves three times in order to get the flutter placed in the correct position, right-side up. Ugh! The sewing directions were similar to the ones you see in sewing where you knit a thing and then they tell you to knit another one but reversing the shaping, or whatever. Yeah.

Ginny's should go a bit quicker, now that I've done it once and know what to look out for. The pattern is Violette Field Threads' Ruthie. I might actually do a strip of velcro where the button should go because this is a size 2 (the smallest available) and Malina is a bit shy of that and also not a super-pudge like her brother & sister were! Or maybe one buttonhole and two buttons.

Alabama Chanin · Macro Monday 2019 · Sewing

Macro Monday: 1st of July!

July 1, 2019 Vicki8 Comments

I can hardly believe it's July! Now's the time that summer feels like it might be slipping away, especially because we've hardly had any summer weather to enjoy… so.much.rain.

It certainly was summertime hot & humid over the weekend, with more of that in the forecast (along with more rain).

I've whittled the Macro Monday photos for today down from 10 (that I processed) to four:

There's a small stack of shells on one of the pergola benches… randomly stacked by one of the kiddos (I'm guessing Gin) and it's been undisturbed for days. I love the subtle colors!

Our young-ish catalpa trees are LOADED with flowers this year!!

And there are plenty of buds yet to open. So pretty.

So, naturally, our Airbnb guests arrived early on Friday and we were last on the list for appliance delivery… so that was less than ideal. The appliance guys arrived about :20 after the guests, but they were really great and the whole process went SUPER smooth! Had our guests arrived at regular check-in time, I'd have just been finishing up… just as I'd mentioned in my heads-up note to them. I'm really happy with the new fridge!

The thrift shop hop in Green Bay was fun on Saturday. Kate made a pretty good haul; I bought a pair of wine glasses and some sewing needles. Obviously, lunch was the highlight for me! We checked out Copper State Brewing Co., which is related to Copper Rock Coffee Co. located in Appleton. Kate had some pork tacos with a lager, I had a burger with an IPA and a half. I caught whiff of a hamburger on the way in and couldn't shake it…

I finished my Alabama Chanin A-line Tunic re-do! I found a back-side photo from June 2017 when I finished (the first time) to compare:

The difference in stitching is plain to see! I've popped it in the wash to even it all out (the equivalent of blocking knits). (Obviously, red is my preferred color for toenails!)

I did some #100daysknitorious2019 stitching on my Car Jacket, and also started some projects for the kids. By that, I mean that I mostly printed and taped and cut patterns pieces (so time consuming!). I'm making matching dresses for Ginny & Malina and a coordinating vest for Junah. I'm using some "Nana" fabric… a white embroidered cotton that were originally cafe curtains that my mom had made for the coffee shop (skirts of the dresses and body of the vest), and a floral Ralph Lauren sheet that was a favorite of my mom's (flutter sleeves, straps & bands on the dresses, welts & possibly facings on the vest & bow tie). We've been wanting to make something from that curtain fabric for a couple of years now, so finally… but it really needs stabilizing. I've ordered some fusible stuff and keep your fingers crossed that it's shipped sooner rather than later because just minutes after I did that, Ali sent me a message about a photo shoot for the kids on July 8th and it would be SO GREAT to have these projects finished. I could get away with adding another layer to the dresses, and maybe even to the vest… we'll see. I have a couple of days to think on it all.

Sewing

Sewing: Mickey’s 90th

September 17, 2018February 8, 2019 Vicki8 Comments

Mickey Mouse was everywhere this summer — did you notice? Well, I don't get out much, but notably in my world at Target and Joann Fabrics. It's Mickey's 90th birthday… and I can only imagine what that means for 2028!! We've a soft spot for that guy around here, which hearkens back to my childhood and the nickname "Mouse," given to me by my dad; he didn't mean Mickey Mouse, just that I was as small as a mouse, but everyone else translated it that way and I used to get a lot of Mickey-related gifts.

Well, I fell for it. It started with a fat quarter bundle and an adorable Geranium Dress/Top for Malina, and continued with similar for Ginny. Junah wanted in on the action, too! Specifically, he wanted a dress… which I did cut out but haven't sewn up yet. I got sidetracked by a Hawaiian Shirt for him, instead!

I finished the shirt in July!

I found the perfect vintage buttons and used red thread — love how that turned out.

The buttonholes should have been made a tad larger, but Junah was able to button it himself the other day… with some gentle reassurance that it was definitely tricky and all my fault and he was doing great!

Here are all three pieces:

They've been hanging in my workroom for WEEKS. I finally finagled all the kids into their Mickey duds on Wednesday when we headed to the park.

In SUPER coordinated fashion — with each other and the stroller and the bicycle!! Haha!

I took some photos ~~~~

Um, yeah. That's the way it goes sometimes! (And the kids — poor girls, especially — have been eaten alive by mosquitoes!)

We tried again at home with slightly better results:

Though you see more of Malina's diaper (actually, emergency use of one of Ginny's pull-ups) than dress!

I had a blast sewing those pieces, and have quite a bit more fabric… so maybe some Christmas sewing is in my future.

Alabama Chanin · Sewing

Obsessed?

July 31, 2018February 8, 2019 Vicki12 Comments

Maybe.

I cut a wedge at each underarm last night and sewed them back up.

It isn't perfect but oh, man, what an improvement! The sleeves "feel" better and there's a lot less bulk. I may have cut just a wee bit more than ideal, but this is all totally off the cuff and, given that, I'm thrilled.

I wore t-shirts a lot back in the day (these days, not so much), and ALWAYS with a cuffed sleeve.

Those original gigantic sleeves were a challenge, but the new version works great!

I also felled/embellished the seam. I chose Laced Double Straight Stitch in two colors from Natalie Chanin's The Geometry of Hand-Sewing – it reminded me of "sound waves," and that was just about perfect for this project. If I were to do this again, I'd consider switching the colors (LEARNING THINGS)!

And now I want to add SIDE POCKETS! It's practically screaming for them, don't you think?