Seasons, sewing, Wardrobe Improvement Project

Further experiments in knits

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Remember this top? The one I made in a knits class with unshrunk fabric? I sent it off to my sister (who reports that it works fine for her) and I’ve finally got around to trying again. Ta-da! I pre-washed the fabric this time and happily the finished shirt still has lovely long sleeves. I’m not 100% sure I’ve got the fit right, but at least this one is wearable. The armscye might not be totally right and there might be too much fabric in the back. It’s hard to tell when I’m twisting around in front of a mirror …

quilts

Procrastination and Serendipity

Does this ever happen to anyone else? I mean, I’ve got a stack of works in progress and Caitlyn is fast out-growing several things in her closet and I’m part way through a shirt for Ian. But did I work on any of those with my fragmented available time? Nope. I went and started something else. Sure, it was the project that was most appealing, most likely to make me happy. But gee whiz, probably not the wisest course. Oh well. I started with this: And a week later, I finished with this: Just so you know, seams that are …

sewing, Wardrobe Improvement Project

Everyone needs a Plan

 

I have a closet of clothes that are either showing their age or don’t fit me well. It’s already known that shopping and I are not friends. I thought I’d written up a more recent rant than this one or this one. The short version: I’m tall, I’m reasonably narrow, I tend toward classic/minimalist style with a touch of romantic/bohemian, I’m excessively practical. End result: very little ready-to-wear clothing actually fits me and I’m endlessly frustrated by poor quality and trends that assume I have nothing to do except look pretty. My clothing should not require special handling (no regular …

Introspection, sewing, Wardrobe Improvement Project

Appearances Matter (news only to me)

I’m a freelancing, work-from-home techie mom, a crafter, and a gardener with small-scale urban homesteading tendencies. I cook, I clean, I do a lot of laundry. I’ll usually make the first attempt at various home maintenance tasks. I tend three gardens: the ornamental front yard, the edible backyard, the p-patch plot down the street. I can spend a large part of my day at my desk with my computer or at my other desk with my sewing machine. Most days, the farthest I travel is all the way across the street to the mailbox. When I travel further, I’m usually …

Bloggy Business

Be my Friend?

And now for a shameless plea: I’ve added the Friend Connect gadget over in the sidebar. You probably will have to scroll to find it, since it was so sad and empty I couldn’t leave it at the top where it’d be totally obvious. Would you be so kind as to click on the big blue “Join this Site” button and “friend” my blog? I’ve avoided putting the gadget in the sidebar for years, figuring I didn’t need the regular reminder that I probably spend a lot of time talking to myself over here. But I have been more active …

crochet

Something finished!

 

I learned to crochet when I was a kid. I probably made some pot holders, although mostly what I remember is really coarse yarn (I think it had a high synthetic content) and squares that wouldn’t stay square. Interest waned, and I eventually took up my fabric habit instead of a yarn habit. But my particular fabric habit doesn’t travel well. I don’t piece by hand, quilt tops are generally too big to carry along on outings, and the embroidery and cross-stitch I do isn’t something I can do while in conversation. I needed small projects that I could pick …