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I'm Back!

For real.  New laptop, photo editor, the whole deal.  Only I have to re-learn how to do pretty much everything;  I had not picked up the camera in months, let alone edited a picture...  So it will be slow for sure, but I am excited about blogging again.

Lately I have been in sewing mode.  I have barely touched my knitting needles in a while, but the sewing machine is smoking.  Partly because Santa brought me a wonderful, beautiful, lovely Brother PC-420PRW; which I think is a perfect intermediate machine and is taking me to new levels.  The weird thing is that I had never before longed for a left-handed machine (not that it exists), but fiddling with the little buttons with my right hand can give me agita sometimes.   

So I am getting into garment sewing, which is scary and extremely satisfying.  Before, I have sewn tons of things for the house, from small slipcovers to roman blinds; and children's clothes, but the few times I tried to make something for myself I was always disappointed by the poor fit I got.   And then I discovered Craftsy...  and I went insane.  I started with a Couture Dress Class with Susan Khalje (because, you know, I had never sewn a dress in my life, so why not start with a couture one...) and I learned so much that the next thing I knew I was taking fitting classes, learning patternmaking...

Anyway, I am hooked.  Mostly I have been working on getting a perfectly fitting sloper (a basic pattern that can be used to create different garments or adjust other patterns), I am on my third one but I am getting really close;  I have decided that it really has to be perfect, and it actually fits me well everywhere except for the armholes, but I'm going to get there!  

Now I have to tell you about my armhole childhood trauma.  For real, you try getting into a fitting room with my mom and a sleeveless blouse:  she fixes her eagle gaze on your armpit and you know immediately that the gorgeous garment is not going to cut it.  A disgusted expression creeps up her face as she sees that yet again another pattern designer has failed to draw a perfectly curved armhole that lies completely flat against the very edge of the arm hiding any flesh that doesn't belong to said arm.  An armhole is exactly that:  a hole for an arm; not for any other part of your body, no matter how closely attached to the actual arm it is.   So here we are, fighting with the armhole curve.

Self-drafted Nightgown/Camisón con patrón propio

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¡He vuelto!  En serio, ahora sí.  Ordenador nuevo con Photoshop y todo.  Ahora la cosa es volver a aprender a hacer y editar fotos, que hace siglos que no toco la máquina.  Así que la cosa será lenta, pero poco a poco volveremos a coger ritmo.

Últimamente no hago más que coser.  Las agujas de hacer punto están polvorientas, pero la máquina de coser echa humo.  En parte porque los Reyes me trajeron una máquina nueva, una Brother PC-420PRW, que es lo más bonito que hay.  Es increíble lo que un máquina un poco más sofisticada te permite hacer.  Antes tenía una genérica de Sears que sigue funcionando bien, pero lo más sofisticado que tiene es el ojal automático.  La Brother puede coser sin pedal, que es como entrar en la liga profesional, la velocidad se maneja con un botón (incluso si utilizas el pedal, con el botón puedes controlar la velocidad máxima).  Una vez que terminas una costura puedes cortar los hilos con un botón, levantar el prensatelas con la rodilla (y una palanca) cuando necesitas las dos manos para controlar una curva, una esquina o un bies...  Bueno, que se cose más rápido y mejor.

Y encima he descubierto Craftsy, un sitio web en el que puedes tomar clases de costura, punto, ganchillo, dibujo...  Así que estoy como loca aprendiendo a adaptar patrones para que me queden bien;  porque hasta ahora era imposible, o eran enormes, o me quedaban bien en la cintura y pequeños en los hombros...

Make an insulated lunchbag

You may remember that part of the new school-year disaster was the lack of lunchboxes for the boys.  Well, I'll just say that my attention was brought to it last week at preschool.  So I had to dig out the stuff that I used to make my oldest his bag last year (and repair the handle so he could take it to school before they had to mention it to me...) and get to work.

I used this tutorial for an insulated and laminated lunch bag.   But it had to be modifided just because it has unfinished seams.   There is an alien in my head that screams when there is an unfinished seam, and then goes on and screams some more until I have to make a "properly" lined bag.  So of course it ended up being so heavily modified that it justified a new tutorial.

 So let's get to it, shall we?

Materials:

• 1 yard of laminated cotton (less if you don't have a directional print)
• 1 yard of insulated batting (I used insul-bright)
• 1 yard of waterproof lining like PUL
• Extra-wide double-fold bias binding
• 1-inch side-release buckle
• 1 yard of 1" polyester webbing

Tools:

• Denim needle for your sewing machine
• Walking foot for your sewing machine
• Zipper or Blind Stitch foot for your sewing machine
• Fabric marker or pencil
• Glue stick
• A circular dessert plate or some other circle to use as template
• The obvious:  scissors, ruler, pins, clips...

 Notes:

• You will be using 1/2" seam allowances (included in the pattern);  even if you normally reduce your seams to 1/4", I strongly recommend that you keep them this large.  You will be working with bulky batting and slippery laminate and PUL: things will shift, so it is not a bad idea to have a seam allowance wide enough to pin or (like I do) baste.
• And since we're talking about it:  BASTE.  It really is worth it:  it doesn't take much more time than pinning but with bulky layers it is much more efficient.
• Another little trick is to spread a little glue in between layers to encourage them to stay together (just make sure it's not where your sewing machine needle will go through).  It will dissappear eventually or with the first washing.
• Since we're talking about washing... yes, this bag will be washable.  I made another one a year ago using the same materials and wash it regularly on a delicate program, then air-dry it.
• You want to go s-l-o-w-l-y.  Really, when you're dealing with slippery fabrics and multiple layers, it's the only way to go.

1. You are going to cut all layers in the same exact way, following this template:

2. Layer all three fabrics, center your plate or other template on the narrow end of the fabric and cut around it.

 

UFO num. 8

{The UFO Project}

Well, it turned out that I had 81 squares, NOT 52 as I had originally written... Which is good news (about 22% of all squares).

This week I cut two of my favorite pajamas of theirs and got 12 more squares and 5 rectangles.  That's 25% of all cutting!  Now it sounds like something. 

I can still see them in those clothes when I look at the stars!  So here are some bonus baby pictures.  I know you've been waiting for them :-).

The boys have been delicious lately, but for some reason I've been feeling very nostalgic of their baby days.

UFO num. 8

There hasn't been much progress on the UFO Project this week,  but I guess I always counted on that.

I took out the squares for the kids' blankets and spent about forty minutes looking for my notes before I realized that it would be much faster to measure again.  So I did.  Luckily the measuring tape was in its place.

So I need 340 squares to make both blankets if I don't use a border.  I have 52, so I'm about 15% done with cutting.  Maybe a little more will get done this weekend.  I was about to feel overwhelmed, but it's actually nice to have the numbers again; and they're Spring blankets anyway, so there is no rush.

The UFO Project

Well, I decided to straighten up my crafts table (for the umpteenth time) and inevitably I had to face the fact that there is no more room to store all my ongoing and abandoned projects.   I realized that I had to come clean with myself, take a good look at all of them and make some decisions.  I started by bringing them out and taking pictures of each one... just to see if I could kick my own pants into deciding.

But I was soon overwhelmed and unable to figure out where to start:  too much stuff!  Needless to say, they were all put back in their various bags and baskets, but as I was looking at the pictures I started putting them together, and then I sorted them by "age", and next thing I new I had made a mosaic.  So I put it on my desktop to see if I could be inspired to work on some of them; and as I looked at it, it occurred to me that I have plenty there to keep me going for a looooooong time, and that I don't really need to decide what needs to be frogged, finished or passed on right away.

Instead, I figured I could commit to look at one of them at least once a week and take it up or get rid of it.  I decided that even working on a few stitches would be fine, just as long as I am dealing with it once a week.

It also occurred to me that I can't be the only one running out of room for UFO's and that maybe someone would like to join me on this endeavor.

So I give you The Un-Finished-Object Project. 

Yes, that's how bad it is.

So each Friday I will post here either some progress on one of these, or what I decided to do with it.  That's all, no commitment to finishing anything or to turn it into a real WIP, just a decision or a little progress. If you are so inclined, leave a link to your own UFO in the comments.

Here's what I'm dealing with:

1.-  My beloved Sunshine Afghan.  41 squares finished (it seems like so little), some of them sewn together.  Still love it, but I ran out of color combinations that I like and realized that I didn't want a lap blanket.

2.-Remember all those felted sweaters from ages ago?  Inspired by the Smorgasbord Afghan from Tangled, I  decided to make a blanket. I actually started cutting up squares and my mom helped me blanket stitch quite a few.  I have 13 large squares (11.5"), none of them blanket stitched; and 18 small ones (5.5") of which 13 are blanket stitched.  I have no exact plan, I just cut the largest squares I could get out of the sweaters, but there is no plan as how to put them together.

3.- Fingerless mittens.  Winging the pattern using some sketches and the swatch I knit before.

4.- Top-down yoked cardigan inspired by this shalom.  Ripped and restarted a hundred times.  As far as I can remember, I was on the right track... so I have no idea why I stalled.

 5.- Child's mittens.  Almost finished the second mitten.  Again, no idea why it got forgotten.

6.-Shawl.  I saw this and decided I had to make something similar.  Of course I didn't buy the right yarn (one with a long repeat of color) and I don't like the sea foam stitch.  Never mind.  I do that kind of thing all the time.  So I figured something along the lines of a Horai would look pretty in the gorgeous Fiesta Yarns Gracie's Lace (and I mean gorgeous).  Last thing I remember I was swatching a pretty lace stitch but I obviously didn't get very far.

7.-Log Cabin Blanket.  Finished one rectangle using one skein but got too much yarn left over, so I started the second rectangle over a few more stitches.  Got paralized by the fear of not having enough yarn this time and then what will I do with the finished square?  This yarn is not amicable to frogging...

8.-Lightweight patchwork throws for the boys.  Well, this is another case of running out of storage:  of baby clothes.  Couldn't quite part with everything so I started cutting all their knits into 4.5" squares (and then some 4.5x2" rectangles, just to save the leftovers... I can't help myself).  I think I need over 200 squares for each throw.  I have 52 81 (I can't count) so far.

9.-Bed-skirts for the guest room (which right now is a UFO in its own right...).  I got as far as cutting the fabric into two long strips, one for each bed.

10.- Nightgown yoke/bustier/don't-know-what-to-call-it.  Technically, this is a Work-In-Progress, since it has been recently started and not abandoned; but I'm feeling a little panicky with this long list, so I included it here to avoid its disappearing into the darkness.  I was inspired by this, but of course couldn't use the graphic and I'm, as usual, winging it.  We'll see how it goes.

Boy, I'm exhausted.  I think this will do for this week.

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¡Qué post más largo me ha salido!  Lo resumo:  tengo un montón de proyectos inacabados (todos abandonados menos el último) y tengo que ir quitándomelos de encima como sea, más que nada porque ya no tengo sitio para meterlos.  Así que todas las semanas voy a sacar uno y o bien trabajo un poco en él, o se lo doy a alguien que lo quiera terminar, o lo deshago y guardo la lana.  Y el viernes publico aquí lo que haya hecho.

Como quiero creer que no soy la única con este síndrome del UFO (UnFinished Object), pienso que a lo mejor alguna os queréis unir a mi proyecto dejando un enlace a vuestro UFO en los comentarios del post de los viernes.  ¡Animaos!

Cosiendo

Un estor para el cuarto de invitados.  Ya casi está, ¡pero vaya tarea!

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Making a roman blind for the guest room... Almost finished but it's hard work!

Dye some tape!

We have a cat problem in our neighborhood.  Feral cats are rampant and they seem to think my backyard belongs to them.  They are particularly fond of our outdoor couch and armchairs with their comfy cushions.  Needless to say, the cushions need to be washed often.  The problem is that the covers were not removable, so they needed to be hosed and scrubbed each time.  Big pain.

Anyway, I finally cut open the back seams, took off the covers, washed them, and now I need to attach some cotton tape ties to keep them closed.  The problem is that I only have white cotton tape for my navy blue cushions, which would be OK if I weren't so anal.  But I am, and I am also alone in the house, so I decided to dye the tape blue.

If you want to try it, here is what you need:

• A large glass bowl that will fit in your microwave
• A glass measuring cup for liquids
• A postal scale
• Rit Dye
• Rubber gloves
• 2 metal forks
• Plastic wrap
• Paper towels
• Waterproof apron
• A microwave and the tape you want to dye, obviously

First you need to find out how much dye you need for your amount of fabric or tape.  To do this you need to weigh it.  I use grams because I find them more exact than ounces and I don't need to convert fractions to decimals.  My tape weighs 32gr.

1 box of dye weighs 31.9gr (1-1/8oz) and it will dye 453.9gr (1lb) of fabric.  So you need to multiply 31.9 by the specific weight of y0ur fabric and then divide the result by 453.9.

31.9x32=1020.8

1020.8/453.9=2.2489≈2.25gr    This turned out to be roughly 1-1/4 tsp

You don't need to go crazy with the weighing, just use about 1 tsp dye for every ounce of tape.  If you want to make sure that it comes out dark add another 1/4 tsp and you should be alright (my tape looks darker than it does in the picture).

Once you have measured your powder, you need to dissolve it in hot water. Put on your apron and gloves and grab your measuring cup.  I used about 2/3 cup as hot as it comes out of the tap.  Add the powder and stir it well with a metal fork.

Now take your glass bowl and just cover your tape with very hot tap water.  Set the tape aside for a minute and add your dissolved dye to the water.  Stir with a fork and put the tape back in.  Move it around with the fork to ensure good coverage.

 

Barely cover your tape with liquid

Cover the bowl with plastic wrap.   Place a few paper towels on your microwave tray and one on top of the plastic wrap in case there are any spills (I haven't had any, but it's good to be safe).  Turn on the microwave on high for two minutes.

 

After the two minutes, open the microwave and let the bowl sit for a bit until the plastic wrap cools off.  Then move it to a metal surface (or one that you don't mind getting permanently stained, I use my deep metal kitchen sink) and uncover it carefully.  There will be fumes!

Now take both your forks and move your tape around in the dye to help even out the color.  Lift it and unfold it as best you can, as if you were mixing sauce into your spaghetti.  Cover it again and microwave on high for 45 seconds.   Mix it again, cover it, and let it sit for five minutes.

Now go ahead and rinse it in cool water until it runs clear (or as close as you can).  Place your rinsed tape in a small laundry bag and throw it in the washer with a load of darks.  Wash with warm water and dry it with your load (hanging or in the dryer).  You will need to iron it before use.

Things to remember:

• This thing stains!  Even the plain powder can leave indellible marks on certain surfaces.  So protect them or take it outside.
• After rinsing and washing, your fabric will be several shades lighter than the way it looks when it's still in the dye.
• The hot dyes will set out toxic fumes.  Open the windows and stand back when you uncover the bowl.
• With this process, the tape will tend to look marbled (it's sitting still in little liquid), so you really need to work at stirring and undoing the folds to get even coverage.
• Cotton tape will shrink considerably.  An 8" strip will shrink 3/4" by the end of the process.