I love this sweater

I finished my sweater and wore it to work today. I love this sweater. It's made of 3 strands of 14/2 cotton on the Passap DM80 machine. It's extra comfy. I got lots of compliments...my boss even suggested I make one for her...NOT! I'm going to be too busy digging through my yarn stash for yarn to make another one. The only thing I will do different next time is to not make the neckline as wide. Because the sleeves/yoke is knit sideways and the yarn is 100% cotton, the neck seemed to get wider as the day went on. I'm going to thread some thin elastic through the cut and sew casing and cinch it up a bit. Other than that I love, love this sweater. Check me out in my new threads!



P.S...I've already accomplished one of my monthly goals...knit one sweater a month!

Am I lucky or what?

The jacket that I made last week and was only 85% happy with was really weighing heavy on my mind. I decided my satisfaction level could be much higher if the sleeves weren't so tight. Although I purchased the fabric from JoAnn's in about November I decided to just purchase more fabric and redo the sleeves. Of course, to my disappointment, neither store in my area had any.

Today I took a 30 mile drive to the location most likely to have the fabric I needed. They didn't have any either but they did have a listing of all the JoAnn's in Michigan and gave me a copy. Sitting in the parking lot and with trusty cell phone in hand, being put on hold for more than 10 minutes--I hung up, called back and demanded to speak with the manager and made a point of saying I wouldn't tolerate being put on hold--I found a store another 20 miles away from where I was that was pretty sure they had some. Did I mention I didn't have the SKU#? Driving at the speed of light, nearly, I got there and sure enough they had it. I got an additional two yards...on sale of course. I figure I can now make a matching skirt. I'm on cloud 9! Driving 100 miles round trip was worth it.

In the meantime, I waiting to get my latest knitting project out of the dryer. My Red Sweater Knitalong sweater came out better than I imagined. I can't wait to wear it. Here's a photo of it before I put the neckband on. Everybody is wearing red at work tomorrow so I'll be finished with it just in time. My goal was to have it ready for Valentine's Day who'da thunk I'd get it done and worn before deadline! And yes...I'm still going to wear it Saturday.

Foray to fit

Since about 2006 I have been on a journey to make better fitting garments...that's easier said then done. Actually I haven't made any woven garments for quite sometime because I was so unhappy with the fit of the pattern I'd been trying. I've made a few jackets out of machine knit yardage and have sewn with Slinky quite a bit. Anyway I am more determined than ever to get to the bottom of my fit issues. Mostly I'm waiting for the Connie Crawford workshop. In the meantime I've said I wouldn't try on my own...but that is just not my nature.

Although I have a pretty extensive sewing library, I've been fretting over Vogue 8151, since at least December. I guess I should say that I absolutely love jackets /suits. Whether it be skirts or slacks I like having a coordinated outfit that I can pull right from the closet, throw on with matching shoes and be fabulous. So far in my foray to fit, I've made two muslins,and two out of fabic I just had laying around. For the last couple of days I've really been itching to sew something for myself but stressing about the fit. Last night I threw caution to the wind and got some decent fabric out of my stash and "went for it." After scrounging around for all my altered pieces I realized that I didn't have quite enough fabric. Not a problem, the sleeves are a little shorter than the pattern called for. I cut and marked the fabric and fused the interfacing in place. This morning I put it all together and other than some minor changes, I'm okay with it. I don't love it but with a little work on the pattern I could get there.

I think I need to make a high round back and a sleeve width adjustment. I'm about 85% pleased with the fit. As far as the pattern I liked it fine until I got to the collar. It didn't have a back facing. I don't know if I lost it or not but I don't like that extra bulk that is added when you have to snip into the upper collar at the shoulder seam and do a lot of folding back etc. then stitch down. The next time I make this jacket I'll make a back facing and eliminate that problem. Of course if I had been able to locate the instruction sheet that might have helped too!

Then came buttons. Like more sewers I've got a stash that will last me to the grave. Dug through it and found the perfect button. Perfect until I realized I only have four. The pattern called for only four but I would rather use five because I like to make sure that I have a buttonhole at the fullest part of my bust so that there won't be any gapping. Try as I might, I couldn't located a fifth one. Maybe I'll just omit the top most button...I'm very flexible.

In all I've learned a lot. I was very surprised that the armhole I've worked out almost matches exactly the one for Connie Crawford's Butterick 5300. Then again the jacket does fit more like a blouse! Not really a problem because I didn't realize how lightweight the fabric was that I chose. I don't usually wear a blouse under my jackets anyway but a little looser fit might be better. It all a learning process.

I'm also still hammering away at my handknit discloths. I've made two this week.