Hola!

Yesterday saw my Hits and Misses and today we are onto Reflections and my own little variation "Plans".

Reflections:

This year saw some big changes for me - picking up sticks (the knitting kind), renaming and re-styling my blog, and finding my obsession joy in crafting again. Here is what I learnt this year.

1. Rowing my own boat:

I have never really jumped on bandwagons. I have worked to try to remain true to my style (for momentary lapses of reason see my Misses) and in a way simply row my own boat. I feel like it'd be really easy to jump on every new pattern release, be it Big 4 or indie, and just go a bit cray cray. But truly, I have not seen any this year that are truly my style or that I didn't already have a similar version of. I have adored following other fantastic bloggers and their interpretations of these, but still they are for the most part, just not me.

2014 will see me keep on with trying to stick with my style (don't ask me to name it), and if the right pattern comes up, purchase I will.

2. I'm a 70's kind of girl

I am constantly drawn to the 70's silhouette, especially dresses and skirts of the a-line variety with clean, long, lean lines. They simply suit my body type. And I am OK with that. I love expanding my ridiculously growing stash of pre-loved 70's patterns and have been so fortunate to be thought of when Mums and Grandmothers are clearing out. Anyone wanting to offload unloved 70's patterns? I'm your girl.

On this note: Jillian, you are not so suited to the sometimes billowy, flouncy, ruffled 70's monstrosities. DO. NOT. GO. THERE!

3. Fitting? Meh, not so much

I am destined to sew sacks/garments with minimal tailoring. I truly am the worst kind of student. My motivation wanes at the first hint of effort. I do want to learn tailoring and fitting techniques, but I just gotta find the time. I really don't have oodles of spare time to devote to my crafts as it is and then taking additional time to learn stuff seems like an investment I can't afford... yet I know I will create get better garments as a result.

Right, Jillian, it's time to finish, and apply, that dastardly Adjust the Bust course.

4. I. ADORE. KNITTING.

I really, really do. I have busy hands and I find myself drawn more and more to the gentle art of knitting to satisfy my restless hands syndrome. It really does fit my sensibilities and my tagline summer sewing and winter knitting simply feels like a good fit (see what I did there? Fit? Never mind). I find winter sewing to be of the too challenging persuasion (see 3 above) and this results in radio silence for my blog and frustration for this here crafter. I've found my niche.

5. Planning... hmmm

Planning and lists and promises all seem like a good idea at the time, but leave me with a sense of guilt and anxiety as I get tempted in other unplanned directions. I love reading others plans and so thought perhaps it was time to make my own. But truly friends, I prefer a more organic approach. I plan on no or little planning in the future.

Plans

1. No Plans

I plan to give myself a break and make few plans. This does not mean crafting will grind to a directionless halt, in fact it will free me to just get on with whatever takes my heart's fancy. And that feels good.

I do already have yarn and patterns for my next winter knitting projects! I've never wished summer away in my life, but yeeha, bring on knitting weather!

In the meantime, I plan on lots more gorgeous sewing projects.


And to finish up, here's to a brilliant New Year, full of happiness, peace and love for you all. Oh and the deliciousness of new projects and the freedom to create... that'll do me. How about you?

I'm off to do a bit more of this...

...before real life (otherwise known as back to work) sets in.

Top 5 of 2013: Hits and Misses

I've decided to join the hoards (hosted by Gillian) and take a moment to reflect on the year of stitching and knitting that was...

This year has been a real revelation for me in regards to crafting and blogging. I started the year rather shakily, and I wondered if my crafting and blogging mojo would ever return. But return it did and in the most surprising way. It started with Amanda of Bimble and Pimble blogging about her first forays into knitting and her post of her version of Andi Satterlund's Mathilde Hat. Quite simply, I found the inspiration I needed to re-establish my mojo in a new direction (knitting) and find my place again creatively. I might have worked considerably on myself as well, but that's a whole other story that don't need telling.

This all culminated in a new love for knitting and an all shiny and new, re-named re-vamped blog! Yay me!

So without further ado, here are my hits and misses all in one post (Reflections and Plans to come tomorrow).

Top 5 Hits of 2013:

In no particular order...

1. "Two Fruits" Dress:

I simply love this dress. It's the best fit I've ever achieved! I love the style, the fabric, the buttons. It's just all good.

I feel a million bucks when I wear it, but, and this is gonna seem weird based on the above... I rarely wear this! I think it's partly to do with Gabrielle's recent observation that the things she truly adores get worn less. This resonates with me! I think it's a morbid fear of ruining it. But it's still a big win for me!

2. Gingham Negroni:

Ok, this one was a HUGE achievement for me and adored by P. This was a me-made birthday gift for my handsome hubby. It was the first item of mens clothing I'd ever made, and P decided to subject me to gingham. Pattern matching anyone? I am so very proud of this one and it gets worn lots.

And A Very Merry Christmas To All

From my family to yours, may your Christmas be full of love, laughter and the preciousness of family and friends. May you all find peace and the meaning of Christmas in your own way.

Blogging has been a revelation this year and I wanted to thank you all for your supportive comments and feedback.

In the spirit of the festive season I'll be taking a few days off to immerse myself in family time. See you on the flipside!

SEWN: "TWO FRUITS" DRESS

I think this will go down in history as my "fruit period". I never thought I had a thing for fruit fabrics until I had made both this and my "Feeling Fruity" dress. And in fact, this one came first, made exactly a year ago. A year! I was very remiss in blogging this, one of my most favourite makes.

This is my version of vintage Simplicity 6926, View 2 (dated 1977).

KNIT: WORK + SHELTER LACE TEE

Clearly the crisis has been averted! Dropped stitches were saved and knitting continued.

Meh... That's how I feel about this knit...

Knitting is one of those things. It takes so damn long compared to sewing. 

So... Damn... Long...

And I love the process immensely, most of the time. But it's a lot harder to accept "Meh" at the end of a project that takes the best part of a month. In sewing, most of my projects are done in a week or less. In those cases, I strike "meh"s up to experience. Getting something knit in an acceptable timeframe takes all my energy and spare time. There ain't no second project on the go, it takes all of me.

I like it alright. It's not spectacular and I knew that about it when I started. It's a basic knit tee. I just feel like I probably could have bought something similar and saved my time and energy for something with more vavavoom. It will certainly be worn, I'm just not that excited about it.

Pattern: Work + Shelter Lace Striped Tee (Ravelry link). Knit in Rico Design Essentials 365 Aran (60% cotton, 40% acrylic). I really like the yarn. It feels wonderfully cottony and soft, but I think it's gonna grow like crazy with wear, just like a pure cotton yarn. I knit the smallest size, a 36 bust.

Alterations/Changes: 

• I knit an additional lace and stockinette stripe in the body for length, as the original sweater is quite cropped. In the end, it's slightly longer than I'd have preferred. But I like the proportions when I look at these photos, so that's a result!
• I changed the neckline as I'd seen a few others do. I started the neck rib when I had 16 stitches left on each sleeve instead of 12 and only knit 6 rounds (about 1 inch) instead of the pattern's 2 inches. I adore the wider boatneck as a result. I am not much of a one for high necklines, especially on summer pieces.

Lessons Learned:

• I think I do prefer knitting top down in the round rather than bottom up like this one. I like being able to physically try it on as I go. That means better capacity to check the fit as you go, especially length.
• Jillian, don't persist in knitting when starting a new medication that makes you feel like you've been hit by a semi-trailer truck. It will end in tears, frustration and error after error.

I promise this will be the last green yarn for a while! In fact I am back to summer sewing after this. I have such a backlog of projects that were waiting on this being finished. I really do have to try to stick to my tagline of winter knitting and summer sewing.

We must, we must, we must adjust the bust!

You might remember I made some Sewing Promises at the beginning of Spring (Southern Hemisphere). One of those was to learn how to perform a bust adjustment - in my case a small bust adjustment (SBA). Yes, I've admitted it out loud: I have a teeny, tiny bust. Some would say non-existent and gotten worse post-breastfeeding. Ughhhh.

It is time to learn to Adjust the Bust!!

I decided to start with Grainline's Tiny Pocket Tank (sans pocket, 'cause that's how I roll).

Do not adjust your screens, this print does warp your vision

I got this great nautical cotton voile in an interesting geometric print that I only realised was flowers when I pre-washed and hung out the fabric. Check it...

I got super lucky and found this on the clearance table for $4.20 p/m. Steel! Cheap as it was I really like it, so I'd like to get the fit of this tank right. I have a habit of obsessively checking out other people's versions when I choose a new pattern to make up. I like to know if there are any consistent fitting issues. 

The one thing that stood out over and over with this one is the potentially poor fit of the upper/high bust and armscye. The versions I found lamented the strange pull lines above the bust and the crowding of the armpit. There is not much fitting to this tank, it's loosely fitted with a bust dart. Seemed like a nice place to start looking to adjust.

So here's where it gets interesting. I've only completed Lesson 1 of the Craftsy Adjust the Bust course, so I've a ways to go 'til I really know what the hell I'm talking about. I've heard in the past though that it's best to choose a pattern size where the bust measurement corresponds to your high bust measurement: it is harder to fit shoulders, upper bust, arms and neck so this is a good way to get that right and then adjust the bust to fit (if needed). The lovely Sunni of A Fashionable Stitch recently blogged about this. The lovely Kathleen Cheetham, presenter of Adjust the Bust, however, suggests picking a pattern size based on a bust measurement of 2 inches larger than your high bust.

Sounds funky, right? Well it does to me when my full bust is only one inch larger than my high bust (I told you, small bust!). This just makes me feel like the thing is gonna be hanging off me around the shoulders and upper chest! I am super keen to continue on with the course to find out what the hell she is thinking!

But it's interesting because I wonder, if her formula had been used, would so many people have had those weird upper chest/armscye fitting issues? Would having a bit more ease according to Kathleen's sizing choice have sorted that?

So what about you, how do you all choose your pattern size for a top? Full bust? High bust? Some other funky algebraically generated formula? Please do share...

P.S. I know you're all waiting with baited breath. Yes, I did fix that crisis with my knitted lace stripe tee. In fact, she's finished! Blog post coming soon...