Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Easy, Pretty, Slouchy Knit Cowl

I love fall and winter. I love the cooler temperatures after dealing with a hot and humid summer. I love the crispness of the air, the contrast between the sky and leaves, and later bare trees. I love being able to enjoy warm foods and drinks (hello hot chocolate!). However, I do not like scarves, which are an (almost) necessary accessory for winter. I do not like how restrictive and fussy they can be. I would prefer a cowl, but could never find exactly what I wanted, which wasn't anything extreme. (I have found that even if I want something REALLY basic, it's near impossible to find). So, I decided to make one. (If you can't find it, make it!)

First, I found the perfect yarn, or rather, it found me. Walking down the craft aisle, I spotted a yarn that I knew I had to use for something. It's color is named Plum Perfect, which is the perfect name for it. It's a dark purple that has just a little bit of red to it.



Next, I had to find a cowl pattern. I wanted something easy to knit but had some texture to it. I also wanted it to be slouchy. I found a great cowl online at KnitPicks. It's knit in the round, has ribbing at either end and the middle, and has diagonal stitching between the ribbing sections. The cowl, named "Meine Kalte Liebe Cowl," can be found here.

It was easy to knit, but it had been a while since I had knitted, so I make some mistakes. The cowl was (relatively) error free, until right before my last section of ribbing. I must have miscounted what row I was on for the diagonal stitching, because it didn't match up with the ribbing. Oops. The cowl still looks good though, and I'll wear it scrunched so the mistake won't be as visible.



The top in the picture was where I ended, so you can see where I made my mistake. I love how it looks though, and it is really warm. It will be great to wear as the weather gets cooler. Here's a close up of the ribbing and diagonal stitching of the cowl:



I will be posting a garment reconstruction project later, and maybe either a decor or Halloween project. I may save the Halloween project for next week, and have a week (or two) for spooky crafts and fabric.

Jack O' Lantern Pillow/Plushie

This week's Fabric of the Week contest at Spoonflower is for Jack O Lantern pillow and/or plushie kits. My first idea sounded so much better in my head than on paper. It ended up looking like a Medusa pumpkin alien pillow. Not exactly what I had in mind. Somehow, that bizarre idea led to my refined contest entry. Here is my "Posh Pumpkin Pillow and Cube Kit":

Posh Pumpkin Pillow and Cube Kit


You can view the kit by clicking the image above or clicking here. The kit includes an 18" pillow and two 4" cubes on one yard of quilting weight cotton. There is an extra 12" pillow on some of the wider fabrics. The pillow can be embellished with beading, French knots, or it can be tufted. The cubes can be used as decoration or toys. There are two different Jack O Lantern faces on the pillow, and six on the cubes (two of the cube faces are those on the pillow). The grey prints darker than pictured, and the orange prints as a burnt orange color.

It's hard to see the "stitched" detail on this kit, so I have some close ups of the faces on the pillow (and two cube sides). The first is a happy Jack O Lantern face:



The second is a happy vampire Jack O Lantern face:



You can vote for this week's fabric contest here at Spoonflower. There are not as many entries as the past few contests, but there are still a lot of great (and creative) kits. The contest unfortunately ends later today. I wanted to post this earlier, but life kind of got in the way a bit. (And fabric designs). To make up for that, there will be at least one more post today, and more this week.

Past contest result, Autumn contest: "Fall Flowers" placed 63/260. WOOHOO! Usually, my entries get lost in the big contests, and am happy to just place in the top half. I was really excited to see that number though. It's not top ten, but it's still the top 24%.

I talked about a knitting project last week that never got a post. It's happening today, after I take a picture I forgot about and upload them. Don't forget to vote for your favorite pumpkin pillow and plushie kits!

Friday, September 23, 2011

Sew Simple Dress: Now & Later

Simplicity has a new line of patterns named Sew Simple that include a pattern for one item. I like the idea, since the patterns are cheap, and I don't have to mess with patterns for something I don't like. (I hate getting a pattern for one item I really like and not liking the rest of the included patterns). I tend to like dresses with a '60s feel, and fell for this dress because it looked comfortable and cute:


You can find the pattern here at Simplicity's website. My only concern with the dress, was that it appeared a little short for my liking. I thought it would be okay since dresses tend to be long on me, and I decided not to shorten this dress for my height (more on that later).

Next was finding the right fabric. The pattern called for cottons, silky fabrics, and lightweight linens. I knew I wanted a cotton, but was debating between a solid or print. Then I found THE fabric in the cotton/quiting section:


Swirly, stained glass perfection in various purples, greys, and black and white. I think the print was also available other colorways (I don't remember though!), but I had to get the purple. Here is a closer look at the fabric:


Like I said, geometric perfection on fabric. The dress sewed up fast and easy. It was great not hand sewing anything (I tend to top stitch hems rather than do it by hand unless I need to for the fabric type). The band didn't need to be interfaced, which was also another (small) plus. I made one mistake by sewing an armband at 3/4" instead of 5/8" (oops!) and had to seam rip it and deal with some small holes in the printed fabric.

The biggest surprise came when I went to try on the dress. It was very comfortable, and somehow didn't make me look huge even though it's a loose style, but it hit right below my knees! I thought the envelope illustration made it look longer than the model picture, but when I held the pattern up to me, it seemed that it would hit mid thigh when finished. I chopped 2" off the hem so it would hit right above my knees, still longer than pictured. I'm very okay with it being longer than pictured, because I was a little concerned with it being too short.

Right now it feels very much like fall (first day!), but it's supposed to heat up a tad later next week. So, for now when it's a bit warmer, I'll wear the dress with some cute flip flops:


Here's a closer look at the flip flops. They have bows!


Later, when it cools down a bit, I'll wear it with tights and my grey knee high boots:



I'll layer it more when it really cools down with a long sleeve top and maybe a sweater cardigan. This dress was a breeze to sew, and it will be fun to wear! I will be doing another post soon, for a knitting project perfect for fall (and winter) weather.

Sunday, September 18, 2011

Is it fall yet?

As soon as I get excited about nice, cool, fall weather, the temperature mysteriously climbs up for a day or too. It's happened three times so far this year, so I hope fall will finally be here for good. I just finished a knitting project, perfect for cooler weather, that I will put in a post this week. I will do several posts this week to celebrate the start of fall.

This week's Spoonflower Fabric of the Week contest called for autumn inspired fabrics using no more than three colors plus white. It's another big contest, although not as large as last week's Bird themed contest. My entry is titled "Fall Flowers" (I couldn't think of anything else at the moment), and is a large scale repeating pattern.


Fall Flowers


My design is layers of giant flowers piled on top of each other. The flowers were originally stylized mum silhouettes of one color each. They needed more to them, so I gave the flowers some layers of their own. It's a bit different and busier than my usual designs, but I'm happy with the outcome. I think it would be perfect for a full circle skirt, coat or jacket lining, and pillows among other things. Here is a closer look at the design:




The current contest ends Wednesday evening and you can vote here at Spoonflower. I am actually working on doing a collection for this design, and having the designs in various seasonal colorways. I will release the current collections as soon as I have them complete and proofed and release the others later.

As I mentioned before, this week will have several posts perfect for fall. I have a sewing project, a knitting project, and a garment reconstruction project. I will also have some fun Halloween posts later, too.

Past contest result, Bird Contest: "Chic Birdie Bows" finished 214 out of 341.

Please check out the Autumn fabric entries and vote for your favorites! Also, check out Spoonflower for fun fabrics for fall, Halloween, and Christmas. You can never craft too early!

Sunday, September 11, 2011

Bird Fabric Contest

The current Fabric of the Week contest at Spoonflower is Birds with a limited color palette. The colors that could have been used were black, white, Spoonflower aqua, and a fourth color of the designer's choosing. I thought that there would be the normal amount of contest entries due to the limited color palette, but there are over 300 entries! Most of the contests (excluding projects/kits) have around 100-150 entries. I guess designers are crazy about birds!

I am starting to make my contest entries coordinate with some of my designs, rather than have a bunch of unrelated designs. I like the added challenge, and want to build up collections of fabrics that can actually coordinate with each other. Here is my Birds contest entry in repeat, "Chic Birdie Bows":

Chic Birdie Bows


Bow detail.
The print features pretty bows connected by strands of pearls. The bows are made up of a stylized butterfly and two stylized birds. I chose a teal as my fourth color, so this print would coordinate with my Curves & Pearls Print shown below (in teal).


curves & pearls: teal


Both prints are also available in other colorways. "Chic Birdie Bows" is also on a white background and on a background of the Spoonflower aqua with white pearls instead. "Curves & Pearls" is also available on a background very close to the Spoonflower aqua with white swirls and spring green pearls.

You can vote for the Birds fabric contest here at Spoonflower. Fair warning though: there are 22 pages of entries to go through! There are lots of great designs (as usual) and it's interesting to see what fourth color designers chose. Many chose a teal color, but there are also unexpected color combinations that stand out. Take some time and vote for your favorites!

Bowling Fabric contest results: "Bowling Stripes Grey" placed 38th out of 110 fabrics. I ordered swatches of this fabric, along with my "Chic Birdie Bows" and other fabrics. I should receive them in a few days.

Next contest: Autumn themed fabrics. Next posts: some sewing/crafting projects, easy decor project, and Autumn fabric.

Thursday, September 8, 2011

Super Penguin Plushie Project

This post is a little overdue, but I was working on a new fabric contest entry. A few weeks ago was the Plushie Fabric of the Week contest on Spoonflower. My penguin superhero finished 44th out of 130 fantastic entries. Here it is printed on a fat quarter of cotton sateen:

Plushie printed on fabric


Colors print wonderfully on the sateen, and the fabric gives the finished project a much better quality than the quilting cotton. I was going to stage a fun photoshoot with the superhero and sidekick saving the day, but sadly, I do not have the proper staging. (I have toys/figurines to use as villains and unsuspecting bystanders, though). Here is the crime-fighting duo, complete with cape and mask:

Penguin Plushie pair


Close up of sidekick:

Sidekick plushie


Back of the superhero's cape:

Back of Superhero's Cape


Peppermint discs to be used as weapons (these are just filled with fiberfill, but could be filled with rice):

Peppermint Discs


And a bracelet for owner of the crime fighting duo to wear:

Bracelet


This project was fun to design and make. For the mask, I used elastic cording to make it one piece rather than two lengths of ribbon tied together. Otherwise, the required materials I have on the printed project are what I used. This project may have inspired another penguin project for the holidays. I haven't started on it yet, but the gears are churning. This new holiday project probably will not be done for another month, so look for another penguin post in October (probably mid-late).

Upcoming posts: dress sewing project (from a commercial pattern) and new Fabric of the Week contest entry. These weekly contests are doing wonders for my creativity, and helping me create collections for my past designs.

Tuesday, September 6, 2011

Bowling Time! (And past contest results)

I love to bowl with friends or family. It's always fun, especially going to a cosmic bowling night. The silliness, the competition, the food, and the atmosphere all make for a great time. Changing friend's screen names to something silly is always fun too. It's amazing the kinds of pranks you can pull in a small space without anyone noticing.

This week's Fabric of the Week contest theme on Spoonflower is bowling. The range of designs in the contest is great, covering bowling shirts, spiffy bowling bags, the signage, pins, decor, and of course bowling balls. This is my entry for the contest, "Bowling Stripes Grey":


It features stripes with scored boxes, bowling pins, and bowling balls with a star print. I did a slightly retro colorway, since bowling is always associated with 1950s fun. This print can also coordinate with my Links print in some of the colorways. The above picture is my uploaded design, and shows the detail better. Here is what the print looks like in repeat:

Bowling Stripes Grey

You can vote for the Bowling fabric contest here. Voting for this contest ends Wednesday evening, so be sure to vote for your favorites, if you haven't already. I ordered a swatch of this fabric (among other designs) and can't wait to see how it prints up.

Past contest results: Super Penguin Plushie! finished 44/130 which isn't bad considering he faced competition with a super hero fox and pig.
Mod about the Circus finished 115/174 in the Circus contest. I still think it would make a great mini skirt.

I promise my next post will be the Super Penguin Plushie completed project. I have him done, but haven't done his photo shoot yet due to this weekend with family. I will also (eventually) post about my most recent personal sewing project. And the next fabric contest is for the birds (literally)!

Please vote for your favorite bowling fabrics at Spoonflower. Stay tuned for future posts, and maybe have a bowling night this week or weekend!