Making Memories

Happy Customer

By Jan | December 2, 2013 - 2:16 pm |December 20, 2013 Garment Sewing

In Praise of Silk Jersey

By Jan | November 28, 2013 - 10:24 am |November 28, 2013 Garment Sewing

If I had to tell elucidate my most reassured wardrobe possessions, these Eileen Fisher silk tanks would be right at the top. I own three of them in black, plus one in cream, and a similar EF cap-sleeved t-shirt in red. Some were bought on sale but, truthfully, I paid full price for at least one. I wear the black tanks as a man wears undershirts. They allow me to wear my favorite cashmere sweaters longer between washings or visits to the dry cleaner; they smooth out bra lines under knit tops; they provide an extra layer of warmth and comfort on a cold day, they enable me to pack fewer outer layers for international travel. They feel like I’ve slipped a thin cloud between my skin and my clothes. When I’m traveling, I wash them with two drops of shampoo in the sink, wring out in a towel, hang them in the bathroom on an inflatable hanger, and in less than two hours, they’re dry. They roll up to nothing in the suitcase. They are, quite simply, a brilliant purchase.

So every time Marcy Tilton asks her devoted students and followers what fabric they’d like her to stock in her online store, I quickly email or post three words to her: “black silk knit.”

And she heard my pleas. Marcy has stocked a black silk knit in her online fabric store. As soon as she posted it, with no project in mind, I raced to buy a length of it.

When it arrived in my mailbox, I tore the package open and began petting. This is a must-buy fabric. This is a wardrobe staple.

What should you make? Oh, maybe Katherine Tilton’s Butterick 5925 to wear with a pair of satin skinny pants and your favorite blingy necklace or chandelier earrings for holiday parties. Maybe a long roomy tee to sleep in. Or a tank like all my EF tanks, but at half the price and with a perfect fit, because you tailored it to your own body.

Whatever you choose, you will be glad you bought the silk, and you’ll want more. I gar-ahn-TEE it, as the Men’s Wearhouse guy says.

A Brief Leave of Absence …

By Jan | November 19, 2013 - 1:39 pm |November 19, 2013 Gifts

One More for the Road

By Jan | November 8, 2013 - 11:26 am |November 8, 2013 Garment Sewing

4 Comments

Of course. That’s what you’ll say when I tell you I decided around 2:00 yesterday afternoon to make Just One More Top for the trip.

I wanted to try Katherine Tilton’s Butterick 5961 one more time. I still had some of the peacock RPL from my View C. I had also gotten some “army green” of the same fabric. Their army green is really closer to an avocado.

So I made View A/B and cut it two inches longer.

To counteract the floppiness of the collar, I took the lightweight interfacing that I had used for the hems on View C, tugged to see where it had the most stretch, and cut a full collar out of that and fused to the collar. Because it wasn’t a true bias, the collar came out wonky, which I really like. I

I also cut a 1.5″ strip of the teal the same length as the collar and drew lines on it with a lime Fabrico pen. I folded it and basted to one long edge of the collar, so it peeks out of that seam. You have to invade my personal space to see the stripes, but I know they’re there.

Finally, to finish tying the teal and green together, I cut a little strip and sewed it onto the left sleeve 2″ above the hem, using the double needle to topstitch the edges and the center.

The top feels a little big on me even thought I cut my normal 16. If you’re using a soft knit with a lot of stretch, you might go down a size.

And now it’s time to board the plane for Frankfurt. Tschüß!

Cute and comfortable

By Jan | November 5, 2013 - 3:22 pm |November 5, 2013 Garment Sewing

2 Comments

Here’s a second take on Katherine Tilton’s Butterick 5961. I made the first one on Saturday and blogged about it here.

I wanted some more black for tops, and picked up a nylon/acetate/lycra Swiss 4-way stretch at Gorgeous Fabrics. Ann’s description is accurate—”it’s a joy to sew.”

I liked my sweatery teal tunic so much I decided to try the shorter version. I have ordered a pair of those new leggings-with-attached-skirt that one sees everywhere nowadays and thought the length of View A/B would be just right with that. I dipped into my knit remnants basket and came up with a mottled gray knit that feels like a lightweight sweatshirt and has cutouts revealing the black mesh underneath. I previously used it here. As luck would have it, I had enough in the stash for sleeves and a collar for this new top.

My suggestion when putting in the sleeve is to do the sleeve cap, stopping at the small circle. Break your stitching, then clip the corner on the front and back to the reinforcing stitching, pin the sleeve from the small circle down to the side seam. By stopping the stitching this way, I got a very clean angle at that point.

Because of how insignificant the mock-turtle was on the teal sweatery fabric, I added two inches to the height of this collar. I didn’t need to do that, but I do like the result. Lesson learned: If you want a collar to stand up, you’ve got to have some substance for it to do so.

My hems on sleeve and bottom are crisp and clean because of the 1″ strip of lightweight interfacing fused to the edges before folding and double-needle stitched with wooly nylon in the bobbin.

That’s it! Quick. Easy. Fun.

I wore the teal tunic on a twelve-hour run-out to Manhattan yesterday for a performance with the Cleveland Orchestra and Chorus at Avery Fisher Hall. It was so comfortable for the plane ride. Several friends noticed it and commented on the unique sleeveline. (Only one picture today, as I drove into my garage at 3:02 this morning, and I need to go vote and run to Jo-Ann’s for a zipper.)

Spousal Equivalent is telling me I need to stop making things to pack and actually pack some things. Liftoff for more concerts in Europe is in three days. 😮

I highly recommend Butterick 5961, and tip my hat to Katherine Tilton for the pattern and to Ann Steeves for this great black knit. (The gray knit came from Marcy Tilton’s superb online fabric store, but has been out of stock for a year. Keep your eyes open, or pick up an Alabama Chanin book and make your own fabric for a treatment like this.)

Another new top, and more love.

By Jan | November 2, 2013 - 12:22 pm |November 2, 2013 Garment Sewing

THE Blanket!

By Jan | October 28, 2013 - 10:54 am |November 6, 2013 Knitting

6 Comments

I don’t like long drawn-out projects. I like feedback and knowing the end is in sight. When I was an IBMer, I interviewed for several Customer Engineer positions, but knew I wouldn’t do well in a job where you plug away and plug away and it can be months or even years before the customer makes a decision.

I’ve written previously about this project, the Lion Brand Yarns Slip Stitch Sampler Throw. I wrote first in July, at the three-blocks-complete stage, then I updated my status a couple of weeks ago.

The true timeline? I bought the kit from Lion Brands in mid-November last year. The kit contained 14 balls of acrylic yarn (translation: washable!). I ran short of one color so used 15 balls total. I told myself I would cast on as soon as my opera stint on Nov. 30 was finished. Of course, that stint never finished, as (stop me if you’ve heard this) 20 minutes before the performance, I fell and broke my left wrist. Pulverized the wrist bone. And then had surgery to install a plate. And then three months of recovery before I could see my bare skin again. And then a couple of months of physical therapy. I kept trying to knit, but the hand and wrist would not cooperate. There were only a few ways I could bend that joint and use those stiff fingers.

I didn’t document when I finally cast on. I believe it was in April, but serious work didn’t begin until the Jazzman and I returned from our May trip to France. In fact, so much time passed that Dear Son #2 didn’t remember looking at the picture that I showed him and saying, “Yes, I like that. I’d love to have it in my apartment.” I plodded along, but in September I got really serious. Let’s get this thing done!!

And now it’s done. What a relief! There are six squares, log cabin quilt style. Each square has a center block, then six logs above that center block. Each square contains 20,163 stitches and measures 25″ x 25″. The entire throw contains 120,978 stitches and measures 50″ x 75″. It’s just the right size to keep a grown man and his two adolescent children warm on the couch in front of the television or for story time.

What happens when you pick up and put down a project that many times over a long period of time? Your pattern of holding the yarn changes; your tension changes. The squares are not exactly the same size. I washed and blocked and pulled and tugged. It’s not perfect, but here’s the thing: the new owner loves it! (Or at least has the grace to tell the maker/mother that he loves it.)

Honestly, I didn’t love it. For myself, I would have picked out different colors, colors that I felt had more in common with each other. I saw several projects pictured on Ravelry and liked seeing how other knitters had translated the pattern. But for a man’s apartment, thrown across a tan couch, it’s Just Right.

But if Dear Son #1 decides he wants a blanket knit for his new place, we’re going to have to have a long discussion. I’m not thinking I want to start a project of that magnitude again!

My feeling at the end of this project? Whew!

And now, for an “awwww” moment: DGD, curled up asleep under the new blanket.

The Bag Lady

By Jan | October 25, 2013 - 10:32 pm |October 26, 2013 Bags

4 Comments

“Marcy’s Coat” has been put on hold for a couple of days while I attend to higher priorities. This particular higher priority was mandated by a baby shower I will attend on Sunday.

The new-mom-to-be is a chorus colleague of mine. She’s been dealing with a lot of physical pain unrelated to the pregnancy, and feeling much stress related to the confluence of pain and pregnancy. I suggested I teach her to knit as a method for reducing her stress. As much as she wants to sign on to this plan, our calendars prevented our getting together during the past few months.

As I tested a few patterns to find one suitable for teaching a beginner, I began amassing some articles suitable for a new baby and mom. The most special of these is the bulky baby blanket. There are also three burp cloths and a cushy little rectangle of a baby blanket that will be nice to lay under the baby in a car seat or similar unsoft surface.

As I thought about presentation, it occurred to me that the ideal way to present these hand-knit items was in a hand-crafted bag.

I love Nancy Ota’s “Screen Play” bag. Since I discovered this pattern in early 2004, I have probably made 25 or more of these bags. The screen that’s referred to in the title is Phifer Pet Mesh screening. It’s a vinyl-coated polyester mesh designed to withstand being snagged by pets’ claws. It’s strong and lightweight, and can be sewn through easily. (I buy it at Home Depot by the 84″ roll, but the first link in this paragraph takes you to a store that not only sells Ms. Ota’s patterns, but also the mesh in a variety of colors. The bag size I make most frequently requires a piece of mesh that’s 18″ x 31″. I straighten out the roll and cut it down the center, cutting 31″-long pieces, which gives me material for four bags, plus some left over to make little zippered pouches.)

Ever the overachiever, I made three bags in the past couple of days. The first is the gift bag for the baby shower. The new mama and daddy have two dachshunds, who figured prominently on the shower invitation. So of course I went cybershopping for quilting cotton featuring dachshunds. Panels of this fabric were stitched onto the screen on the front and back of the bag.

The basic bag pattern suggests the sewist can add pockets, if desired. I always include at least one pocket, usually zippered. I “fussy cut” one of the dachshunds from the excess fabric, fused it onto the black denim pocket, then stitched around the dog to add suspenders to my belt.

And I like to add some theme-related zipper pull. I was able to find a dachshund charm on eBay, which I wirewrapped onto the zipper pull. How sweet is he?!

Bag Number Two was inspired by a Cleveland Orchestra Chorus fundraising concert to be held in January, featuring Joella Jones, our wonderful accompanist, and some of her colleagues from the Cleveland Orchestra. We were asked in rehearsal last week if we would start accumulating suitable items to be assembled into baskets for the silent auction. I made a similar bag three years ago for another COC fundraiser, and it was highly bid upon. So here we go again.

This is a music-themed fabric I picked up a while back, tucking it into my music-fabric drawer. (Yes, I have just such a drawer.) There were two coordinating fabrics I got in the same order, which I used for the top strip. (Look at how easy eQuilter makes it to find coordinating fabrics – see the “Related Products” button? Brilliant!) I cut out a few of the instruments from the fabric and fused/stitched them to the black denim pocket, then dug into my bead stash to find a couple of beads to add to the zipper pull.

And then, since I already had the mesh cut, I thought I’d see if I could quickly make a third bag. Every time my sister-in-law and I have gotten together for the past several years, I’ve been toting something in one of my bags. Each time she would admire the bag; each time I’d say, “I’ll have to make one for you one of these days.” Enough already. This is one of these days.

I picked up a piece of Bali batik that was stashed. I totally love Bali batiks, finding the fabric to be very substantial, but also to have an ultra-smooth finish. This was a simple bag, as my sister-in-law is a conservative, elegant lady. Nothing cutesy in her wardrobe—just timeless classics. I used the same batik for the lower and upper bands, and left the zippered pocket unadorned except for binding in the same batik. For the button closure, I dug into my button box and found an antique black button that I thought looked lovely with the batik. And the zipper pull? A treasure. This is a lampworked bead I made about 10 years ago. It’s big and chunky, adorned with gold leaf and little bits of steel wool, topped off with drops of clear glass. I don’t often give up the beads I made, but a special lady and her long-awaited bag deserve a very special zipper pull.

Tomorrow I’ll tell you about the blanket I finished knitting today, then I’ll go back to my new coat and see if I can get it finished by Monday.

The clock is ticking …!

If you’re a PatternReview member, here’s my full review.