Sew: Jaywalk Laurel

This is one bad ass Laurel. Laurel is supposed to be sweet and feminine but this one ain't! Jaywalk fabric, black knit, exposed zippers and a touch of red. A match made in heaven. 

As soon as I saw this competition announced I knew I was going to make a shift dress. Starting with the Laurel pattern, I performed a series of alterations to achieve the look I was after. I did my standard sway back adjustment, removing the excess from the back neckline in the process. After these alterations, I folded out the bust dart all the way across, raised the back neckline and placed the back pattern piece on the fold. I simply omitted the waist darts. I traced off the desired yoke piece and added seam allowances. Voila! It worked a treat. 

I gained inspiration from Pinterest for this make. The Tessuti stripes board was a winner. You can see my particular inspiration pics below. These pictures are all from the Tessuti board.

I was repeatedly drawn to a few key features. I wanted contrast sleeves, coloured binding on the neckline, a loose fit, patch pockets and an exposed zipper. I got all of them except the patch pockets. I want those to be black and if I put them on I was concerned about going over the 20% allowance for non-Jaywalk fabric. So I can add them later if I want. We'll see! 

I decided on red binding for the neckline. It would have been much easier to use black but I do thrive on a challenge. You can see a tiny sliver of the red binding in the above pictures. Below are the inside garment pictures. Pretty, isn't she??

The exposed zipper is purely decorative. I left the centre seam in the back yoke and stitched it together before stitching the zipper over the top. The seam provided the zip with some stability.

Project Details
Pattern: Colette Laurel dress, size 14
Fabric: Black/natural viscose/elastane jersey knit "Jaywalk" and black dot com jersey from Tessuti Fabrics
Alterations: Sway back adjustment, removed 3cm from back neckline, folded out bust darts, omitted centre back seam, omitted back waist darts, raised back neckline 1cm.

A good shift dress is trans-seasonal and I will be wearing my Jaywalk Shift with boots and tights for the next few months. It works well both ways.

Thanks to Tessuti Fabrics for a wonderful competition and encouraging this wonderful online sewing community. Good luck everyone!

So the big question is, pockets or no pockets?? 

L x

Sew: Pleated Style Arc Ali Knit Skirt

I like to keep it real around here at Sew Brunswick. I really don't like this skirt I made last weekend but I decided to post the photos anyway so others can learn from my mistakes. The decision to use the pleats on both the front and back of the skirt was a very, very bad decision. The pattern is designed for a flat back piece with a pleated front. To spice it up, you can have a plain pencil skirt, like my floral scuba skirt, by using the back pattern piece in both the front and back. Or you can use the front pleated pattern piece twice and get pleats in the front and back. It's quite a versatile pattern for such a simple style. I do plan on using this pattern again, and again, as I think it's going to be a great wardrobe staple. Just without pleats in the back!

I thought putting the pleats on the back would avoid having the visible undie line and avoid showing all the lumps and bumps. It has just drawn even more attention to my backside, in addition to adding bulk! Lesson learnt.

Project Details
Pattern: Style Arc Ali Knit Skirt, size 16
Fabric: Medium weight black ponti from Tessuti

I'm planing on making this again with just the pleated front in a black ponti to replace this one and also a charcoal knit, maybe a wool knit, to wear with boots and tights during winter.

You live and you learn!

L x

Sew: Style Arc Ali Knit Skirt

There's not much to say about this skirt. The fabric is a remnant from this dress I made last year for Mr Sew Brunswick's 40th birthday party. I only wore the dress twice before donating it to the school fete trash & treasure. I think I overheated way too much and was traumatised by the experience. I never wanted to wear it again. A skirt is a much better option for this fabulous floral scuba knit, that just doesn't breathe. It's a bit shorter than I would have liked, due to fabric restrictions, but I plan on wearing it with tights and boots during winter. An oversized black cardigan would be great too!

Project Details
Pattern: Style Arc Ali Knit Skirt, size 16
Fabric: Floral scuba knit from Lincraft (remnant from this dress)

L x

Knit: GAP-tastic Cowl

As I mentioned in a previous post, I made a lot of my Christmas gifts. I love to sew, make, knit and bake but there is only so much stuff I need. Making gifts for my nearest and dearests was a good way to share my love of creating things. 

This GAP-tastic Cowl was by far the longest gift project. It took me almost 5 months to finish. I am possibly the world's slowest knitter. This combined with my tendency to put projects aside for long periods of time, while I move on to brighter and shinier things, resulted in a very slow project. Despite all that, I greatly enjoyed the process and my sister-in-law loves it. 

Project Details
Pattern: GAP-tastic Cowl by Jen Geigley
Yarn: 3 balls of Lion Brand Wool-Ease Thick & Quick in Amber 
Needles: 40 inch 9mm aluminium circular needles 

I have another 3 balls of this yarn to make myself a scarf. I'm thinking of pushing my boundaries and branching out! I'm looking at the Lara's Cowl or the Honey Cowl. What do you think? Any other cowl suggestions? 

L x

Knit: Red Dishcloth

Project Details
Pattern: Dishcloth Duo (dishcloth only)
Yarn: Panda Cotton Blend 8ply in bright red from Yarn & Co
Needles: 3mm aluminium needles
Alterations: Kept increasing the stitches in each row until the dishcloth bias was the length of my needles (approximately 28cm)

The perfect project for practising my knitting. And now I have a dishcloth!

L x

Knit: Charcoal GAP-tastic Cowl

I finished my charcoal GAP-tastic cowl when I had the dreaded lurgy and spent the best part of two weeks on the couch with a blanket and my knitting. It was so therapeutic. So much so, that I immediately cast on another. This time in a mustard wool blend.

Project Details
Pattern: GAP-Tastic Cowl
Yarn: Morris Norway 14ply wool in charcoal from Morris & Sons
Needles: 7mm Knit Pro Nova Metal Interchangeable Knitting Needle Tips & 100cm Knit Pro Options Cables
Alterations: Casted on 191 stitches instead of recommended 131 due to smaller yarn and needles (basically I kept casting on until the cable was almost full)

I think this cowl is going to get a LOT of wear this cold Melbourne winter!!

L x

Needles: Charcoal GAP-tastic Cowl

I was so pleased with my first GAP-tastic cowl that I started on another. I chose a dark charcoal from Morris & Sons. I discovered metal knitting needles and am totally converted!

My foot is still broken and we've been back up to Queensland to see my family, so there has been lots of time for knitting. Just not on the plane as I was too scared to take my metal knitting needles through security.

L x

Knit: GAP-tastic Cowl

 

I did it! My first ever hand knitted item!!  After multiple unravels and attempts at casting on, I finally found my groove. The combination of a broken foot, torrential rain and a stint in the kid's hospital for a tooth vs lip altercation* made this a rather quick knit.

I used two balls of Lion Brand Wool-Ease Thick & Quick in Navy that I bought online from Yarnover, along with a set of Hiya Hiya 40 inch 9mm bamboo circular needles. I wouldn't go any shorter on the circular needles. I started with the 24 inch and it was too tight and awkward. The 40 inch were perfect. I casted on 121 stitches instead of the recommended 131. Purely because I was lazy and had casted on so many times before. The two balls of yarn resulted in a 10 inch wide cowl. 

Next time I'm going to use 3 balls of yarn and cast the extra stitches. I really want to use a mustard yellow yarn next time. I'm a bit torn between using the same brand, Lion Brand, which is a wool/acrylic blend (but has the perfect colour) or using a 100% wool yarn (but I can't find a mustard yellow). What to do?!

Project Details
Pattern: GAP-tastic Cowl by Jen Geigley
Yarn: Lion Brand Wool-Ease Thick & Quick in Navy
Needles: Hiya Hiya 40 inch 9mm bamboo circular needles

All up, I am extremely pleased with myself in completing this project. I'm not a complete convert to knitting but I will make another cowl or two for winter.

*We finally got home from Queensland late Wednesday afternoon and Thursday morning I was doing a bit of baking with the boys. Mr H got a bit excited about an apricot and slipped of the stepstool hitting his chin. Blood everywhere!! The next 14 hours were a whirlwind of solo-parenting logistical skills (Mr Sew Brunswick was still in America) culminating in theatre at 11pm to stitch up the inside lip, fix the outside chin and examine his teeth, plus or minus remove his front teeth. He came out with 7 stitches and his teeth intact!! We got home at 10am, after picking up Mr N from a friend's house, only to re-present to ED at 9pm that night as the stitches had fallen out and the wound had opened. Thankfully they decided against taking him back to theatre. We now just have to wait to see if the wound heals and if his teeth are ok.

Talk about one hell of a week?! I am so looking forward to Rachel and I's trip to Sydney next weekend. Who's coming along to the meet up?

L x

Knit: Progress Report

I received my new bamboo circular needle and Lion Brand chunky yarn during the week and got stuck right in to knitting the GAP-tastic cowl. After a few false starts where everything was twisting around, I think I'm doing alright.

 A bit of a difference to last week!!

L x

Knit: Progress Report

One of the good things, if there is such a thing, about breaking my foot is that I've started on one of my aims for 2013. Knitting! After a full day of work my foot aches so I've been sitting on the couch with my circular needle and yarn, watching You Tube videos about casting on, knit stitch and purl stitch. I've decided to start with the GAP-tastic Cowl. And boy, is knitting more complicated than I thought. I bought the wrong yarn and learnt the hard way. It involved scissors to get myself out of the mess. It wasn't pretty but I'm persevering and I've order some new chunky yarn and a longer circular needle.

Wish me luck!!

L x

Celebrate: The New Year

 

Happy New Year! We had a lovely quiet night at home with friends. It was all over and done by 9.30pm as the kids were going feral and were completely freaked out by the fireworks. It was still a nice way to see out 2012 and enjoy a bottle of bubbles.

 

Earlier in the day, I found out that I had broken my foot! I am now accessorising with a "Moon Boot" that thankfully I only have to wear if I'm walking around a lot.

 

 

No running or walking for exercise for 6 weeks! There goes my New Year's resolution of running the 15km Run for the Kids and losing the next 7kg.

 

And it's my sewing foot!! I hope it doesn't slow down the sewing production too much. I did go and buy some knitting needles and yarn to start on my knitting resolution...

 

L x