WIP: Make Nine 2019….aka Let’s Pretend it Hasn’t Been Over SIX Months Since the Last Post!

Everyone read the title of this post?  Excellent! Let’s move on 🙂

I didn’t quite finish last years Make Nine, but I got a respectable 2/3 of the way done before I kinda tapered off.  I outlined my most of my Make Nine for 2019 a while back in a fit of productivity:

Yeah…. I’m not making some fancy gird thing this year…. you get old school index card & my terrible handwriting!

Not listed are knitting a sweater (see below) and I’m doing a Wild Card, TBD project again 🙂

And I’ve actually been on quite the sewing roll lately!

I’ve finally finished my Ginger Jeans!! Hopefully, more on this epically LONG make will be coming soon-ish (or in another 6 months…. you never know!)

I knocked out a pair of Oh Lulu Grace panties as a confidence building project when I was neck deep in Ginger Jeans fitting with no end in sight 😦

Aaaand in a fit of true sewjo I made a slip….. with NO PATTERN!!! This was my first project sans pattern.  It’s really just a very simple A-line skirt with elastic waist, but I’m quite pleased with myself 😀

I’ve also started on my second project of the Make Nine bunch Carolyn Pajamas in fox fabric!!!  I’ve needed some good summer PJs, so these will fill a very nice niche 😉

I’ve also prepped to batch sew a couple of Grail T-shirts…….

In between all this I’ve also been plugging away on my Julgran Christmas sweater!  I’m toying with the idea of using this for this years Outfit Along….. it is definitely a work in progress….

Lastly….. I’m finally on Instagram!!!  You can find me @liz.o.matic, it’s set private for now while I’m figuring out how to freaking use the damn thing- but you can send me a follow request 😉

Works in Progress: A Big Update

Whew! It has been a serious hot minute…..like two months hot minute!!  Let me catch you up on everything…..I went to D.C. for a work conference, kinda at the last minute:

National Portrait Gallery

Coffee & Knitting

The Capital Building

National Gallery of Art

The Metro

I found a LYS mere minutes from our hotel and bought awesome stuff 😀   ….and I also attended workshops and did work stuff 😉

I then almost immediately turned around and went to Sewcation!!! At the beach this year on Pawley’s Island 😀

Work has been CRAZY this summer…. every year I imagine all the free time I’ll have to sew and work on projects…. and inevitably every year it seems to be crazy!

BUT between all that and especially at Sewcation I’ve been madly working away on my projects for the Outfit Along(s)!!

I have actually finished my Lander shorts by the deadline!! *Cue the celebratory music*  I will talk about them more in a future post….because unfortunately…. my Waters did not make it in time 😦

Speaking of the Outfit Along….. I’ve finally gotten started on the Kim Dress!!

Yes, over a year late, but I’m hoping to actually finish the Outfit Along 2017 before it gets too cold to wear this somewhat summer-y dress….. I epitomize the saying better late than never 😉

…..and with that I leave you with a picture of El supervising some cutting…. she is quite the task master:

Outfit Along 2018!

Yes! Despite only getting half-way through last years Outfit Along I’m giving it another go!
….also…. I had meant to get this up at the beginning of June, but that obviously didn’t happen…. so, uh…. things aren’t looking so good for this year either 😦

But I will tell you about what I’m making, even if it’s doomed for failure!  The suggested patterns for this years Outfit Along are the knitted linen top Waters by Andi Satterlund and the Lander Pants & Shorts by True Bias.

I am nothing if not suggestible and so will be doing the Waters top and Lander shorts 🙂

Despite how the picture looks I’m actually making decent progress on this.  I’m using Lindy Chain in Mist and Navy…. it’s a linen, cotton blend and is a lot cheaper than the suggested yarn.  I’m knitting up a size large and as always had to go up a needle size to get the correct gauge.

The shorts though are a whole different story   Similar to last year I got everything traced, a muslin cut out….. and then got a bit side tracked….  but, I’m hopeful I can get back on track!  I used the discount code to get some navy washable linen from The Confident Stitch.  I briefly thought about tapping my inner patriot and buying red linen, but decided to go with the more versatile option.

Now, a very small part of the reason not a lot has been done on these is because I was taking my time and working on another pair of bottoms….

Can you tell what these are??  They’re no where near done and are going on the back burner for a bit, but I basted together my Ginger Jeans!!  A WIP post will follow at some point giving updates on this 🙂

But for now stay tuned and wish me luck with the Outfit Along!

Works in Progress XIX…. plus Me Made May 2018!

So…. I totally had to look up what 19 was in Roman numerals 😦   I may have to re-think my numbering system….

But at any rate! Here’s what I’ve been working on!

Unfortunately, in the case of my knitting not only has no progress been made…. there has actually been negative progress!  That’s right mere rows before coming to the end of my cowl I decided I didn’t like my interpretation of the pattern and ripped it almost back to the beginning 😦

I’m trying again to more closely follow the pattern (despite it making NO sense) just to see how it turns out….but, as you can imagine I haven’t really gotten too in to it

HOWEVER! The wheels are turning on a new summer sweater!!

On the other hand, I’ve been hard at work and have almost completed my ninth and tenth Grail t-shirt!  These ones will both involve some pattern hacking on the original…. and fit in with my Make Nine plan- BONUS!

 

My Ginger jeans took a bit of a back burner when I decided I wanted the somewhat immediate gratification of a Grail t-shirt….. but I’m hoping to get back to them very soon!

Which brings us to Me Made May!!  I’ll be participating again…. getting in just under the wire (per usually)….

I, Liz of Liz-o-matic, sign up as a participant of Me-Made-May ’18. I endeavor to wear at least one visible me made item every day for the month of May 2018.

Last year I had a handful of me made underwear days…. this year my goal is to limit it to only one day!  I’m also going to try to be better about getting a photo EVERY day!

Works in Progress XVIII….. plus bonus Finished objects!!

It’s been a hot minute since I’ve done one of these…. and I’m actually working on stuff for a change!

I’ve finally gotten back into working on my Carolyn Pajamas…. and after over a year (!) I finally finished…. the bottoms

Where upon I promptly put them on and got to work on the top 🙂

I’ve also started a new knitting project.

A super chunky, super squish cowl!  I got the yarn and freebie pattern from Purl’s Yarn Emporium…. a shop everyone should check out if they ever find themselves in Asheville 🙂

Both these projects will fit in nicely with my “Winter is Coming Wardrobe”- the pajamas in particularly will fill a distinct me-made pajama gap in my wardrobe (winter or otherwise)!

Closest Case Files has also declared it No Fear Jeans Month…. and while I’m not crazy enough to declare I’m going to sew my Ginger Jeans this month…. that would be crazy!  I am going to take it as a hint from the Universe to finally *start* on them!

Ginger Jeans

I’m setting the very modest goal of settling on a size and tracing the pattern 🙂  ….which makes this post, that was just posted incredibly useful! Thanks Heather!

And finally my first make of 2018:

Oh Lulu Grace Panties!  I had cut these out eons ago and finally got around to making them.  I added the tiny little buttons so now their vaguely nautical themed 🙂  I’m pretty sure I salvaged those buttons from another pair of undies that got destroyed in the dryer- hooray recycling!

2018 Make Nine Challenge

This is a bit late in coming, but I wanted to change things up slightly this year for New Years resolutions/ goals for the year.  In the past I’ve focused on fairly broad goals, like “Sew More”, and even when I had fairly specific goals, like “Knit a Sweater”, they were still fairly broad.

…..So…. I’m changing things up!  This year I’m going to try to participate in the #2018MakeNine challenge as my “goals” for 2018.

 

Ginger Jeans

Winter Skirt

Winter Hawthorne

Renfrew/Grail Mashup

Summer t-shirt

Knit a sweater

Kim Dress

Carolyn PJs

Wild Card!

So…. some most of these have been on my “To Do” list for quite a while   ….but better late than never….right?

1. Sew Ginger Jeans!  I’ve got the pattern, I’ve got the fabric…. shit I even bought the class!! No more excuses I will sew these! (but…uh…just in case don’t hold your breath)
2. Sew the Brooklyn skirt!  This is another one where I literally have everything…. I’ve technically kind of even started on this one (I’ve cut out, but haven’t sewn a muslin)
3. Make a Winter Hawthorn–  I’ve decided I need a winter dress…. and this seemed to fit the bill.  I again have everything I need to complete it….. are you noticing a trend???
4. Make another Grail/Renfrew mashup – I get a lot of use out of my navy version and I feel I need another one in my Winter is Coming Wardrobe!
5. Make a summer Grail T-shirt!  Because I needed to throw something summer-y in hear…. and also my RTW t-shirts are way past their prime.
6. Knit a sweater! I’m kinda liking this semi tradition of making a new sweater each year, plus I seriously wear my Armande sweater all. the. time.
7. Make the Kim Dress…. Yeah…I still haven’t really started this one….despite it being a key component in my (ill-fated) Outfit Along attempt.
8. Finish my damn Carolyn Pajamas!  This has been a languishing WIP for well over a year!! Their time has come!
9. Now the last one is a bit of a cheat…. I’m giving myself a Wild Card!  Just in case something comes up that I absolutely must do… the only framework I’ll give myself now is that it can’t be an “easy” project.

Now, you may have noticed a theme….in that most of these projects I already had the fabric.  In fact for all of these projects I should already have the fabric, because my other goal for this year is to stash bust!  I have all this great fabric that I just hoard, so no fabric buying for at least 6 months!  ….we shall see how long I last

Fall and Winter Sewing plans!

The seasons are starting to change have changed here and I’m feeling less and less into making summer-y makes.  In fact…. there has been very little summer-y makes this year in general

BUT I’m hopeful that by outlining a plan I’ll be more likely to, you know, actually follow through

Sewing

I’ve got three winter skirts in the works and I’ve already got the fabric for all of them!

I’m planning two Brooklyn skirts from Seamwork with some medium/heavy weight wool.  I did not get any swatches for these, so I’m hopeful it won’t turn out to be too heavy weight. [Update: The fabric isn’t too heavy weight, but the persimmon turned out much more orangey in person….which I should have known from the persimmon tree in my neighbors yard!]

I also have some plaid/check fabric that has been in my stash for eons…. I think I bought it the first year I was getting into sewing from Hancock.  I always planned on drafting and making a circle skirt with that…. and now I think I will!

I also want to try to make a Winter Hawthorn….. I have no idea what fabric to use. I’m oscillating between just something solid or getting crazy and trying to sew with some plaid…. this of course would end in pattern matching tears I feel 😥

Then of course there are the Ginger Jeans!  I bought fabric from the Hancock going out of business sale, which is the perfect price point for a trail run/wearable muslin.

I’m a little bit nervous about what the length will be, as I found the Carolyn PJ pants to be absurdly long on me.

……which brings us to:

FINISH MY CAROLYN PAJAMAS!!! These have been languishing for almost over a year and need to be finished!

I also would like some more Grail t-shirts….because evidently seven isn’t enough?!  Now, I’m specifically trying to re-create some favorite shirts that have quite literally been worn out!  A cowl neck shirt in lilac, a la my Navy cowl neck, and a black ballet scoop shirt.

…..Which actually brings us to…. One Week, One Pattern!  Yes, I’m actually following through with participating in the Sewing Community…. or at least trying to, I can’t quite find the Facebook page where you’re suppose to post your photos if you don’t have Instagram    But no matter!  I’m still moving forward!

OAL 2017 Update and other stuff!

You will notice this is not a finished OAL 2017…. you will also notice the OAL deadline was like 4 weeks ago 😦

On the other hand:

I finished my sweater!!  This is the quickest start to finish sweater I’ve done….like 2.5 months.  So, despite not finishing in time for OAL deadline I’m quite pleased with myself 😀

On the other, other hand:

Yes…. ironies of ironies, I was convinced I’d be able to zip through the Kim Dress no problem and it would be the sweater preventing me from finishing, but it was the other way around 😦
It may be the seasons starting to change, but I can’t seem to get started on this

So, having failed at the Outfit Along I decided to jump on Fringe Associations Summer of Basics…..2 weeks before it ended, because yes, I am insane!

In my head this was going to be easy….. my Zinnia skirt would be my first item, the Miette sweater would be number two, and a quick and easy T-shirt would be number three.

Easy peasy…..right?

And then for reasons I can’t fully explain, I did ZERO sewing in the month of August 😦   There was knitting to be sure….

And traveling to view awe inspiring astronomical events….

But no sewing…. or blogging for that matter 😦

On the other, other, other hand, after living in my house for over a year I’m finally getting it set up!!

 

 

Works in Progress XVII….. aka Sewcation ’17!!

When I lived in Charleston my sewing friends (Jen and Elizabeth) and I would get together for marathon sewing days with food and alcohol…and sometimes even actual sewing 😉
When I (and later others) moved away we kept in touch via text and email- asking questions, getting opinions, sharing finished objects and often lamenting the distance.  One day while sewing all by my lonesome it struck me that we should get together for a sewing weekend…. a Sewcation if you will 😉

After much planning, coordinating of schedules and driving we met up at my parents mountain cabin in western North Carolina (heck yay free accommodations!).

There was lots of sewing, knitting, cross stitching,…. cursing, and a surprising amount of wildlife!
Due to a variety of reasons the cabin had sat empty for over a year and a half and had since been occupied by a whole lot of mice!  They would appear every night around 8 or 9pm….. which came to be known as “The Mousing Hour”.

I managed to catch and release (a fair distance away from the cabin) three mice.

Because we were in the mountains and both Jen & Elizabeth live on the coast, there was a fair amount of hikes.  We were able to see lots of various animal tracks, including, deer, turkey, and ….. BEAR!!

Now, between all this gallivanting with wildlife there was some actual sewing!

After the weekend, I am very nearly done with my version one of the Zinnia skirt….despite trying to sew the button placket on backwards!

A little quality time with Buffy the Seam Slayer.

I also have some mysterious stains I somehow managed to acquire.

I left my cut pieces out and when I woke up in the morning I had these weird white marks that almost seemed like sap?  Everyone is assuring me it will come out once I wash it and I’m trying not to think about how many tears will be shed if it doesn’t 😥

Jen brought a bunch costumes she’s working on for DragonCon….. and got a LOT of stuff done!

Though she too managed to wind up spending some quality time with her seam ripper when she sewed some leggings backwards 😉

Elizabeth managed to sew both a super cute bag and refashion a thrift store shirt.  She also made some progress on a super cute cross stitch of her dog 🙂

I did not have any photos of Elizabeth sewing, so here is one of her exploring an abandoned mica mine from our hike.

So, there you have it!  Plans and schemes are already in the works for Sewcation ’18!!

P.S. Elizabeth took all of the photos of the lovely scenery and wildlife.  She is currently running an animal rescue and they are raising funds for heartworm treatment for one of their newest rescues.  If you’ve got some extra money think about donating here.

Outfit Along 2017….Update

Ah, The Outfit Along…. I decided I was going to do this almost on a whim… because I am in fact crazy    But I had the perfect fabric for the Kim Dress and had been itching to try princess seams.  So, I immediately got to work on…. the sweater portion!

I wasn’t sure I really liked the Anaheim sweater that was the official sweater pattern, plus I wanted something the would take my dress firmly into colder months (Winter is coming you know).  So, I chose Andi’s Miette pattern!
Not only is it a free pattern, but I’ve actually made it before!

Which I’m hoping might give me an edge in actually finishing this by the deadline…. I wouldn’t hold your breath though!

I had some issues with the fit last time I made it…. but of course made no notes as to what size I did or anything useful like that
So, I decided I would actually properly swatch this one!

L to R: US size 8, 9, and 10

I ended up going with the middle swatch- US needle size 9 and size large in the pattern.  I used this knitalong from WAY back in 2012 to help me with gauging and picking the proper size (as well as Row 25)…. it is quite helpful and I highly recommend it!

In terms of the Kim Dress….. I’ve, uh…. bought the pattern?  In point of fact, I just bought the pattern, because I wanted to at least be able to say I’d bought the pattern for this post   I actually spent an inordinate amount of time trying to see if I could find an old printed copy to buy, but alas people are hoarding those 😦

However, I refuse to print and tape this shit together!  So, I’m taking this opportunity to price the local Kinkos.    If that fails I’ll certainly be using Cashmerette’s excellent resource guide on how to cheaply print pdf copyshop files 🙂