To sew list

Lately, I haven't been the best. It took me two and a half weeks to finish my Morris Blazer (and I love it!), but I still haven't prepared a post about any of the things I've made. Also, the only things I've finished are said blazer, and a few hexipuffs. That's not much. And while I don't think that that is necessarily a bad thing, it is if you keep buying fabic. And that is what I did.

I won't bore you with showing everything I've bought, so one picture will suffice. In short, I've bought about 8 pieces of fabric, including sweatshirt fleece, poplin, lace, three pieces of jersey and two pieces of interlock. Yes, I told myself I can't buy any more, but we'll see how long that lasts. I also have another piece of interlock lying around, which is bright purple.

Now, I have to find patterns to sew. And therefore, I figured I'd make a to sew list. Not only will this help me figure out what to make, hopefully a reader will come across a pattern that they like. Or a designer. Or not, but someone might like to read this. Who knows.

Photo credit: Grainline

First and foremost, I want to make a winter coat. Grainline Studio's Cascade Duffle Coat, to be exact. I've been looking for a good coat for some time now, and I haven't been able to find one that I like. I'm not sure whether I'm a good enough seamstress yet, and I fear my sewing machine will not be able to handle such heavy fabrics, but I really want to make it. I've read nothing but good things about the pattern, and I think it is very pretty. The photo above shows the long version, and that is the version I'd make. I'm still not completely sure I'll make this, especially since the fabric would be very expensive, but who knows. If I can find fabric that is within my budget, I'll be very tempted to give this a go.

Also from Grainline: the Hemlock Tee. I've made this already, and I love it. It's not the most flattering picture, but I'm still planning to make a proper blog post about this tee. I've been wearing it every week since I made it, and it's so comfortable that I want to make another. I might use one of the green jerseys for this. I also want to make this into a dress, for added comfort, because I wouldn't have to wear pants! I could pair it with a belt and a pair of leggings, and I would be good to go.

Also from Grainline: Archer. Need I say more? It's a beautiful shirt, that will look different in every colour. I wasn't sure at first whether this is the pattern I wanted to use, since there are many beautiful patterns for button-up shirts, but from the ones I've looked at, this one stood out, because it seems to fit best with my figure. Other ones were designed for women with wider hips, and my hips are usually a size smaller than my torso, so I suspect Archer will fit me best.

And the last of the Grainline patterns (for now), my Morris Blazer. (link can be found at the top of this post) I love it. A lot. It gives a smart touch to any outfit, but it's still playful. I also love the fabric I've used, a medium weight interlock. I bought it at my local Jan Sikkens, where I get most of my fabric, but unfortunately, it was the last bit they had.
This is the first pattern I've bought on its own, and one of the reasons why I bought it is that it's versatile. It would look very different in the grey interlock I've bought, and I think it would look awesome in some kind of plaid as well. That is a must for me. I don't want people to notice that I own the same kind of garnment in multiple colours, I want to be able to re-use patterns. Luckily, this pattern is one of those.

Onto another designer. After I bought the sweatshirt fleece, I've been looking at other people's sweaters, and I came across the Lola Dress, by Victory Patterns. I love it. Lauren's beatiful dress inspired me to make one myself with my navy fabric, and preferably, with light grey ribbing. I haven't found that yet, though, and I do not have as much fabric as the pattern calls for, so I haven't bought the pattern yet. I'm still on the fence about this one.

I came across this designer, Kommatia, on Tumblr, and I'm very curious about her patterns. I want to try making either the crop top with the ballerina neckline, or the crop top with the turtle neck, I'm not sure which one yet. Her patterns are not expensive, and very modern. I very much want to try making one of these tops, with the purple bit of interlock.

Last, but not least, it's Nettie, by Closet Case Files. I've seen a lot of people make it, and heard very good things about the pattern. I definitly want to make this, I just haven't gotten to it yet.

Phew, this has been one picture-heavy post. Fortunately, now I've got a list of patterns to make. Now I only have to decide which one to make first.

Do you have a to sew list? I'd love to hear from you!

Lots of love,

Lisanne

Oops, I did it again...

Yes, I started another beekeeper's quilt (by Stephanie Dosen, Ravelry). I started my last one about two years ago, and I think I finished knitting the puffs about a year ago, but I have to admit that I still haven't tied all the puffs together properly... Another oops.

Last time around, it took me over a year to make and I used 21 skeins to make it. I used Katia Basic Merino, a DK weight yarn. The pattern calls for fingering, but I'd used this yarn before, and it's soft and affordable. It's about 50% acrylic and 50% merino wool, and I still like the yarn. I've knit two sweaters with it since, and they are holding up well.

(Yes, I tried to make artsy pictures using my phone)
I don't have too many pictures of the second project (the black puffs), because black is hard to photograph and I only have six puffs so far. The yarns I'm using are stash yarns, and they have been for about two years. If you look closely, you're hopefully able to see that four of the puffs have a little sparkle in them. That's the yarn that started it all. It's Zeeman Sparkle, a crappy acrylic yarn that I bought when I first started knitting. I thought it looked pretty cool, but when knitted up, it doesn't. The sparkle comes from a little metallic thread, and that makes it scratchy and uncomfortable to wear. I can't even begin to count all the projects I've started and frogged with this yarn. The only way it worked for me, was to hold it together with a normal yarn, and treat it as bulky. I've made two projects with it that way, but I still had about one and a half skein left in black, and one in blue.

This is what the yarn looks like. It makes for wonky stitches and uneven tension. It's not fun to knit with.
But I'd barely been knitting lately, and when I saw my hexipuff blanket again, I figured I'd give this a shot. And it worked! The wonky stitches are not too noticeable, and paired with puffs made from a normal black yarn, they look pretty good, if I say so myself. And I'm knitting frequently again. I think I started this on sunday, or maybe monday, but now it's thursday and I've already knit six puffs. On the other hand, now I stopped sewing. Downstairs, I've got a piece of fabric, ready to be made into a Morris Blazer, but that has been laying there since about friday, and I haven't touched it since. Maybe this weekend.

(more artsy pictures)
I'm not that confident in sewing, yet. I've finished almost all the projects in my Love at First Stitch book, and I've made a Hemlock Tee, but that's it so far. I'll try to write a post about these projects sometime soon. But that's all for now.

Love,

Lisanne