Sewing: Polka Dot Dress

This was a quick weekend sewing project that I finished this afternoon. It's a short-sleeved polka dot dress, another pattern from the Machiko Kayaki book Simple Style Dress. I love the scoopneck and how the neckline trim slightly puckers out. It's a simple, but unique detail. The dress is made from a slightly sheer cotton voile, so it would probably be best to wear a slip underneath. This will be a perfect dress for when the weather heats up again.

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Crochet: Granny Square Sampler Afghan

Having finished handknitting my last garment, I thought Blair's granny square sampler afghan would be the perfect next project. She posted directions for the first square yesterday and new directions will be posted each Friday. I don't do a lot of summer knitting, so working on different granny squares each week seems fun and manageable. I get to use up odd bits of stash yarn and I also get to practice my crocheting, which I haven't done in several years since this project. I gathered all my stash yarns and now have a nice selection of worsted weight yarns available to use. Here are my first three squares. I love the randomness of the color selection and being able to just select what suits my at the moment. I look forward to seeing this finished project!

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Handsewn #photoadaymay #thingsimade

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Striped Seersucker Dress

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This was a quick and easy weekend project that I started on Sunday. The dress pattern is from the Machiko Kayaki book Simple Style Dress. I love the split neck, which means I can just pull it on without any fuss or closures. Sewing with seersucker is a dream too. It's the perfect dress for warmer weather.

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Finished: Chaleur Poncho Popover

 
 

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I loved this pattern when I first saw it because of the herringbone stitch, which has so much definition and texture. I had worked about three inches before I realized that I had been doing the herringbone stitch incorrecty, so I ripped out all my work and started again. I thought the provisional cast-on for the sleeves was sort of a pain, but the finished project looks great and makes the extra effort worthwhile. The sweater is more oversized than I thought it would be (lots of length so it's more like a tunic), but it’s cozy and warm. I love how it turned out and hope I have the chance to wear it before summer arrives!

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Sweater Sneak Peek

I finished the Chaleur sweater last night. I plan to give it a good steam blocking tonight. More pictures and notes to follow.

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Pullover Blouse

Here's a quick and easy blouse I sewed up tonight. The only pieces were the front, back, and neck facings.  The project is from one of my Japanese pattern books and the double gauze fabric is Melody Sketch from Nani Iro.

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Fabric score

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Knitting: Chaleur Poncho Popover

I started this Chaleur popover last weekend using the recommended Eco Cloud yarn from Cascade. I had to start it about three times because I was having problems with the herringbone stitch pattern. I had been doing the stitch incorrectly and finally got back on track. I've got an obsession with Dolman sleeves right now and this sweater fits the bill.

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New Japanese Pattern Books

I'm on vacation this week and made a quick trip out to Kinokuniya today to get some sewing inspiration. I found these two books that are both from Interweave Press: Shape Shape and Simple Modern Sewing. Both of these books were previously published four to five years ago in Japanese, but these are newly published in English by Interweave. (There was also this book, which I almost bought sheerly for the title, but it didn't have enough patterns I liked.) I haven't seen the Japanese versions of these books, but these have very clear diagrams and sewing instructions for each of the projects. The patterns are included in the back of the books, all overlapped and printed on two large sheets of paper, which means you have to trace them. If you are familiar with Japanese pattern books, this is nothing new to you. However, it can be confusing for a beginning sewer (in one review, the book was returned because of the pattern tracing issue). I'm excited to look through these books!

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