Knitting, very short post

So, update after starting the cardigan 3 days ago. 
Good progress so far, however there is the issue of miscounting stitches and the decorative holes not aligning up. It took me 4 goes for the 5th pattern repeat, taking back and picking the stitches back. The plus side is that the yarn I am using is a lot easier to work with than the one used in the pattern so it wasn't too much of a struggle. 24cm, only 11cm to go before I start decreasing for the arm holes. 
As I said, I'm not a particularly fast knitter :-( Definitly slow fashion!

Project 3 - Introduction

Hiya! 

Hope you enjoyed seeing project 2 completed :-) 
Although I am training myself from the onset to finish a project before starting another - as I would have a tendency to have hundreds of UnFinished Objects or UFOs around the house - it doesn't mean that I haven't had any thoughts about the next one, and purchased the yarn so I could start it right away! 

Do you remember me saying that I wanted to knit the Sirdar Soukie DK 7087 a few weeks back but that the yarn was so difficult to work with? Well on the pattern it says what other yarns are suitable for the pattern, inluding Wash'n' Wear Sirdar yarn. 
I chose a nice darkish grey to start my 'winter season' clothes. Autumn and Winter will be here soon :-( so what better time to start preparing than near the end of summer. 
And between, I think the colour and texture of yarn are gorgeous! 

Knitting is not my forte, with sewing and especially crochet my two favourite crafts. But with the variety of amazing patterns available for knitting, it would be a shame not to develop this skill further. I learned when I was a child, thanks to my mam and haven't knit a lot since (the odd scarf). However, my stitches were always quite even, and my tension right when I looked on the yarn label. 

So I will be giving this a go and it will hopefully will be a success. Wish me luck!

Tada!!

The first finished crochet garment (other than scarf and hat) which I've made for myself! I had made the pattern before for my boyfriend's mam, and I'm so pleased with it :-)

It might look quite big, but I assure you the smaller size wouldn't have fit because of my bust measurements. The sparkly thread and sequence work well I think and although the yarn is too heavy for the pattern (I was meant to use 4 ply but it is double knit) it has come out quite nicely. The buttons which I already had at hand work well to my mind too. 

So now for pictures! 

Feedback welcome!

Project 2 - Crochet cardigan update (round 2).

I am so excited as I finished to crochet all the pieces of the cardigan. All I need to do now is to sow it altogether and work the finishes (shells all the way round the bottom, the sleeves and neck). I literally ran out of yarn as I was finishing the last sleeve so it's back out to the shops for me to find the yarn. It shouldn't be a problem as I bought it only 3 to 4 weeks ago. So hopefully photos to follow later!

 

Project 2: Crochet cardigan update

Evening  :-)

An update on the crochet cardigan. A rainy afternoon/ evening was perfect to finish the second front panel of the crochet cardigan (for pattern click here) so here it is. You might be able to see in the picture the sequence and silver thread which is part of this turquoise yarn. It is gorgeous (Soukie) although quite difficult to work with as the strands tend to separate a lot if I'm not careful.

And they are the same size, but the angle of the picture (to avoid shadows whilst taking the picture) is a little bit off giving the illusion one of the sides is bigger than the other. Should maybe try a lighter background next time so that you can really tell the colour. 

And the pattern-following is going well so far, not too challenging so far. Will keep you posted with my progress, hopefully sooner rather than later.

Which do you prefer? Crochet or knitting? 

Laters and happy crochet-ing! 

Project 2 - Crochet cardigan

Hello :-)

So quite a long silence for a few days as I went on holiday. I bought some yarn as I was going to start a knitting project (Sirdar Soukie 7087) which caught my eye a few weeks back. 

Although the yarn is beautiful, it is however very challenging to work with as it has three strands with sequence and I am not a very confident knitter. Because I have already worked with multiple yarns in crochet - I may show you the bag I designed last year in a further post - I thought I would use a crochet pattern for a cardigan instead that I completed last year for my boyfriend's mam.
I thought that I could upload a free version here, even if the website is under construction. Please ignore the markings as they were just there so I could keep track of where I was.

The pattern is quite straightforward from what I can remember. 
So I will update you with my progress in a few days, right now I've nearly finished the front left.

Until then, happy crafting! 

Project 1 - Conclusion

Hiya, 

After a little playing around and some sound adjusting I was finally able to finish the first try of the pattern, thanks to my mam and gran. 
After deliberation, we thought that size 10 would be a lot more appropriate. So beleive it or not, I was shopping for fabric. I was first going to go for some cheap material which was half price, but then I saw the beautiful pattern of this navy, purple and pink fabric and thought that £8 a metre was reasonable-ish. 

 
At first I was going to make the view with the long sleeve, but I realised I needed more material. I thought then the cap sleeve would be nice but when I tried, it didn't lie very nicely, probably because I hadn't followed the instructions closely enough :-O!!

But finally, here it is. My first independently constructed garment. Hope you don't mind, for privacy I hid my face. But you can tell what the top is like.  

 I globally like the way it looks apart from between the arm pit and shoulder blades where the material folds slightly. But then again I would probably be more forgiving with a shop bought garment anyway. 

So this top is about to become my favourite and I'm still wearing it now as it's confortable :-).  



What was your first hand-made garment? 
 

Project 1 - continued

Hi,

An update on the 6871 New Look pattern. Nearly finished! No photographs as of yet but some lessons learnt for next time.

- The size I chose was too big. Somehow, although I measured myself (on my own, in front of the tinniest bathroom mirror imaginable), I had to take the sides in by 1 inch (1/2 an inch on the fold) and cut 1.5 cm around the arm whole. If you wander why I'm going from imperial to metric is that I got help yesterday from my gran who does imperial and my mam who does metric.
So I will be 'downsizing' so as to speak and getting my measurements done. while my mam is still in the UK. 

- Make sure I have everything as stated at the back of the envelope of the pattern as I had to return to the town on that same afternoon for some interfacing (and it's not easy to get to either).

- Stop myself from pushing myself to keep going. You know the feeling 'just that last seam before I stop' or 'I really want to get these pleats done tonight'. Both times I ended up making either a big mistake, first time messing up to the point that I had to cut out pieces out of remaining material the next day, the second, ending up in A&E with a snapped needle through my finger.  

Some good things came out of it too:

- I discovered loads of new techniques and new vocabulary like interfacing, pleats or gathering (depending on what you want the pattern to look like), baste etc.

- I managed to do a massive chunk of the pattern myself (apart from the adjusting which is more tricky) so it has really help my sewing confidence especially for a first pattern.

- My machine is a vintage awesome Singer which doesn't get used enough so it was nice to be using it after all this time.

Till next time and hopefully some photographs of the finished item!

Project 1 - New look 6871.

Morning!

 

As promised an update on the top I was sewing. I had a little accident with the machine after which a doctor in A&E had to extract a machine needle from the tip of my left index. However I am still not put off. Nursing my finger with yummy homemade banana bread and a cup of tea :-)

(I will put a link when I think about it to the recipe).

 

The pattern I used for the top is New Look 6871, which has got mixed reviews online. I really liked the design though so I thought I would try it. I was initially going to do view E, but I was given a light blouse which has the extract same pattern so I intend to wear them as a twin set to wear with view D.

 

I will say that I found it was a tricky pattern until I got my head around it. 

Because it was my first pattern in a while, instead of cutting the pattern, I transferred the pieces onto massive tracing paper sheets which I cut out to size. They were quite thick so I could pin them onto the material and cut around them. At least the pattern would be intact for the next time I use it.

 

I chose a size 14 from my measurements however I think it has come out too big for me. Since I forgot to prewash the fabric in case of shrinkage (because it is 100 %  cotton), I will wait until adjusting seams.

 I have also adapted the pattern slightly as I have gone along. For example, instead of gathering the front and back, I made pleats as I found them somewhat easier to make and prettier. I am also putting bias tape I made from the material to put on the arm holes tomorrow.

 

This sewing malarkey is going to be quite addictive I can tell. I have already found promising material to buy for view E (my favourite). I haven't bought it as I want to train myself to finish a project first before starting a new one.

How did you find your first pattern?

Was it successful? What did you learn from it?

Until next time!

Starting at the very beginning

So I do have to admit it's not going to be easy. I'm a typical 'I want things to go fast' kind of girl, banging stuff in the oven for tea, buying stuff in high street shops and somehow thriving on the constant busy-ness of life- up to a point.
 
So I have set off to rediscover the art of doing things slowly and patiently, including skills and crafts which were traditionally used for generations in families all over the country.
So here is my first one. I am nearly a beginner as I did have the chance of having a mother who would let me use her machine, although I have never made clothes from a pattern on my own before (just once with my mam 10 years ago!). The whole sewing thing started a few days ago when I discovered a material shop in town and I felt inspired. My sewing machine is getting well used after years in the cupboard. Let's hope it's not a phase.

 
I have started a top from a pattern (I'll talk about it in my next post), and with some of the leftover material made a pin cushion as I don't have one. I bought a lot more than needed just in case of mistakes, but since it was reduced I thought it would be okay.

So what are people's motivations in starting to sow?