Quilted Scraps

If I haven't been hand sewing for an extended period of time, I get antsy.

But what I always have on hand is plenty of fabric scraps.  Some of these are from a hexi quilt that has been pieced and is still being quilted.  Some prints were specially purchased to make a rag rug.  

Whatever the source, there were a lot of scraps, some handily stashed away in a single bag which made finding them easy.  So when I needed a hand sewing project, I thought that it would be fun to start another English Paper Piecing project, just not a full sized quilt because I still have one of those to actually quilt!

The obvious choice was placemats.  I have been using a set that has pops of red, and my downstairs is very cool color themed.  Not to mention the fact that the rugs that I made are being used downstairs, so using scraps from those projects makes everything very color coordinated. 

I went searching for a design other than hexagons, and came across this pattern on Etsy.  The different shapes seemed like they would be fun, and make it possible to use even the really small scraps.

I wasn't entirely sure how to finish the pieced design when I began.   In the end, I just applied the pieced section to a piece of cotton before making my quilt sandwich.

At this point, I wasn't sure if the final placemat would be rectangular or some other shape, but at least the quilting could begin!

I ended up cutting a shape that I was hoping would work out of some packing paper to test the size.

Once I was sure about the shape and size, I basted around the edges, and cut off the excess.

The edges were then bound with a contrasting color.

Since the rest of the project was hand stitched, I went ahead and applied the binding by hand as well.

With what I had cut out and pieced, there were enough motifs to make three placemats.

The most tedious part was removing the papers from the smaller triangles and diamond shapes.  Who knew?!

I ended up using a pin to get under and pull up one edge of the paper so it could be removed.

That was the placemats.  But I did have a few poppies leftover and I didn't want to waste them or let them be relegated to the land of abandoned projects.

They were almost too large for a coaster, but that seemed like the logical thing to make to match back to the placemats.

So now I have two little mini placemats, or coasters, or hot pads on hand.

This project was a lot of fun.  My fingertips may not agree (still haven't learned to use a thimble properly) but the joys of hand sewing got me through.

And I enjoy these placemats so much more than what I was using previously.

Which makes for a successful project!

A Handknit Aesthetic

I have a tendency to choose darker colors for my Winter appropriate clothing (as most people do).

But it's always nice to have a few pastel knits in the collection.  And since I love just about any shade of purple, lavendar was an obvious choice for my next knitting project.

I was really not aware of it at the time, but I have been on a bit of a Victorian inspired clothing journey, along with a penchant for a good neck/shoulder ruffle.

This particular design is knit with circular needles.  I definitely prefer to piece my knits, mostly because it can start to get a bit cumbersome when the sweater really starts to come together.

But this one isn't too bulky since it sits just below the waist, and my chosen yarn was quite lightweight.

As with many of my hand knits, this project was put aside (although not for very long).  I just wasn't sure how to attack the ruffle portion.

But as with most contemporary knit patterns, it makes so much more sense to me once I have needles and yarn in hand.  I can picture how to put most sewing patterns together in my head, but a page full of knitting abbreviations doesn't do the same for me.

I am, once again, extremely behind in my blog posting.  And if this week's weather is anything to go, it's time to store the long sleeved wool knits away.

But I am trying to post things as I finish them and photograph them, so here we are.

As for this knit project, I will say that it was quite successful.  

I even managed to wear it a few times this Winter, which doesn't always happen with my knit projects.  Maybe I need to get over my disinclination to work with top-down sweaters that are worked in one piece!  

Sweater:  Made by me, Fabel Knitwear
Skirt:  Made by me, Vogue 2902
Shoes:  American Duchess "Ginger"

Ruffled Knits

My knitting has been fairly sporadic as of late.

But I did manage to finish this sweater for the Winter season!

The pattern is the Gibson Ruffle Blouse from Fabel Knits and it caught my eye as I have been drawn to more Victorian inspired designs as of late.  

The pattern suggests using a mohair silk blend for the ruffle.  I have a bunch of Rowan Kidsilk Haze stashed away, but it wasn't a color match for the wool I had chosen.  So I decided to hold two strands together for the entire sweater.  This creates a halo effect, which I think ended up looking great.

The knitting was fairly straight forward.

The ruffle didn't end up looking quite as ruffled as the designer's version.  I think I followed the instruction correctly, so not sure what happened there . . .

But maybe I prefer it that way?

I'm definitely pleased with how this particular knit turned out.  And that's the most important part!

1970s Does Victorian

The first thing to say about this dress is that my alteration from blouse to dress was 100% successful.

I am still baffled by the loosely fitted View A on this pattern.  It looks horrendous on the model, but the illustration is cute.  This version (View C), however, is great.  Would highly recommend.

The sleeves are slightly bulky, and the ribbon tie is cute, but perhaps not so practical.  It's also quite annoying to tie on one wrist depending on which of your hands is dominant.  (If you have your own personal dresser, this would not be an issue.)

I do think that adding a channel for elastic, or even gathering the lower edge down into a self-drafted cuff would be a cute alternative.  It's interesting to note that while the two Views have completely different bodice choices, there is only one sleeve.  It might have been nice to include an alternative sleeve.

As mentioned in my construction post, the shoulder ruffle isn't quite as ruffly as it could be due to my choice of fabric.

It also seems that the weight of the added hemline ruffle has pulled the skirt sides down slightly.  I suppose that I could unpick the sides and re-attach.  But knowing how much I dislike mending and/or "fixing" things after they are complete, I may just live with it for now.

As for the idea of making a blouse with a rayon print, I am definitely keeping it in mind.

That would also give me an opportunity to  try out a sleeve alternative.  

Then again, I may just get distracted by another shiny object and choose an entirely new to me pattern to try out next.

Dress:  Made by me, McCalls 8490
Shoes: American Duchess "Edith"
Earrings:  Antique