Let's have a conversation about ease. Ease is something that still gets me, even after a decade of knitting. Probably because I don't knit sweaters for myself very often, and with kids, it's easy to pick a size and go with it. With my 2 being the ages they are, if a sweater is too big or small for one, it'll fit the other.
Ease describes how loose or tight a garment is on your body. If the garment has POSITIVE ease, it's loose. If it has NEGATIVE ease, it's skin tight. If it has ZERO ease, it fits without being stretched.
Remember my beautiful Heavenly sweater? The one that was finished except for the sleeves? It's in the frog pond. If you look at the pattern photo, it is shown to be a loose fitting garment. If you check the sizing, it has positive ease built into it. It is designed to be a loose, comfortable sweater. I don't wear loose clothing. I'm a big girl, and loose, baggy clothing just makes me look bigger. I don't wear skin tight pinup style clothes, but I do wear my clothes fitted to my body. So I will literally NEVER wear a sweater with 4 inches of positive ease.
Let this be a lesson to you! BELIEVE the designer when he/she says a garment will have X amount of ease, and look at the designer's photos, because the designer's garment will fit the model the way the designer intended the garment to fit. The designer wants to show the garment off to its very best, you know? Then think about how YOU wear YOUR clothing. Some women prefer to wear looser, non-restrictive clothing. Some women prefer clothing to take after boa constrictors. I don't like having to squeeze into my clothing, but neither do I like to feel like I'm swimming in anything other than a body of water. I invariably get "Have you lost weight?" comments when I wear clothing that is more fitted - even if I haven't actually lost anything. If the designer's photos show a sweater stretched across the model's chest, and you like your clothing to have movement in it - knit the next size up. (Or 2.) If you like your clothing to be snug, knit the next size down.
I did have a couple options with Heavenly. I could have sucked it up and finished it. I have a month's worth of knitting into it, after all. But I know I would NEVER wear it, and if I did wear it, I wouldn't feel proud of it, I wouldn't feel like it looked good on me. I could give it to someone else - my mom is the same size as me, but prefers to wear looser clothing for ease of movement, and the blue is a shade that would be a fabulous color on her.
But, the bottom line is, I really wanted THIS sweater. THIS shade of blue, in a plain design that would let the yarn sing, even though it's inexpensive acrylic. THIS shade of blue is a fantastic color on me, too; that's why I picked it. So - I unwove (is that a word?) the end from the bind off, and I am reknitting it straight from the finished sweater, into the smaller size, and I'm leaving a giant NOTE TO SELF - YOU LIKE ZERO EASE IN YOUR CLOTHING.
Wednesday, 25 January 2017
Sunday, 22 January 2017
Jeans!
This week, I have pretty much exclusively been knitting my Heavenly sweater. I'm like 4 inches from finishing the body, then I'll just have the sleeves to do. It's one of those sweaters where I keep having to stop knitting and start petting it, because it's got such a great feel to it, especially considering it's knitted in inexpensive acrylic yarn. It's Wendy Fleur DK, which I bought at my LYS...4 balls for like £20. Not bad for a sweater's worth of yarn! It's a gorgeous TARDIS blue, so it will match the TARDIS shoes and solar system necklace I got for Christmas. It's got a little hint of shine and a bit of a halo, without the cost of silk or the itchiness of mohair.
I wanted to share a cool little tip for the Heavenly sweater, or really any knitting...this pattern has you do an increase, knit a few inches, do an increase, knit a few inches, do an increase, etc. However, the increases are designed to not be really visible, which can make measuring kinda tricky.
See? Believe it or not, there are multiple sets of increases in that photo. You can see them if you really study the photo, but they're pretty well hidden, and the actual garment isn't much better.
There's the obvious answer, of counting your rows, but I lose count when I'm counting to 3. (Hello Family who likes to come in and talk to me every ten seconds.) So, I stuck a bobby pin through the increases!
MUCH better! Now I have an easy line to measure from, no counting needed. You could do the same thing with a darning needle, a cable needle, a different tip from your interchangeables, a tooth pick, a piece of grass, a locking stitch marker - whatever you can get your hands on when you need it. I happen to have 2 daughters, so we are up to our eyeballs in bobby pins, so that's what I used.
Sewing wise, I am tiptoeing towards the edge of making my own jeans. I've lost 10 pounds following Weight Watchers, and have dropped a size in jeans. Yay me! Not so yay, skinny jeans become fugly when they're baggy, and this is, of course, my year of no buying clothes. So I've purchased the pattern (Ginger from Closet Case Files), printed it, taped it, and cut out the pieces. I've been binge watching Angela Wolf's Craftsy Class, Sewing Designer Jeans. I've ordered, received, and pre-washed denim from eBay.
I should be ready to go...except, you know, for getting over the nervousness of it. I don't know why I'm intimidated at the thought of making jeans. There are literally no techniques used that I haven't done before - I've even done a zippered fly before. So what am I scared of? Who knows.
I'm also kinda browsing embroidery websites. My sewing machine does small embroidery as well, and I love the idea of embroidered pockets on my jeans. Just need to decide what I want. I have kind've adopted Wonder Woman as my mascot for the year, so maybe the WW logo? I dunno. Still thinking on it.
I bought some brown corduroy like five years ago, when I first started sewing, and never did anything with it, so I'm going to use it as a wearable muslin. I already know I'm short, so I'll have to alter the pattern to accommodate not having long, beautiful legs from here to there. I'm okay if the fit isn't 100% perfect with the cords, because I don't see myself wearing them that often - certainly not as often as I wear jeans! Also, hopefully, they will be too big before too long.
That actually reminds me of a question a few people have asked me when I've told them my resolution to have a 100% handmade wardrobe by next January. No, I'm not going to throw out my existing clothes. I will continue to wear them until they're worn out, or I've shrunk out of them, but I will be replacing them only with handmade items. I will probably keep my t-shirts, because I have a very nice collection, and either upcycle them into something that fits me when I'm 2/3s the woman I am today, or I'll turn them into a t-shirt quilt. It will depend on how I'm feeling when the time comes.
I wanted to share a cool little tip for the Heavenly sweater, or really any knitting...this pattern has you do an increase, knit a few inches, do an increase, knit a few inches, do an increase, etc. However, the increases are designed to not be really visible, which can make measuring kinda tricky.
See? Believe it or not, there are multiple sets of increases in that photo. You can see them if you really study the photo, but they're pretty well hidden, and the actual garment isn't much better.
There's the obvious answer, of counting your rows, but I lose count when I'm counting to 3. (Hello Family who likes to come in and talk to me every ten seconds.) So, I stuck a bobby pin through the increases!
MUCH better! Now I have an easy line to measure from, no counting needed. You could do the same thing with a darning needle, a cable needle, a different tip from your interchangeables, a tooth pick, a piece of grass, a locking stitch marker - whatever you can get your hands on when you need it. I happen to have 2 daughters, so we are up to our eyeballs in bobby pins, so that's what I used.
Sewing wise, I am tiptoeing towards the edge of making my own jeans. I've lost 10 pounds following Weight Watchers, and have dropped a size in jeans. Yay me! Not so yay, skinny jeans become fugly when they're baggy, and this is, of course, my year of no buying clothes. So I've purchased the pattern (Ginger from Closet Case Files), printed it, taped it, and cut out the pieces. I've been binge watching Angela Wolf's Craftsy Class, Sewing Designer Jeans. I've ordered, received, and pre-washed denim from eBay.
I should be ready to go...except, you know, for getting over the nervousness of it. I don't know why I'm intimidated at the thought of making jeans. There are literally no techniques used that I haven't done before - I've even done a zippered fly before. So what am I scared of? Who knows.
I'm also kinda browsing embroidery websites. My sewing machine does small embroidery as well, and I love the idea of embroidered pockets on my jeans. Just need to decide what I want. I have kind've adopted Wonder Woman as my mascot for the year, so maybe the WW logo? I dunno. Still thinking on it.
I bought some brown corduroy like five years ago, when I first started sewing, and never did anything with it, so I'm going to use it as a wearable muslin. I already know I'm short, so I'll have to alter the pattern to accommodate not having long, beautiful legs from here to there. I'm okay if the fit isn't 100% perfect with the cords, because I don't see myself wearing them that often - certainly not as often as I wear jeans! Also, hopefully, they will be too big before too long.
That actually reminds me of a question a few people have asked me when I've told them my resolution to have a 100% handmade wardrobe by next January. No, I'm not going to throw out my existing clothes. I will continue to wear them until they're worn out, or I've shrunk out of them, but I will be replacing them only with handmade items. I will probably keep my t-shirts, because I have a very nice collection, and either upcycle them into something that fits me when I'm 2/3s the woman I am today, or I'll turn them into a t-shirt quilt. It will depend on how I'm feeling when the time comes.
Saturday, 14 January 2017
I'm a piranha, they're in the Amazon
You know how I planned to knit a sock as my wearable garment for the first week? Hahahahaha. Yeah, that didn't happen.
I mean, I DID cast it on, and I even got the cuff knitted. But Hubs gave me an overlocker for Christmas, and for some reason I got it in my head that I needed to make him a pair of boxers. I bought fabric like a year ago, with the intention of using it for boxers for him. It's got piranhas. PIRANHAS. Every guy needs a pair of piranha boxers.
So. Voila. Piranha boxers.
I used the free pattern, Darcy Boxer Shorts, from Measure Twice Cut Once. Pretty straight forward pattern. I had some confusion over how to install the fly, but I figured it was one of those "sit down, shut up, do as you're told" moments, so I sat down, shut up, and just DID the thing, figuring it would make sense once it was done. It did.
Anyway, I mentioned that Hubs gave me an overlocker for Christmas. He gave me the Brother 1034d. I had started to make a pair of Scrundies for Kiddo The Second as a way to try it out, but it messed up on the waistband, so I hadn't touched it in a few days. (I say it messed up, we all know it was probably actually me that messed up. But I'm still gonna blame it on the machine.) I sewed the boxers almost completely on the overlocker, and it WORKED. Like magic.
There was one seam where the threads in the needles broke, so I had to re-thread the needles, and I didn't thread them through the tension discs properly, so that seam was wonky, but I was able to undo it and re-thread it (with the help of my handy dandy instruction manual), and whaddya know, it was PERFECT.
For Week 2, I didn't actually complete a handmade garment. Does that mean my handmade wardrobe didn't increase in size? No, no it does not. I met a friend through a Facebook knitting group several years ago; one of those "where is everyone located?" threads that pops up every week or so, because there's a few thousand people in the group so someone always thinks it's a new idea. ANYWAY. She posted that she was in a particular county in England, and I said, Hey, ME TOO. Then she said she lived between X town and Y town, and I said, NO SHIT, ME TOO. Then I private messaged her and said I lived in MyTown and she said Awesome, I live in OtherTown like 10 minutes away, so we got together for coffee and I have been bugging her to make me socks ever since. Totally 100% as a joke. Well, 90% as a joke. OKAY FINE LIKE 50% a joke. Anyway, she actually did make me a pair of fantastic socks as a Christmas present, AND she gave me three pairs of socks she had knit for herself but have since shrunk in the wash, since my feet are ever so slightly two sizes smaller than hers.
Kiddo The First is in the process of developing her own sense of style, and has bemoaned the fact that she can't find clothes she likes, in her size, that Hubs and I will actually let her wear, in stores. She was complaining to me about this very fact after failing to find anything she wanted to buy at the thrift shop...and I looked at her, and said, Kiddo...look at your feet, what are you wearing? "Socks you made..." What shirt did you wear yesterday? "That blue one you made for me..." What is your sister wearing? "Leggings you made for her..." Soooo, Honeybun, if you can't find what you like in a store, what should your next step be? "I dunno..." How about tell me what it is you're looking for, and I'll make it for you? Or I'll teach you how to make it yourself. "OH!" Sheesh. I spend about 90% of my free time making stuff, and it still doesn't occur to her that I am willing and able to make clothes for her. To her taste.
On Tuesday, she has a mufti day (non-uniform day for all my American fans. No, I don't know what mufti means, no, no one else does either. It's a made up word.) Her house earned the most house points last term (She's a Hufflepuff!), so she's allowed to wear non-uniform clothes, but it has to be in the house color - purple. I informed her she has 2 purple shirts she could wear, and if she wants a NEW shirt, I am willing to make her one, but not buy her one. I have some fabric I bought on clearance several months ago - it's a really soft sweater knit, in this horrible beige color. Like, picture the blandest, ugliest beige - it's that color. Enter Dylon dyes! We're going to attempt to dye it purple after I've sewn up a shirt out of it. She wants a turtleneck shirt with short sleeves. I was going to adapt a cowl neck pattern, but then I realized I have Neenah in my pattern library, and it's way easier to shorten a dress into a top than it is to rework a cowl neck into a turtleneck, and I'm all about being easy and lazy. So I'll get that sewn up tomorrow. We're going to attempt Shibori dying - I keep saying "attempt" with regards to the dyeing, because I have no idea what the fiber content of the fabric is, so I have no idea if it will dye or not. It's gonna be an adventure!!
I mean, I DID cast it on, and I even got the cuff knitted. But Hubs gave me an overlocker for Christmas, and for some reason I got it in my head that I needed to make him a pair of boxers. I bought fabric like a year ago, with the intention of using it for boxers for him. It's got piranhas. PIRANHAS. Every guy needs a pair of piranha boxers.
So. Voila. Piranha boxers.
I used the free pattern, Darcy Boxer Shorts, from Measure Twice Cut Once. Pretty straight forward pattern. I had some confusion over how to install the fly, but I figured it was one of those "sit down, shut up, do as you're told" moments, so I sat down, shut up, and just DID the thing, figuring it would make sense once it was done. It did.
Anyway, I mentioned that Hubs gave me an overlocker for Christmas. He gave me the Brother 1034d. I had started to make a pair of Scrundies for Kiddo The Second as a way to try it out, but it messed up on the waistband, so I hadn't touched it in a few days. (I say it messed up, we all know it was probably actually me that messed up. But I'm still gonna blame it on the machine.) I sewed the boxers almost completely on the overlocker, and it WORKED. Like magic.
There was one seam where the threads in the needles broke, so I had to re-thread the needles, and I didn't thread them through the tension discs properly, so that seam was wonky, but I was able to undo it and re-thread it (with the help of my handy dandy instruction manual), and whaddya know, it was PERFECT.
For Week 2, I didn't actually complete a handmade garment. Does that mean my handmade wardrobe didn't increase in size? No, no it does not. I met a friend through a Facebook knitting group several years ago; one of those "where is everyone located?" threads that pops up every week or so, because there's a few thousand people in the group so someone always thinks it's a new idea. ANYWAY. She posted that she was in a particular county in England, and I said, Hey, ME TOO. Then she said she lived between X town and Y town, and I said, NO SHIT, ME TOO. Then I private messaged her and said I lived in MyTown and she said Awesome, I live in OtherTown like 10 minutes away, so we got together for coffee and I have been bugging her to make me socks ever since. Totally 100% as a joke. Well, 90% as a joke. OKAY FINE LIKE 50% a joke. Anyway, she actually did make me a pair of fantastic socks as a Christmas present, AND she gave me three pairs of socks she had knit for herself but have since shrunk in the wash, since my feet are ever so slightly two sizes smaller than hers.
(There will be photos, I am experiencing technical difficulties.)
Kiddo The First is in the process of developing her own sense of style, and has bemoaned the fact that she can't find clothes she likes, in her size, that Hubs and I will actually let her wear, in stores. She was complaining to me about this very fact after failing to find anything she wanted to buy at the thrift shop...and I looked at her, and said, Kiddo...look at your feet, what are you wearing? "Socks you made..." What shirt did you wear yesterday? "That blue one you made for me..." What is your sister wearing? "Leggings you made for her..." Soooo, Honeybun, if you can't find what you like in a store, what should your next step be? "I dunno..." How about tell me what it is you're looking for, and I'll make it for you? Or I'll teach you how to make it yourself. "OH!" Sheesh. I spend about 90% of my free time making stuff, and it still doesn't occur to her that I am willing and able to make clothes for her. To her taste.
On Tuesday, she has a mufti day (non-uniform day for all my American fans. No, I don't know what mufti means, no, no one else does either. It's a made up word.) Her house earned the most house points last term (She's a Hufflepuff!), so she's allowed to wear non-uniform clothes, but it has to be in the house color - purple. I informed her she has 2 purple shirts she could wear, and if she wants a NEW shirt, I am willing to make her one, but not buy her one. I have some fabric I bought on clearance several months ago - it's a really soft sweater knit, in this horrible beige color. Like, picture the blandest, ugliest beige - it's that color. Enter Dylon dyes! We're going to attempt to dye it purple after I've sewn up a shirt out of it. She wants a turtleneck shirt with short sleeves. I was going to adapt a cowl neck pattern, but then I realized I have Neenah in my pattern library, and it's way easier to shorten a dress into a top than it is to rework a cowl neck into a turtleneck, and I'm all about being easy and lazy. So I'll get that sewn up tomorrow. We're going to attempt Shibori dying - I keep saying "attempt" with regards to the dyeing, because I have no idea what the fiber content of the fabric is, so I have no idea if it will dye or not. It's gonna be an adventure!!
Tuesday, 3 January 2017
Getting started!
My resolution for 2017 is to have a 100% handmade wardrobe by January 1, 2018, by creating one wearable garment per week. I have the skills; I can knit, sew, crochet, spin, and weave. I also have the tools, in the form of (multiple) sewing machines, a spinning wheel, knitting needles, and a loom.
There are a ton of reasons to do it. When you buy cheap clothes, you GET cheap clothes. You wind up with shirts that have holes in the seams, or stretch out, or discolor, or just plain don't fit you properly, and of course there's the whole ethical issue of cheap clothes being made in sweat shops using child labor.
Really, though, I've set myself this challenge primarily because I want to. I enjoy crafting, and this will give me a direction and purpose for my hobby. Hopefully, it will mean fewer impulse buys of clothing, fabric, and fiber; I'll be more mindful of how I spend my money, and I'll be able to give myself permission to buy slightly higher quality (read: more expensive) fabrics and yarns that I wouldn't normally buy.
So, I'm going to create a capsule wardrobe. I'm a stay at home mom, and my general uniform consists of jeans and a t-shirt. Making a capsule wardrobe will let me improve how I dress, and let me explore my personal style - something I haven't done since I was a 90 pound teenager.
There's the obvious, socks, bras, and underwear. I can already knit socks, and I've made myself a few pairs of scrundies, but I'll confess to being really intimidated by the thought of making my own bras.
Then, I'd like to make a few pairs of jeans that fit my shape. I'm somewhat overweight, and carry a lot of my weight in my belly (Thanks for that, Mom!). Store bought jeans that fit me through the hip and waist tend to be baggy in the thigh. I'm also rather short, so having jeans that are the right length would be awesome. I should probably also make a pair of dressier trousers, and a skirt or two.
For tops, I'd like a variety of long-sleeved t-shirts, maybe a button up blouse or two, and a couple of cardigans that I can mix and match. I'll also likely knit a sweater or two. I've got a subscription to Seamwork Magazine, and I love the simple, classic shapes of their patterns.
I'll also make myself some pajamas, and probably around September, I'll be brave and make myself a really nice wool coat.
So far, I have a sweater on the needles (http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/heavenly-2), and one sock from a pair finished. (http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/penispoopcakewaffle-sock) I'll work on getting the 2nd sock finished by January 7, so that pair of socks will be 1 of 52 wearable items.
There are a ton of reasons to do it. When you buy cheap clothes, you GET cheap clothes. You wind up with shirts that have holes in the seams, or stretch out, or discolor, or just plain don't fit you properly, and of course there's the whole ethical issue of cheap clothes being made in sweat shops using child labor.
Really, though, I've set myself this challenge primarily because I want to. I enjoy crafting, and this will give me a direction and purpose for my hobby. Hopefully, it will mean fewer impulse buys of clothing, fabric, and fiber; I'll be more mindful of how I spend my money, and I'll be able to give myself permission to buy slightly higher quality (read: more expensive) fabrics and yarns that I wouldn't normally buy.
So, I'm going to create a capsule wardrobe. I'm a stay at home mom, and my general uniform consists of jeans and a t-shirt. Making a capsule wardrobe will let me improve how I dress, and let me explore my personal style - something I haven't done since I was a 90 pound teenager.
There's the obvious, socks, bras, and underwear. I can already knit socks, and I've made myself a few pairs of scrundies, but I'll confess to being really intimidated by the thought of making my own bras.
Then, I'd like to make a few pairs of jeans that fit my shape. I'm somewhat overweight, and carry a lot of my weight in my belly (Thanks for that, Mom!). Store bought jeans that fit me through the hip and waist tend to be baggy in the thigh. I'm also rather short, so having jeans that are the right length would be awesome. I should probably also make a pair of dressier trousers, and a skirt or two.
For tops, I'd like a variety of long-sleeved t-shirts, maybe a button up blouse or two, and a couple of cardigans that I can mix and match. I'll also likely knit a sweater or two. I've got a subscription to Seamwork Magazine, and I love the simple, classic shapes of their patterns.
I'll also make myself some pajamas, and probably around September, I'll be brave and make myself a really nice wool coat.
So far, I have a sweater on the needles (http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/heavenly-2), and one sock from a pair finished. (http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/penispoopcakewaffle-sock) I'll work on getting the 2nd sock finished by January 7, so that pair of socks will be 1 of 52 wearable items.
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