Pandemic level 2, a knitted hat, sewn capelet and a shirt and haul

We've now been on level 2 for 2 weeks.  Restrictions have eased further, with gyms reopening, shops open again but practicing physical distancing.  Our confirmed and probable cases have only risen slightly since my last post and are now 1503, deaths have risen by 1 to 21.  Over the last 2 weeks we have only recorded another 2 or 3 confirmed cases.   We find out on 22 June if we can move to level 1.

I went out on the weekend for a friends 60th birthday and inadvertently attended a wedding.  A wedding was being held at the restaurant.  It was a lovely and simple wedding.  It was a Maori wedding and a lot of traditional aspects were followed which was lovely.

I'm now back at the gym, but needing to get back into it gradually as my fitness has really dropped off over the last few weeks.

On to what I've been making.

I made the Itch to Stitch Cape Cod capelet.

It was an easy sew.  It took me around  1 1/2 hours, done entirely on the overlocker and coverstitch. However I think I picked the wrong fabric for it.  The fabric works but it is a very lightweight wool, only suitable for wearing in summer and not sure I'd want to wear a capelet in summer.  A heavier fabric would have been more suitable for a winter and autumn/spring capelet.

I also made the Grainline Archer shirt

This is a very popular pattern amongst sewists.  So when Grainline had a sale I bought the pattern.  I can see why it is so popular.  It comes together beautifully, instructions are easy to follow.  It is a classic shirt, with yoke, and back pleat, stand up collar and plackets and cuffs at sleeves.  I made this in a stretch poplin that I've had in my stash.  This took me around 8 hours which I think is pretty good for a shirt.  The only alteration I made was to leave off the pockets on the front.  I think next time I should shorten the sleeves by 1 inch as they are a bit too long, very unusual problem for me!

I also had another knitting finish.  The antler toque pattern by Tincan knits, a free pattern on Ravelry.

To be honest, I have never worn a hat in Auckland in the 39 years I've lived here.  It just isn't cold enough in winter.  But I might be encouraged to wear a me-made hat.  I enjoyed knitting this and it only took about 6 days to knit, doing other things as well as the hat.  I even bought a fur pom pom to finish it off.

Cross stitch is still progressing and I finished a rotation on His Eye is on the Sparrow.

As soon as we went into level 2 and were able to go into shops I had to visit Ribbon Rose.  It was the busiest I've ever seen it.  I made a good haul

Lots of yarn, new circular needles, interchangeable needles and stitch markers.

4 ply Ashford MacKenzie 100% Merino, colour Sangria, to knit Flax Lite by Tincan knits.  free pattern on Ravelry

Opal Butterfly sock yarn, self patterning. 75%wool, 25% nylon. For Vanilla Latte socks, free pattern on Ravelry

Rowan 100%wool, colour Gold. Used for the Antler Toque hat

 Zauberball colour Tonspur, for Vanilla Latte socks.

Yet another Anza and Cross stitch update

I think this is the 5th Anza dress I've made.  Pattern by Itch to Stitch

This was made in a lovely cotton linen called Blue Hibiscus from Spotlight.  As linen can be a bit see-through I underlined the skirt in white rayon.

I had enough fabric left over to make a little cross over body purse.

I had a bright pink zipper that went well with the flowers.

This is a good way of using up those bits of left over fabric as it doesn't use much.  The purse is big enough to take my phone, keys, cards and hankies.

The last 2 rotations have been spent on Old Friends by HAED.  I've finished the top row!

 Next up in the rotation is His Eye is On the Sparrow.

Another Hvar and cross stitch haul

I love making the Hvar jacket from Itch to Stitch. So quick and easy to make with a great result.

 This was a wool from Morelands fabrics. This gives me a smarter lightweight jacket.

I needed some fabric for my next cross stitch At the Steps by HAED.  So I called in at The Embroiderer. I've recently started obsessing over the reproduction style samplers of the 19th century.  One in particular caught my eye, while it isn't a reproduction, the verse and motifs appealed to me. The first thing I saw when I entered the shop was that very chart.

They only had the one chart of this so it was as if fate intended me to find it and of course I had to buy it. 

This has been added to my decision roulette wheel. I'm thinking of changing the word sparrow to spuggie which is the Geordie word for sparrow.

 I also bought some fabric that has a washed out, stained look to it which is perfect for a sampler. I think it was 28ct, but it may have been 32ct.

I also bought cream18ct Aida for At the Steps and Healing Rose. And some of this gorgeous mocha linen for Sans Souci. I think this was 32ct, but may be 36 ct.

 I now need to order  silks from Silks4u for Sans Souci and threads from 123stitch for Sparrow which requires Weeks Dye Works and Gentle Arts Sampler threads. These are too expensive to buy in New Zealand.

Hvar jacket and revised cross stitching rotation plan, helpful thread planner

I made the Hvar jacket from Itch to Stitch

I had some wool fabric in my stash that I had bought from a Hospice shop for just $3.  However after I had cut it all out I realised that the collar needed to have 2 pieces cut on the fold, I only had enough fabric for 1.  I was very disappointed thinking I couldn't make the jacket, so went and bought some more fabric to make another jacket.  Once I cut out the pieces for the other jacket I had enough left over for another collar piece.  Hey presto, my wool jacket with contrasting collar.

This is a really smart jacket and is incredibly quick to sew, it just took me around 3 1/2 hours.  The front pieces come to a point which is perfect for concealing my rounded tummy.

On to cross stitch.  After further pondering, I decided I'd rather pick my rotations more randomly.  So I downloaded a roulette spinning wheel app, loaded up the patterns I have kitted up, and almost kitted up.  I still want to concentrate on doing Old Friends so the plan is:

• Do a 10 day rotation, minimum of 2000 stitches, from 1 - 10th of month, 11th - 20th, and 21st to end of month.
• Spin the wheel for each rotation.  Old Friends is on the wheel twice to increase the chances of its being picked.  If however it picks 2 rotations of the same project and I haven't done Old Friends since I last did that other project, then I will substitute with Old Friends.

So October starts next week.  Here is my first spin.

So the first spin in my rotation goes to At the Steps.


This is a Heaven and Earth Design, and the artist is Leonid Afremov.  Design size is 450 x 544, which gives a total of 244,800 stitches.  This will be my largest piece ever.   There are 89 colours.

I have the threads sorted, but still need fabric.  I've been experimenting with different count fabrics.  I used to like stitching on 22ct Hardanger, but my eyes aren't as good now.  I tried 1 over 1 on 25 count and I can see OK if I wear magnifying lenses but find I'm just not enjoying the experience.  So I am going to stick with 18ct Aida that I am using in Ornament Witching Hour.  For the record, I am using 16 ct on Old Friends.

As Haed give thread requirements for 25 ct fabric, someone posted this helpful conversion on facebook

Faux Jumpsuit

When is a jumpsuit not a jumpsuit.  When it's 2 separates of course.

Shirt tucked in for a jumpsuit look.

Shirt out with a belt

Shirt loose over pants

Everyone is wearing jumpsuits these days.  But, let's be honest, they aren't the most convenient for toilet breaks.  So I bought 4 metres of a striped rayon to make pants and top.

The pants are Megan Nielsen Flint pants.    The Flints had been on my wanted list for a while after seeing lots of lovely makes on the internet and very favourable reviews from sewers.  Each month she has a different pattern on sale for that month.  In January it was the Flint pants, so I had to grab them.The pattern for these has them as 3/4 pants or shorts. 

The fastening is unusual, with 2 buttons at the side or a tie.  It has tucks at the front and darts at the back.  I found these lovely black and white striped buttons that went perfectly with the fabric.

I wanted full length palazzo style pants, so I added 6 inches to the length at the mark where the shorts are cut.  I really only needed to add 4 inches as I ended up turning the hem under 1/2" then another 2 1/2 inches.

These were really quick to sew, just taking 3 1/2 hours.  I made a straight size 16, but took 1" off the waist as my waist measurement was 1" smaller than the pattern.  These fit perfectly, no adjustments needed.

I love them and need to make more, this time sticking to the 3/4 length which I am seeing being worn now.  I have some black denim, so would like to try making them in that with a detachable bib - there is a free pattern and tutorial for this on the Megan Nielsen website.  I'm also thinking maybe a lightweight denim or chambray.

For the top, I had been itching to try lengthening the bodice on the Itch to Stitch Anza dress to shirt length.  Also the cuffs were fiddly to add to the bodice to make sleeves, so I wanted to eliminate the cuffs and extend the bodice to make the bodice and sleeves in one.  To lengthen the bodice I took the Itch to Stitch Bonn shirt and copied the front and back.  I love the curved hem on the Bonn and wanted the same on the Anza.

I'm very happy with how my new shirt pattern turned out.  I wanted a bit of contrast with the stripes, so instead of  running lengthwise, as I did with the pants,  I made the stripes horizontal and very carefully matched them- it worked perfectly.  Again these were a quick sew, just taking 3 1/2 hours.

Fail

Well this didn't even get completed.

This is the Itch To Stitch Chai blouse/dress.

I got the bodice and skirt made up and started doubting if it was going to fit.  I made the buttonholes, attached the buttons, and no.  Too tight.  Sigh.

To be honest I had my doubts before starting it.  I've had the pattern for a while, but I wasn't sure I liked the gathering under the bust (I don't).  However in my search for the perfect shirtdress, I still remained hopeful that this was the one.

I don't know why it is too tight.  I made it in the same sizes (8C bust, 8 waist, grading to 12 hips) as I make all my Itch to Stitch patterns and all the others have fit perfectly.

Oh well, back to the drawing board.

scanncut photos and another Anza dress

This is my 4th Anza dress from Itch to Stitch.  I made the other 3 last summer.  I wear these dresses all the time over summer so wanted another one.  This is another rayon one, hard to see in the photo but it is a navy background with palm trees with purple leaves and white trunks.

The only change I made was to leave out the elastic in the waistband and have just the drawstring.  I find having both elastic and drawstring is very hard to get in the casing.

Another fiddle I have is putting the cuffs on.  You have to iron the side seams on the bodice to an angle at the armhole and then put the cuffs on.  Trying to get them to fit in with that angle is a pain and took me over an hour to do both cuffs.  Next time I'd like to try just extending the shoulders at the bodice.  Although the pattern comes in a jumpsuit I'm not sure how that would suit my figure, so to emulate a jumpsuit I'd like to make the top as a shirt, it would just need lengthening about 3" to make a boxy shirt, and then make some pants in a co-ordinating fabric to give a jumpsuit look, without being a jumpsuit.

Some things I didn't show on my last blog post.

Using the stencil to put patterned chocolate on my coffee froth.

The coffee cup I vinyled.   It says But First Coffee.

the Birthday card I'd made but couldn't find.  I was a bit messy with the glue so couldn't send this, but a learning experience.

Some more Belize shorts

These are my second pair of Belize shorts from Itch to Stitch.  My first pair were in a drill, this pair were made in a cotton that has a bleached look running through the pattern.

Not much more to say.  These were pretty quick to sew up, around 2 1/2 hours sewing time.  Will be good for beach walks.