oljett

I'm not much of a knitter, although my mom is pretty amazing at it so you'd think there should be some knitty genes in me.. But since I'm a bit of a fiber addict, all those gorgeous yarns tend to draw me in every now and then.

This is the Oljett Toque by Jenny Gordy. 

Now as my man very blatantly pointed out to me, I don't wear hats. (I'm usually fidgeting with, complaining about or criticizing whatever's on my head), but I really liked the simplicity of the style and the slouchy, relaxed fit. This was my kind of hat!

So I bought the pattern and yarn then proceeded to stash it away for over half a year. It wasn't until fate led me to this lady (blogger, sewist, knitter and hat maker extraordinaire) who nudged me with some friendly words of encouragement, that I decided to go forth and actually make this hat (thanks again Kate :)) And I just might wear this one!

For this version (and there will be many more!) I pretty much copied the colour scheme from Jenny's blog. I even got my East coast dwelling sister to bring over some of the elusive Brooklyn Tweeds yarn that was recommended but is pretty much impossible to find on this side of the continent. This 'test' version, however, was made with Louet Gems 100% merino wool (superwash) in pure white and pewter (two strands held together) which I purchased at my local yarn shop. I was actually expecting more of a speckled look but I guess however way I held my yarn, it turned out more patchy then speckley. I actually like how this looks and think it's kind of fun to look for 'pictures' in the pattern (I see the face of a small dog, perhaps a schnauzer, in the above picture :))

I pretty much followed the pattern without any changes except for leaving off the little loopy thing at the top which is actually really cute and I should add it later on. I just wanted to finish my hat in time for the windy ferry ride I was going on last week.  

So now, as the freezy cold weather and rain seem to have let up and spring has finally arrived on the West coast, I seem to be a wee bit addicted to knitting hats. And after seeing Kate's Jul, I promptly went out and bought that pattern and more yarn (super soft alpaca this time!) and cast on for another hat. 

melissa x

dropcloth lucy dress

I just finished sewing up a few more 'flutter sleeve' Lucy Dresses and I have to say, I am sooo in love with this fabric! It's Jay McCarroll's Drop Cloth print from the Habitat collection. I've been hoarding this fabric for a while and I'm not sure if it's even available anymore. But seriously, isn't this the best print for an adventurous little girl?!? A modern, funky print that camouflages any spills or stains that might occur in a busy day's work :) 

I also made a couple more chevron print Lucy Dresses with the 'puff sleeves'. 

These dresses are on their way to Beansprouts, a very fun and fabulous kids' clothing shop on Main Street in Vancouver. I probably should mention that I recently started selling my dresses and skirts there, which is why my etsy shop is looking a little bare right now.. So if you're local and are in need of a sweet little dress to take your mind off this rather gloomy weather, head on over! (By the way, these layer really well over leggings or jeans and long sleeves.) And if you're not local and would like a dress, shoot me an email and we can work something out. 

melissa x

sleeveless tova

This is my second time sewing the Wiksten Tova, the first, which I'm realizing now, I never actually blogged about (but if you want to check it out, it's over here). It's a fantastic pattern and overall, a pretty quick and simple project to sew up. I had finished this sleeveless version about a month ago, but didn't get around to taking pictures until a couple of weeks ago. And then, well, I got side-tracked and blah blah blah... So anyways, here it is.

 

I used an off-white, light-weight fabric I bought at a fill-a-bag event put on by Our Social Fabric (I had also meant to do a post about this not-for-profit organization whose goal is to keep fabrics out of landfills, but I never did get around to it. If you're interested, Tasia of Sewaholic did a great post about it over here.) I thought it was cotton at first, but it doesn't seem to wrinkle very much so I'm now thinking it's a blend of some sort (I haven't ventured into any burn-tests to figure that out though). Anyways, it cost next to nothing and has the subtle stripes throughout it so I thought it would make a sweet tunic top. Although I made this Tova in the dress length, the sheerness of the fabric pretty much limits me to wearing it as a tunic over leggings or skinnies and a tank, which is pretty much my daily 'uniform' anyways :)

 

The overall construction of this dress/tunic was very simple, especially having left off the sleeves which aren't all that difficult, but a bit finicky with the gathering and all. To finish the arm holes in this version, I  just used the bias binding technique from the Wikstan Tank pattern which worked perfectly well. The trickiest part of the body is the front yoke which, again, isn't all that difficult if you just sew slowly and carefully when working around the corners. 

 

I made this in the size large (same as my flannel Tova) and didn't do any adjustments to the pattern other than omitting the sleeves. I love how it fits and looks from the front, but am still having issues with the back which is looking pretty 'tenty' (I didn't manage to get a picture of the back yet but trust me, it's not very flattering). I'm thinking I need to add some darts or cinching or something. 

Anyways, I've been wanting to learn more about tailoring and pattern alterations, so I decided to sign up for this pattern fitting course through Craftsy. (They lured me in with the 'we miss you' super promo deal so I actually also signed up for this 'pattern drafting from ready-to-wear' course which I'm pretty excited about!) I also took out this book from the library which I haven't had a chance to really read through yet, but has a nice section on adjusting patterns to your body type. If anyone knows of any other good books or resources for altering patterns or tailoring, please share! I have heard that this Palmer/Pletsch book is great, but I haven't gotten my hands on it yet. 

melissa x

field trip cargos

Hey, did you hear? It's Celebrate the Boy time again, hosted by Rae and Dana. Since I usually end up making dresses (and dresses and more dresses), I figured now would be a good time to start working on my poor boy's wardrobe. Another thing that's been bothering me lately, is that about 75% of my kid's 'basics' (being jeans, leggings, and tees) come from the Gap. After reading this book and all the reviews and commentary that's been floating around the web (here, here and here to name a few) I decided that this is the year I'm going to end my dependence on The Gap for basics and start making more myself. So this is what I've started with:

These are the Field Trip Cargo Pants by Oliver + S. And first off, what a freak'n awesome pattern this is! I made these up in the size 5 but lengthened the leg to the size 6 (for my tall and skinny 5 1/2 year old). I sewed these up over the weekend, a couple hours here and there with many internet and snack breaks in between.. So maybe 4-5 hours total not including sewing prep (tracing the pattern and cutting out the fabric). I'm so bad about keeping track of my sewing time and am easily distracted so projects usually take longer than they should. Anyways, even though I've only sewn up a couple of Oliver + S patterns and I have to say, the design and instructions are genius, well written and so very easy to follow. They include lots of fabulous details like knee darts, a faux fly, belt loops and snazzy top stitching. And I love the fit of these 'homemade pants' which, aside from my fabric choice (which I'll get into in a bit), don't really look 'homemade' at all (at least not to me..) 

So about the fabric.. I found this organic cotton twill at my local Fabricana and although it's supposed to be 'charcoal', it looks a bit more brown to me than gray (and sorry for the crappy pictures taken in seriously bad lighting). The weight and feel of the fabric is great. They are soft and comfortable, but they kind of 'shine'. I realized after making these that most store-bought cargo pants are probably made with a brushed twill/cotton so that they look more 'worn in'. These kinda look a little too 'new' if you know what I mean, so I'm going to try tossing them in the washer a dryer a few times to see if they will look a little more 'worn in'. 

Overall, I'm super happy with the look and fit of these cargos (and yes, C likes them too!) I'm going to try to make these again in a brushed twill or maybe even a denim without the cargo pockets so they are more like a simple pair of jeans. 

Next up will be a basic tee. Thinking of either the Flashback Skinny Tee or the Hipster Henley..

melissa x

nothing but goats

Alrighty.. it's mid February and I haven't posted anything since November. So, instead of a year end review, or a slew of new years resolutions, I'm giving you this: Two minutes of nothing but goats yelling like humans. Enjoy!

I'll be back with more sewing/crafting related posts soon!

(oh, and happy new year!)

melissa x

getting ready for market

Wow, mid-November already? These last couple months seem to have just whizzed by! Well, I thought I'd pop by here to share what I've been busy with these last few weeks. I've been getting ready for the Dunbar Holiday Craft Fair coming up on November 24th. Here are just a few of the things I've been working on:

Fold up Eco-Totes

Lucy Dresses

Drawstring Project & Gift Bags

Large Stripey Tote

I've been shopping at this market for years and it's really quite incredible. I think pretty much every room in the building is filled with wonderful local crafty wares for sale (over 140 vendors!) and it's just buzzing with cheerful holiday spirit! This is my first time as a vendor here so I'm super excited to be a part of it all. If you're in the Vancouver Area on November 24th, come on by the Dunbar Holiday Market from 10-5 and please stop by my booth (in room 212, table 37) to say hi! Hope to see you there! Ok, back to the sewing machine now..

colette, hazel and random thoughts..

This past weekend, Sarai from Colette Patterns was in town for a little pattern release party at Spool of Thread. I'm a huge fan of Sarai and her blog which is always packed with gorgeous design inspirations and expert sewing tips and techniques, so I couldn't wait to meet her in person.

clothing samples (I love this Oolong Dress)

The new Anise Jacket. Totally adorable!

The new Juniper Pants. I ended up buying this pattern along with the classic Ginger Skirt. Can never have too many wardrobe basics patterns.

And here I am (being a total groupie) with the fabulous Sarai (who is incredible sweet in person!) I'm wearing my Hazel dress (which is actually my wearable muslin). It was fun to see so many people wearing their Colette creations. For more photos from the party, check out the Colette Facebook page.

I never did end up doing a post on my Hazel dress which I started working on way back in July. I actually did finish it over a month ago but didn't get around to taking any pictures of it. Here are the only full dress pictures I took (hmm, looks like this was even before I had finished hemming the dress..) And please try to ignore the dirty deck and garden hose in the background. Not an ideal backdrop but it's all I've got for now.

 

Although I own about half a dozen Colette patterns, this was actually my first time sewing with a Colette pattern. I have to say that it was probably one of the most well written patterns I've worked with. All the instructions were super clear and it was kind of like I had a little Sarai on my shoulder rooting me on through the process. Now I'm all gung-ho about sewing up my other Colette patterns.  Seriously though, if you are at all interested in sewing women's clothing, Colette Patterns (and the Colette Sewing Handbook) are the absolute perfect place to start. Yep, seriously! :)

And now on to some random thoughts:

-Speaking of fabulous pattern designers, Shelley from Figgy's Patterns is on a mission to create a sewing studio and 'Figgy's Kids' Foundation that will help develop and encourage sewing and crafting skills for kids who may not otherwise be exposed to or have a chance to learn such skills. She has a campaign on indiegogo where she explains (much better than I am) what her hopes and dreams are for the studio and foundation. I was lucky enough to have been exposed to sewing at a very early age through my mom, and then again in high school home-ec classes and I think what Shelley is trying to accomplish is so important. If you feel the same way, check out her blog post about the campaign and help out if you can.

-I'm not sure how I missed this but I just read on Melanie's blog, A Sewing Journal, that the Japanese sewing book Stylish Dress Book by Yoshiko Tsukiori has been recently translated into English! I have the original Japanese version and have tagged many things I want to make from it. I've sewn with Japanese patterns before but only kid's clothes and bags. Sewing women's clothing from a Japanese pattern still kind of scares me, so I'll definitely be ordering this version.

-A friend of mine told me about this craft show series of posts on the Stitched in Color blog. I read through her posts describing her thoughts and reasons for selling at a craft market right through to trying to figure out inventory and booth layout.. It was fascinating! As a relative newbie to the craft market scene (I just started selling at markets last year), I thoroughly enjoyed reading someone else's candid thoughts about it all. There are so many emotions that go with 'putting your stuff out there' for others to see, judge and hopefully buy. I love the craft market scene and for the most part, there is such great energy there. But when it comes down to the planning, the inventory and making, I tend to get stressed out and I think to myself, why am I doing this? I'm in this place right now. Planning and making my inventory for a holiday market that is fast approaching. Do any of you sell at craft markets? Do you find it to be a bit of an emotional roller coaster too?

x melissa