Trapunto revisited

The second two photos show the as yet "unstuffed" length of the knotwork. I drew the design on Warm and Natural batting, then sitched the unders and overs in a straight stitch through all the layers, backtacking at each stop. To make the section leading onto the fabric (as opposed to the edge) I used a stitch on my Janome that is straight on one side and a multi width zig zag on the other. I had hoped that the stitching would give enough dimension, but decided to add yarn to create more. I trimmed the rest of the batting away close to the zig zag stitching.
For the trapunto, I opened up the start of each line with a seam ripper and pulled acrylic yarn through to the end of that line. I read somewhere that acrylic is better than wool or cotton. It doesn't pack down like wool and lose dimension, nor is it hard and high to sew through like cotton. I used two strand of a worsted weight.
The result has a few puckers from the amount of shape of the design, but this is such a soft wool I hope to be able to press them out to some degree.
I am making the same style coat in another fabric first and then will get to this one. Practicality won out and I am making the warm one first.

Christmas presents

Using different binding/edging finishes on Simplicity 3802 aprons!

If you look closely you can tell by the chocolate stain that the Christmas tree apron has been worn already. The black print has tiny neon kitty heads on it. I am saving the kitty one for a Christmas present.

Also made: bathrobe, mock t-neck, fleece pullover.

Robe from Kwiksew 3509, top pattern taken from RTW.

To finish: scarf, head wrap and apron for Mum, purse for Mum, apron for DB apron for DSIL, lots of jammies.

Hats Off for Charity!

There is a local charity that helps out women who live on the streets. It provides them with an occasional meal, a bed to sleep on during the day if needed and clothing. Many street women have a mental illness and really need all the help available.

I have been making hats and scarves to donate to them. Our local chain fabric store used to have a stamp card programme that gave you a gift certificate after you had spent a certain amount of money. I used the stamps to purchase polar fleece fabric and made some basic pillbox style hats with an additional band for warmth. The clips on the three lower ones denote a smaller size. I will need to get some stickers on there.

I also knit a few basic beanie style hats in Paton's Soy Wool Stripe yarn.

This is a hat in boiled wool leftover from a jacket last year and trimmed in faux fur as well as a few velvet and faux fur scarves using B4882. I was at an open house at the weekend to sell some products in order to donate the $, so I made a few other styles also. These are what is leftover and they will also go to the charity.

The hats are a modified version of M3400

Finished Trapunto

I joined the Great Coat Sewalong earlier in the year and am no where near completion on my coat. I have changed my mind about what to do so many times. I finally decided to use some soft black wool twill from stash and put a celtic knotwork design down the centre in trapunto. Well, I have the trapunto stitched with batting and stuffed with acrylic yarn for some more depth.

Now to cut out the coat! It is a OOP Vogue pattern # 2449. I plan to do a long single breasted version, with a bit of flair in the skirt. Fortunately it is a timeless style and will still be wearable in years to come. However it won't match the scarf I knit in the summer.

Getting back to real life

Well, the mad rush is over. Now I can slowly try to get back to real life. It usually takes a week or so. Many businesses are busy over the Christmas season, but it is always slow for us then. The rush is October/November and I just cannot afford to turn away orders. So I nearly kill myself with busy and alienate all my family and friends. Not pretty, but it is my life.

I really need to clean up the sewing studio before I attempt any major project, but I really feel like doing something for me. Maybe a hat or a cardigan. Nothing that requires the entire table to cut out. I don't have the energy to clean it off yet.

I did do some wash swatches of my teal knit. I have three yards, so plenty to do the jacket, but I am afraid I will make it and not like the style. If I wash all but the ruffle I won't have enough to do both. With three yards I could get two collarless jackets out. Indecision is the reason nothing gets done around here.

Jacket thoughts

photo from Neimen Marcus

There is a discussion on Artisan's Square regarding this Armani jacket with a flounce.

Mardel shows it at great length in her flickr photos. It looks gorgeous and feminine without being too much. I am not really a ruffle person, but I like this jacket.
With the Armani jacket in mind, I recently purchased this pattern.

Erica Bunker has made (twice, I think) and loves it. I think you must to make it twice.

I have a few aspects to consider before I get to it.

I have a teal wool knit and a heavy silk charmeuse that is not too shiny and matches it perfectly so I was thinking of fulling the knit to use for the body and possibly the silk for the flounce. I had initially thought of using the knit for both, but am not sure how I would finish the edge of the flounce. I would use a single layer for it and don't mind that the reverse shows. I could then bind the edge in the silk or serge it in matchign sewing thread or work a blanket stitch on it.

Anyone have any thoughts?

The Armani example has a shawl collar under the flounce that gves it a bit of body and I like that.

In the Vogue pattern the flounce becomes a band around the back without any fullness. I like that, since I have fullness of my own there that I don't want to emphasize. If I do the flounce in silk, would I continue the silk around to the back band also, maintaining the flow of the design and crealing a horizontal band across my bum, or use the wool and possible diminish the interity of the design?

I guess I have lots to think about as I finish up my last few orders.

November 11- Lest we Forget

I can't read this without crying.

In Flanders Fields

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved, and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.
— Lt.-Col. John McCrae

SWAP Fabrics

Above is a silk tweed from www.emmaonesock.com shown with a selection of neutral bottom weights and a raincoat fabric. The bottom weights are a charcoal denim with a coppery reverse, a war greay pinstripe fabric, a darkwash denim and a dark wool with a slight plaid meanswear type.
I could go bright with a silk tweed jacket, or neutral and practical with the rainwear. I am actually thinking of a raincoat with a zip out liner that would carry me from Fall through to Spring.

Busy

Gosh- I have been busy at work. I am again starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel and am thinking about sewing for me again. Well, that includes the kids and extended family as well.
I have been planning Christmas presents this year. I am trying not to buy too much.

As for recent sewing for myself, I reworked the tapestry jacket below. I shortened it, removed the ribbon trim and added some darts. The fabric was really nice to work with. I didn't think it would press or take darts so well. I finished the teal trosers as well and wore them with a teal top made from leftover fabric from last year's SWAP. If I look frantic in the pictures it is because I kept shutting my eyes in previous photos. My DH was making me laugh and I was trying to keep my eyes open.

I hadn't planned to make it so long and forgot until I had it cut that I have bought extra fabric to make myself a purse from it. I am not sure if there is enough left now.

Cheeky Monkeys

Ava

Otto

I made these a while ago but just took photos. They are made from a wovern back synthetic fur from FabricMart.com with wool felt. I used a pattern called "Bubbles" but I cannot find it to list the company.
Ava, in the first picture, needs ears yet. I think she is cuter than Otto who was the first attempt. My son prefers Otto, but maybe because Otto is for him and is complete.
They were both pretty homely until I did the sculpting stitches. I had forgotten what a difference that makes. The eyes in Ava were from www.laboursoflove.com in British Columbia. It might be hard to tell, but they have a dark line around the outside and a larger iris that makes them look cuter. The backing is also shaped to indent them. It is hard to sculpt this kind of eye to sink it in, so this really helps in the face shaping.
I named them. I always used to say that I wanted to have four kids and because of my dyslexia I wanted to name them Hannah, Ava, Otto and Bob so I could spell their names right even if I wrote them backwards. My son named his monkey from Build a Bear "Bob" and it seemed to make sense to carry on in the tradition. Guess what the next one will be called?

Embroiderer's Guild

I joined the evening group of the Canadian Embroiderer's Guild in my city again. I haven't been a member for a few years. It was too hard with working full time and being pregnant or with a little baby. I ended up missing so many meetings that I just gave up.
Well I made it to the first meeting, then had to work during the second. I showed up last week, but it was the wrong night. However, they hold a first Tuesday meetup at the church, so I was able to catch up with Maria (one teacher of the course I had missed) and get an update and some paper work.
Last night was the election, then after supper Maisie had a meltdown. Finally I got her dad to take her upstairs and I snuck out. I couldn't get my Guild bag, but I knew I had some crocheting in my purse. Everyone was so nice about it. Grace (the other teacher) let me use her example hoop and fabric to practise some stitches on and then someone else whom I had never met gave me some of her fabric, needles and thread to work with.
I didn't get any crotcheting done, but the camaraderie was great.

Thanksgiving, family and some jackets

I took the kids to my mother's/brother's for Thanksgiving this year. My husband could not come, so we took the train. The kids seemed to enjoy it, but it wasn't as exciting as I thought it would be. When someone asked Maisie if she had taken the train, she replied "Not yet."
I finished a jacket for myself before we left, but the weather was very warm and I did not end up bringing it with me. I had enough to cart onto the train, what with needing to bring the car seat and all. Fortunately my sister in law picked uu up about halfway home so we didn't need to wait for 1 1/2 hours at the station for our connection. It was late afternoon and Maisie really needed a nap by that point.

Back to sewing- here is the jacket. I was trying to emulate the style of this image from Vogue patterns. I don't like a raglan sleeve on my sloping shoulders though. I drafted either the neckline too small or the collar too big, so I have turned it down and basted it like that. I want to get a feel for it before I alter it. The fabric is a tapestry from Emma One Sock and ravels like crazy, so changing it will be a nightmare.

I am disapponted, as I usually am when I cut in a hurry, that I cut a long jacket and full length sleeves. I wanted to have of the fabric to make a purse from and now there is not enough. The jacket looked very "patterny" so I sewed on the grosgrain ribbon down the centre fronts to break it up a bit. I will look for a velvet ribbon to replace it. I think the busy-ness of the fabric calls for a trim with more depth than the grosgrain gives.

I tried it on for my family and overheard my husband and son whispering together and giggling. The only thing I could make out was " Why did she make a jacket out of a rug?". Nice guys, eh?

I am also posting one of the white cardigans I made in the summer as well as a teal WIP.

Fabrics for me!

The fabric I have been waiting for fabric finally arrived! It coordinates beautifully with these two pieces, which I already had, so a skirt from the wool/rayon in the top photo, a jacket from the silk tweed below and a blouse from the new fabric are in the works. Also planned are a jacket and trousers in a cotton teal that coordinates with teal shown here. I will use the same jacket pattern for both the teal and the silk.

Sewing for me! I am so excited!

Princess Blackie

Two dancers got bored while waiting for me to finish their dress. Blackie never comes into the sewing room unless there are girls there for a fitting. The younger sister in this family LOVES Blackie and the girls decided to try a tiara on her.

Waiting for Fabric

I placed an order in August for some fabric from a place in the US. It has never arrived. The purveyor of the store (Unnamed and with no criticism of them on my part) has been wonderful and twice has offered to re-ship the fabric. Friday is our agreed on deadline, but finally today came a knock on the door, suggesting to my delighted self that the package was here!
Imagine my dismay when it was the Canpar man, picking up a return for a shop in Toronto. Not my sueded charmeuse in peacock at all!
Not only that, the TO store did not let me know they were finally acting. Thankfully that roll of unfusible fusible interfacing was wrapped and ready to go. Actually it had been waiting in my foyer for over a year. Thank goodness I am not much of a housekeeper.

On a happier note, my Maisie wore a dress again today. This is the third day in a row and might even lead to new shoes on her part. Yay, the girl wants to look like a girl! I swore I would not be that kind of Mum, but it turns out I am. I thought I would be resigned to sparkly and swirly and put up with it, but instead I rejoice in it. I wasn't particularly encouraged in this respect as a child, so tutus and tea sets and swirly skirts are just fine with me!