Yes to the Unicorns

On a recent outing to Portsmouth with Thea and Misa, I fell in love with some Heather Ross Fabric at the Portsmouth Fabric Company. Unicorns and flowers? Yes, please. I didn't even know I liked unicorns.

sweet necklace made by Amy Lou Stein, worn often

Two cherished yards have since been converted into another smock using a pattern that has been tested and refined on less precious fabric. 

I cannot emphasize enough how important it is to test a pattern with your non-dreamy stuff. If it does not work out, the lessons learned are immeasurable and the disappointment is easy to get over. The garment can and should be donated to charity. If it does work out, super!

This one is a keeper. I have since purchased more Heather Ross fabric -- her aesthetic speaks to me.

Happy Groundhog Day!

Punxatawny Phil made his prediction this morning -- it looks like there will be another six weeks of winter. But like any seasoned weather forecaster, he could be wrong. Or right.

Here in the Lakes Region of New Hampshire it is snowing again. Hard to say if there are shadows in a snowstorm. Even harder to say if you're only willing to stand at the threshold of the door.

A Stitcher's Wardrobe:

So here we go, an outfit a day until you've seen it all. 

This is the horse dress. I sewed it last year, but found I was not wearing it. (See it on the sidebar, under Fannie Fouche?) There was something about the color or the print -- I wanted it mellower. I overdyed it pale green/brown, and the results were so sad it looked like a prison dress, or a dress to wear while gardening with my imaginary sister-wives. 

I overdyed it again. Less sad this time, more sophisticated. Sophisticated is not my bag, so I sewed a horse on it. The scarf is from earlier in the year, yarn dyed by me, worked on my knitting machine, and with crocheted felt ball trim.

Enjoy your day!

Knitting Weekend

New smock, Wingfeathers Shawls, and overdyed jeans

I like to start and end projects on Groundhog Day: The holidays are behind me, and come February 2, there is the possibility of another 6 weeks if necessary or desired. This year's project is coming to a close.

I was feeling discouraged about not yet silk-screening, not yet weaving, not yet designing fabric for Spoonflower. I have not spent enough time drawing. I have several unfinished pieces. Yet, I have only myself to answer to. I sometimes forget I am not being graded on self-directed projects.

I have been stationing my work to get it ready for display at Trad Arts Studio next weekend.

and there is a pile of hats and mittens too

I have had a change of heart. [One can generally count on me to look at the bright side, eventually.] My dampened attitude is gone upon looking at my big picture accomplishments. This collection represents risks taken and umpteen lessons learned, new obsessions ( c r o c h e t ), and a fresh perspective. 

In an effort to cover more ground, I will be sharing my undocumented work in outfits from here forward.

If you are registered for one of my classes at Knitting Weekend, here's the list of what you will need to bring:

A Dozen Ways to use Variegated Yarn

All yarn will be provided. Please bring a variety of needles appropriate for dk weight through heavy worsted. Also, if you are unfamiliar with how to work a wrap and turn, please try it out at home. I will gladly help you become more comfortable with it in class.

Suncook Scarf

We will be working a small sample that covers all the concepts in the scarf in worsted weight yarn. I will have yarn available, and you are welcome to bring your own as well. Please bring a 40” circular needle in your favorite size for worsted weight (I use an 8 or 9, I am a tight knitter). If you do not own a 40” circular you can use a 32” for the sample, but you’ll certainly need a 40” for your full sized project.

The scarf can be worked in any weight of yarn, so long as the weight is consistent throughout the project. You are welcome to bring other yarns on the chance you finish your sample and want to get started on your full sized scarf.

If you are unfamiliar with magic loop knitting, please look it up and try it at home. I will help make you comfortable with the method in class.

I look forward to our day together!

A Stitcher's Wardrobe: Long Sleeved Tee

This week, a first draft of a long sleeved raglan tee, cut from woven paisley cotton.  

The fit is almost there -- I will raise the back neck next time for a little more coverage.  There are small darts at the shoulder for a proper fit, and bust darts as well. 

The back hemline is two inches longer than the front, a handy feature when sitting.

The sleeves are just as I like them, roomy in the underarm and girth, and perfect for rolling up.

This basic tee beckons decorative stitch-work or printing or color-blocking. My wheels are turning ... and yours?

A Stitcher's Wardrobe: Sleeveless Shirt

I have a 10 x 13 envelope labeled "favorite shirt parts". In it I keep all the parts and pieces for standard shirts -- various collars, scoop neck fronts, regular fronts, facings, sleeves, and dart templates. In order to create ease across the back of my shirts, I have modified the back pattern piece to feature small darts that run perpendicular to the shoulder seam.

I typically shy away from sleeveless shirts -- I feel fleshy in them. This sleeveless shirt with its broad back and high underarms covers those mushy folds of skin where my arms join my body. Phew. And a vintage silhouette is always good in my book.

This fabric was purchased at the Salvation Army sale for a dollar. I love using inexpensive fabric for a first iteration -- the results are sometimes wonderful, and the cost of learning is affordable.

My sewing output is about to explode, and I am thrilled! I am spending next week at Searsport Shores Ocean Campground as Artist in Residence, a highlight of my summer. Like last year, I will be sewing a complete garment each day. Come see what goes into making clothing, and join in the fun. Learn simple hand stitching, construction, and how to mend your own clothing. Let's celebrate the humble stitch.

I Heart Machines, and I am Not Alone

Imagine the equipment you would have in your own dream textile studio. Now imagine more equipment: Think big, this is a fantasy. Next, dream up a large well lit space with jumbo tables, background music, and upbeat busy people, not too many, but enough to make your day. Throw in a well mannered dog.

A Gathering of Stitches in Portland, Maine is the place you just dreamed of. I went for the first time last weekend and was instantly smitten.

I took a Knitting Machine Restoration workshop at AGOS. We tore our machines down and became intimate with their innards, greasy fiber boogers and all.

We scrubbed out the crud with various tools, removed worn parts, wrote shopping lists for replacements, and oiled. And then we oiled some more.

Not only does the instructor have a wealth of experience with the machines (she was a product developer for Land's End and L.L.Bean), her love of the machines and calm and confident approach put us all at ease.

My Singer 360 was a gift from my parents when I was sixteen years old, and came with weekly lessons. It is all reassembled and working smoothly. I am pumped to know it well again. I want to know what every button can do. I am not certain what my parents' idea was, but I think it worked.

AGOS has is an industrial sewing machine for leather: I have intentions, a crush quite frankly.

And this secret little gem is on my short list for this year, all restored and ready for someone like me to master it. Socks are on my wardrobe list, and just between you and me, I have one hand knit sock finished ... and the other one will get done, but I will be distracted now that I have seen this.

A Stitcher's Wardrobe: Shirt

A simple shirt that ticks many boxes. The fabric is from the Salvation Army Women's Auxiliary Fabric Sale (I'm sorry I cannot find links for this). Thrift, check. I sewed most of this on my regular sewing machine (check), and finished the edges on my serger (check). There are four more of these cut. I enjoy the cutting part.

The buttons are plastic and vintage, from Concord Antique Gallery.  Amy and I have been known to spend many hours there, as well as a couple of bucks.

In other news, and without my own photo evidence, I spent Saturday afternoon at the Common Cod Fiber Guild's FiberCamp Fashion Show.  It was a great opportunity to share my work and meet a lovely crowd of knitters, and I always jump at the chance to spend time with other designers. Everything looks even sunnier after a visit with dear friends. Here are some photo links from Baby Cocktails, and also from Sheeri.  Julia Farwell-Clay put the show together, and she did a bang up job. Thanks Y'all.

A Stitcher's Wardrobe: Skirt

A basic denim skirt, no frills, pattern drafted using Cal Patch's instructions in her book Design-it-Yourself Clothes: Patternmaking Simplified. Cal writes bite-sized directions on how to draft a pattern: Truckloads of fun!

This is a wearable muslin -- I am not in the habit of purchasing expensive fabric, so most of my first time work with a pattern gets completed into a garment.  I figure if it doesn't fit me it will fit someone else, and I can practice my facings and zipper installations (which sometimes affect fit).

Can you find the invisible zipper?

I may have overestimated my measurements, thus ending up with a roomy skirt. I'll be trimming my pattern down on the sides and adding another pair of darts in the back, as well as belt loops and a pocket for my phone.

I am good at wearing something handmade every day. I am also good at sending the things I do not wear to the Salvation Army, even the handmade stuff, and without a bit of regret ... gratification really. But I see a few holes in my wardrobe lately, I think mostly due to my ever-changing shape. Not a complaint, this ole body gets me around just fine. I simply need to replace some of my staples, and as a sewer I can rebuild my wardrobe. I have the technology. I have the capability. Ellen Mason will be that woman, better than she was before ... better, stronger, faster. (Cue music: Six Million Dollar Man theme song)

Dress + Cardigan: Installment 12

Happy Groundhog Day!

Maybe you recognize dress no 12, it is my hiking dress from last June.  It has turned into a hard working smock, good for chores that require deep pockets and freedom of movement. The pockets are Cal Patch inspired, and I plan to make tons more of them.

This sweater is called Big Pappa after my Dad, and is a gift for our boy Sam.  It is worked in Briggs & Little Heritage yarn, purchased at the factory in New Brunswick on our way home from leaving Sam in an entirely different country.  Yarn shopping is a good pain killer.

The zipper is heavy duty with two pulls.  Normally when shortening a zipper I fold the top at a 90 degree angle and stitch it down, but this zipper is too stiff for that.  Wrapping the top in wool turned out to be the best solution.

Big P on his dozer

The back will be receiving the Mary Maxim treatment, a duplicate stitch rendition a John Deere 350C, my Dad's bulldozer.  I have a thing for heavy equipment -- it is apparently in my blood, and Sam's too.  I am tempted to make another one of these with his Case 580 Super K.  For me.

So there it is.  Twelve dresses (actually more) and twelve sweaters.  The patterns are not complete, so I will take the next six weeks to write three more.

I will lay out my goals for Groundhog Day 2015 this week, and I am giddy to get going.  Giddy, I tell you!

Dress + Cardigan: Installment 11

Dress no 11 is a shift made of linen? Cotton?  Not sure, there was no fiber content written on the bolt, but it sure does feel and behave like linen.  It has three-quarter length sleeves, and is remarkably versatile.

Jane Doe is a gal with whom I have not connected.  This vest was knit on my knitting machine with sock yarn -- a little too drapey and smooth for my taste.  Bring on the scratchy.  The stitch motifs are from Mary Jane Mucklestone's 150 Scandinavian Motifs.  The bird's tail has been modified from the original pattern to fit in a 24 stitch repeat, and to reflect the bird's love of extra spicy burritos.

There is a large learning curve when working on a knitting machine.  I keep telling myself to be patient with myself, that I must be allowed to be a beginner in the beginning.  

I must be allowed to be a beginner in the beginning.

The criss-cross back is a treatment I would like to revisit.  

Tomorrow is Installment 12, my last piece in this project, a wooly number with pockets and a zipper.  And then, a deep breath and a new set of wicked fun goals.