Tag: Self-drafted

Plaid Skort

Sometimes you see something that just inspires you to recreate it for yourself. This is the result.

I’ve been pining over a few pins I found on Pinterest of miniskorts (this is my board). Short shorts with a flap over the front to look like a skirt. So last weekend, I figured I’d finally get started. Got out my regular pants pattern, added some flare to the side seam and set to work. The plan was to have mine based on this pin, with a pocket on one side in a sort of welt type situation. After a bit of fiddling, it turns out that I added too much flare, so I took some out again. I had to take out the waistband and try again because it was too big, but apart from that it was mostly plain sailing.

Plaid skort

In the end, I’m still deciding whether I want to add any buttons. Right now I’m ok without them, but I haven’t cycled yet so I don’t know. Perhaps the flap flies up when going at speed and then I might want to get some buttons. It did turn out a little longer than my inspiration pictures, but I guess that’s ok. I’m probably not really one for short shorts anyway.

Cat Dungaree Dress

After finishing the blue plaid shirt, I set off to use the brown fabric bought in the same haul for some harem dungarees. So I set up to draft a set of dungarees based on pins like this, this and this. I sewed it all up and… I looked like a Teletubby.

It was very bad. So I cut off the bottom and decided it was going to be a dungaree dress. It’s still got the details from the harem jumpsuit from pinterest, with a large pocket on the front and a strap across the top. The pockets in the sides were drafted before construction. The shoulder straps, front strap and sides all close with snaps.

After effectively finishing the dress, I wanted to add a little more. So I decided to also add some pockets to the back. I got the pattern from the internet somewhere (cannot remember where) and embroidered some cats on the back, heavily inspired by this pin.

So now I have a cat dungaree dress that I’ve been living in for several weekends. I say it is a success!

Plaid Jumpsuit

So, in preparation for the Plaid Jacket, I browsed the internet to try and figure out if the sleeves came in full length in the pattern (they did not). During the search, I stumbled on this page from YoSaMi and I fell head over heels. Specifically with the tartan jumpsuit that she made from the top of the dress of Simplicity 1325 and the pants that come with the original pattern. Now, I did not have the pants pattern, but I did have the pattern for the dress. For the pants I used the pieces of the Swordfish Pants that were elongated to waist height.

The fabric was some plaid stuff with silver threads. The pattern was nicely small scale which meant matching it was not too difficult. I lined it with some white stuff with small flower things. This was probably not the best choice as it does show in some areas. However, I really like the way it turned out. I started with sewing the pants, including pockets but ignored the darts in the back as those needed to line up with the top. After sewing the top and attaching them together most of the way, I sewed in the darts in the back of the pants and added the zipper. As an afterthought, I added the loops to the back pockets and buttons to match the pull I attached to the zipper to get it off easier.

I wore it yesterday to a birthday and I really like it. I feel it is actually quite flattering (don’t tell me if it isn’t) and it’s quite comfortable. The only issue is that I’m still trying to figure out how to wear it. Decisions on what shirt to wear underneath and stuff like that. However, I don’t think that will stop me from choosing it as I really like it. We’ll see how it holds up to a full day of going to the toilet and getting it on and off in confined spaces…

Pants: Red, Short, Striped

So, as it was extremely hot this summer, I wanted to have some more pairs of shorts. I’ve also been obsessing over a paper bag effect waist for a while now, so I figured I’d combine the two. Especially after starting my search on pinterest and finding some nice inspiration (here). I had a piece of fabric in the hoard that came from a colleague of mine. There wasn’t a lot, but it was red striped and the stripes were on grain, so I started creating my pattern and sewing up the project at the end of July.

I don’t exactly remember why, but I decided to eliminate the side seam. So I put the back & front of the red pants pattern onto paper and traced, also adding at least 5 cm? to the top to allow the creation of the paper bag waist. I also created some pockets that would be integrated belt loops. Then I stitched some thin white cotton to the top to allow for the creation of the elastic channel on the back and to finish the waist nicely. Some more sewing and belt loops later and I had a pair of shorts!

I’ve worn them a few times this summer, and eventually decided that they really needed back pockets too, so I cut out some and put them on last weekend, during a spree of small fixes, which also included adding elastic to the red pants waist to make them stay up slightly better.

They will probably not be pants I’ll wear very often, since the weather usually isn’t as scorching as it was. However, it’s still nice to have some variation to choose from. I think the finished result is quite fun, so yay for this project!

Grey Scale Sweater

This project got started with the yarn. I saw three shades of grey that I thought would complement each other, so I bought them. In my library of Ravelry, I found a sweater that I liked the look of, the EazySqueezy Sweater. Well, I liked the interpretation of the lady in pink, not the original which was a type of ribbing all the way through. So I decided to attempt to copy her version.

Took a bit of trial and error but eventually settled on 22 stitches and a 1×1 ribbing. Knit to the armhole divide while increasing two stitches every 11 rows. I may have overestimated the length of my arms (or I thought I was a monkey, also possible), the sleeves are very long. However, this is fine as they can be rolled up and now have space to shrink. I may also decide to remove some length if it bothers me too much. Divided for armhole, then divided for the neck hole, all sort of trail and error. Made the front of the neck hole deeper than the back and kept on knitting the top. It took about 2.5 ball of the darkest grey. Then I picked up and knit the medium-grey along the chest hole. I quickly decided to take it in by 10 stitches or so because it was quite wide and continued decreasing for some shaping. Once the one ball of medium grey had been knit, I switched to the light grey. Then increasing again for more shaping and I ended with a high-low ish back, which also helps in identifying the front vs. the back.

I still need to wear it out for a full day, also to test the monkey arms. But I like the colours and the fact that I finally finished a pattern that had been in my library for years now. I also picked up another knit project that had been cornered for a bit again, in hopes that I can continue without straining my wrists/arms too much. Knitting with thicker yarn is easier for some reason.

Knit Bag

It was Mother’s Day yesterday, for the occasion I made a bag for my mum, I am not in any way shape or form expecting her to actually use it. It was a proof of concept experiment.

My mother has indicated in the past that she has an interest in getting a bag that can be converted from a normal carry bag to a backpack. So I googled, visited internet shopping sites and pinterested for a while and found some interesting things (my board). I tried to make one from fabric but got distracted and it’s still in the corner of shame at the moment. However, after I’d finished another knit project, a grey-shades sweater, I wanted to start something else. I still had some very thick yarn in the hoard that I would not know how to use, so I decided, quick stitches = quick project and cast on 22 stitches on size 7 mm needles for the bottom (the yarn indicated 9-10 mm needles).

Knit the bottom in garter and when it was square, (and my green yarn was finished, no more than 50 cm left) picked up stitches on all sides. Those were put onto 10 mm needles and the stitch count was quickly decreased to 16 on all sides. Worked my way up, eventually decreasing two stitches on the two sides to create a pyramid shape. Switched over to the blue yarn when the green/white ran out.

 

 

A zipper was sewn in the top to close the bag and two handles were knitted on. The handles allow one to carry the bag like a shopping bag. Lastly, a long zipper was sewn on as the (backpack)strap. If the zip is closed, you can use it as a messenger bag, if it is open, it is a backpack. Imagine the chair below is a person to visualise the system. The zip is attached at the opposite side of the back, which means that it automatically closes when carried.

So I gave it to my mother yesterday and she thinks it is quite fun in theory, and in practice it may turn out that the holes from the knitting are too large. We will see!

Tighten the Tape

The plan to make a well fitting corset has been there for a long time. Collecting different items has been going on for a long time, buying a busk here, some closures there, a box of grommets etc. However, to get the whole thing together, I also needed a lot more things.. Of to the shops & the internet for:

  • Spring steel boning
  • Spiral steel boning
  • Boning end caps
  • Bolt cutter
  • Large ruler
  • More grommets

And probably more, but I may have forgotten the other things. I wanted to draft the thing, so again, on the internet I went. Two tutorials from Katafalk were in the final product: the pattern and the sewing method. It involved a lot of measuring, a lot of line drawing and quite some cutting out. However, I think it worked in the end.

Since I didn’t know whether it would actually fit, I first made a sort of muslin from an old tablecloth. I cut out the pieces and sewed them together. Then I pinned in the boning channels (I don’t know why I didn’t sew them) and added plastic ties. I also used the Bridges on the Body tutorial for lacing strips, so I could try it out semi properly.

I only pinned in the boning on the left side of the corset (right on the first picture), and the difference is clear, to me at least. I decided it fit and cut my pattern out in a green stiff fabric. I cut two layers of that and sewed the thing together. Most of the bones were flat steel, only the ones next to the side were spiral steel. I finished it with black bias tape and black ribbon.

The grommets were the hardest. I had to hit them very hard with the hammer, and I don’t think my neighbours liked me very much at 23:30… The grommets are spaced about 2 cm apart. It’s also quite hard to evenly lace something by yourself, so I was quite happy to get as far as I got. I think it may be a little to long as I need to sit up quite differently from normal, but it does seem to fit.

I’ve also drafted an overbust using a different method, but I need to figure out how to get the bust to actually fit, because it is a little spiky now, bullet bra like. However, so many more projects to start and finish, so I don’t know when I will get to it.

Baby Phoenix

For another friend I made a mini phoenix. He wanted a phoenix at some point, so I started collecting phoenix pictures on a pinterest board. I don’t think this was the thing he was expecting, but that’s fine, right? This bird was inspired by this baby Articuno by Ganjamira.

Anyway, I knit the start of a monster chunk  by Rebecca Danger (free pattern here) without the feet from a yellow fuzzy yarn. Before finishing the top of the chunk, I stuck feathers up its bottom and sewed them down. Then I added some feet made from red pipe cleaners. I cut some wings from orange felt and coloured the edges with a red fabric pen. Then I made a fimo head based on that Articuno.

To make the head, I used a toy eye on which I built the head, and then I stuck two toy eyes in for well, eyes.. I baked it in the oven, which may have glazed over its actual eyes a little. It was then attached to the bird. The bird was then stuffed and the hole closed. I quite like this critter. Look at his face! I’m not sure if it is fully in proportion, but at least it was nice to make.

Graduation – Again

Friday it was time for the last lot of students to graduate again. This clearly called for a new dress! I’d started quite early by asking a friend of mine what fabric (see the options below) and what pattern to use in November. The pattern that was picked was honigdesign Garden Dress. As for fabrics, unfortunately, I was a fool and added a fabric that I didn’t want to use. Of course that was the one he picked. I overruled and decided to choose the green on the left.

january-1-fabrics

So I started on the dress, taking really good care to match the stripes within the fabric. Both vertical and horizontal stripe matching can be found in places. I also chose to use it in a different direction as I wanted as little emphasis on the pink stripes as possible. The fabric was originally a gift from a co-worker, and part of the same lot was some mustard coloured fabric. The mustard coordinated beautifully with the mustard stripes in the fabric, score!

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After cutting out the bodice, I wasn’t left with a whole lot of fabric. The project was cornered until I could figure out a solution. I plaid around with some fabric from an old table cloth to see what I could do. In the end I settled on making a high low dress top with an attached skirt underneath. The plan was to make it look sort of like a riding jacket. For the skirt, I used fabric from my old winter coat – winter graduation and all. I also added the short sleeves because I was afraid of fabric shortage.

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There were only a few changes to the bodice pattern. I added an additional cm of length at the waist and rotated the shoulder seam so that it was almost horizontal across. I only did that after finishing the front slit in the bodice, so that was raised by a lot too in the process. This did (in my opinion) improve the fit tremendously. The skirts were completely self drafted and I added some invisible pockets to store my phone and other stuff.

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The hems of the green dress, the blue skirt and the sleeves were hand sewn with yellow topstitching thread. I like that element as it brings it all together and gives a nod to the lining. The dress is quite tight fitting at the top, but it feels really nice when it is on. I managed to survive graduation and the dress did too! Mission accomplished.

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And below some details of the hand stitched hem and the (dare I say so) quite decent plaid matching!

matching hems