Saturday, November 2, 2013

Finished Items: Vogue 8679, McCall's 6844 and Sew Active Tank

November is going to be a really productive month! I already have three new garments sewn and it's only November 2nd! LOL!!

Okay...to be fair:
  1. they are all things I've made before.
  2. they are all knits (I love you Brother 1034D; serger of awesomeness!)
AS SOON as I finished the black version of the cardi, I was jones'in for number 2. I picked up a little over 2 yards of winter white ponte from the Hancock Spot the Bolt sale and cut the pattern. 

On the black version, I sewed 1/2" seams (instead of 5/8"), giving myself another 1/2". On the cream version, I intended to give myself an additional 1/2" and moved the back pattern piece 1/2" off the fold. Well, this gave me an extra inch. So, I sewed 5/8" seams to take it back "down" to the extra 1/2". 

Don't forget to add to the collar as well if you do this!!

I also added 1" to the sleeve length (only needed 1/2"). AND I sewed the collar on correctly! :) I did not interface the collar this time. We'll see how that works out over time.




When I saw how much fabric I had left, I got the brilliant idea to make a tank (using the Sew Active pattern), and turn this into a twin set! SCORE!!! However, the tank pattern is pretty long so I decided to chop it right after the waist, and then do a banded bottom. I cut a 5" band (that would be 4" after sewing to the top and hemming). Well, I went to try it on and...oops! I had cut the band on the cross grain! LOL!!!! Oh boy.

I took a swatch to JoAnn (where their knits were 50% off!) and got 1/8 yard for the low, low price of $0.62 - SCORE! Then I decided I "need" to do bands so I ended up with about a 3" band. If I did this again, it would be 5". It's *just* long enough.

My first version of the tank was in an active knit and this is of course, only 2 way stretch so I added 2 inches (at the fold) to front and back. It was perfect. Another bonus of this tank, unless your bra straps sit really wide, you may not need a racerback bra!

I need to stitch in the ditch because my serged edges want to flip up.


Next up, I made Vogue 8679, view B in a ITY knit. I am a little iffy on the print but I will wear it to decide if I like it or not. This pattern has raglan sleeves which are set flat. But, yours truly was just moving right along and serged the side seams...so I had to "set" raglan sleeves. DOH! 


The first time I made this pattern, I'd been sewing for about 6 weeks. I remember being so confused by the neck binding! :) it's nice to see that growth in myself. I constructed this completely on the serger, including the sleeves (yay me!). And who doesn't love a 1 yard top!?

In other news - I have a new sock! It only took me 10 days to make this one. I might not finish the other one until the end of November...I was chosen to test knit a pattern - yay me!!!

Seriously in love with this yarn. I'm not even sure I need to try an expensive sock yarn! 

Finally, I am (trying) to get a cat! YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
We've not been a pet family because we have always had crazy busy schedules. We tried a bird twice, when the kids were younger. But we were really gone like 12 hours per day and both ended up dying. Poor birds. That is also the reason we've never gotten a dog, even though the kids have begged asked repeatedly. But now, we've slowed down a bit and everyone is okay with a cat (my husband said absolutely not to a dog because he would end up being the only person caring for the dog! lol!) 

We're going to try to visit these two little guys to see if we want to bring one or both home with us!