Friday, May 09, 2008

Vintage Sloper 1303

I have begun working on this dress pattern.


Nothing to show you though. I've pulled 4 different fabrics from stash (yes my fabric stash nearly as large as my yarn stash) and have washed and ironed them, I just haven't decided which one yet. I've also already made the dress in some random broadcloth to make sure of fit. I LOVE vintage patterns they fit me sooooo well. No matter what size I get in new patterns I always have tons of adjustments to make, but not so with patterns from the 40's and 50's. I guess all woman back then were freakishly short waisted with tiny rib cages, it's nice to know I was "normal" once. :o)

The sloper was not made without troubles sorry to say. I was pushing it. I really wasn't fit to be up and around but couldn't look at the ceiling in my bedroom any longer. I also figured what the hell, it's only a sloper who cares if the seams are slightly wonky cuz I can't see straight and the zipper catches a bit. Besides, I had just gotten an invitation to a Garden Party for my Aunt's 90th B-day. Could there have been a greater incentive?!? I think not.

The first of trials and tribulations began with me not able to read my own tape measure, what I was thoroughly convinced was 4 yds of a random "throw-a-way broadcloth" was only slightly more than 3 yards. I realized this after I had already cut out 6 of the eight gores. Oops, had to find more fabric in same weight...I kinda sorta did. I won't go into details regarding how many times I burned myself with the iron and not just fingertips, and forearm mind you but my tummy as well...don't ask. And I'll skip the part where my foot was filleted by falling scissors and how I snipped 3 inches of length off my own hair or how I sliced and diced my ironing board cover. I also refuse to mention how many times I misplaced and then sewed the gores, all 8 of them, incorrectly. A seam ripper is truly a magnificent tool. Despite all these tribulations in a just a few hours I had one vintage sloper Simplicity pattern number 1303, including the bias trim around the neckline, and armholes (I going to make this sleeveless) nearly complete. I sat there admiring my handiwork, licking my wounds, and contemplating whether I should solider on and put in the zipper or save that for the morning. It didn't take me long to figure out what to do, especially after I notice 2 gores still sitting on the ironing board and NOT sewn into the skirt......sigh

The next morning I did rip and resew and put in the zipper without much trouble. It fits perfectly. YIPPEE! I plan on redrafting the bodice a tiny bit to shape the armholes to make it a proper sleeveless bodice and to lower the neckline a bit, but I'm not going any where near my sewing room until I've got my head on straight. Can you blame me? :o)

Other future plans:
Aside from redrafting the bodice for a lower neck and making it sleeveless there are few other things I have yet to consider. I haven't decided if I will incorporate piping in the skirt seams as the pattern calls for in view 2, (those aren't just seam lines, those black lines are a contrasting piping) Whether I do the piping or not will depend on what fabric I choose. I haven't decided on what length I'll make it either. Depends obviously on the fabric and the "look" I want, and perhaps whether or not I'll actually wear a petticoat or not. I also have to put pockets in the side seams. Last night I gathered fabric and notions for the first copy of this dress with it's new modifications. It won't be the dress but it will be an everyday dress in this style, just one more step to tweak anything that might need tweaking before I make the real thing.

Weaving Wednesday

LOLOLOLOLOL

What a silly notion. :o)

My weaving has been ignored even though I have had a warped loom sitting around just waiting for a row or two to be worked in stolen moments. In my last post about weaving you can see the loom warped and ready for stolen moments in the background of the pic. Only 8 rows more have been done....sigh.

On Wednesday this pass week I did have a few stolen moments from the dance with Mr. migraine but not the strength needed for rug square weaving, and I wanted something else to do other than Big Red. For a while now I've been trying to figure out what the colorplay would be in two color squares with the color changes at different intervals in the process. I used a 2 inch weave-it and floss for my experiment, after six two inch squares I had sufficiently used up the stolen moments and was back to Big Red and dancing, but I digress. Here are the six tiny squares.

To those of you who are real weavers please forgive my lame explanations and misuse of terms here, and bear in mind I'm only trying to describe the process I used on a tiny weave-it.

Lets boil down the weave-it how-to in it's simplest, when using a weave-it there are 3 warp threads and one weft. These are a few of the results when changing the color of the warps and weft:
Square 1: obviously all the warps and the weft were purple.
Square 2: all 3 warps were purple and the weft was yellow.
Square 3: warps 1 and 2 were purple, warp 3 was yellow and the weft was yellow
Square 4: warp 1 was purple, warps 2 and 3 were yellow and the weft was yellow
Square 5: all warps and the weft were yellow
Square 6: warps 1 and 3 were purple, warp 2 and the weft were yellow

Here's a closer shot for comparison.....um.....minus the 6th square....no clue where it went...oops!
But it was, as you can see in the other pic, what you'd typically expect colorplay-wise from a simple tabby weave with the warp in one color and the weft in another.


Rug Square update:
If I ever get the square that has been sitting in the loom done I guesstimate I have enough fiber for two more green squares and then onward to the reds and pinks!

Bias Tank II

Right before this last dance marathon I began working on another Bias Tank. You can find the pattern here. Yes, it's another Drops pattern, (#81-27) what can I say. I LOVE this pattern. Easy. Quick. Great Fit. This is one of only a handful of patterns I've ever done more than once AND I didn't modify!!! Yep, you heard that right, this is straight from the pattern. Um, it is so far, I think the pattern actually calls for shaping on the back at the shoulders that I kinda skip and work the back just like the front.


I'm not sure if it was the Knitting Goddess or the Stash Genie who was messing with me on this one. I was dancing and then comatose before I could give the matter much thought, regardless of who the trickster is the outcome is the same...I'm screwed.

I'm making this top with three yarns. I've got plenty of two of them, the third (the bottom left in the pic below) is the problem child.



It's not a huge problem, I've had worse, but it is frustrating nonetheless. The two yarns I have plenty of really do carry the bulk of the look and the other is merely there for blending and beefing up the gauge. The fact that whatever I find to take it's place could be use entirely for the other front/back helps in that hopefully the difference between front and back wouldn't be that noticeable, but like I said it is still a PITA. The yarn in question is/was the last tiny bit from a cone of cobweb wt. 2 ply that is loosely plied, with a crinkled texture. It is a wool blend of some sort with a sheen to it. It is an estate sale find, and prob'ly older than me. Like I said, I'm little bit screwed. lol

Big Red

I've been dancing again....so not a lot has been going on around the Hermitage of late. There have been several days lost. I grabbed moments here and there and did manage to get some fibery stuff done. I think I'm going to make several posts today instead of one huge catching up post.

When I wasn't comatose I've been knitting on Big Red.

Care to guess what Big Red might be?? It is 56 inches in diameter, (I didn't count the stitches) and so far 18 inches deep. Totally mindless knitting around and around and around, the ultimate dancin' knittin'. I haven't decided how deep I'll actually go but I've got enough red to go another 6 inches or so, I might change colors and go bigger, we'll see. I'm using #10.5 needles with 3 strands, 2 worsted wt. on dk wt. The fabric being created is very dense and heavy. The yarn can only be called yarn, IMHO, due to the fact that it is linear in nature and composed of fibers twisted together. "String-like sandpaper" would be a better name name for this material.

Nope, it's not a gaiter for the Jolly Green Giant, although the color would be lovely on him. Nope, it's not a sanding belt for an industrial sized belt sander, although it would work I'm sure of it.

Bennie has figured it out and has laid claim.

Big Red will eventually be a cat cave/tunnel/igloo(?). Ben has loooong out grown the cat bed I made but still tries to snuggle down in to it. He has loooong out grown laying in wait in empty soda cases to swipe at unsuspecting dogs that just might wander by. He needs a place to call his own that he can squeeze all 20+ pounds into, thus Big Red.

At this point it is just big tube, how it will progress from here is still up in the air, all I know right now is that it needs to be bigger, much bigger for my much bigger cat.

FYI it is official. Ben knows how to open the sliding screen door without fail. Is that normal?? Do you think I could teach him how to close it? :o)