Wednesday, April 2, 2014

Crafting ADD, it's got the best of me!

I know, I know, it's been far too long since I've posted. I have not been keeping up with my resolutions very well (on so many fronts, more on that in a minute). Maybe the length of this post will make up for my absence?

I do have 2 quickie projects that I've finished and need to post, but they're not overly exciting, which I guess is why I haven't yet gotten around to blogging about them.

I have, however, been working on about eight different projects that I am excited about (which just means that I have to wait that much longer to experience each of them in all of their glory, oops!):

1. The Aidez sweater, knit in this lovely red yarn that Emma Jayne swapped with me!

[One of the cables is backwards, but by the time I realized, I was too lazy to redo it.]

I feel like I'm a fairly proficient knitter, in that I can usually figure out complicated stitches and new patterns pretty easily. I've made gloves (fingerless and fingered) and plenty of little plushies, but have never ever made a sweater (probably because I usually don't buy enough yarn for one!). I considered going with something simpler for a first try, but a friend suggested that I might get too bored with stockinette stitch for the whole thing. I...think she was probably right. That being said, this IS a tricky pattern, and certainly not for the faint of heart! These are the instructions that are spread out in front of me whenever I'm working on it: 


I was chugging along on this faithfully for a while, until I got distracted by:

2. This pattern by Satsuma Street on Etsy. My mom used to do a lot of counted cross stitch when I was a kid, and I guess I just always saw it as an old lady, country-type craft. Until I saw a few of these patterns. So beautiful! I was due for a visit home to my parents and, among the many things I was excited for, one of the main ones was stealing my mom's cross stitching supplies so I could get started on this! Unfortunately, the original weekend I'd planned to go home was a bust because of the terrible weather, so I had to wait patiently (or not-so-patiently) for one. more. week.

[This picture was taken RIGHT after I realized I screwed something up. Oops, so much for the counting part of that "counted" cross stitch thing.]

Thankfully, this is coming together fairly quickly, and I'm loving it! I added quite a bit to my stash with the supplies for this project, but nothing was bought new, really just transferred from one stash to another. And I've modified the colors in this pattern a bit, working with what I have on hand rather than buying the just-right color that the pattern calls for. I already have plans for two more patterns, which are unfortunately much more complicated. We'll see how fast I get sick of it, ha.

3. While I unfortunately haven't cut into much of my yardage (honestly, because most of it is less than a yard and not garment-worthy), I have been cutting into my stash of Goodwill-bought clothes that I intended to refashion. (They used to do this promotion in my town where they'd let you stuff a paper bag full of anything with that week's color tag for $5. You'd be amazed how much could fit...I figure that most of the things I bought during these binges cost about $0.25 each.)

I tried to buy the biggest skirts I could find, so I'd have as much yardage as possible to work with, but I apparently wasn't too successful in all cases. A lot of things were way too small to ever be able to work as a garment for me, but I loved a lot of the patterns, so I started cutting out squares for a quilt inspired by this beauty. (Of course, it's a rainbow.)

[Okay, so I've got a ways to go for my rainbow, but...it's a work in progress.]

4. Pattern weights with the scraps of those scraps above.

[Is that super-efficient, or what?]

5. A pair of shorts, made from one of the Goodwill skirts that actually was big enough to do something with.



First attempt: the butt was way too big. Second attempt: oops, too small. I'm determined to finish these, even if they're probably not wearable, so I can get some practice fitting my Midwestern pancake butt. I have the perfect fabric in mind for them, because...

6. Oops, I haven't been doing so well with my stash diet resolutions. What can I say, I got the shopping bug, found out that my favorite fabric store was having one of their semi-annual sales (up to 90% off, you guys!), and had to stop by on my visit home (it's probably a good thing there's not one of these closer to where I live). I got one new sewing pattern (and conveniently, Gertie has started a sew-along for it!), 10.5 yards of fabric (4 yards of which of which only cost $0.50/yard!), and 3 sewing machine feet (at about 75% off, and I seriously needed them - well, at least the zipper foot). (I mean, I kinda really did "need" bigger yardages, right? The 0.5 yards was for the quilt, and the other 3 fabrics were 10 yards in total, intended for dresses or skirts.)

I was so excited about one of these fabrics, you guys have no idea, because I knew it would make adorable Tania culottes (a pattern I recently acquired through a swap with Jana). I bought the fabric last Friday and cut into it only 8 days later (that's such a record for me). Now, they're almost finished, save the hem. Here's a sneak peak (full post to come when they're finished!):


And the best news? There's definitely enough fabric left to make a pair of shorts (probably enough fabric for 2 pairs, except I know I'll screw one of them up, given my recent shorts history).

7. I finally finished the men's polo refashion I'd left sitting around for ages. All it needed was a seam around the collar, but I couldn't get it to lay right the first couple of times I tried, so I gave up for a while. When I went back to it, I really don't know what the issue was to begin with. However, after wearing it once, I realized it was too long (awkwardly so) and didn't really bunch up nicely along the waist. I found (what I consider to be) an elegant solution. Full post to come, but for now, here's another sneak peak:



8. I also tried working on another Goodwill refashion. I think this one went even worse than the shorts - there is absolutely no way to make this wearable. *sigh* Inspiration:

http://www.cottonandcurls.com/2012/06/mens-button-up-to-summery-flowy-tank-top-tutorial/

[Image from: Cotton and Curls]

My disaster:

[Please ignore the mess in the background, and the ridiculous faces.]

This goes straight into the scrap pile, there's just no saving it.

9. Much more knitting, looking for a companion to the rainbow zigzags I mentioned a while ago. Unfortunately, this was also a failure, but...live and learn!

I also finally got around to altering some ill-fitting shirts.

So, I've definitely been busy, but sorry for the silence around here! I'll try to be better about posting in the future. :) (Hmm, and maybe actually finishing things I've started, oops.)


No comments:

Post a Comment