The shrug is done!

Originally uploaded by illusionary_one

Sleeves in the same spirit as the sweater seen on Top Gear, but a shrug was much easier (and quicker) to complete than a sweater. Now that I have the lace pattern down pat, I might try a sweater version in the future… whenever my head is ready to do the math needed for the right shaped sweater.

Besides, I wear shrugs more often. This works!

Making a Captain Liberty T at SCRAP

Originally uploaded by illusionary_one

In demand and happening again! This time with an added bonus: Clothing swap, too!

SCRAP is hosting a Clothing Swap and Modification workshop on Sunday, May 16th, 2010 from 1-4pm. This event is open to all people, all sizes, and all ages. Please bring any clean, gently used clothing that you would like to swap or modify. We will provide all of the tools, materials, and expertise needed to repair or embellish your new finds!

Re-fashion something from your closet into something more fun! There will be multiple DIY stations available to transform your threads from drab to fab! Bows, thread, floss, buttons, decals, studs, trim, patches and other materials are provided. Embroider, knit, applique, sew, or faux screen print your item back to fantastic!

A plethora of project ideas are available if you need a little bit of inspiration for alteration. Everyone is invited! No previous crafting experience necessary.

Suggested items to swap or work on: Shirt, skirt, jacket, hat, pants, shoes (canvas is easiest), gloves, bag, etc.

Only $5 for a new wardrobe! Leftovers at the end of the day will be donated to the West Women’s and Children’s Shelter. Feel free to drop by!

SCRAP Creative Reuse Center

Lime green sweater

Aaron and I have been massively hooked on Top Gear as of late, and watching as many episodes as Netflix has available on demand.  In the episode with the race between a Bugatti Veyron and a Eurofighter Typhoon, there is an audience shot where a gal in a *gorgeous* lime green sweater is standing directly behind the host.  I really want one of these sweaters, and it doesn’t look impossible to make.

[oddball geekiness]

Since all of the clips I reviewed on YouTube left this audience portion out, I queued it up on our Xbox and took a picture of my TV screen with my point and shoot camera.  Not the most technically advanced way to do it, but I’m not sure if the image would have been much better for my purposes if I had done a regular screen shot *if* I could have found the video.

[/oddball geekiness]

Yarn

At first I thought it was a shrug, but at second glace it is looking like a shrug-style short sweater.  The long cuffs are pretty obviously knitted, as is the collar and edging.  I am pretty sure that the collar and edging are folded over for double thickness.  The cuffs might be, too.  It’s the sweater part itself that has me a bit puzzled.  It sort of looks crocheted, but it might be knitted.  Perhaps with really large needles?  My knitting skills are infinitely better than my crochet skills, so it would be better for me if I can figure out a way to knit this.  I dug through my knit stitch pattern books, and didn’t see anything that even remotely resembled this look.  I used to have a sweater sort of like this, and it was definitely crocheted.  This might be the right time to hone my crochet skills.

I’ve thought about subbing in some other lacy patterns, possibly the skull lace pattern I used for my kitchen curtains, but I really like the “hole-y” look of this sweater.  I know how to knit simple lace, but I’ve never tried to make lace with holes this large.

Once I figure out the motif to use, I still need to make some decisions on construction.  The last shrug I knitted was done wrist to wrist, sewed the sleeves together, and then cast on edging for the collar.  This looks more complicated than that.

Someone donated a decent sized stash of beautiful lime green yarn to SCRAP this week, which I am taking as a sign from the deities that I need to at least *try* to re-create this sweater. I started with some gauge swatches last night, but I am going to do some more hunting for patterns I can modify so I don’t I overwork the limited amount of yarn.  This might warrant a trip to the library, which would probably give more direction than the internet.  There are some really terrific knitting sites out there (I *heart* Knitty) but sometimes I just really need to flip through some books for ideas.

Re-Fashion Clothing Mod Night

Originally uploaded by illusionary_one

Re-fashion something from your closet into something more fun! There will be multiple DIY stations available to transform your threads from drab to fab! Bows, thread, floss, buttons, decals, studs, trim, patches and other materials are provided. Embroider, knit, applique, sew, or faux screen print your item back to fantastic!

A plethora of project ideas are available if you need a little bit of inspiration for alteration. Everyone is invited! No previous crafting experience necessary.

Please bring one of these items to work on: Shirt, skirt, jacket, hat, pants, shoes (canvas is easiest), gloves, bag, etc.

April 8, 2010 from 6- 8 pm at SCRAP Creative Re-Use Center. 2915 NE MLK Jr. Blvd. Portland, Oregon. $7 workshop fee includes DIY materials, wine, and snacks. Cash only – 100% of workshop fee goes to benefit SCRAP. Hosted by Jennifer Alvin.

Decided to curl up with a crochet hook and season two of Arrested Development. I think I finally have a good handle on a pattern that will work for "noisy" trim. Realizing how many beads and coins this will take, too!

Pattern:
1. Create a crochet chain as long as you want the trim to be.
2. Turn. At the 2nd loop, SC across entire row.
3. Chain 1 and turn.
4. *SC, Chain 2* every other loop.
5. Bind off at end of third row.

Using a thinner yarn/thread, stitch to the center of each loop. String bead pattern, wrap around end bead or coin, then return needle through the first beads. Stitch to next loop and repeat.

This should be cool when I have the time to put the whole thing together as a hip scarf.

My belly dance teacher makes her own hip scarves with hand crocheted coined & beaded trim. Her friends have urged her to teach a class on how to do it, but she doesn’t have time. I took a look at them and decided to try my hand at creating the trim.
Crochet is not my strong suit, but I can usually figure out a written pattern after a few attempts. My how-to book has a pattern for mesh background, and that seemed like as good a place to start as any.
I strung beads on the yarn, then tried to work the beads into the pattern. My conclusions so far are that I’m on the right track with the yarn thickness, hook size and gauge. I need to work more beaded strands into the pattern, replenish my inventory with larger beads, and find some coins for the finishing touches. I also need to keep my eyes open for a good base fabric for the hip scarf, or write the pattern as the entire scarf (would take much longer to make that way).
Fun to test this out, but will shelve starting the actual hip scarf project until I get a few other projects finished – like the harem pants I started two weeks ago.

Indy’s been having trouble with separation anxiety lately, which means coming home to puddles on the floor. We are literally scouting the house for messes when we get home, and at least half the time we are finding them. This is part of the reason he is going to doggie daycare now.

Unfortunately for Indy, we still need to leave him alone from time to time, so I looked into doggie diapers. Aaron thinks this is quite undignified, but agreed that we need to do something about it. Most of the things I found online are harnesses that hold baby diapers, and I’m not quite ready to drop $$ on something when I am not sure if it will work. A number of the things I found didn’t look like they would fit a greyhound’s physique well, either.

Enter the belly band. Apparently a number of greyhound organizations send their adopted male dogs home with these to alleviate the problem of marking and house training. I found an online tutorial to make them (thank you One Pearl Button!), Aaron donated a T-shirt, and off we went. It only took about an hour to cut and sew together, and I really like that the whole thing is washable and doesn’t require an investment in environmentally unfriendly baby diapers to complete the ensemble.

I’m going to let him wear it around the house a bit while we are home to get him used to it, and hope that it does the trick next time we have to leave him alone for a couple of hours. If it works, I will probably make a few more.

Tutorial:
www.onepearlbutton.com/2009/05/tutorial-doggie-belly-band…

I got a super cute "Tech Girl" t-shirt for Christmas that was kind of big on me, and I didn’t want to banish it to pajama land.
I’ve made a couple of T-shirts before (short and long sleeve) and the end results were less than desirable.
After doing a bit of reading and looking at lots of pictures, I finally mustered up the courage to try it again.
I was very disciplined about it instead of cutting and sewing on the fly like I usually do. Even used the dressmakers chalk! Spent a fair amount of time adjusting thread tension, which was interrupted by a drastic need to clean out the lint below the feed dogs. Basted, tried it on, seam ripped, re-basted, and frequently ran to the full length mirror in the other room to check my work.
Finally got it how I wanted it, and finalized the seams. Should have been a bit more industrious and used the serger for the final seams, but adjusting serger thread tension is more of a pain than adjusting the sewing machine.
Very happy with the results, and it has given me the courage to try it again!