Next Knitting Project - A Cabled Headband...

The next monthly knitting club will be coming up soon as it was time to pick another project.  Although I have a ton of knitted dishcloth patterns which are fun.  How many dishcloths do you  really need?  So, I contacted my niece to see if she had any ideas for a small knitted project that I could do.  Of course, she did and it was a headband/ear warmers. So, I looked for a pattern that looked like it would be interesting and found this one:

Yes, I like to do cable patterns and have been practicing.  This is called Intertwining Diamonds Cabled Headband/Ear Warmer (link).  It is a freebie and I thank the author.  My niece wanted the headband in some shade of green.  So, I choose this:

This is Lion Brand Heartland in the colorway King's Canyon.  It is two different shades of green - emerald and forest green.  I'm hoping it will satisfy her love for all things green.

Unfortunately, I have misplaced the correct size of knitting needles and will need to go purchase additional set.  I don't know how I misplace knitting needles.  Generally, I always put away my knitting needles.

Ok, I'm mostly ready for the next knitting meeting.

Happy Stitching!

Trapunto...The First Attempt

I didn't realize when I decided to attempt trapunto that there would be soooo many decisions.  I started with the instructions for the Quilted Snowflake at quiltsocial.com.  The instructions seemed fairly straight forward.  Next, I had to decide on a design.  This was really hard. I finally settle for a Celtic knot design.  Here's the design that I chose:

Due to the size of the design,  I decided to create a pillow cover .  Sorry, I don't remember where I found the design.  It was a freebie. Next, I had to choose fabric but what color? Most of the time trapunto is done is light colors or a solid.  I decided to go with a cream color fabric.

So here is my tracing.  Even though you were suppose to use a water soluble marking pen, I didn't. It was a kid's colored marking pen.  We'll find out if it was a mistake when the finished project is washed.  Actually, I thought that I had a water soluble pen and it turned out to be a air erase pen.  The air erase pen would not write on the heavy duty water soluble stabilizer.

Here's the design stitched with the water soluble thread.  I chose to use it in the bobbin as well has the top thread.  The instructions had you using thread the matched the main fabric in the bobbin but I didn't want any loose thread hanging around when the item was washed.  I used two layers of a cotton batting (it was in the stash).

Here you're starting to see the design pop.  I was really making a mess with the free motion quilting and I quilted the inside very tight.  I had to take a break at this point.  My sewing buddy had finished her project and decided that she would like to do the trapunto again in the future.

Here is the piece with the finished free motion quilting.  I did not quilt the outside portion as tightly as the inside portion.    I'm happy with the look of the project and hope that I like the look of the cream in my family room.  I'll post the finished pillow cover at a later date.  As I still need to cut out the back and get a zipper.

Time-wise, it took about 6 hours to complete.  This included me cutting out the fabric for the top, back, and batting.  Stitching the initial Celtic knot and then trimming the batting from the areas that I didn't want it.  Then, completing the free motion quilting.  There were also breaks for lunch and when my sewing buddy left.

What do you think of my first trapunto attempt?  I even feel like I got the hang of free motion quilting.  This is the second time I have done the free motion quilting and I think I'm starting to like it.  I can see it being a very relaxing why to spent a free afternoon or evening.

Happy Stitching!

Pattern Addiction....

I think I'm addicted to purchasing patterns.  I have done a little better recently but once again I couldn't resist the new Silhouette patterns this season.  I did try but it didn't work.  Here are the covers from the new patterns:

I really like the dress #4015 and the knit top #315.

I watched the announcement video and that is what convinced me to purchase.  In the video, the coat was made from a waxed denim and the jacket is made from leather.  I have never sewn with either one of these fabrics.  I'm not even sure that waxed denim is available to the public.  At least, I couldn't find anything.

 I confess.  I'm a pattern collector. I have a cabinet that is stuffed to proof it.  How do you overcome this addiction?  I don't think there is a 13 step program to get over.

Happy Stitching!

How Often Do You Clean Your Serger?

Are you a person who cleans your serger after every use?  I'm more of a it depends on the project. I just finished a project where the serger had to be cleaned many times.  Here's my serger where I'm getting ready to clean it for the next project:

A little pile of the synthetic fabric that was my last project.  I think I cleaned the machine 4 or 5 times while working on that project.  There was a lot of lint produced.

Here are my favorite tools for getting rid of the dusty materials inside the serger - a wool mini dust-it and a paint brush with natural bristles.  Yep, that is all.  I do not oil the machine every time I clean it.



Here you can see some of the fine fibers on the machine.  It is covered inside and outside with this dust.

I start with the mini dust-it to knock out all the large particles. Then, move in with the paint brush and dust inside the machine everywhere I can reach bringing out the little clumps of dust.

Next, I take off the cover and presser foot.  Using both the mini dust-it and the paintbrush, I remove as much of the dusty particles as I can see.  Then, I put the machine back together.

  You can see the little pile of dusty particles that came out of the machine with this cleaning.  It is now ready for the next project and so am I.

Happy Stitching!

V Neck Tunic Completed…

Here’s a pic of my latest creation:

I love this fabric and thought it would be perfect the V-Neck Tunic pattern by Loes Hinse Design.  There were a few challenges that I wasn’t expecting.  This sweater knit was a difficult to work with.  Serging a single layer was impossible and this stopped the sewing process down until I could go to JoAnn’s and get some mesh.  Actually, I was amazed that they had this item.  In reality, neither the serger or the sewing liked sewing on this fabric.  The serger handled one layer of the fabric with one layer of power mesh just fine.  

Ok, back to the pattern.  I combined the two views on the pattern envelope as I really wanted long sleeves with the tunic length.

Here's a close-up of the sweater knit that I used:

Coordinates perfectly with the colors chosen last fall.

I did note that on several reviews that it was mentioned that the neckline was low so I raised the neckline by an inch.    I know I will not be wearing this without some type of top under it but I wanted to draw the eye up more.   I cut ½” pieces of mesh to serge to all the edges including the neckline.  Due to the super stretchy nature of the fabric, I used the “lighting” stitch on my machine and lengthening it to 4.0 mm.  

After getting the tunic sewn together, I tried it on.  I was very surprised at how long it was in both the body length and the sleeves.  I ended up removing 4" in body length and 2" in sleeve length. Overall, I'm happy with how this top turned out.  

Now, I wonder why it took me so long to use this pattern.  Even though it took me about a month to finish this tunic, it shouldn't have taken longer than a day.  I did make a mistake and I to re-order a yard of fabric to finish the top.  I will be using this pattern again.  

Happy Stitching!