Wednesday, August 12, 2015

The Marathon Continues

How annoying! Thom and I both have come down with some kind of bug – cough, congestion, postnasal drip, temperature fluctuations and all. Bleh. He is worse off than I am and since he so rarely gets sick, is very unhappy about it. Bare minimum watering and housework are getting done. However, I’m still on track for my sewing marathon. I’m not that sick unfortunately!

So where were we? Oh yeah, these two pieces are variations on the same pattern, my TNTee. First the gray Bamboo Tee that I already mentioned:

Bamboo Tee

This style, though simple, is great layered under other clothes if when it actually gets cool enough again. I lengthened this a bit and lowered the neckline slightly from my usual version. Also 3/4 length sleeves which are my very favourite length. The neckline finish is a little wonky. It should have been stretched a little more when I applied it. But the binding method does have some possibilities with more practice:

Bamboo Tee collar det

And this top I finished yesterday, the Snakeskin Tee:

Snakeskin Tee

I only had enough fabric left to make short sleeves but this beast is quite warm. And a little tight in the middle because the novelty poly knit doesn’t stretch that much. You can’t see them in the photo but I made small side slits and also used the interesting fuzzy selvedge as the sleeve and neckline finish:

Snakeskin Tee neck det

Today I hope to sew the other top that I’m making from this fabric, Katherine Tilton’s B6101. That’s the plan anyway.

Yup, it’s a veritable Katherine Tilton Festival around here! Monday’s project was her B6064 View A vest:

B6064 line

My fabric is a crinkly slightly iridescent poly which hopefully is at least a little water resistant for wearing in damp weather. I’m really happy with how this one turned out! I made a straight-up medium, no mods.

CrinkleVest front

CrinkleVest back

The pattern is deceptively simple but with subtle shaping and the instructions were excellent for once! It’s very easy to wear and every seam is completely finished inside. I particularly like the back stay which keeps it on my shoulders. It was a perfect place for a tag made from a scrap of the damselfly fabric:

CrinkleVest tag det

I also used my Czech glass damselfly button that I bought at Diva Yarn in Port Townsend to close the neck on the outside:

CrinkleVest button det

There’s a random coat button from the stash on the inside opposite shoulder. I certainly won’t have to worry that this vest will get wrinkled when I pack it for the trip! I was more worried that I’d end up ironing all the wrinkles out while pressing all the hems. Didn’t happen thankfully! They’re in there to stay. Super-successful and I may make this pattern again if I find the right fabric.

One last thing, I thought you might like to see the progress on the Blackberry Amiga sweater:

Blackberry Amiga

That big gap in the front gets filled in with the collar/band that is picked up and knitted outward all the way around both the fronts and neck. I don’t think I’m going to make the sleeves more than a row or two longer before binding them off for cap sleeves. This shows the yarn a little brighter than it really is but it wouldn’t photograph any more accurately. Think actual blackberries. Like the ones I could be picking off my back fence right now! Instead I’m off to the studio for yet more sewing. At least 4 more garments to go. The marathon continues…oh, wait! I said that already, didn’t I?

5 comments:

pao said...

Yes, you are keeping up with that marathon, aren't you? The Tilton vest looks terrific. Greatly accessorized with the damselflies too. I have that pattern, but again, have not tried it yet. Hope you two get well enough by take off time. I'm sure you'll be going regardless. I went back to work on that stupid Tilton dress, the one she refers to as the Cirque dress that you made so well. I shorten mine to knee length and took off the ill-fitting sleeves. Looks better, but still not good enough to wear. I give up on it for now. argh.

Louisa said...

Yup, we'll be heading off regardless but I'm pretty sure we'll be much better by then. (Not that The Bug shows any signs of going away quite yet. But I'm optimistic.)

Sorry you're having such a hard time with the Cirque! I bet it doesn't look as bad as you imagine. OR maybe it needs to go back into time-out.

Sue @ A Colourful Canvas said...

The Cirque dress is at the top of my list after seeing yours Lousia! Do you buy your Vogue patterns in Canada or online? I used to use Vogue patterns all the time, but the prices are pretty steep right now.

Take care of yourselves, and Happy travels!

Louisa said...

Thanks for the kind comment, Sue! I buy my Vogues through their website but only when they have a sale. If you get on the mailing list you'll get a notice when that happens. I haven't bothered with joining ClubBMV but it might be worth it if you order enough. For Canadian orders patterns ship from Ontario but it takes awhile so it's not for the impatient!

Sue @ A Colourful Canvas said...

Thanks for the info Louisa! I am on the list, just haven't made a purchase yet. It's good to know that patterns ship from Ont. All I need do now, is to decide if I want them shipped to my US mail box or home address.