my 1930s skirt is never ending! hem is done, second placket is done, but do you think i could find my hooks and snaps this morning? noooo. so i cast on a cardigan for the kiddo to do on my commute instead.
anyway, i need some inspiration from other seamsters to get that skirt done! here's what i found from other sewing through the decades challengers:
from the 1970s, a velma dinkley skirt (simplicity 5804)
some awesome selections from decades 1910s - 1950s
amazing 1920s cloche hat pattern
lots more great inspiration in the flickr pool!
18.10.11
16.10.11
for those of you in denial
about the onset of xmas, please note: the mail truck just dropped off a package. on a sunday. because they holiday package delivery season has begun! whoa.
but this has inspired me to get the buttons on the kiddo's pyjamas (i am truly terrible about getting things to the truly-almost-done stage and then dropping them. bad habit!) and get them wrapped up for xmas eve (traditionally we were always allowed to open one present on the eve, and it was always pyjamas or a nighty which we then wore to pose for the hanging-the-stockings photo - i'm tweaking tradition a bit this year, by packing up the pjs with a book - shirley hughes' christmas eve ghost!).
i'm also plugging away at the reinideer sweater, and now that i've started the second shade of grey, i am certain that this can not be a ttc project. so i'll have to cast on something else. i'm hoping that will be crochet snowflakes, but of course now i can't find the crochet thread! sigh.
but this has inspired me to get the buttons on the kiddo's pyjamas (i am truly terrible about getting things to the truly-almost-done stage and then dropping them. bad habit!) and get them wrapped up for xmas eve (traditionally we were always allowed to open one present on the eve, and it was always pyjamas or a nighty which we then wore to pose for the hanging-the-stockings photo - i'm tweaking tradition a bit this year, by packing up the pjs with a book - shirley hughes' christmas eve ghost!).
i'm also plugging away at the reinideer sweater, and now that i've started the second shade of grey, i am certain that this can not be a ttc project. so i'll have to cast on something else. i'm hoping that will be crochet snowflakes, but of course now i can't find the crochet thread! sigh.
15.10.11
ho ho ho
i am just at the point where i need to wind another skein into a ball, so i thought it might be the perfect time to take a wee snap (i've misplaced my card reader, so crappy mobile snaps for now) of the new project i've foolishly cast on.
it's a reindeer sweater! for me, to be done in time for me to wear to our holiday tree-trimming party. realistically, this will not happen. but one can hope. what you see there is an i-cord cast-on (love!) and some corrugated ribbing (also love, although i hate doing it) and the beginnings of the yoke. the only red will be in the edges and the reindeer's nose, the rest will be white and two shades of grey, briggs & little sport. on 2.75mm needles. ouch. maybe i'll have it for next year's holiday do?
it's a reindeer sweater! for me, to be done in time for me to wear to our holiday tree-trimming party. realistically, this will not happen. but one can hope. what you see there is an i-cord cast-on (love!) and some corrugated ribbing (also love, although i hate doing it) and the beginnings of the yoke. the only red will be in the edges and the reindeer's nose, the rest will be white and two shades of grey, briggs & little sport. on 2.75mm needles. ouch. maybe i'll have it for next year's holiday do?
12.10.11
little cutie!
argh
this skirt is taking forever!
my first official sewing through the decades challenge is the skirt - just the skirt! - from eva dress pattern 1399. i thought i was clever for having zippers and such in my stash, but of course this is the 1930s, and zippers were still considered generally uncouth then, skap or no skap. so, lots of hand finishing, including snaps and hooks and loops. yesterday i took it to work with me. here's an awful snap i took of myself hemming while standing on a crowded subway:
good times! i have got about half of the handwork done - hemmed half way around, and snaps, hooks and loops on one side.
the tragic part is i seem to have misplaced my lovely stork scissors, and i am really really hoping i did not leave them in the park on sunday!
my first official sewing through the decades challenge is the skirt - just the skirt! - from eva dress pattern 1399. i thought i was clever for having zippers and such in my stash, but of course this is the 1930s, and zippers were still considered generally uncouth then, skap or no skap. so, lots of hand finishing, including snaps and hooks and loops. yesterday i took it to work with me. here's an awful snap i took of myself hemming while standing on a crowded subway:
good times! i have got about half of the handwork done - hemmed half way around, and snaps, hooks and loops on one side.
the tragic part is i seem to have misplaced my lovely stork scissors, and i am really really hoping i did not leave them in the park on sunday!
8.10.11
a near crisis with whipped cream!
i should know better by now, because it happens every thanksgiving - the shops are sold out of organic whipping cream (and it must be organic - have you ever looked at the ingredients list on the regular one? cream doesn't need ingredients other than cream. cream is an ingredient.
anyway, i ended up buying 4 x 250 ml containers could have got away with just 3, but there were a total of 4 on the shelf and i didn't want to have regrets about leaving that last one behind. because i am the designated bringer of desserts, and although my cousin is the designated bringer of whipping cream, i didn't want her to run into the same trouble!
of course, there must be pumpkin pie, or it wouldn't actually be thanksgiving. i used the same gf pie crust i came up with in september, and our traditional favourite recipe for the filling - madame benoit's standish pumpkin pie from the encyclopedia of canadian cooking - starting with fresh pumpkin, roasted and mashed (2 small pumpkins equalled 4 cups of mush - enough for 2 pies) and with a half teaspoon of allspice and a quarter teaspoon of cloves added to the spices, and combination of mace and fresh-grated nutmeg instead of regular nutmeg.
yum. can't wait for tomorrow. i also made a gf version of the traditional imperial cheddar biscuits.
and back up dessert (for the crazies who don't like pumpkin pie) this year is the gf chestnut sticky toffee pudding i made a couple of weeks ago. by coincidence, i set it to cool on the sideboard next to a photo of thanksgiving at the cottage from decades ago. everyone in the photo will be there tomorrow, with the exception of tg's grandfather. and i don't know who the plaid arm is.
anyway, i ended up buying 4 x 250 ml containers could have got away with just 3, but there were a total of 4 on the shelf and i didn't want to have regrets about leaving that last one behind. because i am the designated bringer of desserts, and although my cousin is the designated bringer of whipping cream, i didn't want her to run into the same trouble!
of course, there must be pumpkin pie, or it wouldn't actually be thanksgiving. i used the same gf pie crust i came up with in september, and our traditional favourite recipe for the filling - madame benoit's standish pumpkin pie from the encyclopedia of canadian cooking - starting with fresh pumpkin, roasted and mashed (2 small pumpkins equalled 4 cups of mush - enough for 2 pies) and with a half teaspoon of allspice and a quarter teaspoon of cloves added to the spices, and combination of mace and fresh-grated nutmeg instead of regular nutmeg.
yum. can't wait for tomorrow. i also made a gf version of the traditional imperial cheddar biscuits.
and back up dessert (for the crazies who don't like pumpkin pie) this year is the gf chestnut sticky toffee pudding i made a couple of weeks ago. by coincidence, i set it to cool on the sideboard next to a photo of thanksgiving at the cottage from decades ago. everyone in the photo will be there tomorrow, with the exception of tg's grandfather. and i don't know who the plaid arm is.
3.10.11
busy busy busy
getting ready for tomorrow night's meeting of ontario hands & voices, and thought i'd take a break from flyer design!
i'm a bit bereft as it's the third of october - a month to the day from when i began my super secret holiday knitting project. and even though xmas is still a while off, i was secretly hoping i'd have it done in a month, just for bragging rights. but an inability to knit at home is putting a damper on things! this weekend i couldn't even do any early morning knitting, as the kiddo was up and demanding attention around six-thirty. ugh.
but, i am very nearly finished my first official sewing through the decades project - just the skirt from eva dress pattern 1399. i was a bit concerned about the fit (not concerned enough to do a practice run in muslin though) as there is very little shaping and i am quite curvy. but a quick try-on and it fits wonderfully! a happy surprise. now i just have a bunch of hand-finishing to do. but at least the sewing machine is put away and no longer monopolizing the kitchen.
and, back to the holiday theme, a new pair of jimjams for the kiddo! i had a mad fondness for tailored flannel pyjamas. my son shares the sentiment too, i think; we ran out of clean pyjamas yesterday (he's growing so fast we're down to only 4 pair of pjs tailored by me) and had to resort to - horrors! - boughten ones, of the stretchy variety. "these aren't comfortable," he said. kid after my own heart. i have to sew on the buttons, but they're otherwise done.
and i think i did a fairly excellent job of lining up the pattern on the pocket, if i do say it myself!
i'm a bit bereft as it's the third of october - a month to the day from when i began my super secret holiday knitting project. and even though xmas is still a while off, i was secretly hoping i'd have it done in a month, just for bragging rights. but an inability to knit at home is putting a damper on things! this weekend i couldn't even do any early morning knitting, as the kiddo was up and demanding attention around six-thirty. ugh.
but, i am very nearly finished my first official sewing through the decades project - just the skirt from eva dress pattern 1399. i was a bit concerned about the fit (not concerned enough to do a practice run in muslin though) as there is very little shaping and i am quite curvy. but a quick try-on and it fits wonderfully! a happy surprise. now i just have a bunch of hand-finishing to do. but at least the sewing machine is put away and no longer monopolizing the kitchen.
and, back to the holiday theme, a new pair of jimjams for the kiddo! i had a mad fondness for tailored flannel pyjamas. my son shares the sentiment too, i think; we ran out of clean pyjamas yesterday (he's growing so fast we're down to only 4 pair of pjs tailored by me) and had to resort to - horrors! - boughten ones, of the stretchy variety. "these aren't comfortable," he said. kid after my own heart. i have to sew on the buttons, but they're otherwise done.
and i think i did a fairly excellent job of lining up the pattern on the pocket, if i do say it myself!
