Before and After

Before and After

White Knit Vest, originally uploaded by fmirela.

This used to be the white pullover from Burda Magazine that turned too small after washing.

It was unraveled and re-knit based on a Romanian pattern from Lucru de Mana magazine.

This is the first time for me to knit lace patterns by hand, and I struggled with my combination knitting skills…with right and left decreases. of course.

I got it now and hope to never forget, is it like riding the bicycle?

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

White Wrap Shirt

White Shirt, originally uploaded by fmirela.

Pattern: Burda 02/2009

The exclusive design from Tristano Onofri
Fabric: sheer cotton/poly

This is a sheer paisley fabric, so I underlined the front wrapped pieces with the same fabric.

The blouse has a side invisible zipper and a false ribbon bow.

The back neckline and the sleeves’ hem are gathered by sewing with elastic thread in the lower bobbin, using a longer stitch step (4mm). Sew two double parallel lines with the elastic about 5mm apart, then pull on the elastic ends to achieve the desired gathering length and securely tie the elastic and the thread in a few knots.
I like to wear this with an embroidered cami underneath, not only because of the sheerness of the fabric, but also because the wrap is very revealing especially when I move…I love the look of wrap blouses and dresses, but one would need to really fill them so they would stay close to the body…me…I get a cami.

Blue Shirt

Blue Shirt, originally uploaded by fmirela.

Pattern: Burda 06/2008
Fabric: Embroidered Cotton from JoAnns
Accessories: Pearl Snap Fasteners

I like this top, but wish it was a little more fitted, I should have taken it in at the side seams.

I adore the snap fasteners, they were really easy to apply, so much faster even compared to the machine made automatic button holes.

I spent a lot of time laying out the pattern pieces over the fabric for the stripes to match.

Bored on the plane?

Crochet Beanie, originally uploaded by fmirela.

Yarn: Cotton Ease
Pattern: based on Garn Studio http://www.garnstudio.com/lang/en/visoppskrift.php?d_nr=104&d_id=25&lang=us
Needles: 3.5mm Crochet Hook

From this little corner of the world, surrounded by swamp and the ocean, one needs to get on a plane for a change of scenery. A 5 hour flight from Fort Lauderdale took us to Salt Lake City and another 5 hours drive away we were in the Grand Tetons and on our way to Yellowstone. Add those hours together and one gets a lot of crochet or knitting time!

Yes I was able to take the crochet hooks with me, even the aluminum kind, no questions asked by the airport security personnel. There are of course plastic versions if you have any worries…

Crocheting helped me quit smoking, I wish my husband would like to give it a try..it also helps you keep your cool on a plane, especially when you got your cheap tickets in the last row next to the lavatory, where everyone seems to form a huge line after drinking about 50ml of water.

You can also choose to work on a smaller project that you can even finish by the time the plane lands and you can have a useful item to wear during your stay.

My crochet beanie has seriously been used as a sun hat during the day, with the ear-flaps lifted and it also holds some warmth during colder nights in a tent.