Refashion – Running T-shirt

(Thank you guys so much for your comments on the last post! It always makes me so happy when my creation is liked by others )

For someone who sews and tries to dress up as much as she can, I own a ridiculous amount of woot T-shirts. Woot shirts really know what they are doing – I just cant resist their shirts when it involves firefly, Arrested Development, cute animals, mario cart, and binary jokes. Recently I decided to not check wootshirt & ignore any wootshirt link from my husband, because I just dont wear Tshirts. They are too casual for my usual outfits and too stuffy for working out.  (On the other hand, they are practically uniform for my husband).

But, I started running again recently, and husband had been bugging me to do this. So I finally got the courage to cut through my precious woot shirts that I never wear! I spent about 10 minutes modding my shirt before I headed out for a run. Now its a lot cooler and I wear them for running. I love it!

Deluxe Silk Dress

After doing knitted project quite a bit, I was ready to do some “real” sewing again. I want to try to use up my stash this year. I wont be so ambitious and promise to not buy any fabric until I’ve busted my stash, since really, I just dont have that kind of self control when I have  a specific project in mind and need fabric (yes *need*). I had this pink silk from fabricmart.com for a few years, bought because its silk and cheap with an interesting texture. I actually never knew what I wanted to do with it. So I searched through my pattern library and found a pattern that I think should be suitable for this fabric (2009-03-101A).

I have to clarify that in real life, the dress is not THAT see through. Hubby used flash and sexed me up a little. However I would not be wearing this to the office without some pants and an under layer But for casual purposes, I am very happy with it.

I had a pretty difficult time with the colar construction, and I accidentally sewed in too much when connecting the front pleat with the collar, resulting in the  skirt front being pulled a little higher than the back. I only realized this issue because I was watching an episode of Great British Sewing Bee (AWESOME SHOW!!) in which the judge pointed out the same issue with a contestant’s dress. Side remark: its such a cool show – made interesting for the beginners yet someone like myself who have sewn for almost 6 years still learned a load of new things! I can rave on and on but really, just go watch it, if you haven’t already!!

Back to my dress. I also spent a LOT of time making the inside look nice. Everything is encased in French seam, or bias tape made from the silk fabric itself. I even bias taped seams you cannot see from the inside, such as the seam below the collar, sandwiched between the back york and facing.

The beeeeautiful inside:

The bottom hem was made from a wide stripe of beautiful silk charmeuse salvaged from a failed project. I was having a hard time discarding the remains of the failed dress – being able to use part of that dress in this design made me feel so much better about letting it go! Also, the weight of the bottom charmeuse is very heavy comparing to the top, so it actually pulls the dress down and make it less likely to be blown up by wind.

The lightness and airy-ness makes it perfect for summer!

Machine Knitted Pocket Cardigan

This picture had been in my pinterest for forever, and I’ve been very eager to make it. So as soon as I feel that I’ve mastered the skill to make up my own pattern on the bond knitting machine, I gave it a go!

My version (doh, i forgot the sunglasses):

I used up a little over 1 ball of the really big sugar& cream  (or maybe it was Lions) cotton yarns. I know that you are not suppose to use cotton for sweater projects, as cotton sweaters are not drapery, and heavier. However, I cant really see myself wearing something wool or polyester during the summer, as it would just be way too hot. I cant bring myself to invest in bamboo/rayon yarn for a pattern I havent tried out either. But the cotton yarn turned out OKAY. I was able to wash it in the washer without it shrinking much. Its comfortable and seems to shape decently against my body after wearing it a few hours. Its just not as drapery as the simply soft polyester yarn I used in all my previous machine knit sweater though.

Here’s the pattern I made up:

    Tension information: 2.5 tension plate, 2 out of 4 rods inserted at all times

back:

1. cast on 82 stitches with WY, knit 6 rows
2. K 100 rows, mark arm holes
3. K 36 more rows
4. put center 30 stitches on waste yarn – this makes the neck band on the back
5. each shoulder will have 26 stitches
6. knitting 6 rows with WY on each shoulder, then take them off the machine

front:

1. cast on 60 with WY, knit 6 rows
2. knit 36 rows, mark pocket,
3. on the next 2 row, bind off 16 stitches  every other, now you have 44 stitches
4. on the next 18 rows, bind off 1 stitches every row, now you have 26 stitches
5. k 44 rows
6. mark arm holes
7. K 36 more rows
8. of course, when you make the other front piece, make sure the binding off is from the opposite side so you have two symmetrical pieces

Front neckband+pocket edging:

1. join one shoulder and join the other shoulder
2. pick up 114 stitches from each front, 16 on the horizontal, 18 on the decreasing, and 80 for the vertical. hand knit the edges

sleeves:

1. bring out 50 stitches, and hook on between the markers
2. knit 100 time

Finishing:

1. sew the underside of sleeves and also sides of the bodice together. Make sure that you sew the edge of pocket into the body side seam.
2. hand knit the bottom, knit the two sides together to form the bottom of the pocket for the two front pieces while doing so
3. I chose to do I-cord finish with 3 stitches, but you can really do anything you want!

Errata:

There are some stuff I wish I did differently. I think the shoulders should really be wider, or rather, the neck band at the back should be shorter. I would probably make the neck band in the back 20 stitches instead of 30 next time, and each shoulder 31 stitches instead of 26. I also think I might have picked up a few too many stitches in the vertical area of the front edging, the front piece curls in a little bit. Also, next time I might make the back longer than the front. This is because I put so much stuff in the pockets that the front piece gets stretched more than the back.

Anyways, I hope someone out here have a machine and want to make this!  I know I will probably be making it again in another yarn and making it looser like the inspiration  Having huge pockets like that is seriously awesome when you got a little one that asks for crackers and snacks all the time.

Lastly, I am so proud of little K. Just 1.5 years old and she can pose like a band member:

Half Hand Made Half Thrifted Dress

I thrift most of K’s dress because its so much cheaper and pre-shrunk too! One day I bought this cute skirt and thought she would look very adorable in it. But when I put it on her, the band snaps onto her tummy and doesnt look too comfortable. Then the front would slide below her big round tummy (she eats a lot) and the skirt would sit much  higher on the back. The ensamble would make me laugh since she looked like a little sheep walking on her hind legs.

So I took the elastic out, made a knit top out of left over fabric from this top, and tada! instant cuteness. There was actually a third layer of skirt ruffle, but I cut it off since she’s so active and a longer skirt often hinders her climbing activities.

She got the same cute patch pocket as my top, and for the edges, I actually took the edges of the fabric (whats that called? sleeves?), cut out some stripes and sewed them onto the neck and sleeve openings. I really like the raw edge it created!

(K: come on cat, you know what I am talking about, right?

S: get away from me with those sticky hands, you!)

(K: yay, negotiation complete!)

Lastly, this top happen to fit her to a T. That was not intended – I wanted it bigger so she can grow into it through summer. kids grow fast, eh?

I know, she’s pretty pro at posing for cameras

Simple Pencil Skirt

Who says shorties cant wear skirts below the knee? Its alllll about proportions. I decided that I want a long pencil skirt. The kind that makes your butt look nice and round. The kind that makes your lower half look long and slim. So once again I tweaked my self drafted skirt pattern and made this pencil skirt in a shimmery green twill fabric. Its a little more dressier than I usually wear for work but I dont care! I loooove it! I think I will be wearing it none stop with my nude pump and flowy blouse for summer.

(yaiks, the hand placement created some folder there. Skirt fits better than it looks here!)

This is one instance when I am really glad I can sew. I doubt I can ever find store bought long-sh pencil skirt that wont just swallow me up, without some major surgery anyways.

The fabric has some scratches and folds when it was shipped to me. I tried ironing it out but it seems permanent. I still like the skirt a lot and maybe I will just try to scratch it up more.

Alright, nothing much to say about the construction really, its possibly the easiest thing I’ve made in the past few years. cheers for those delicious low hanging fruits!

 

Doggie Dress

Remember this dress that I made for her when I was still preggos? I almost didnt make her wear it because I didnt think it would fit. Turned out right now is the perfect time for her to wear it. Shoulder and neck fits pretty decently and armhole is comfortable. I just need to alter the sleeve opening since thats a little tight. She is a LOT taller than I thought she would be, but she actually looks quite adorable in the short, short dress!

Its pretty hard for my husband to get a picture of her in anything now since she moves crazy fast.

(Her favorite thing to do in the morning is to help us unload the dishwasher. i know, we hit the jackpot in this gene pool mixing business.)

Of course, 5 minutes into wearing the dress she proceeded to staining it with some lovely strawberry juice. I am just glad I got some pictures right before it happened!

One Year Gestational Period Sweater

I finished knitting a sweater! I started this sweater last year, before I went back to work, so it basically took an entire year! I learned a lot from knitting this sweater though – how to knit a cardigan top down, how to make waves, how to make button holes. It really shouldnt have taken that long but I only knitted in the car or 1 to 2 rows before sleeping until the last month of it when I was very motivated to finished it before it gets too warm. I’ve been wearing it almost every day since then – it goes very well with cropped pants or an A line skirt!

I used a little over 5 balls of ecocloud wool from Cascade that I found in Green Yarn Planet, so it wasnt the cheapest sweater. But the yard is spun in a pretty special manner such that its all interwoved, so I hope it will last a long time! It is also very very elastic – this sweater can stretch quite a bit if I try, but bounces back right away! Now I see why people say that wool is much easier on your hands than cotton, which is not as stretchy and more tiring for your hands to knit.

I used Levenwick pattern that I found on Ravelry. The instructions were very clear and the only changes I made was to skip a few rows to make the sweater slightly shorter for myself. It still turned out longer than I thought it would though!

Excess fabric in the back means I didnt make the hip wie enough and waist small enough? or is it excess vertical fabric? oh well, its not too much!

The buttons are salvaged from the very first jacket/coat I made back in 2007. I have been better at letting go my past creations that are just learning mistakes now!

I wear it buttoned up, except the first button or the last, depending on my mood

This pattern uses the “wrong” side of stockinette stitch, which means the sweater curls in a little at the ends, despite the i-cord finish. I love the texture of the wrong side, but the curl in is a bit annoying, perhaps it will go away with wear.

I hope you like this sweater as much as I do! I am thrilled to have my first  hand knit sweater that I’ve worn out of the house for more than 10 times!

Cuteness

You’ve already seen this creation but I just have to share again, pictures like this makes it hard for me to insist being a selfish seamstress/knitster…

My friend’s son turned one recently and they took more photos of him in the hat I knitted for him, which made me so happy!

Kids grow up so fast! I cant believe this little cute guy here is 1 year old already!

On another hand, we finally got around to take photos for a sweater I had been working on for more than a year! I am a slow knitter so I am so happy its finally finished. come back next week!

The Bear Coat

Hello! 2013 has truly started off on the right foot. I have finished making a coat, and I’ve worn it almost every single day for the past 3 weeks. Bless the cold weather!

I have donated/gave away a few ill fitting coats/jackets end of last year. Looking at my closet, I realized that I lack a black coat. I also realized that I almost always pick the coats with a hoodie when i get dressed. I have also had this soft, thick 100% wool from hancock in my stash for a whole year or two, with matching bright green polyester sateen that I intended to use with. I havent made a coat this year yet, and the coats/jackets I made last year had not been worn much as they dont quite fit into the style I like this year. Also, Kaylee decided to give mommy a break and had been sleeping through the night! So everything came together rather smoothly. I finished the coat in 10 days (include two weekends during which Kaylee took 3 hour naps each day!).

I used my well trusted Telea pattern @ 91% from Burdastyle. I added a hoodie, changed the front to a black zipper closure, and made the pocket  in a different way so that its easier and cleaner. Well, there’s not much else to say!

My husband called this the Bear Coat because we shoot this coat up in Berkeley. We celebrated his birthday partly by wandering around the old campus where we spent the early part of our past ten years together. I actually usually wear this coat with a sweater, jeggings and boots, so there’s not that much volume at my hips and it fits perfectly. But I wanted to wear something fun. So I am wearing the white dress I made a few years ago, plus a petticoat underneath. Part of me wished that we can have another wedding, western style, so that I can dress like this for the big day! hmm, perhaps we shall celebrate our X year anniversary in style.

I want to show you some more detailed shoots of the coats. I realized that I really love it when my coat is branded with my handle name, so I took the extra time to embroider my name with matching thread and sewing the tag into the neck area of the coat. I also really love how the lining turned out along and how the zipper turned out. I actually was going to use some fireman hooks as additional closure on top of the zipper, but the coat came out so perfect that I didnt want to risk adding too much elements to it.

And here are my favorite photo from this coat photoshoot.

Multiway Grey Sweater

I made my third sweater on my bond sweater machine and its amAAAAAzing! (Sorry, been watching too much Happy Endings. its  a great show for sewing!) I think I finally got the formula down for that slouchy/oversized look that I like so much this season.

This sweater was knitted up on my Bond machine over the course of a few weeks. All the ribbing takes quite a while on the machine (still not as much as hand knitting). I made it so that I can wear it inside out, or outside out I actually prefers the texture of the “wrong” side of the stockton stitch. It looks like a Garter stitch, which Bond machine cannot do. The only thing is that when you piece two pieces together, it is really awkward if you try to sew it with the wrong side together instead of the right side together. So when I wear it on the wrong side, there are two seams running down the side (not shown here). I made it really neat though, so it doesnt look too bad!.

Note sure if you can tell the difference from the photos, this is wrong side out:

The neck part can be pulled down for the off the shoulder look, which make the sweater a little longer to be worn as a dress as well. I call that sexy mode. When I wear this to work, I wear it like a turtle neck like a sweater, which also makes the sleeves shorter and more convenient for cooking at home. I call this slave/mommy mode.  It is truely a versatile piece!

Lastly, this is made from 100% polyester. I just loved the fact that my first sweater had been washed almost every week during the winter and it never gets damaged or dirty. I am going to have to rethink my position as a fabric snob. I love how the sweaters from this yarn is really soft, and it falls close to my body which shows off curves without being tight or obscene. Though it is quite staticy – my hair goes a little wonky with this dress!

If anyone arrives here looking for Bond Machine knitting patterns, I actually recorded down this one diligently! Though, does anyone even have a bond knitting machine out here? It doesnt seem very commonly used at all!

machine knit sweater – grey:

2.5 tension, 2 out of 4 rods inserted
back:

• cast on 82 stitches with WY, knit 6 rows
• K 90 rows, mark arm holes
• K 36 more rows
• put center 40 stitches on waste yarn
• each shoulder will have 21 stitches
• knitting 6 rows with WY on each shoulder, then take them off the machine
• flip it around, with wrong side facing you, hang the hem, knit 10 times then rib it. then bind off

front:

• cast on 82 with WY, knit 6 rows
• knit 90 rows, mark arm holes,
• knit 20 rows
• put center 22 stitches on WY
• for each shoulder:
• - Knit 4 rows, decreasing 1 st each time
• - knit 8 rows, decreasing 1 st every other times
• - knit 4 rows
• - knit 6 rows with wy
• now each shoulder should have 22 stitches

join one shoulder

neckline:

• bring forward 89  needles
• with right side facing, pick up 89 stitches:
• 40 on back neck, 14 on side front neck edge, 22 on front WY, 13 on the other side front neck edge.
• knit 60 rows, then do ribbing (1 in 4), i made the ribbing at the 2nd stitch and 2nd to last one

join the other shoulder. sew the turtle neck together by hand

sleeves:

• bring out 50 stitches, and hook on between the markers
• knit 90 time, rib the last 8 rows

sew the underside of sleeves and also sides of the bodice together