Crochet It Shawl from Yarnspirations

It took about a month with an I sized crochet hook but I finally finished Yarnspiration’s “Crochet It Shawl”.  It took 2 balls of the country blue Caron simply soft yarn and 1 of the taupe color.  The pattern was free.

The pattern is rated as intermediate.  It is all single and double crochet stitches but I think it being a triangle is why it is at intermediate.  It definitely take time and counting on the pattern.

Crochet It Shawl pattern

 

 

 

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Memories of Toby

Our beloved Toby who has been seen here on the blog a little passed away today at 15 years and 4 months.  Lala and I will miss you Toby.

 

 

Harajuku Skirt (Hearts for Hearts dolls)

Lauryce’s skirt has been done since early July .  But I have been horrible about taking time to take pictures.  There is at least 6 other doll items plus a couple of items for myself still needing pictures.

Lauryce got the Harajuku skirt from Liberty Jane.  It was in the Hearts for Hearts/ Les Corrolles section so not the Wellie version.

All I remember is that this was extremely fast to sew.  I think I had it completed in one evening from cutting to end.  I know that I would have done as much as possible flat (even the hem) then put the elastic at the waist.  Lastly was seaming up the back.

Lauryce’s skirt is from left over quilting cotton I had from the grey suit I previously made.  Her top is Liberty Jane’s baseball tee which was previously made.

 

 

More Hearts for Hearts Sewing- Liberty Jane patterns

Dell is up next.  Dell’s new outfit consists of Liberty Jane’s gathered t-shirt and Liberty Jane’s mini skirt pattern.

Dell’s t-shirt is made from ITY knit leftover from a dress I cut for myself (which is waiting to be put together).  I really like the finished t-shirt.  But my biggest complaint is that it didn’t include a neckband piece.  So instead of turning under and hemming, I cut out a band matching the width of the little arm cuffs and longer than the neck line length.  I basically used it as a facing and turned it to the inside and stitched down.

I just used the standard 2 rows of basting stitches for the gathering.  All the gathering was fairly easy even with the knit fabric.

The Liberty Jane mini skirt pattern is sized for Wellie Wishers and Hearts for Hearts dolls (14.5 & 14 inch dolls).  I had cut out four of view A from Kona cotton.  I only ended up with 3 skirts because I figured I needed to bring in the side seams for my Hearts for Hearts (since they are smaller than Wellies).  So the first skirt did not fit on my dolls and I was not going to go through fixing it.  After the first one, I used the recommended quarter- inch for side seams and the fit is fine for my dolls.

Now if you have a Wellie Wisher, you may want to consider including a bit more wearing ease so the skirt is easier to pull on and off.  In that case, my recommendation would be to get your extra width from the center front and center back seams.  For View A, I had to fold the front and back fabric pieces and then stitch in a faux felled seam.  That faux felled seam is where I recommend getting your desired width if necessary.

I did like how Cinnamon has you finish the side seams because it does give you a nice waistband finish.  It may not be the best method for complete beginners as afterwards, you have to sew the front waistband down in the round.  A small 6 inch or so waist is pretty tight to do in the round.  The American girl sized dolls are probably easier to complete like this.  For me, it was slow sewing and constantly trying to make sure I was able to move the skirt and able to see.

Simplicity 8574

Over Father’s Day weekend, several of the Hearts for Hearts girls got new outfits.  As I didn’t want to take away from Rahel’s bold necklaces, I decide to go with Simplicity 8574.  I did view A’s shirt and view B’s leggings.

The leggings used the same sueded ITY that I used for my McCall’s 6654 skirt.  Rahel’s t-shirt uses a cotton knit remnant that one of my friends gave me.

I really think this pattern is designed more in line with the Wellie Wishers sizing.  The shoulders and sleeves of Rahel’s top are just too big for her.  The sleeves would be easy enough to shorten, but I don’t think taking a 3/8th inch seam allowance on the armsythe will fix the shoulders being too wide.  I really don’t know the best way to fix the shoulder problem that Rahel has with this top.

Plus the top did not have a neckband piece.  It was another turn and hem type top.  I don’t feel like I get as nice of a finish this way.  So I cut a rectangular block about 1 inch wide and use it as a facing to finish the neckline.

The leggings are a bit baggy at the waistband.  The leggings should be much easier to adjust.  I think it should just be changing from a quarter-inch seam allowance to a bit over three-eighths seam allowance for the crotch seams.

After I finish up my purses for the Sew Powerful Purse project, I will probably make Rahel a different outfit.

Hearts for Hearts Liberty Jane Jeans

Tipi was the first doll to get a completed outfit (but that is because I used a previously made Wren Feathers gathered blouse).

Tipi’s pants are from Kona cotton.

I pretty much followed the directions of the pattern except for I did not want to insert my elastic in the round.  This time I left one side seam undone but finished off the in-seam so I would be able to hem the second leg easily.  After that, I inserted the elastic and tacked the end of it down.  The final side seam was pinned then sewn and finished with zig-zag stitch.  Side seam was trimmed and I feel that gave me a nice easy to make finish.

This small of a size may have been difficult to complete in the round on a sewing machine.  I am not sure I would want to hand sew it as you do need the waistband to be strong.  My hand-stitching may not be professional enough for this sort of task.

I finished all the seams off with a small zig-zag stitches then trimmed off the rest of the seam allowance (it wasn’t that much).

Butterick 6464 Skirt

 

Last summer I tried shopping for a RTW one but could not find anything I liked. So looking ahead to spring and summer, I decided I needed to make some knit elastic waist skirts.  After searching the pattern stash, I decided to use Butterick 6464.  It is from their Lisette collection.  This was probably finished early May but just now getting blog photo; weather was some of the problem.

I traced out a size 20. I could have sworn I measured myself correctly.  I think my problem was either the stretch material or I measured myself when I was having symptoms from endometriosis and this caused the difference.  So far, the endometriosis theory is the front- runner.  In the end, I took about 4 inches off all over so I should have traced a size 16 instead.

The fabric used first is a candy apple Ponte knit. With my Pfaff Ambition, it handled the Ponte better at a slower sewing speed.

I did not shorten the pattern when I traced it out. I knew I would most likely take off some length but I wanted to be able to see the skirt on before deciding how much should be removed.  I shortened it by an inch then took a 3 inch hem.

I later traced out a 16 one weekend. The following week, I spent cutting out Butterick 6464 skirts in grey, royal blue, and tan Ponte, plus able to cut a Liesl & Co Classic shirt and doll apron.

Over the weekend, I put on my “Home Fires” DVD and went to work on putting together my skirts. As for “Home Fires”, I still don’t agree with the decision to cancel the series.  But back to the skirts, I decided to top-stitch down each side on the center front and back panels.    As for the side seams, I ended up taking them in an inch (2 inches total).  This is a more reasonable amount based on fabric stretch, so I didn’t decide to re-trace out the size 14.

 

The skirts went together fairly quickly and I had all three completed by Sunday afternoon.