Crochet Wool

Fingerless Gloves – Crochet wool, originally uploaded by fmirela.

Missing winter already? And it is the middle of summer…
It shows I have been living for too long here in Florida and I don’t know what season we are in. I wish I had more winter and more mountains!

The photos were taken at the end of April 2009 in Snowbird Utah, skiing at 20C was weird but fun, ice in the morning, a wet melt in the afternoon, but well worth the trip, the scenery is incredible.

Pattern: from Crochet Magazine
Yarn: Patons Classic Wool

Stripes closeup:

Fleece lining:

Strings:

Matching scarf with some needle felting on fleece and yarn remains:

Embellisher

I’m looking into buying an embellisher machine (HUSQVARNA VIKING® ER10), it is on sale at Husqvarna this weekend with a coupon in an email, for 169$. They go for about 300$ otherwise and so do the felting needles attachments that you can use with some sewing machines, but the machines won’t be great for sewing afterwards cause of all the fiber dust. I think this is a great deal!

I did get the hand held felting needles from clover and I’m very happy about them, I just think that a machine will speed things up and maybe I’ll get to work on larger projects.

Doing some reading about these types of machines, I stumbled upon this article: http://www.tryourdesigns.com/Felting_machines.htm it’s a good read, very informative.

Silk Jersey

I got silk jersey, in a nude color, excellent drape.

I cannot decide what to sew. My intention was to sew a PJ with long sleeves and pants to have something that breaths well in the sleeping bag and dries faster then cotton… but just can’t decide…I’d like to be able to also wear the top as is, not just as a PJ…

04/2009

05/2008

04/2008

10/2008

03/2008

The last two are my favorites…so far…
Or should I simply stick to the drape neckline of the simple yellow top?

What do you think?

Crochet Belt Loops

just one more trick my mom taught me

This is useful for the side seams on blouses or dresses for keeping the belt from sliding down.

1. Thread you needle with 2 threads, so you end up having 4 threads that you sew with. Knot the ends together. Insert the needle from the wrong side of the fabric towards the front. Make a small stitch and create a loop.

2. Pull the thread with your fingers through the loop, to create a crochet chain stitch.

3. This is the second loop that forms and the initial loop is now sitting at the base of the chain.

4. Continue until you read the desired length.

5. Insert the needle through the loop and pull to finish the chain.

6. Finished chain.

7. Sew the end of the chain to the fabric. Pull the needle to the underside and secure the thread with a knot.

8. An almost invisible thin yet resistant belt loop.

Ellinor Tunic Sneak Peak

Pattern: Ellinor from BurdaStyle
This pattern is also included in Burda WOF magazine 04/2003

Fabric: Cotton with silver metallic thread JoAnns

Woven Ribbon: with gold metallic thread JoAnns
This ribbon was kind of stiff and hard to curve.

I’ve very pleased with this pattern.

Here’s how to apply the woven ribbon to the neckline:
Tip: to create an invisible seam for the application, I used a metallic thread with a special machine needle that has a large eye.

1. start by pining the ribbon along the neckline, then fold it right sides facing

2. sew in a dart with the wider base to the inner side of the neckline, the V tip of the dart away from the neckline

3. unfold the dart and see how the ribbon now lays curved along the neckline

4. You won’t be able to see that dart unless you look for the needle in the hay sack

Here’s how to create the corners in the woven ribbon:

1. fold the ribbon right sides facing, sew a dart at a 45 degree angle. I ususally pin it first to see which direction it will lay when unfolded. To make it unfold the other way, simply sew the dart the reverse side, with the V tip pointing the opposite direction.

2. unfold the dart

3. the ends of the ribbon are turned to the underside and sewn with the seam allowances

Burn Fire Burn!

This link deserves a separate post:

http://www.rockywoods.com/Fabric-Information-Help/App-Notes/What-fabric-do-I-have

It’s how to test and see what fabric you have. Fun!

Crochet Collar Top and Outdoor Fabrics

I had one of those moments of inspiration yesterday followed by the sewing addiction and sleepless hours in front of the machine. You know those moments? I’m sure all of us sewing addicts have them often.

My sister in law visited us this weekend and she is always very stylish. She wore a breezy light cotton, had a band a woven band around the neckline, the fabric was gathered on this band.

if A -> B -> C then A -> C

woven band -> crochet collar

light breezy cotton -> embroidered cotton gauze

There I was putting the pieces of the puzzle together, pinning the fabric on the dress form, marking, cutting and sewing till after midnight. The collar was already crochet just looking for a match.

The whole top is underlined using the same fabric, the fabric is cut in a double layer so it eliminates the sheerness. The helped a lot with the finishing of the seams, the right side was first sewn to the underlining at the neckline and armholes, for front then the same for the back. A topstitch seam creates a nice finish and keeps the underlining from rolling up to the right side. The back has a cut in the center, the lining and underlining were sewn together, just like when you are working with a facing, but this time the facing is as long as the top.The side seams are sewn like a tube, the underlining side seams and then the top’s side seams all in one long seam. Turn everything to the right side, sew the crochet part onto the top. Sew a little further away from the crochet’s edge, I like to leave the edge of the crochet hang freely over the fabric, so the seam doesn’t even show. Or it can be attached by hand…but I’m too lazy.

I didn’t know what to do with the hem, since I had two layers of fabric now. I had the chose of cutting the top layer shorter and let the bottom layer visible, but I sewed them together over a folded band.

The next morning I woke up to wear my breand new top Thanks Ioana for the inspiration.

Oh, and I did it all by draping on the dress form, no pattern for the crochet part either. It has matching pineapple earings to go with it! Photos pending of course.

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My fabrics are nicely packed inside a box that arrived the same morning from the Rocky Woods online store.

Just waiting to be cut.

Polartec Windbloc Laminate – Graphite/Brick
Woven poly face (brick)
High pile grid velour back (graphite)
2-way stretch

Gore® Soft Shell with microfleece liner – Grey
Water repellent, smooth woven face
Waterproof Gore-Tex membrane
Microfleece back
No stretch

Reflective zippers:

The others are the UV protection fabrics for the shirts. The red and green are a little fuller but will be great for the long sleeved versions, the plaid ones are very soft to the touch and thinner, looking forward to sewing those. The colors for me are not really muted, red and pink, but oh well…why not be a little girlie…even if it is sports wear.

I wish that Rocky Woods would have better pictures of the actual fabric, like the fashion fabrics club has. That would make the whole buying stuff online an easier choice. They do offer samples, I just didn’t want to wait that long.

Now I have to carefully choose a pattern for the softshells and already have some patterns in mind for the shirts.

I do need more advice on the seam sealing process. Will the seam tape that is ironed on hold over the fleece backing? Will the SeamGrip work? hmm….

after some more reading…I found this link that explains a lot about sealing and seaming http://www.bushwalking.org.au/FAQ/DIY_RNCSeams.htm

Updated: After all the research, I decided to call Rocky Woods, actually spoke to a nice person, no robots, and she told me that the iron on tape will probably peel off from the fleece backside, as I suspected. I will try the shoe goo on a scrap piece, since I already have that at home and they say it is similar to SeamGrip. If that doesn’t work either, I will simply sew a double seam, maybe a french like seam…that will also look good on the inside if it is not too bulky, or use some bias tape, maybe reflective…or who knows, I’ll play a little with the scraps…

P.S. After everything is sewn, here is how to take care of it:

http://www.rockywoods.com/Fabric-Information-Help/App-Notes/Outerwear-Repair

How to sew outdoor fabrics:

http://www.questoutfitters.com/tips_and_hints.htm

Drape Neckline on Yellow Top

A basic top pattern can be altered to create a drape neckline.

http://www.burdastyle.com/howtos/show/1891

To obtain the drape effect on the front neckline, I’ll draw some lines on the Lydia Top from BurdaStyle to make it similar to the pattern I used. I haven’t tested this, but I’m trying to give you an idea of how the pattern actually is.

Discard the neckline facings. These will be cut in one piece with the front and back.

Raise the inner corner of the shoulder seam in the back just a little, and also the center back line. Create a V shaped line at the outer corner of the shoulder seam, to create the back facing, that will fold in when sewn. Cut in a small pinch at the tip of the V line, to stitch the shoulder seam and the facing line when sewing the front piece to the back piece. The facing will be folded inwards, thus visible finishing seams will not show on the right side of the fabric.

For the front side, elongate sideways the pattern at the shoulders, draw the same V line and create the facing by raising the neckline.

I hope this is useful, and you get an idea of how the drape in the front can be created. The drawing is similar to the pattern I have used, and I think that Lydia can be adjusted this way.

Lots More Sewing

to come…

I just realized I can sew a lot more if you cut the same colored fabric out at a time, thread your machine, pin all the darts and seams that will be sewn first and just start sewing.
Following this theory of mine there was a lot of green on my desk these past two weeks.
Sewn:

• a tunic with a decorative trip, Indian style with instructions on how to apply the embellishing band

• 3 jersey T-Shirts or tops

Pending:

• a green dress with some crochet detail that I haven’t decided upon yet

• a pair of thin stretch green pants

In the meantime we are planning a crazy backpacking camping trip to Europe. Me and my husband will start in Amsterdam, visiting the city and the surroundings, maybe even catch a train to Brussels for a gofre if we get the munchies one day. We plan on spending a few days hiking in the Alps, in Grindelwald a small tourist village close to Interlaken. Then we will be off to Salzburg, again in the mountains somewhere, to see the glacier, lakes and villages. We will be traveling by train, we have the opportunity of buying Interrail passes, since we are Romanian citizens and I know we will be missing out on so many things throught Europe and these 2 weeks will simply scratch the surface….but there will be 3 different countries, some city strolling and mountain hiking, a lot of photographs.
From Salzburg we will catch the train to Budapest, meet with my parents in law, drive to Valea Draganului, Romania, spend 3 days at the cabin.
5 days will be left for our home town of Cluj Napoca, Romania.

View Larger Map

Why am I writing all this on a sewing blog? Just wondering what clothes to wear in fashionable Europe, while keeping my pack really light and having clothes for the mountain side and anythiung the weather will throw at me.

We will be doing a lot of walking through the cities, camping at high altitudes in the mountains so we need to be ready for anything.

Long sleeve tops in lightweight cotton would offer some protection from the sun. Like the tunic or the raglan tops with gathering around the neckline. These can be layered over a camisole, and taken off it is really too hot.

Shorts are cool for summer, but I think knee length pants are more stylish and are more practical for bike riding, etc. Lightweight jeans that convert into cropped version are also versatile. I wonder how these will look like with those hiking sandals… Linen feels great but it will be very wrinkly so I don’t think I’m going to pack that…I’m also thinking of packing some silk tops because they are so lightweight and dry easily, but those would be for wearing through Cluj where there won’t be a backpack on me…

Cotton is great and I love it, but for dry weather. It has no moisture wicking properties, on the contrary, it is very absorbent, so all the sweat from a day of walking/hiking will be stuck in the fabric, transforming it into wet sandpaper that irritates the skin.

So then I was looking online at those lightweight synthetic button down shirts, with UV protection that are perfect for hot wet weather. They wick moisture away and dry quickly. Essential if I’m going to pack light and wash my clothes often. A shirt I think will be always classic no matter what, so it will do for a walk throught any city and it will protect me from the sun and heat so I won’t have to wear that sticky sun screen lotion. Shirts like that from Columbia run around 30-50$ each and I think they look great for men, but they don’t really have a more feminine cut for us girls.

Another essential item I think would be a softshell breathable, waterproof or at least water repellent, moisture wicking jacket. This is great to have with you on the trail, at high altitudes where weather can play tricks with you and seasons can change by the hour. It will keep you insulated and dry. These can run up to over 200$ depending on what the label sais.

The downside with the synthetics is that they can become smelly after wearing for long hours.

You hear all these buzz words that add a lot of $$$ to prices, like SPF, water repellent, moisture wicking, breathable fabric, etc… I googled them and ended up finind this little online store called rocky woods: http://www.rockywoods.com

They stock up all the fabrics I mentioned and are specialized in outdoor fabric. I’m not crazy about the pictures, because they do not portrait the fabrics, it is just boxes of color, so I’m not sure what to expect.

I just ordered today, all these for about 100$:

• Burlington Moisture Control Sun Blocker Fabric for two long sleeved shirts (eucalyptus and brick red)
• Burlington MCS Blocker Sun Protective Fabric Prints for two long sleeved shirts (Blue Plaid and Pink plaid)
• Polartec Windbloc Laminate – Graphite/Brick
• Gore® Soft Shell with microfleece liner – Grey- the last two are for a soft shell, that will have reflective zippers ans pockets

I’m sure this makes no sense and I can’t seem to see all these in a collection, but I do need to think about pieces that go together, can be layerd, are practical and easy to care for,  lightweight, do not wrinkle….

In the end, I’m pretty sure I’ll end up wearing the hiking clothes through the cities as well and look like the American tourist…

Locations to visit around Salzburg, not sure how we could get to all these places, we will probably need to choose:

View Salzburg, Grossglockner in a larger map

Yellow Drape Top

Yellow Drape Top, originally uploaded by fmirela.

Pattern: Burda WOF 10/1998

My favorite pattern for drapy fabrics again and again. Not much to say really, a simple fast serger project. Not a stitch done on the sewing machine, everything in this one is serger, so speed. Simple cut, drapy fabric, 15 minutes cutting out and about an hour of sewing.

Here are some details so you can see the fabric. My mom got this for me in that little dusty Italian fabric shop back home in Cluj, Romania.

The drape at the neckline:

The coverstitch hem: