Roller Skate Dress

I love sewing samples and testing sewing patterns.  It’s been a fun way to be part of someone else’s creative process as well as get a sneak peek of forthcoming patterns.  I still get excited every time I get an e-mail from Liesl asking if I would be up for testing.  You can read more about what goes into the making of and Oliver + S pattern here.  I feel pretty lucky to have a small role in the whole process.

In December, I started testing and sewing samples for the Spring/Summer ’13 Oliver + S patterns.  As soon as I saw the Roller Skate Dress, I knew this pattern would be in regular rotation in my sewing queue.  In fact, I can’t stop making these dresses.

I made H.view a of the Roller Skate dress in size 8 using the Flora print from Julia Rothman’s Miscellany line for Cloud 9.  Since it is still winter here in New England, H. has been wearing this dress with layers underneath.

  

I made another version of the dress in size 10 to see if it could be reversible.  To make the dress reversible, I added another button loop to the lining, sewed on buttons to both sides in the back for the dress, and left the hem length the same for both sides of the dress.  I decided to leave off the center bow since it might be a bit uncomfortable if it were facing the body.

I used 1000 Cranes in Indigo from Rashida Coleman-Hale’s latest line for Cloud 9.  There are so many beautiful prints in the Tsuru line.  Of course, the fact that all of Cloud 9′s fabrics are made out of organic cotton is a bonus.  For the other side, I used Alexander Henry’s April Showers print.  I’ve had this in my stash for quite some time.

This dress will be given to a very very special Portland girl for her April birthday, so it seemed only natural to use this print for the reverse side (Sorry for the spoiler, Nance).  I’m hoping my niece loves it as much as I do.

For dress number 3, I made view B with the contrasting yoke.

   

I used a print from Erin McMorris’s La-Dee-Da line and polka dots from Delphine Cubitt for the yoke.

the lining, I used poplin from the Spring Little Lisette collection. Can you tell which side H. prefers?

  

Didn’t I warn you that I can’t stop sewing this dress?  The simple silhouette is so versatile   I love the capped sleeves; they were one of my favorite details in the Bubble Dress. I can’t wait to try adding applique to a future iteration of this dress.  Oh, the options.  I can’t wait to see what your Roller Skate dresses/tunics look like!

January Gift Making

Just when holiday gift crafting finished up, I found myself scrambling to get started on making presents for a slew of January birthdays.

We have been in full birthday party marathon mode since the start of the new year.  Between H. & J., one of them has been invited to a birthday party every weekend.  For these birthday gifts, I added some applique to t-shirts. I’ve made so many of these over the years, I’ve stopped taking photos of them.

For one of H.’s closest friends, H. requested I make her a dress.  I let H. pick out the fabric from my stash and made an Oliver + S Seashore Sundress.

H. wanted to help out, so she assisted in sewing on the buttons.

  

For my step niece, I made her a Oliver + S Badminton Skort.

I knit up a simple ribbed merino wool hat for my brother-in-law.

For a dear friend’s birthday, I made her a Kimono Robe using on of my favorite prints from Jay McCarroll’s Habitat line.  The pattern is from Amy Butler’s In Stitches.  I cut down the length of the sleeves since the ones on mine turned out to be ridiculously long.

Sewing all of these presents made me realize my gift stash is running a bit low.  I decided to use some leftover fabric to make a bunch of tote bags.

I used the Easy Lazy Bag pattern as a base and made some adjustments.  I choose to make gussets at the bottom of the bag instead of having rounded corners.  I also opted not to have the shoulder straps tie.  Instead, I shortened the straps and sewed them together.  Lastly, I added two interior pockets.  I’m sure I’ll find good homes for these bags come spring time.

Recap of 2012 Holiday Knitting and Sewing Extraganza

Happy 2013.  My apologies for being a neglectful blogger these past two months.  Now that my marathon of sample sewing, holiday crafting, end of semester craziness and winter vacation all behind me, I can finally share with you some of the things I’ve been sewing and knitting.

This holiday season, I made cowls for almost every woman in my life (or so it seemed).  This photo shows most of the cowls I made.  I’ve lost count, but I believe I made a total of 9 cowls.

I made two more Avery Cowls using Osprey yarn in peacock and rosa rugosa.

I made a number of long Honey Cowls in Madelinetosh Vintage.  I used skeins of  Malachite, Baltic, Filagree, and  Earl Gray.    

I also made a simple ribbed cowl using two skeins of Manos from my stash.  This one has yet to find a home, so it goes into my gift stash.

I’ve been wanting to try knitting Brooklyn Tweed’s Shelter and was thrilled to see the new Wiksten Snöflinga Hat pattern suggested using this yarn. These adorable hats knit up extremely quickly.  I made these four using Hayloft, Snowbound, Sweatshirt, and Pumpernickle.  I kept one, H. snagged one, and the other two were given as gifts.

Using balls of Mission Falls 1824 Wool from my stash, I knit three of these hats. And of course, a holiday season  cannot go by without knitting a few Fetching Wrist Warmers.  I made 3 pairs to give away as gifts.  Holiday shipping deadlines crept up on me.  I was literally casting off, blocking, and throwing them into boxes even before they were fully dried.  Needless to say, who had time to take photos? Like many of my knitting projects, I fear most of the gifts I sewed were neglectfully undocumented.  Most of my sewing projects consisted of making Have it All Wallets.  I made a dozen of these to give away to teachers and friends.  Some were already shipped off before I could take photos.

There were a few tote bags sewn as well as an Oliver + S Hula Hoop skirt for my niece.  There may be a few other items I have forgotten to include here.  I’m grateful I was able to finish all my holiday projects in time!

Straight Stitch Society’s Latest Patterns

Just in time for holiday sewing, Straight Stitch Society has released two new patterns.  Like the first set of patterns, these two are great way to transform fabric scrapes into functional and adorable goods.

The Keep Your Cool Smart Phone Case is a fun way to keep your phone, keys, and subway card all in one handy case.  There is a hidden pocket inside the case small enough to hold a library card or even a few dollars. I made view 1 with scrapes from my fabric drawer.  H. quickly claimed this as her own and uses it to house one of our old iPhones she uses as a music player.  Since the case has hidden pocket inside, she stashes her library card in the case.  I added a clip at the end, so she can attach it to a belt loop or her back pack.

Views 2 and 3 are just as adorable.

Image from Straight Stitch Society

The Have It All Wallet pattern lives up to its name.  Since there are so many pockets, I bought mine on a recent trip, and it held everything from my passport, bank card, phone, pesos, and lip balm. I was too busy enjoying myself that I forgot to snap a photo.

For view 2, I used fabric from Oliver + S’s The Ladies’ Stitching Club collection and a polka dot print from Robert Kaufman.  I opted to add the bow to this view.

 

I made an organic cotton version using prints from Cloud 9.

  

For view 1, I used prints from two of my fabric collections: Lotta Jansdotter’s Echo and Oliver + S’s Modern Workshop.

   

You’ll be seeing more of these since I have quite a few on tap for the upcoming gift-giving season.

J.’s All-Stars Baseball Birthday

Over the weekend, we celebrated J.’s 5th birthday.  J. has been passionate about baseball since he was baby, so it wasn’t a big surprise when he suggested he wanted to host an All-Stars Baseball game for his party. I won’t over share all the details about the party here, but we all had a great time!

  

I made a birthday banner to hang in the park’s little pavilion.

  

H. and I used the leftover fabric to make a mini dachshund using Amy’s free pattern.  Our 17-year-old mini dachshund passed away over the summer. We all miss her, but J. still cries for her.  J. has named his new toy mini d. after the real one.  He loves the namesake almost as much as the real pup.

  

I also made J. a tote bag using an Echino cotton/linen blend he picked out.  I lined it with more leftover banner fabric.  I also whipped up a quick applique birthday shirt for J.

  

J. wore the shirt during our annual fall family photo session.

photo by Jennifer Waddell

Summer Knitting Projects

I have become rather lazy when it comes to finishing let alone posting my knitting projects. Now that we are into fall, I suppose it is time for me to post some of my knitting projects I finished over the summer.  I finally blocked the small pile of completed knitting projects that started accumulating in our guest room.  Here is a run down of my summer knitting projects.

Ginkgo Shoulderette Shawl knit using Madelinetosh merino light.

I knit the Maluka shawl using a cotton/silk lace weight yarn.  This is for my mom.

I doubled up the length of the Tuesday Night Cowl, so I could wrap it around my neck twice.  I used two skeins of Madelinetosh merino in charcoal.

  

I used two skeins of Madelinetosh DK in Nutmeg to make Avery Cowl .  I used a smaller needle size to accomodate the yarn.  I probably could have gown down another needle size, so the pattern would pop a bit more in the finished cowl.

I made a few more pairs of Fetching Wrist Warmers to add to my gift stash.  These were made using Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran.

  

Most of these summer knitting projects will be given away as gifts.

My favorite knitting project this summer was the Rocky Coast Cardigan.  To make the sweater a bit longer, I added a few extra rows.  I knit used Madelinetosh merino in charcoal.

  

The cable pattern gets a bit lost with the variegated yarn.

  

I wish I would have made the adjustments to add a bit of extra room in the upper arms and yoke, but all in all, I still love the cardigan.  This is one summer knitting project that won’t make it into the gift pile.

Over the summer, I picked up the Valiant sweater again and finally finished it.  This poor project had been hibernating for over a year. I’m not thrilled with the results.  It just seems so heavy and unflattering.  I haven’t even bothered to really take photos of it since it has been too warm.  Perhaps once the cold weather hits, I’ll actually wear it.

Long Overdue

July already? I am not sure where June went, but apparently, it came and now has gone. In the midst the soccer games, a ballet recital, a pre-school graduation, the slew of end-of-year performances, and a few early summer trips, I feel like we have been shuttling from one thing to another both on the home and work fronts.  Now that summer is here, I am finally able to catch my breath and fill you in on a few things I completed. I won’t inundate you in a single post since I still haven’t take photos of the items I have recently finished.  For now, here are a few items sewn over the past few weeks.

For my nephew B.’s 5th birthday, I made him the Oliver + S Explorer’s Vest from Little Things to Sew.  I used a print from Heather Ross’s Mendocino line and Oliver + S’s City Weekend.

As a birthday present for one of H.’s friends, I made J. the Popover Sundress and a matching doll version using Lisette and Alexander Henry fabrics.

I also recently completed a few birthday applique t-shirts, but I didn’t get a chance to take a photo before they were given away.  Same goes for a slew of wristlets I made as gifts. More posts soon to follow…

 

Bags

For Christmas, I received Bags–The Modern Classics by Sue Kim from one of my brothers-in-law.  This lovely gift also included a few yards from Amy Butler’s Lark collection from Spool.

I knew right away I wanted to make the large-sized pleated wristlets.  Using some of my new Amy Bulter fabric along with leftover fabric from my scrapes drawer, I made five wristlets a few weeks back.

I’m sure you will be seeing more of these wristlets along with other bags from this book posted here soon!

For an upcoming JP Knit and Stich workshop, I made a Nigella Yoga Bag from Amy Butler’s Sun Glow in lake from the Lark line.

  

If you would like to make this super stylish yoga bag, please join me at JP Knit and Stich in April.  I’ll be teaching a workshop to help walk you through sewing this bag. Keep an eye out here for the workshop registration.

 

Downton Abbey Cowls

I’m hooked on the Masterpiece Theater series Downton Abbey. I started watching Season 1 on Netflix and rushed through the first few episodes of season 2 on PBS’s website.  As I have been watching, I’ve knitting Gap-tastic cowls. The cowls are knit in seed stitch using chunky yarn and size 13 needles, so they are extremely quick projects.

With the first cowl I made, I forgot to take heed and make sure I didn’t create a twist when I was joining the round.  Luckily, you can’t really tell.

I finished the second cowl while watching last night’s episode. For this one, I cast on 10 less stitches to make it a bit closer to the neck.

 

January Sewing Projects

Oh, January, where did you go?  Is it really a sign of old age that time just seems to be whizzing past?  Since I haven’t been prompt at posting completed projects, here is a run down of what I sewed this past month.

I’m trying to sew through my fabric stash since it has gotten way out of control.  From my stack of interlock knits, I made a few O + S Hopscotch dresses and a top.  H. lives in her Hopscotch dresses on the weekends since they are so comfy.

I made two dresses to give as birthday presents for two of H’s classmates.

  

For both dresses, I used prints from City Weekend and leftover fabric from Modern Workshop.

I made H. another Hopscotch dress in size 8, so she can wear this next year using more fabric from the O+ S Modern Workshop line.

I also made her a top in a size 8 using leftover fabric from this top.

H. prefers to wear dresses and skirts, but she does wear pants when she has P.E. at school.  I made her one pair of uniform pants over the summer to be worn on gym days, but this term, H. has P.E. twice a week.  She requested another pair of pants, and I was happy to oblige.  Using thin-whaled corduroy, I made her another pair of After School Pants.   Hoping these will still fit her next school year, I made them in a size 7. You can see by the photo, there is ample room for her to grow.

For the pockets and the trim at that bottom of the side panels, I turned the corduroy, so the lines go horizontally.

  

For the lining of the front pockets, I used leftover fabric from this top.

I didn’t mention this detail to H. when she got dressed for school this morning.  She was thrilled to see the funny little elephants inside her pockets.  Hopefully, this pants can be passed along to J.  After all, they don’t have any buttons!

For Christmas, one of my brothers-in-law gave me a few fat quarters from Amy Butler’s new line, Lark.  One of of the fat quarters was the Chinese Lanterns print in grass.  This has to be my favorite print in the entire line.  Luckily, JP Knit and Stich has it in stock, so I used it to make a O + S Birthday Party Dress sample for the shop.

For the facings and the button tab, I used Ruta in navy from Lotta Jansdotter’s Echo.

I think this combo makes such a delight spring dress.  Feel free to stop by JP Knit and Stich to get a closer look.

Lastly, I made myself a Nigella yoga bag using frabic by Anna Maria Horner’s Innocent Crush line.  I added a few inches to the top to make room for a drawstring.