Big update!

I haven't been idle lately, though nothing has reached the blog!

First of all, I made some more pants. I'm really on a roll with pants lately! The first pair was made from a navy blue wool-polyester blend, lined with polyester lining. They feel lovely to wear and very warm! The second pair was from grey polyester, lighter weight but very comfortable. These ones have dark grey contrast topstitching. I've since made a third pair from charcoal-coloured polyester, with a long half-belt waistband.

I also finished the jumper I've been knitting this winter. It was based on a jumper I once saw in a magazine from the eighties. I started with a basic jumper pattern, as I mostly do, and worked out the variation. I'm very happy with it! I also finished weaving a second scarf, which I haven't photographed yet. It taught me that, if you make a mistake in the warp, it really is better to start again, rather than try to fudge it! The scarf itself is nice, but it's a little too short because the warp problems were so annoying and I spent a lot of time unweaving to correct errors. Lesson learned! I've just finished a third project, a wrap, which I made from leftover baby wool. I wanted to try weaving with fine yarn, and I wanted to practise getting my selvedges nice and even. I also wanted to try out using a pattern stick, which was very interesting and worth exploring further. It's turned out very well, and I really like it. The colours are the ones I wear often.

I've also been preparing patchwork blocks to take on my travels. I did a test block, which looks like this: The fabrics are pretty florals, in pinks, yellows and blues, from a range called Amelia's Garden. I'm combining them with toning plains in a positive-negative layout. So one block will have flower baskets on a plain background, and the next plain baskets and a floral background. I'm not used to using plain fabrics - tone-on-tones are much more usual these days - but it's what seemed to work best with the soft florals. It will make a lovely quilt for my favourite little girl. It was going to be a pink and yellow quilt, but somehow those blues just sneaked in!

A bit of dressmaking

I've been busy doing little bits of this and that, but not making huge progress on anything. But I have cracked the pants fitting problem, at least until I gain or lose weight. I seem to have been living in jeans, because I couldn't find ready-made pants that fitted well and were in fabrics I liked . This is what the first pair looks like:

It's a lousy photo, and I should really have been wearing shoes. I had great plans to have David take a better photo but that deoesn't seem to be happening, so this one will have to do.These pants were made from mid blue drill as a toile, and have a back zipper. I'm not mad keen on back zippers, so the next pair, almost finished in black drill, has a standard fly front and jeans-style pockets. They're a bit looser because I forgot that I had allowed slightly-larger-than-usual seam allowances for fitting. But they are still wearable, which is good since I have no intention of taking them apart! I have about half a dozen different pants fabrics waiting their turn now.

Coming up from under

I’ve been a little swamped by life this month. Happily, the computer is back up and running sweetly, and I can show you the little I’ve achieved this month.

First, the quilt I can’t show you is a finished top. I thought, for all of about five seconds, of pinning it for quilting, but then I calculated I had about two hours this week to devote to quilting it, and the madness passed. I will show you a photo after the unveiling next Sunday.

Looking back over the years I’ve been doing this quilt challenge has made me consider yet again how effectively (or not) I work. I started doing these challenges in 2000, so this is the eighth year for me (the original pair of challengers have done nine). So far the tally is four finished items and four unfinished, on an alternating basis. So, it suggests I really only have one finished quilting project in me every two years! Maybe I ought to do the challenge just every second year?

However, more cheerfully, I have finished some projects! Remember the yarn I showed you a photo of back in June? Well here it is as a jumper. I still love the colour! Shame about the model but one can’t have everything!

Not only that but I have finished the jacket I cut out in February as an autumn garment. Well it will be great for spring! It goes deliciously with a lot of colours I wear – burgundy, pink, cocoa. It wasn’t difficult to make, but it kept getting pushed aside. I’m so pleased at how well the stripes matched, thanks to very good instructions in Power Sewing Step by Step, by Sandra Betzina. My next plan is to make some winter pants. I’ve drafted a pattern from scratch this time, and plan to make a toile first, before I cut into my treasured wool yardage.

And do you remember that scarf design? I’ve begun stitching it, and this is what it looks like so far.
The shine is from the layer of Romeo onto which I traced my design. The scarf fabric is very soft, so I’ve had to hoop the design for stitching, which I really hate doing. But the results are worth it. The scarf was a free giveaway from the shopping centre on Mother’s Day 2006. I just know I’m going to love it so much better with this embellishment!