It's Done!

Alright, the birthday present is finished. I didn’t use a pattern (anyone else for reinventing the wheel?) so I just went with a general idea and worked backwards. For the most part the finished product and my brain image matched, except in my brain there was another zippered pocket that didn’t find it’s way into the design.

I made the zippered pocket, the zippered pocket was lovely and it quietly waited on the table until it was time to be worked into the bag.

He amused himself with some fabric scraps as I interfaced and ironed. What a good little pocket.

He got in a little reading while I busily sewed up his big brother.

Then the zippered pocket got bored waiting and fell asleep. Because the pocket was sleeping he didn’t notice that it was his turn to get worked into the bag. Now the pocket is mad and is refusing to talk to me, but the bag is finished so I have something to show at least.


He was even more upset that his brother found his way into the bag.

I'll mail it, as soon as I can find a box to fit it. Mental note, design gifts based on the sizes of available boxes.

No Peeking, Lan!

I’m working on a birthday present for a friend. Her birthday is supposedly February 20, but I have insisted and will continue to insist that her true birthday is March 23. So her gift is not late, and I have a good 3 more days before it needs to be in the mail. One present/three days=plenty of time, right?

Well, in my brain there have been a lot of ideas rolling around and they all work off this theme. Of all these ideas nothing has actually been created yet. So when do I decide to finally start working out these ideas? And to add to the pressure, this project incorporates skills I’m not very skilled at. Yeah, apparently the crazy runs in the family.

This is a peek at my progress so far. Lana, avert your eyes!

So I’ve never really done appliqué before, but I think it turned out pretty well. Both fabrics are pretty stable so I didn’t use any stabilizer or anything. I did the cutouts and edged it with blanket stitch instead of satin stitching the shape on the teal. So far I’m pretty proud of this. I can’t wait to finish it!

Everyone needs a dragon

So I was looking on ravelry again and found a pattern for a crocheted dragon. No, I really do knit, in fact until recently I knit almost exclusively. But with the addition of a new sewing machine and the desire to quickly burn through my acrylic stash I haven’t made one knitted item in the last month or so…I’ll start something soon, I swear.

Actually, I realized I just lied. I did knit one little thing, it was a washcloth. I had stumbled across a blog called Mossy Cottage Knits whose post about sentient vending machines made me giggle so later when a cry for help came from the same blog I offered assistance. In the crazy accounting system of life it might not be a good rule to throw a washcloth at every person who makes you laugh, but when they ask, well how can you refuse? How often would you have a chance to do that without odd repercussions or misunderstandings anyway? A couple of days later there were more than 30 knitters offering time on their needles to crank out some washcloths. Isn’t that cool?

I didn’t have any kitchen cotton left (I know, I don’t understand it either) but I did have some Garn Studio Muskat in a creamy colour that smuggled itself home with me from an extended stay in Copenhagen. Sneaky, sneaky yarn. So I knit my washcloth and fought the urge to knit another. The only thing keeping me from making more was an image of a pile of talking washcloths meekly saying, “but I only needed 59.” And then I distracted myself with a much needed crochet dragon.

So I found ‘My Fierce but Friendly really Dragon’ (and the ravelry link) who will from now on will just be referred to as him.

Even though I’m a fan of making things in one piece I really didn’t mind putting all his little pieces together. So maybe it’s seaming I don’t like, sewing on wings and little tiny ears is perfectly fine for me. I wasn’t really sure about counting the rounds, but after searching out this YouTube video it became obvious that I was just overthinking everything, it is only numbers after all.

I really like the way this pattern was written, just writing out the total stitches for each round and the general location of the increases or decreases made it easier to shape this little guy. And the wings, which were written out in rows, are so cute (although mine are a little floppier than I would have liked). Just imagine that wing shape becoming a tail, or the collar on a frilled lizard with some tweaking.

So I loved this pattern, it was well written and easy to understand. And it was quick! I just used some worsted space-dyed acrylic. I don’t know the brand, or if it’s still available, but it is a pretty good dragon colour. Of course, a touch of purple would have made it better, but that is always the case for me. Purple is pretty.

I love this little guy. I would have added little buttons on his legs and arms for that teddy- bear-from-my-childhood vibe, but there weren't any around that would match. He is still jointed though so his arms and legs do move. That's why he can sit on his butt and beg for treats...a virgin sacrifice is preferred.

What am I going to be doing with him now that’s he done? Well, a friend likes dragons even more than I do so he will be well taken care of with her...if he ever makes it into the shipping box. Did I mention I love him?

Oh yeah, he’s missing eyes. I don’t know if I should embroider him a pair, or buttons, or eyeballs. He’ll be really done soon, really.

As for tonight, I have finally come to accept my dress form’s shape and size (read: my shape and size) so it’s time to be draping some fabric. I am envisioning a little olive green dress with pleats down the front for contour and shape. There is some knit jersey in the stash and at $2 a metre there won’t be any tears if I muck it up. Wish me luck!

I'm sorry the photos are dark. Must start remembering to take pictures while there is daylight. There really is no excuse now that that days are getting longer.

And then there were two

Well as if the world wasn’t scary enough I now have a body double. Ok, it’s a shiny, headless, torso double, but it’s basically my shape and size. All the dimensions correspond pretty well to my measurements except it was lacking in one key area, umm make that two areas. Somehow the boobs got smooshed into what appeared to be pecs, so it was a decidedly male looking shiny torso. Of course, the flatness of the chest didn’t appear to be much of a discrepancy to my eyes until I slipped the shirt I was working on onto the form and the cups had nothing to fill it out. I repositioned the shirt, assuming my lack of doll-playing years had left me ill equipped for dressing someone other than myself, but that didn’t fill out the chest either. Thinking that somehow I had cut the pattern wrong I took the shirt off the dress form and put it on myself. “Wow,” I thought, “I have boobs!”

It was time to bust out the tissue and stuff my dress form. Suddenly I was feeling very immature. And that was just the beginning of the downward spiral into immaturity land because once I had fashioned a couple fakies and duct taped them onto the dress form I stood back and started giggling.

Maybe it’s just me, but they look like two big eyeballs. Two big shiny robot eyeballs. Yeah, apparently I’m 12. At least I resisted the urge to draw in pupils and eyelashes.

I found the easiest way to eliminate the little bumps and ripples was to put a cotton sports bra on the dress form. Not only does it smooth out the bust but it gives the fabric something to stick to when I try clothes on the form. I am still debating whether I should just cover the whole thing with some nylons for the same reason.

I didn’t mount my form on a stick of some kind, though I think that might be nice. For now I just stuck a bag of beans in the bottom and she sits very happily on the table. I would like to use the form for making dresses and skirts as well so I’ll have to impale the dress form sometime.

All in all I’m happy with the outcome. Except it scared the hell out of me when I caught the shape out of the corner of my eye last night.

Un-Drunken Carrot Cake

Yep, I did it. The cake was presentable, and even, and the little leftover cook's treats were yummy. There was a ton of frosting left over, I forgot this recipe makes a 'generous' amount of frosting. But I'm sure I'll find something else to slather it all over. While the cats were bugging for treats I lost count adding the icing sugar (2 pounds!) and there may be a cup less in there than the recipe called for, but it tastes just as good, maybe better because it isnt too sweet. So the cake has already left the house today, I'll see how it turned out tonight.

Oh, and as you can see, Luther can't resist anything I'm paying attention to. While trying to get pics of the finished product I saw little paws reach into view and snapped this pic.

Duct tape - a sewist's friend

Yeah, I’m getting into the Red Green swing to prepare for getting covered in duct tape tonight. Being wrapped in plastic wrap and duct tape sounds like some serious bdsm thing, but no, I will not be suspended or have straws stuck up my nose. The latter, by the way, only ever seems to happen when I’m talking to a cute guy and looking at them instead of keeping my eye on the prize as I try to take a sip of my iced cappuccino. Yeah, I’m all kinds of elegant.

Anyway, I really need a duct tape dress form because apparently I have some sort of freakish body shape which doesn’t fit with commercially produced patterns. And while I feel like the only one, I know that most people fall into the freak category when trying to get patterns to fit, especially very fitted patterns like the one I’m working on now.

Burda 7938 I picked view B with the long sleeves. The shell is 12 pieces without the sleeves and fully lined making it a fun sew, with lots of tweaking possibilities. The first muslin had cups that strayed all the way down to the bottom of my rib cage plus I realized it was way to lowcut for me. So I raised the neckline, fiddled with the boobs, shortened the shoulders and cut it again. This time around it is better, but there is still some fine tuning that needs to be made and I can’t do it on myself. So getting mummy wrapped in duct tape will solve all my problems! How often do you get to say that? And it might be an incentive to lose some of that winter weight which can’t be a bad thing either.

So far today...

This pile of raw materials

Became these

It’s my favourite carrot cake recipe. I had lost the recipe for a long time (it was a photocopy out of a magazine), it made me sad. Then a friend said that carrot cake was his favourite kind of cake and magically this awesome recipe reappeared. Funny how that happens. That was back in November. It was a big hit with his household with at least two of the children saying it was, “the bestest carrot cake in the whole world!” Ah, you gotta’ love kids. Since I hate raisins I chopped up some dry dates so there was still that moist chewy sweetness, without the chewing-through-shriveled-skin feeling raisins gives. Yeah, I’m not really into cannibalism.

This is the first time I've made it since then. I still need to put it together and hopefully it won't become Drunken Carrot Cake. Be sure there isn't any alcohol in the cake, but usually by the time I get finished with the cake it looks like there was copious amounts of alcohol in the cook. Ah well, fingers crossed.

Oh, and after checking the photocopy there is no magazine title listed, it must have been on the other page so I can't even find a link to the recipe. It's pretty basic though, just throw tons of cream cheese/sugar at it and all will be good with the world.

I have also gotten the hexes sewn together into a blanket. There are more than 100 and surprisingly this foray into crochet didn't use up that much of the acrylic. Well, it's quite possible that the acrylic still residing in the suitcase prison has begun to breed in an attempt to take over the house. I don't want to know.

So the blanket is basically square and if you look on the pic there is a side on one hex that isn't sewn to his partner yet. I'm thinking I might add a little pocket in that space, might make a handy place to slip the remote or kleenex. You can't see the back because there are lots of stray ends hanging out, but use your imagination. I think I was a little down when I started this, looking at the colours it's very drab and not even a touch of purple snuck in which is odd for me.

Hopefully there will be a drool-worthy cake finished soon.