I wanted to add more colors to my neutral closet. So I made another shirt from rayon jersey! Same pattern, just slightly shorter with an easier pocket. It is very comfortable!
This concludes all the stuff I’ve made in 2012! whew!! Let’s hope 2013 would be a lot more productive sewing-wise!
Happy new year everyone!! I am still posting projects I did back in 2012, like this green sweater! This is the sweater that I made on my Bond Machine knitting sweater that I am not too crazy about. But it looks decent as an underlayer so I’ve been wearing it here and there.
For my own reference, here’s the exact rows I used. It is based off their instruction pattern, only slightly modified:
2.5 tension plate, 2 out of 4 rods inserted
back:
cast on 72 stitches with WY, knt 6 rows
K 68 rows, mark arm holes
K 48 more rows
put center 36 stitches on waste yarn
each shoulder will have 18 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 72 with WY, knit 6 rows
knit 68 rows, mark arm holes, twist center 6 yarsn every 10 rows (the first one should be after only 5 stitches)
knit 32 rows (continue cable)
put center 18 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 19 stitches
join one shoulder
neckline:
bring forward 81 needles
with wrong side facing, pick up 81 stitches:
36 on back neck, 14 on side front neck edge, 18 on front WY, 13 on the other side front neck edge.
knit 10 rows, then do ribbing
sleeves:
- bring out 66 stitches, and hook on between the markers
knit this 12 times:
- knit 6 rows, on the 7th row decrease one on both side
then knit 17 rows, rib the last 10 rows, bind off
We went on a road trip without little K and I had to bundle up like crazy! but I like how my outfit looked. I am also wearing a scarf I knitted earlier in 2012. Its a really warm wool scarf in seed stitch. I kept on forgetting to do a nice photo shoot for it, but I recently ruined it by putting it in the washer and totally shrunk it. oops! At least I got a lot of good wear out of it!
I hope everyone had a great new year!
I just love bamboo jersey. They are the softest things ever. I made this quickly because I wanted something that I can wear leggings and boots and long socks with.
I LOVE how soft and comfortable this is. I wear it on every laundry cycle. I love it so much that I bought some rayon jersey to make the same thing, and if you know me, I dont like to make the same thing. This is made from pretty generic top/dress pattern from Burda magazine. and was inspires by some pictures here and here.
The zipper/pocket part was pretty hard to sew on, because the material is very soft and stretchy. (The zipper on my pocket is from hubby’s torn shorts.) I am not sure how cloth manufacturers can sew it on so straight and nice. I actually had ironed on backings before I sew it on, then removed it, to prevent it from stretching out too much, but the stitches are still crooked. Anyone have any tips? Also, besides the pocket, the rest is sewn together using my serger. I am not sure if the tension on my serger isnt right, but the stitches are not very tight and you can kind of see the stitching when pulling at the seams. Anyone else have the same issue with their sergered goods?
Regardless of the flaws, I just love love it!
P.s. Thank you everyone who had entered on the giveaway! The lucky winner is Zanda, congrats! Though I seriously wish I had 10 of this hoodlet, because I can imagine it looking so great on many of you!
I am going out of order here but I guess when you have so much stuff going on, you cant be picky about when to take photos 
I made a skirt out of some wool that I was trying to make another kind of skirt from.
I made it from a self drafted skirt pattern I made a while back. The skirt pattern was just a basic pencil skirt, and I added vertical insert to the sides to add more interest. In my head, the horizontal part of the skirt was supposed to be narrower, creating a skinnier illusion. But the fit was so nice that I decided not to mess with it.
Zoom in on the vertical insert:
Look at my perfectly inserted zipper and the almost invisible darts
There are four darts in the front, they are truely not very visible! Can you spot them?
I made it using Shetland Wool from fabric mart. Truthfully I dont think I will use this wool for apparel again. I made my white coat from it and another green skirt from it before. Its just not drapery enough for my taste and is too loosely weaved. But I do like the amount of color selection they have and how easy it would be to mix and match fabric. I believe I could have gotten a perfectly matching brown fabric to insert to the side instead!
It is lined with some random lining material in my stash. I hand stitched the hem so that every seam is enclosed nicely.
I wore it to work today and man, I think I am just not a lady. It was extremely difficult for me to sit with my legs crossed for hours. I think this will have to be a off work outfit!
It is getting colder and mildly winter-y here in the bay area. Little Kaylee here still doesnt have much hair yet. I always feel that her head gets cold when we are out and about. However, ever since she mastered hand motions, she always take her hats off within 2 seconds (maybe her head doesnt really get cold). I knew I would have no hope of her keeping a cute warm hat on. But she always have trouble taking hoodies off, so I decided to knit her a hoodlet!
hoodie off:
Isnt she adorable in it? Its hard to not post all 20 pictures we managed to get down to 
I made up the pattern myself. Here it is for future reference and if anyone is interested. If you do use it to knit one, please send some pictures/links after you are done! I dont read knitting patterns much so if there’s anything thats not clear please feel free to ask in the comment!
Material: 2 skein of loops and threads cosy wool (I know I keep on using them- they just look so fuzzy and cute!)
Tool: size 15/10mm circular needle (I used a 30 inch one that includes the length of the needles. but I think a shorter one would be fine too)
Tada! Easy, right? Please note – little kaylee is about 30 inches tall, and 20 pound heavy and this fits her perfectly.
Here’s one last photo to tempt you into making one for your own little one.
Oh I totally forgot that I did sew something awesome! I made hubby a costume based on one of his favorite movies – can anyone take a guess?
It was very easy – I found blue long sleeve shirts and a pair of large pants at goodwills, and did some refashioning with some blue cotton fabric. When I was working on this, we were still in the middle of the bathroom remodel, and I realized that for a last minute costume, you can totally just stick painters tape on blue shirt/pants for this look!
Of course, I like sewing this on better, since he decided that he will wear this every year! 
maybe next year I should sew my daughter one as well, so we can be a team! (I have a while safari outfit as the pregnant lady, for those who know what I am talking about here!)
Hello! Its been so long since my last post! Life had been busy but great with my little one She’s one year old now and just full of cuteness! I will spare you from listing down all the stuff she can do now because it is a pretty long list! We had been doing bathroom remodel for the past month (with contractors) and I havent really made anything presentable, except for a machine knit sweater which I am not 100% crazy about.
But! I had knitted this hat for a friend’s baby shower last year. The baby’s dad is really into Star Wars so I thought I’d knit a nice warm hat for him. Well, the baby was born and amazingly it seems to fit him now that the temperature finally dropped! Isnt he such an adorable little Jedi?
p.s. I didnt really use a pattern – just seed stitch for the hat part, and then picked up a few rows and knitted the ears!
Aii. Life with a baby is pretty darn busy. I barely have any time to sew now and I am seriously craving some quality sewing time. Part of me wants to take a vacation day and just sew. Sewcation. Yes…
This is a pretty quick and easy dress I whipped up over the span of a few weeks. (Normally would just take me a day or two). I sew for 10 minutes here and there. It is based on the sincerely Vivat Veritas dress I made 2 summers ago. I made this one slightly cap sleeved, V-neck, and with a different back cut out. The fabric is a slightly stretch cotton that is oh-so-soft. It has a one side border print that looks like shadows of grass growing out.
Less washed out shot of the back:
I love these backless dresses. I dont need a bra as it provides boob support, and they are so cooling but looks put together still. To wear to the office I just add a sweater to cover up the back!
Made this dress when it was super hot and I really wanted another comfortable and sexy maxi dress. The two I made before were made during pregnancy and doesnt fit quite well anymore. I had the floral fabric in my stash. With McCall5652 slightly modified, I got this!
It was July 4th and super duper windy. I normally need to wear heel for this dress but the wind just picks it up to my ankle! We were up on a hill where people were gathering together to watch fireworks, the view was amazing!
Okay, its really the same as the first one but I couldnt help but altering it to be more like the inspiration. I think I am happy with it now! (shoulder and neckline is the same, just changed the sides).
Here’s basically how it is done. Adjust it for your height and width, of course! Note that I used a 60inch wife fabric, so I cut out two 60 inch stripe and made each of them about 21 inch wide, then aggressively took it in on one side.
I love how it looks from the back!
