I have finally gotten just a little bit tired of knitting socks. That doesn’t mean I will stop knitting them. I just won’t work on them as totally as I have been. I’m still working away on the Cable Ribbed Socks that I started earlier this month, but I’ve made a mistake somewhere and it will take a bit of work to go back and figure out what happened. That’s what I get for knitting on tiny needles with dark yarn in low light.
It’s time to start on some lace and that jacket I’ve been wanting to do.
I’ve also been wanting to do some garment sewing ever since I got my new sewing machine almost two years ago. So when I was in DC I went to GStreet Fabrics in Rockville, MD and chose a simple top pattern and some great printed cotton fabric. I used to make all of my clothes when I was in my twenties, I even made my wedding dress! But once I started quiltmaking, I kind of stopped doing garment sewing. ’Just Halloween costumes for Larissa and a few miscellaneous things here and there.
I have become so fed up with what’s available in ready-to-wear, that I’ve decided to make some small steps toward making my own clothes again. Of course I have much less free time, techniques and materials have changed, and I am way out of practice.
So, although I found myself looking at the lovely patterns for tailored suits and dresses in the pattern books, I held back and chose something that would be easy to sew and require little, if any, fitting — a top to wear with jeans. It’s not a style I would normally choose for myself, but I thought that change might be fun also.
The pattern is New Look 6677 and the top is very retro looking — like something I remember from the 60′s. ’Don’t know how it will look on me, but I think the techniques for making it will get me back into garment sewing quite easily. I’ve picked up another pattern for a simple dress and jacket I want to make in linen, but I’m waiting on fabric until I see how this project goes.
My other new project is to begin a band sampler while participating in the Stitch Explorer 2009 challenge on pintangle. I bought some beautiful pale green linen at The Lazy Daisy in Raleigh (my first visit there) and also found a lovely variegated perle cotton that was on sale. I’ll add other threads and fibers from my stash.
The first stitch exploration is chicken scratch which is usually done on gingham. But this is about exploration, so I’m doing it on 32-count linen.
The fabrics are prepared, now the task will be to work in a few minutes here and there on each, along with everything else.
