Crafty Thursday

I've been working on Kieran's Twisted Tree sweater, using some lovely bamboo needles.  I like the way it's looking so far.  I'm knitting a little tighter than the gauge calls for, so I'll just follow the length for the next size up and it should work out, according to my calculations.  I'll double-check when I get to the armholes, just to make sure.  I often have to make things longer for Kieran anyway, so it would be good to check at that point before I have to do any shaping.  I do love knitting all in one piece, too.  Hooray for not having to sew up side seams!

Crafty Thursday

Sorry I've been slacking on posting this the past couple of weeks.  I've not done a whole lot in the craft-department, in part because my wrist has been bothering me a little and I've been forgetting to wrap it.  I did make Charlotte's bloomers out of the sleeves of that shirt, though.

Crafty Thursday

There's nothing much to report on my sweater.  Still plugging along on it.  I keep forgetting to look up the pattern for the other sleeve for Charlotte's dress, and I haven't gotten around to starting Kieran's sweater yet.

I have, however, done a fair amount of sewing the past few days.  I'd found a tutorial for turning an adult's button-down shirt into a toddler's dress, so I wanted to turn one of my old button-down shirts into a dress for Charlotte.  Following that link, I also found a tutorial for making some bloomers from the sleeves, so I'm going to try that, too.  I need to get some more thread, though.  I think the dress turned out well.  I had the white material already, as it had been given to me at the same time as the sewing machine.  I'd just never found a use for it before now.

these will be bloomers

dress front

sleeves

dress 

modelling the dress

I also had an Oertel moment (those who went to uni with me will understand this reference).  I'd noticed a pile of clothes that had been outside for at least a day, so I scavenged.  I found a couple of button-down shirts in there, and one was suitable to turn into a dress for Charlotte.  I'm going to try cutting the other one down for Kieran, as he's outgrowing some of his other button-down shirts.  We'll see if it works.  Here's the dress, though.  It hadn't been hemmed yet in the photo.

Crafty Thursday

I might have to permanently change the name of this series if I'm going to keep using the sewing machine.  I finished another skirt from another pair of jeans I didn't wear any more.  I chose to use the zigzag stitch over the seams instead of folding the seams and sewing on the wrong side.  OK, actually I forgot to do that and then did the zigzag stitch to make it look like it was supposed to be that way.  Hey, it works.  I've not actually sewn anything in a while, so I'm remembering.  I've found myself wishing my mother were here a lot, though, while I've been doing this.  She also has an Elna machine, and while mine is a different model, it's quite similar (mine's the Elna Lotus SP).

I also finished the skirt that I showed last week.

   

I also finished the sleeve on Charlotte's dress.  I just need to do the other sleeve, and then I'm going to lengthen the dress itself.  Unfortunately Charlotte wouldn't stay still for the photo.  I think she was disturbed that I hadn't cut the thread yet.

Of course I've also been working on my sweater.  I'm about through with the first repeat of the pattern.  I made sure I chose patterns that had the same number of rows so I could keep track a bit easier.  I did break down and put markers in so I could easily see where each pattern begins and ends.  I really get annoyed with split-ring markers, though.  Ignore the purple thread - that's my lifeline.

Lastly, just this morning I fixed a shirt of mine.  It's actually a maternity shirt that I got when pregnant with Kieran, but I still wear it on occasion since it's comfortable.  However, I found that I often got annoyed with it because I found the front to be too low-cut, so I was always adjusting it and pulling up.  I had a white shirt that was stained and thus didn't get worn, so I took part of it and sewed an insert into the front.  I'm certain it would look better if I'd done it by hand, but I don't know where I put my needle.  It works for now, though.

Crafty Thursday

You'll notice I changed the name today, because I did more than knit.  As far as knitting goes, I finished the ribbing on my sweater and started the "skirt" part.  I'm doing a combo of Inverness diamonds and marriage lines.  I've not done enough to see if I like it, though.  I left in a lifeline at the end of the ribbingg so I can easily rip out to that point if need be.

I also broke out the Elna sewing machine I was given in order to try to turn some old jeans into a skirt. I'm not quite finished yet, and I'm not sure if I like it or not, but thought it was worth a try.  I can always cut them down more to make something for Charlotte if it doesn't work for me.  As my husband said, I'm just living out the principle of Joseph Had a Little Overcoat. ;-)