How I spent my summer (needle-wise)

Thanks to those who have asked what happened to me after my last blog!  Well, when the weather turned hot I turned to knitting and crocheting and limited my sewing to just making basic items to go with the crafted items.  It didn't seem like I was being very creative in the "sewing sense" but as I look back at my summer's products I feel like it was a fun wardrobe to have as I traveled extensively  (visiting fabric and yarn stores along the way).      

I've realized that it's a tremendous advantage to be able to sew just the right thing to "Make an outfit" with a hand-knitted top, rather than have to search for the right color and fit in rtw. Here are some of the summer's outfits:

This is a crocheted sweater (cotton rayon yarn) from the book "Free-from Crochet". It has convinced me that crochet can look stylish---it's not just about Granny Squares any more! The blouse and pants are just basic patterns but it was fun to look for just the right fabric with pink and yellow in it.

This is a knitted sweater in linen yarn by the designer Maggi Jackson. I really liked the rustic, arty look of it.

This is a knitted top made from hexagons that are attached as they are knitted. The designer got the ideas from some lacey doilies she saw.  It was probably the most difficult technically to make but just the thing for very hot days----thin cotton yarn.

Here's the shawl wrap I knitted as a hostess gift for my friend we visited in Colorado.  It's heavy wool but she was a good sport about modeling it on a hot day!

I'm busy now working on my fall knitted/sewn ensembles ---what fun it is to combine my love of  different types of needlework!  later, peg

                                                                             
                                                          

My Secret Hobby

                                                                    
Not many of my sewing and knitting friends know that when I'm not doing those activities I'm a "long distance" walker. By "long distance" I mean anywhere from a half marathon (13 miles---I've completed 12) to a whole marathon (26 miles---only finished 3 so far).  I started this activity when I turned 60 (4 years ago) and it's made so much difference in my life.

Now, don't think I'm some kind of super athelete, cause I'm not! I've discovered that all sorts of people participate in long distance events and they have age group prizes up to "over 80". The marathon event planners know they will make more money if they allow enough time for walkers to participate, along with the prize winning runners, so some are now allowing 7 hours for a marathon and 4 hours for a half. Many have a Party atmosphere, with bands playing and spectators cheering for everyone, even the last person.

And don't think I walk a huge amount every day either! Marathon training plans call for you to just go a "short distance" (in my case 3-4 miles) several times a week and then on one day of the week (usually the weekend) you go increasingly longer distances til you've reached the distance of your planned event. Right now I am training for a half-marathon in August and am up to 8 miles on my "long day".

I'll get to "clothes" to wear for long distance walking in a minute but first, here are some of the things I discovered I need to have or take along for that increasingly longer day of walking:

A bandana to wipe the sweat away or wet it for coolness, a sports bra, a water bottle holder that has room for keys, phone and bandaids, socks that are made of something besides cotton so they won't get wet and cause blisters, my Garmin forerunner watch that has a GPS to tell me how far and fast I am going, protein bars to replenish yourself after several hours on the road,  GOOD shoes that have been professionally fitted at a Running Store, hat and sunglasses (plus plenty of sun lotion)    PHONE and MONEY for TAXI if you get too tired or dizzy (this has happened)

Now about the clothes (this IS a sewing blog).  The important rule is that everything next to your skin should be polyester with spandex in it. The big companies all have fancy words for their fabrics such as "wick-away" or "cool-something" but we fabric people know it's really just polyester. I know your first thought is that cotton would be cooler, but when it gets wet (which it will even in cooler weather after many hours of activity) it becomes coarse and chaffs the skin.  As a sewer, I've recently realized that I can easily acquire the right fabrics to make my own "work-out" clothes that are much better fitting than the ones I can buy (and cheaper too).     So on my last trip to Fabric Mart I stocked up on ITY knits and other fabrics with spandex in them to start making my own.    I made the top that's in the picture at the first of this blog and using the same fabric I made some pants and a black poly/spandex top.

             These are so much more comfortable than any I"ve been able to buy and I love wearing bright colors.   

                                                                               
    I'd love to get these shoes and make some walking outfits to go with them! (of course I already know that this brand and make is good for my feet.)Keep on walking and sewing is my motto!
                                                                                                                                                                                                                      

FABRIC MART and memories

Several of you asked who the "special friend" was that gifted me the wonderful designer tee-shirt in my last blog. It was none other than the delightful Shams of communingwithfabric when she visited me from the West Coast in April.  One of the many high points of that visit was when we drove to the famous Fabric Mart, along with Carolyn( sewingfantaticdiary) and Noile (noile.net). It was a very special time for me and I really missed them all when I made my first trip since then back to Fabric Mart today, though not enough to keep me from buying enough fabric for all of us! The owner Robert remembered our group well and said to say HI--he also mentioned that after they blogged about his linen knit it sold out quickly----BLOGGERS have POWER!

FM started a special sale this week that they have for in-store customers only (might be worth making a trip to Pennsylvania for).  They have a whole front room full of fabrics on round tables (which they call "the rounds"), some of which have been on-line and some of which haven't, either because they didn't have enough to sell it on the web or didn't think it would show nicely when photographed.  Anyway, there is some seriously good stuff there and it's always at pretty good prices BUT from now til June 17 it's 50% off that already low price.   Do you wonder why I stocked up??

I wore the top that I made from their fabrics that I entered in their Julie's Picks Contest:

The rules of the contest were to use some of the fabric from their sample mailers . I did order the basic blue knit fabric from this selection but then sewed together all the little samples and used as strip "piping" in Marcy Tilton's Vogue 8671 top. It was fun to make and all the workers at Fabric Mart came out to see it today since they recognized all the 70+ fabrics in it.

I'll be blogging soon about the new fabrics I bought today and my plans for them. Til then keep on sewing!
                                                            
                                                            

My First Designer Top

Nope, I didn't make this wonderful designer top (from Helia's in Old Town, Alexandria, VA). It was a gift from a special friend. I had seen it and wanted to knock-off the pattern but it was one of those that would be almost impossible to copy just by looking at it in the store (and places like that seem to get suspicious when I turn it inside out to see how it's put together).   I was complaining about this fact and she totally surprised me with this gift.    It's definitely a memory of a special time and I  will LOVE wearing it this summer.  I did make the pants to go with it. They are Marcy Tilton's Vogue 8712 which are my new favorite to make for summer.

I lost a little of my sewing MO-JO after finally completing the "knock-Off" dress for the PR contest but am getting it back now.  I want to make up some of the latest Vogue patterns in the next few weeks before the new ones come out in July.  Happy sewing!

Knock-Off Finally Finished!

And here it is ready on the LAST day of the knock-off contest at Pattern Review:

I can't believe how much time and re-drafting I have done on this pattern! It looked so simple when I started but you readers that have been following my blog know how many "muslins" I've sewed (some of which I like better than the final item!)   It has been a fun experience and I've learned so much about pattern drafting.

This is about all that I have sewed on for the whole month of May! I'm ready to tackle something else now.
                                                                            

Knock-Off---Almost there!

Thanks to those of you who have asked if I am still trying to do the knock-off  of this dress:

The answer is YES, but I had to take some time off to think about how I want to proceed to get that middle blue piece to have the crescent-shaped drape like the above image. I have studied patterns that have sort of the right look, and the new Threads magazine even had an article about making a hip drape which helped.

After much thought I decided to re-cut that middle pattern piece. Instead of curving around to fit the other pieces (like the dark line), I just cut it straight from the top (like the green dotted lines).

This worked much better. Since that straight piece was forced to curve it started draping like I wanted rather than laying flat on the body.     Here is the result

Don't know how much you can tell from the pic but there is a huge difference from my former "muslins" in the way that middle printed piece drapes nicely, just like I wanted.
Now I just need to re-cut the pattern so it will have the same proportions as the inspiration design.  Maybe I'll do one more "test model" before cutting out the REAL fabric.  I need to get to work if I'm going to enter it into the Pattern Review Knock-off Contest as it ends next week!   More later.                                                                           
                                                               
                                                                 

Still knocking-off

Thanks so much for all the comments and suggestions that I've gotten in my attempt to knock off this design:

I've incorporated many of your suggestions into this next muslin attempt.  I changed the grain lines (green arrows) and "slash-and-spread" lines (pink lines) so they were going the same way that the drapes I want  go in the design.

Although I really like the resulting dress and will wear it a lot it still doesn't have the long diagonal draping in the blue middle piece that I want.  My method of adding draping with "Slash-and-Spread" does not seem to be working.

I am now re-thinking the entire cut of the Blue piece.  Instead of being curved to fit I am going to try making it a long straight piece (beneathe the neck and sleeve cutout) and sewing it to the curved pieces on each side.
Do you think that will work?  Please continue to give me any suggestions you might have.