Heather Hoodie Vest Cables

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Rooibos Dress is Done!

Here's my Rooibos dress. I finished it at the end of last week, but had to run it through the wash once before I took photos. The project for the directions were extremely clear and well written. I also liked the suggestions that are provided to help you customize the dress, such as adding buttons to the neckline. I started by sewing a muslin first because I wasn't sure whether to make a size two or four. The size two fit perfectly, but I prefer a bit more ease, even with something form fitting. So, I opted to cut out a size four. Once I got started with the sewing, it actually went pretty quickly.

I bought this fusible piping to make my own using the Liberty fabric since I wanted to add that contrast detailing to my dress. The piping didn't turn out as tight as I wanted and it seemed like the cording unraveled, even though the fabric was fused over it. As a result, I don't think the piping looks as good as it could, especially around the curves of the collar. Next time, I would just sew my own piping. The directions for the dress also don't give directions for how to sew the piping to the curved areas on the neckline, so beginners could have a harder time. Check out these videos for some good tips.

The only modification I made was to lower the depth of the armholes by about a half-inch. Overall, I love how the dress turned out. I think it will get a lot of wear once the weather gets nice.

PS I'm playing around with using Posterous to post to all my different accounts (Blogger, Flickr, and Twitter).

Posted via email from Action Hero

Test

testing, testing

I Got Me Some Yarn

Look what was waiting for me on my porch yesterday!

Portland Yarn Crawl

The Portland Yarn Crawl happens this weekend, March 5-7. What's a yarn crawl? You visit and sign in at any of the 16 participating yarn stores and you receive a raffle ticket to win one of the 16 identical baskets at each store. You don't need to buy anything to get a raffle ticket. Just visit the store, sign in and you get a free raffle ticket. So, if you visit all 16 stores over the weekend, you have 16 chances to win. You can only enter once per store. There's also a scavenger hunt. The theme is “Hat’s off to Portland’s Knitting Designers.” As you visit each store, be on the lookout for a handknit hat with a numbered tag. The first two people who email phyllis@portlandyarncrawl.com with the correct names of the designer, store name and item number will win kits from Blue Sky Alpacas.

See all participating stores here.

Finally, Some Fabric

Melissa and I headed over to the Bolt Liberty 25% off sale this morning. I have been waiting to purchase this particular Liberty fabric, Dotty, for a while now and was very excited that it was still available. I also bought this coordinating red and yellow crossweave cotton from Moda. These here fabrics are my choices for the Rooibos dress. The Liberty will be my contrast fabric and I am planning to make my own piping with it for the neckline and pocket trim. The fabric is in the wash now. I am spending some time this afternoon making a muslin of the dress bodice to determine the proper size to sew up. I want this dress to have a closer fit, so I think the size four may be a little too big for me.

PS I also ordered the yarn for the Heather Hoodie Vest. I had a hard time finding the Lamb's Pride Bulky in grey heather. It was out and backordered in all the local yarn stores that I checked, as well as online. I finally found it at KK Wools.

Nothing to Show

So, I was all excited to buy some yarn today for the Hoodie vest, but the LYS was out of what I wanted. I decided to go ahead and use the specified yarn, Lamb's Pride Bulky in grey heather. I also stopped in at the fabric shop, but I couldn't find what I wanted for the Rooibos dress. I think the problem is that I don't know exactly what kind of fabric I am looking for and am just waiting for something to jump out at me. I guess I need to be patient and do more waiting. It's hard because I'm itching to do some sewing and some knitting!

What's Next?

I have been projectless for several weeks now and it's been strange! I feel like I have too much time on my hands. I miss having something to work on while I watch the Olympics. I've been trying to decide on my next knitting project and I think this Heather Hoodie Vest will be perfect. It's very similar to the Central Park Hoodie, but with short sleeves and a different cable pattern. The recommended yarn is Brown Sheep Lamb's Pride Bulky, so I'm thinking it will knit up pretty fast. Maybe I'll shop for yarn this weekend!

I Think I'm in Love

Not much crafting to report. Last weekend, I finished a scarf from The Lima Collection pattern book made with some extra Rowan Lima I had on hand. I plan on searching for some fabric for the Rooibos dress this upcoming weekend. So, let's talk about shoes! I had been coveting these No. 6 buckle boots since I first saw them over a year ago. I finally found them on sale by chance from Bird, a great online boutique with locations in Brooklyn, NY. They were 25% off, which was enough for me to treat myself. They finally arrived today and they are fantastic. I have a pair of Swedish Hasbeens peeptoe sandals and I was expecting these boots to have the same stiff leather, but they don't. The leather is extremely soft and pliable and they are very comfortable. I can't wait to wear them!

PS I'm completely drooling over all the clogs in the No. 6 spring/summer 2010 lookbook. They are absolutely gorgeous.

Sencha Blouse

I finished the Sencha blouse last weekend. You can see more pictures here and a pattern review over at the Bolt blog.