Classic Patterns

I made this dress over the summer using a "vintage" pattern.  I am not where the pattern is, so I have no idea of the # or details, but here is a picture anyway.  I used a very fun stretch twill and it zips up the back.  You can't tell from this photo, but it actually has a bit of an A-frame shape.
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Interesting how lines change over the years.  I liked this dress because the pattern pieces are long and simple with darts.  And an A-frame is so flattering on just about anyone, a real classic cut!  How can you go wrong?  Ummm, forgot that when this dress pattern was put out - it was fashionable to have the under arm way up into your armpit.  Yuck.
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So, eventually I will take it apart and scoop it out a bit and then re-sew it.  Shouldn't really take too long and then I will have a fun, servicable dress.  And it only cost me a few dollars to make too.
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Actually, the whole point of me making this particular dress is because I am looking for the perfect "work uniform" dress.  I want an A-frame, simple to wash, and would like pockets (this dress doesn't have any, but it was just a "test").  I'm still looking for the perfect pattern - and when I find it, it will probably be a used vintage pattern.  Because those classic lines - they are timeless, you know?  And once I find that perfect pattern, I am going to cut out several dresses all at once, get them sewn, hang them in my closet and not have to wonder what to wear all summer!
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Lately I have been interested in really old patterns.  There are many excellent references on the internet and full schematics of old patterns from the 1800's.  All these patterns were very practical, had to be made in a fairly short amount of time because they were needed, and made use of a measuring tape for individual size differences.  Little reference books included everything from house dress, Sunday dress, girls school dress, work coat, apple-picking apron (don't you love it!), kitchen apron, boys & mens pants and shirt, PJ's, nightgowns, baby layette, mittens, muffs and hats, and even general household items.  A women would only need this 1 book and be able to sew most anything for her family and household.  And she would be able to follow those directions and know that the item would fit. 
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If you think you want to sew a pattern, a good resource is http://www.patternreview.com/ - because chances are that several people have already made the pattern you are considering and they have reviewed the pattern.  If there are serious fit issues, or confusing instructions, you will know by other people's reviews. 
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Once I find a pattern I like, I usually use it over and over and over again.  Like my son's PJ's and pants.  Those patterns fit him and since he is still only 6, he does not mind the same pattern all the time.  Fabric choices changes everything.  I know that in a few years I will have to start looking for a zipper pant for him, but for now, he is happy with his elastic waist pants.
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There is something very satisfying in reaching for a pattern, making the garmet and knowing that it is going to fit perfectly when you are done.  All the other patterns out there are "dessert", but when it comes to sewing clothes, because of the time and investment, your core wardrobe items need to be meat and potatoes!  To me, the classic patterns are the ones you use so much that eventually you trace them out onto a cheap vinyl tablecloth from the Dollar Store because they are getting so worn! 

Purging the Closets

In mid-Sept. I decided to go through the closets and get rid of all the clothes that a) didn't fit or b) have not been worn within the past year (excluding a few select items).  Since my son is 6 - his clothes are the easiest to go through.  Basically - anything from last winter and the year before (we sometimes are lucky enough to get 2 winters out of winter gear) - he outgrew.  Summer stuff that fit him this year, won't fit him next year.  Onto my big bed those things went.  Outgrown baby stuffed animals and small toys - threw them onto the pile while I was at it.  My son hates anything itchy, anything that binds, anything that has bulky seams and is allergic to anything made with the thread that looks like fishing line.  All those things also went on the bed because he just won't wear it - so why have it taking up space in his tiny clothing wardrobe when other kids can wear it?
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My clothes I regulary purge, not that I have tons of clothes - it is just that I have very tiny closets and so try to only keep what I absolutely love.  Besides the grungy work clothes that I really need to keep because why ruin nice clothes?  If it doesn't fit or I really don't like it - onto the bed it goes.  I have this big fear that I will end up in the hospital someday and my husband will bring me all my very worst/ill fitting/most hated clothes.  Well - if I get rid of them, then that just won't happen, will it?  Right down to my socks.  Because after a period of time I will have a collection of socks that I don't care for.  So, good-bye!
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DH's clothes are harder.  That involves talking him into trying on clothes.  And then reasoning with him that he probably won't gain/lose X amount of weight in X amount of time so that those clothes will ever fit him again.  However, I was successful in getting him to try on lots of clothes and added to the pile on the bed.
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Oh, and all those pairs of uncomfortable or unworn shoes?  You know the ones - the ones you have to "dust" off every now and then so you can see the bottom of your closet through the haze of dust.  Yup, those got added to the pile.  Generally I will bag the boots with their boot liners so they don't get seperated, safety pin mittens together, etc.
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All the "good stuff" gets bagged up and dropped off at the community "free shop".  The free shop is just that - everything in there is free, it is run by volunteers and there is a 5 item limit per visit.  I especially like to bring my sons outgrown clothes to the free shop because his clothes just don't get worn out before they are outgrown!  Practically new, some of his stuff.  And probably who ever gets his clothes will then return them to the free shop when their kids outgrow them or hand them down to a friend.  When we dropped this load off my son was very happy to be able to pick out a new truck toy and brand new package of playing cards.  It is a great way to teach him to pass things on and he gets a little reward for doing it.
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Under my laundry table I keep an empty clothes hamper and as I come across things that no longer fit or have "issues" - I toss them into them into the hamper.  Sometimes I add outgrown toys and books.  You would be surprised at how quickly that hamper sometimes fills up.  Other times - it will take a long time to fill up, but at least it is there and it seems to be a system that works for me. 
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Anything that doesn't make the cut for the free shop - I snip off the buttons if there are any, sometimes remove the zipper if I think I might use it on a little zippered bag and throw the item out.  Still, I always feel badly about throwing something out - but once it is on the bed, it has to either go to the free shop or be tossed.  No second chances!
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Another rule I have - when I do go out shopping, if I bring in 1 bag of new clothing into the household, I generally try remove 1 bag.  If you think that when you go home you have to pick a few things to get rid of, sometimes that keeps you from buying things you don't need in the first place!  Except that growing son of mine always seems to need new things!  I tend to keep his wardrobe down to about 5 complete outfits, extra shirts because he tends to spill on them and additional outerwear because 1 set always seems to be wet.  Sometimes friends will tell me that they cleaned out their kids closets and had to get rid of say... 50 pairs of pants.  Huh?  Obviously they don't have to sew all their kids pants like I do, LOL!  Truthfully, I think sometimes Mom's are just so busy that they have no idea that their kids have way to many clothes to deal with.  But seriously, my son just has a little clothing wardrobe unit in his room (no closet) and most of his clothing has to fit in there.  And it has to be easy for him to deal with so he can put his own clothes away and get dressed by himself.  Everything has a place.  Well, his room in Canada anyway - in Austria his room has wall to wall storage.  But that is a story for another day.
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The good thing about using my bed - I start and finish the project all in 1 day - because I want to go to bed at night!  So, how did I do this last purge?  Not bad, not bad at all...  awww, nice, fairly empty closets!  I love having room to slide my clothes around on the rod.  On empty closet shelfs I like to put a framed photo so I am not so tempted to fill the shelf up again.  It is great fun to open the closet and see some favorite photos instead of chaos!

Just making PJ's and such

I've used the same PJ pattern for my son since he was 3 years old - it is Simplicity 8493.  Over and over again.  Plus I've made the robe 2X in fleece.  It takes me 3 hours per pair of PJ's -  if I cut out 2 pairs at once it goes faster.  The only thing - buy extra fabric!  I buy 3 yards for a size 6 because the fabric is narrower than the pattern expects and there is just no way you can cut it all out unless you have that extra.
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Anyway, I am a bit behind in making PJ's this year.  In August I knew that I had to make some and I did - the pants he has been wearing since August and the top?  Well, the top needs buttonholes.  And along the way the buttons got "played" with so now I need new buttons.  I couldn't do the buttonholes right off because I used a knit jersey fabric and don't have any interfacing on hand for those buttonholes.  Shoot.  When I use flannel the buttonholes are easy breezy - not so with knit.  Oh well, live and learn. 
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In the meantime he has been tugging and pulling at the sleeves of his current pairs and asks "Momma, when are you going to make me new PJ's?".  Last week when we went away I let him pick out 2 lengths of flannel and this week I made them up.  Scooby Doo - all done and being worn nightly!  And the pirate ships - well - got to get buttons and elastic, but everything else on them is done, done, done.
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I will be seeing my sewing sister this week and I am sure that between the 2 of us we can finish up what needs to be done.  That will give my son 3 pairs to wear.  Phew.
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Also, along the way I have lost his pants pattern.  Yikes!  This boy will NOT wear store bought pants.  It is really pointless anyway because nothing and I mean nothing ever fits him anyway.  My sister has the same pattern and she is giving me her copy this week.  I am going to see if I can pick up a simple vest pattern and then I can make him matching pants/vest.  He loves fleece vests and wears one almost daily.
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With the left-over fleece bits I hope to make some simple hats for the younger cousins for Christmas presents.  We will see....
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Because we are moving tomorrow.  Well - not actually moving, but just relocating for NINE months.  Yikes!  How does one pack everything they need in 3 suitcases for 1 adult and 1 child for nine months?  When 1 suitcase has been taken over by Legos and I need to have room for my business stuff and stay within a reasonable weight?  Even though we are allowed 4 suitcases, I can't manage 4 alone.  DH went ahead of us and only needed 1 bag so I sent him with an extra for us - full of ski pants and winter boots - that stuff just fills a suitcase in a quick hurry.  Somehow we will manage - and  at least he has PJ's that fit!

Knit a simple ribbed hat

Last week we were in the yarn shop and my son fell in love with Patons Bohemian yarn.  It is super chunky, super fuzzy and super soft.  I hate knitting with fuzzy yarn - it is hard to see the knit vs the purl and most pattern work is lost in the fuzziness.  But my son loved it, so I bought 1 tiny skein (68 yards) and yesterday I set about making him a simple hat.  
Buy Bohemian Yarn Here! *
A popular hat in my area is a ribbed hat.  The timeless Seaman's cap - if you will.  I don't know why these hats are usually navy or black - my nephew is a fisherman and prefers bright orange or yellow in case he falls overboard he will be easier to spot!  Usually these hats are knit with 2 strands of wool yarn on 2 needles - usually a size 8, maybe a 6 - nice and warm and keeps the wind out.  You don't really need a pattern.  Some people like the K2, P2 ribbing, some the K3, P2, others like the K4, P4.  Personally, I think K2, P2 is the easiest because when it gets to the decreasing it is just a matter of knitting 2 of the Ks together and then purling 2 of the Ps together.  No math.  No pattern.  But of course, there are all sorts of patterns and interesting bind-offs!  It really is the knitter's choice.  And they are knit on 2 needles which is easy and fun and you don't have to bother with double pointed needles or cable lengths on those round needles.  And because there really aren't alot of stitches you can even use shorter needles.
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My son is 6.  Guess what - big surprise here - a kids' head is almost the same size as an adults.  His head measures 20.5" around and mine is 22.5" around.  From the top of his head to just below the ear lob his head measures 8" and mine is 9".   Trying to evenly push up a hat brim is a bit of a problem so I decided to just knit his hat to fit with no brim, but I still wanted it to cover his ears.  Did I measure before I began?  No, I just kept holding it up to his head, but being the good blogger that I am - I took the measurements for this post!
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Using that Bohemian yarn I cast on 56 stitches on size US 10 straight needles. I just used a single strand of yarn and with those big needles it knit up fast!  Because I used the K2, P2 ribbing I wanted my stitches to be in multiples of 4 - that way when I join it together the ribbing continues.  If I had cast on 58 stitches then the ribbing would have been off.  So cast on 52, 56, 60, 64... depending on the size head, yarn thickness and size needles you are using.  I did the ribbing K2, P2 for  5".  My bind off is 3" and I wanted the hat to be 8" so I stopped there.  Next time I make this hat I might do an extra 2 rows of ribbing and even a shorter length of decreasing to get rid of that tiny bit of pointy-ness, but done is done!  If I was knitting this for myself I probably would have knit 6 to 6.5" before starting the decreasing. 
Buy Size 10 Knitting Needles Here!
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To start decreasing, the next row  K2 together all the knit stitches and P2 together all the purl stitches.  Just 1 row.  So now I have 24 stitches on the needle (1/2 of the original 56).
Now K the knit stitches and P the purl stitches.  I did this for 3" (just 6 rows on that super bulky yarn!).
Purl a row - or P 1 row, K a row.  I just P 1 row.  You can see this row if you use wool, so purl - but with that fuzzy yarn it doesn't really mater - you can knit it if you prefer.
Next row - K2 together all around - you should have I think 7 stitches left, but maybe 6 or 8 or so depending on how many stitches you had to begin with.  Cut the yarn with a long tail - thread it through the remaining stitches and pull closed - now sew down the seam.  I use a ladder stitch - like stitching a teddy bear shut - to hide the seam. 
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I only have a small bit of yarn left over - so if you want an adult sized hat I am thinking that you will need a bit more than 1 skein if you go with the Bohemian.  Here's a photo of me in the hat just so you can see the difference.  My own preference would be another 4 stitches cast on a a bit longer for my size head - I like my hats to cover my ears because it is very windy where I live!  But some other adult would probably just love this hat the way it is. 

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I might make a few more, but probably out of wool so you can see the pattern better.  In that case, I might do a K2, P2 ribbing  for maybe 2" and then switch over to the K4 P4 ribbing or switch to a bigger needle just to mix things up a bit.  An even faster way to knit this style hat is to do a ribbing for 4" and then switch to the plain knitting stitch - alternating knit rows with purl rows.  But I like the ribbing all the way to the top because it stretches to fit just about anyone!
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Clear as mud?  Everyone always asks me - how did you do that?  I don't know - so I jotted a few notes on a scrap of paper as I went along this time. Of course, I didn't think to measure my son's head - I just kept holding it up to his head until I thought it was good.  Then I remembered I wanted to know a measurement so before I started the bind-off I added a piece of scrap bright blue yarn so I could take a measurement and see how long my decreasing rows really were!   And just in case anyone asks me about copyright - how can you copyright a pattern that has been along for as long as people have fished the sea?  If you want to make this hat go right ahead.  I hope it keeps your head warm!  If you like this pattern - it would be nice if you would link back to me - I like readers!  And if you need to buy yarn or needles, it would be extra nice if you used my links.  Thank you!
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If you find a mistake - let me know and I will fix my notes.  It is hard to see mistakes on fuzzy, chunky yarn!  That's a good thing!
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Even if there is a better way to do it somehow - it doesn't really matter to me.  The important thing is that my son is very happy with his new hat!

Knitting Season

Where I live... it is knitting season!  This week I made my DH a pair of Newfie mittens - a very popular pattern in my part of Canada!  You can get a pattern here.... www.balkanstyle.blogspot.com - it is under free patterns.  I did mine a tiny bit different - my DH has wide hands so I cast on 42 instead of 40 and did a K1, P1 rib for 2.5" instead of the K2 P2 for 3".  When I was done with the rib I Purled a row and then the next row I also purled - increasing the stitches to 48 evenly.  Then I followed the pattern, but added an extra row of the pattern for additional length.  For the thumb I had 17 stitches instead of 14 (my pair is for a guy!).  And the decrease on this pattern is really abrupt - I ripped mine out and tried to get a more rounded shape, except by then I had already added the extra row of pattern so I couldn't add too much more.  My decrease was K2, K2tog repeat all around.  Next row K.  3rd Row K1, K2tog all around.  4th row - K2 tog all around.  Last -  K2 tog. around and bind off.  Next time I won't add an extra row of pattern and will do a more gradual decrease at the tip for a nice rounded finish.  But, they are done (except weaving in the ends)!!!  And nice and warm since I used Briggs & Little 100% wool.  Because of the 2 rows of purl inbetween the pattern you get a nice ridge - good for keeping your hands off the steering wheel on a cold winter morning!  But, you also get that funny pattern that looks a bit inside-out.  If you don't like that look - just K the 1st row and P the 2nd.
Edited to add:  I am thinking that I MIGHT rip out the extra row of pattern and do replace with a gradual, rounded mitten tip.  Not sure.

Here is my son's mittens from last year - his pair does not have the 2 rows of purl so you can see the difference - maybe - it looks a bit the same due to the varigated yarn!  I didn't knit this pair - we bought them at Farmer's Market for all of about $5.  They are acrylic so only good for Fall & Spring - in the winter he has to switch over to wool. 
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For this year he picked out bright orange and gray wool.  He wants stripped mittens and I am thinking I will do orange cuffs/tips/thumb and then alternate the stripes 4 rows at a time.  I will be able to get 2 pairs of mittens out of his wool so I will make a 2nd pair for him that is double knit for extra warmth.  Let me tell you - the orange is BRIGHT!  I like it that he likes orange - his hat, coat and neck warmer are also orange.  He is constantly running out and about and it seems like every other week is some type of hunting season.  Even though he stays close to the house - I do like him in orange!
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We are moving early next week for at least 6 months and it is alot of work for me to prepare to leave my business for that long.  Lots of work.  With deadlines.  Plus, I have all the other stuff I always have to do on top of that.  So, it is a bit stressful.  OK - really stressful.  Moving us is easy, it is making sure I have everything I need to run the business long distance that bogs me down.  Knitting is helping me relax a bit at night without making a big sewing mess.  Knitting is small and portable and easy to tuck in the corner in a bag.  I need that right now!

Here is my wool stash - beautiful!  I bet you can see my son's orange/gray right off in the middle!  I have 2 skeins for my mittens (the variagated back right).  2 skeins for a beret.  Soft yarn for a hat for my son (brown varigated).  Some scarf yarn.  Probably enough wool for another pair of mittens plus ome small skeins of different colors for miten stripes.  2 skeins of baby yarn if I ever get around to making baby hats for the new cousins.  I thought that Paton's Chunky was the same color in the shop, but it isn't!  So, I will have to rummage around for a pattern to use it on something!  The only other yarn I plan on buying this year might be to make a more detailed pair of mittens for myself, but it probably can wait until next year - looks like I have enough to keep me busy for awhile!

I have the Eco wool book for making the beret and there are some other patterns in there I like as well, but I am not in the mood to start a big project right now.  And look - my library has the Mostly Mittens book!  I love this book - can't wait until the reprint comes out later this year so I can get my own copy.  Right now you can get a copy of this book on Amazon for $117 new or $50 used.  The reprint will be $16.50.  In the meantime, I can enjoy the library book, but I have to bring it back in a few days before we leave.

A Scrappy Finish

I finished this top a few weeks ago - I had it mostly done in April and then it got put aside until after the summer for the borders.  You can't really see it in this photo, but the middle fabric is a big, leafy print.  Every piece was from scraps!

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I've made this pattern before - here is a photo of my last version before I got the binding on.  It is 67X87 and a perfect size for couch snuggling.

It's an easy pattern and a nice way to feature a large print you don't want to cut up.  For co-ordinates - raid your scrap bag!  You can find it in the book Save the Scraps - by Gayle Bong.   It is called Bosom Buddies.  I've also made Crossed Tracks from this book and there are still other patterns I would like to make in there too!  I love that kind of quilt book.