Tag Archives: newtop

Feb1

Two more days off = two more projects

Posted on by
Standard
Two more days off = two more projects

The bird bag I showed you last time was very gratefully received by my coworker. And the buffalo plaid hoodie is comfortable and cosy and I was wearing it constantly the last couple of days.

I have now added another garment to my wardrobe….

This is a mashup of a sleeveless summer top that I invented a couple of years ago and the dolman sleeved top with the ruching from last year. I literally taped the two homemade pattern pieces together and ran this up.

The flared hem drapes nicely at the sides. I narrowed the waist area slightly and made the sleeves three-quarter length.

I accidentally started cutting the front neck without a seam allowance so the neckline is a bit deeper too.

Note the new haircut – shortest sides ever – a proper undercut! And professional colour!

My other finish was a backpack made from fluffy pink chenille. Not your average bag! I had a remnant of it, and paired it with a fleece remnant for the lining. Pulled a couple of coordinating zippers out of the stash, and some curtain grommets. The only thing I needed to buy was a couple of large silver D rings.

It took me a while to figure out the best number of grommets and I was concerned that the two thick layers might be a problem, but it all came together well. There are two very large inside pockets so that everything doesn’t just get mixed up in there.

My last conundrum was a strap and in the end I decided to use some acrylic DK yarn, made into icord with my little machine, and crocheted into a chain with my biggest hook.

Ta dah!

Jun4

A WIP, an FO and a sad goodbye

Posted on by
Standard

I have a new top! This gorgeous polyester jersey had an interesting print which I positioned just so. I made sure that it lined up on the back, front and sleeves.

It’s Burda 6990 again, an easy raglan top with only three pattern pieces and six seams. I still haven’t perfected the hemming but that just gives me an excuse to make more, right?

I love projects that I can make in an afternoon. I’ll wear this to work tomorrow for sure.

My current yarny WIP is this batwing sweater. If you think 1980s when I mention batwing sleeves, that’s great! I’m crocheting this as part of the Totally Tubular 1980s KAL in the  vegan group on Ravelry.

The pattern is a paid one – Stash to Treasure Batwing Sweater by Dora Does. I’m using the blackberry coloured Cygnet Chunky (let’s hope it doesn’t get frogged a third time) and the Knit Picks Brava minis that I bought myself last year.

It’s easy and I intend to have it done by the end of June.

There’s a guy up in that tree

And finally…the sad goodbye is to an old and huge pine tree that stood between my house and my neighbour’s.  They had it cut down this week. No idea why, it was perfectly healthy.

There go the branches
Almost gone

We are still getting used to the wider view and extra light but we are sad for the squirrels and birds that called this tree home, or used it as a route around the neighbourhood.  And this summer we’re going to have to sort out more screening for our deck because that tree provided much needed shade.

A great shame to see how many trees have been lost to the dreaded chainsaw in the last few weeks.

Apr29

FO Friday!

Posted on by
Standard

Wahoo! After a busy week, where I was either working or feeling too knackered to do much except stare at a screen, I finally had a day off which involved a few hours in my sewing room.

I’m glad I made the cheapie canvas version of this apron before cutting into the expensive sewing-themed tapestry fabric. As the pattern I was using was borrowed, I made my own with some Burda pattern tracing paper, and added a few inches of length.

All went well and I’m really happy with it. This will be a sewing apron and won’t go anywhere near my stove so it should stay clean.

My other FO is this top.

It’s Burda 6990 view A, but with the sleeves shortened to make it more multi-seasonal. I like that it’s a raglan – so much easier than setting in sleeves – but the twin needle finishing around the hems wasn’t fun. I just need more practice.

The fabric is pretty wacky but disguises dodgy sewing very nicely.

The Freesia shawl is still not finished but I added a few more rows tonight. This is a pic from a few days ago.

So yeah, it was a great day. Sunny and the perfect temperature to open the windows, eat breakfast outside admiring the view, do a bit of sunbathing, and hang three loads of laundry out to dry.

Dinner was sage and apple sausages based on a recipe from my Vegan 100 cookbook (Gaz Oakley), oven fries, green salad, and fried plantain. The seitan sausages were a hit! I’ve made various versions before but these got compliments!!

And Mr Fixit and I enjoyed an evening walk around the neighbourhood too.

I have the weekend off so I’m looking forward to more fun activities.

Aug30

Friday fun

Posted on by
Standard

I felt bad for Tai Chi Man yesterday. He’s on the verge of leaving for work and says, “Thank goodness it’s Friday!” and I had to break it to him that, actually, it was Thursday. Poor guy! At least he has a long weekend to look forward to – it’s Labour Day weekend.

So what’s been happening Chez Nicolaknits this week? Unpicking quilting stitches – yes, lots of ’em, and the job is not done yet. I haven’t done some every day, but I have amazingly had the patience for some long sessions with the seam ripper so hopefully the job will be finished soon.

There has been other sewing:

IMG_20190830_140611

This top is made from a pattern that a friend bought and sewed up, and she lent me the pattern a very long time ago to make one for myself. I finally got around to it. I started it yesterday morning before work, and finished it this afternoon. There are only a few seams, but the hemline is horrendously long and it took ages to do because I wanted to make sure it was done properly with no tucks or twists.

IMG_20190830_141007

I made View A, the easiest one!

Can I remember what the fabric is? No I can’t. I bought it recently from work, but didn’t keep the receipt. I think it’s a rayon. And it’s in the perfect colour to go with jeans. It has a very wide neckline so I’ll have to wear it with a tank top underneath.

I was having so much fun with the upcycled jeans ideas, that I made two more bags:

There has been a little crochet:

IMG_20190827_121443

This is a pompom hat I’m making with some stash, a cake of Caron Cupcakes in the colourway Strawberry Kiwi Pop. The cool thing about this is that I grabbed the cake of yarn in the morning and stuffed it into a project page with hooks etc, and later in the day after my errands were done I stopped at the tea shop and decided on the spur of the moment to have a strawberry kiwi iced tea (with no idea that that was the colour of the yarn that was in my bag)!

strawkiwi

Another project that I couldn’t wait to start was this one:

IMG_20190830_141316

New yarns came in at work and I was filling the shelves and deciding how to display these new little crochet kits for loveys (mini baby security blankets). Well, I couldn’t resist this unicorn one and I offered to crochet one for display and got the okay!

This is a pretty, soft, worsted weight yarn and the brand, Spindle Yarns, is Fabricland’s (Canada) own. They’ve added quite a few new yarns to the range including a cotton blend and a 100% bamboo, over which I shall have to practice my self control!

The rest of my day looks like this: decide what’s for dinner, get some prep done, sit and unpick quilt, eat dinner, go to gym!