February 10, 2006
And Sew It Begins ........
The dressmaking marathon has finally begun. The sewing machine has taken up permanent residence on the dining table and the ironing board is blending in nicely as a feature in the living room - and I have remembered why I gave up dressmaking.
It is so BLOODY TIME CONSUMING ! So up-and-downy-never-sit-still in the one place as you hop from machine to iron to chair, back to machine - sheesh ! Plus my knees are giving out from crawling about on the living room floor cutting out slippery fabrics that have no intention of allowing you to pin them together in a nice straight line with the result that you use more pins that you find on a porcupine and end up kneeling/standing/sitting on them with tedious regularity !!!
Having said all that, progress has been made. Not significant progress but progress nonetheless.
The bride has a bit of a tendency towards gothdom in all its glory. Persuaded that black might not be quite the right look, however, she has fallen back on a Goth Gal's second best friend - PURPLE. I'm still waiting for the fabric for her outfit (crushed purple velvet and gold satin) so I've been getting on with the deeply dark bridesmaids dresses she chose.
A bit of crushed purple silk with dark purple diamante tulle over it ends up looking something like this (apologies for the washing on the radiator behind - the realities of drying in a Scottish Winter !)
What do you think ? This is for Rosie my almost 11 year old and mine will be in the same fabrics tho' a slightly different style. I have sweated blood to get this far. For some reason most patterns for children seem to stop at age 8/9 and then you jump straight to adult / misses sizes so I've had the joy of trying to alter an adult design to fit. Rosie is thrilled with it. The jury's out as far as I'm concerned.
All this sewing is seriously cutting into my knitting time. I failed miserably on getting my hoods finished so I'm still plugging away at the navy stocking stitch (boring !) which I do a couple of rows on late at night as a "treat" for all the sewing effort.
At the Tramway Knitting Meet-up last weekend I did make a start on something new .......
The beginnings of my Femme Fatalein Rowan Kidsilk Spray and Alchemy Yarns Silk Purse in Pale Blue Eyes.
So far I really like this pattern. The loopy airy stitch is just different enough to be more interesting to knit than stocking stitch but simple enough to make perfect Knitting Meet-up / TV watching fodder.
BTW have you seen Ann and Kay's gorgeous Noro Afghan for Afghan's yet ? I think it is absolutely beautiful ( especially of course the square second from left in the top row in the picture of it thrown over the couch !). The bidding is still going on so get on over if you covet it as much as I do ;0)
Come to think of it, some Noro leftover squares would make for even more perfect brainless knitting whilst recovering from sewing .......... who said I lack focus ???