Lacy pullover

This is the Cropped Eyelet Pullover from Vogue Knitting spring/summer 2019. I've had this worsted weight Euroflax linen in my stash for years and I was happy to find a suitable pattern for it. I had tried some other pattern earlier but gave up because the yarn was just too heavy. It is still heavy butthat's okay since the sweater drapes nicely. This sweater did come out a bit larger than I liked because the lacy pattern grew as I knitted and handled it over time. I threw it in the washer and dryer once before adding armhole ribbing and again after I finished the ribbing. It fits well enough now but will probably stretch with wear so I think this is one of those garments that will get washed a lot. The washing did soften it and improved the draping. My version is not as cropped as pattern's and I just added some armhole ribbing instead of doing sleeves. I think I did my own neckline shaping to get the fit I like. This works well for warmer fall days and I can wear a longer sleeved tee when it gets colder. This linen yarn is pretty darn sturdy.

Meander

I recently finished Meander by Yumiko Alexander and I'm very happy with it. My yarn for the body is Juniper Moon Farm Zooey DK and the bottom and neck trim is Classic Elite Yarns Fortuna. Both are linen blend yarns. I love this pattern -- in fact, I love quite a few of her DanDoh patterns. The designs are always easy wearing without looking frumpy. For whatever reason, the bottom edge just kept turning inwards and the top neckline edge also turned inward at the lowest point of the front neckline. So, to fix it, I decided to add a faux second layer by adding the bottom and neckline trims using a lighter weight yarn. I picked up the stitches on the inside at the base of the trim sections to enhance the look of a second layer. It's a bit warm to wear this right now, but I'm waiting for fall!

Summer floral dress - McCALL's M7959

I recently finished sewing another easy wearing summer dress and it's already gotten lots of wear. The fabric is this floral linen from Mood and the pattern is McCall's M7959. I sewed the dress length and I added about 8 inches to the length. I also used elastic to create a slightly blouson waist. I added a lining using cotton voile to the skirt half of the dress and the top of the lining is sewn to form the elastic casing. The lining ends above the side slits, which is just above the knee. This dress in linen is super comfy for summer. It also has a slightly tropical vibe, even though the print is not really tropical.

Summer Dress - Butterick B5347

I finished sewing a summer dress from the out-of-print Butterick B5347 pattern. You can still find it on the internet - here's one on amazon. This is one of my favorite patterns for an easy fitting summer dress and this is the fourth time I've used the pattern. It's best made using a crisp fabric on the heavier side of medium weight. In this case, I used a linen with this cool print. I use two buttons at the top instead of one -- the dress seemed to bulge out too much with just one button. Also, I drafted my own pocket pattern -- it's an angular shape that has a pleat to echo the top neckline shape.

Don't look too closely at the back -- I didn't make an effort line up the print pattern on the back zipper seam. I thought about re-doing one side of the zipper, but decided that the pattern is sort of odd anyway and the mis-alignment doesn't look tragic, I hope. :)

This dress will get tons of wear this summer!

Finished at last - Olwen Cardigan

I finally finished my Olwen cardigan! This sweater took five months to knit, and I'm not sure why it took so long. The yarn is Louet Gems Sport Weight. I knitted this with a closer fit than the version shown on the pattern model. I was aiming for a slightly looser fit, but the stitch pattern gauge was hard to judge. I started it twice because the first time came out too small and I couldn't tell from the initial swatch -- I knitted about 3 inches before I could see that it was too narrow overall. I knitted the sleeves flat and seamed them up because I hate knitting small circular things. I also did the i-cord trim a little bit differently -- the i-cord wraps around both the selvedge stitches instead of being picked up in between the selvedge and the body stitches. It's a bit too warm to wear it now, but I did take it out for a spin a couple of times and so far, I'm happy with it. The yarn seems to hold its shape well.

Vogue V9344 and happy spring

Hi everyone in the blogosphere! I'm still knitting, but my current project is taking forever because it's a longish cardigan with long sleeves in a DK weight. Hopefully, I'll post about it soon. Also, I've been busying with my Tiny Right Brain Designs jewelry business. In the meantime, spring has sprung so I thought I would post about a new dress I sewed. Actually, this was finished last fall but never worn because it got cold and I think it works for spring and summer just as well. The pattern is Vogue V9344 and the fabric is a stretch sateen from Mood Fabrics.

I cut the fabric with the puffy sleeves but they just didn't work out. For some reason, set-in sleeves with dresses in woven fabrics rarely fit right for me. I'll have to really sort out why some day. In the meantime, I just eliminated the sleeves and I like sleeveless dresses anyway. I widened the neckline a little bit and I added two small vertical darts below the bust line. Otherwise, I think it looks too much like a tent dress. I think I also lengthened the bodice by 1/2 inch. The fabric is a good medium weight but I lined the skirt section because it just looks and moves better with a more substantial bottom piece.

Finally, without the sleeve detail, the dress just seemed too simple. By some miracle, I have this linen cotton yarn in my stash that is in the exact color scheme as the fabric, so I thought I would knit a trim for the collar. It looks a tiny bit on the crafty side, but I think it's crafty in a good way, so I'm happy with the extra detail.