Sewing a 1924 party dress

I am sewing a 1924 party dress for New Years, as I have been invited to a "Grand Gatsby" party. Now, the thing is, I happen to dislike the new Great Gatsby movie. I think F. Scott Fitzgerald is rolling in his grave. There was very little if any semblance to the music and social aspects of the era, not to mention the cars (Gatsby's jalopy would not be seen until 1931) and the lack of historically accurate costuming. The 1920s was not all fringe an sequins. It was mostly rhinestones in fact. I asked my Great Grandmother a while back about what people really wore in the 20s. She said her mother and older sisters always wore simple, neat dresses with little ties and fancy collars, and evening dresses with pearls and skirts with sheer, floaty petals. They wore real silk stockings and shoes made up in silk brocade. Their makeup was light and peachy, with green eye shadow to bring out their eyes. They wore pink on their fingertips and lips, and their hair was done in marcel waves that they styled at home with water and flaxseed setting lotion. They lived a simple, regular life. 

So where in the new rendition of Great Gatsby was

Madeleine Vionnet's handkerchief dress? Jean Patou? Any of the Art Deco saque type beaded masterpieces? Nowhere to be found. Only jangly, dangly horrors and poorly depicted costuming. I swear that the movie industry 1) tried vainly to steal a suspension of disbelief factor from Moulin Rouge 2) incorrectly depicted costuming so that teenage fan girls could go crazy over "Gatsby Clothes" that the fashion industry was ready to cheaply manufacture. What a disappointment. So enough ranting. Here is my preliminary sketch:

This is very historically accurate. I may add godets to the skirt as well. 

Step 1: sew wrong sides together for front panel 

Size up the seams and pin the other side, see and trim straight. 

Pink the edges. 

Then move onto the skirt lining. Do a flat fell seam. Make sure the shiny side is counted as the wrong side. 

Iron, trim seam to 1/8", and press with raw edge on inside. Sew 1/2" seam. Turn right way round and stitch other side down. 

Assemble front panel with left and right bodice front. Sew shoulder seams of front to back. 

Attach skirt to bodice. 

Make drapery pleats with iron. Stitch onto side swag belt. 

Tack front and back onto waistline with small catch stitches. Tie swags in double knots at each side. Carefully pink an catch stitch all edges. 

Hem skirt with catch stitch. 

Sew sleeve seams and set in sleeves. 

All done!

And lastly, a photo with my Husband. 

Bridal Embroidery

Bridal Embroidery 

I decided to embroider a panel to place on the front of my bridal gown. After sewing the gown, I saw a need for a bit more front and center pizzaz. 

I chose a mirrored frame Art Nouveau design, which I resized and traced. I decided to place very fine size 11 glass beads around the design for some subtle shine. I played with tambour and the chain stitch, using only one thread on the hopes that it would be delicate. It was bad and I was about to give up and take the dang thing to a machine embroidery shop. It would have cost me $80 to get this little design done. So of course I ponied up and did the damn thing myself! I finally woke the hell up and used 4 threads instead of 1. I was not about to buy embroidery thread that I would have to sit and tangle by trying to separate the threads. So I saved money and used a big cone of white serger thread. Sure, it is my first ever embroidery project and it is by no means perfect in any way. But I tried. 

Here is what I have been working on.

Materials:

-Embroidery hoop large enough to hold your design

-Fine net Tulle (the finer the better!)

-Water soluble stabilizer tissue

-Fine straight hand needle or quilting sharp

-Tracing pencil (water soluble is best)

-White sewing thread (I used serger thread)

-Needle threader

The setup is quite simple. Create a design with the program of your choice and print or draw out your design on micrograph paper. Make sure that the design size is the same as the area of the garment where you plan to place it. Next, take a piece of water soluble backing stabilizer or red dot Swiss patternmaking tissue (never use fusible interfacing!) and cut it to fit into the embroidery hoop. Place the transparent tissue stabilizer over the drawing, pin down, and trace. Use a pencil or sharpie to do so. Next, cut a piece of tulle the same size as the stabilizer. Place the tulle over the stabilizer and place both over the bottom hoop. Secure in place with the top hoop, pulling the fabrics taut but being careful not to rip them. Place your needle on a needle threader. Pull a length of regular white sewing thread and fold in half. Place the first two inches of thread into the needle threader and pull the needle onto the thread. Tie the 4 ends of thread together with an overhand knot and snip off the tails as close to the knot as possible. 

Outline any continuous lines with a running stitch. Then go over the running stitch with satin stitch, which is just covering up the stitches so that any mistakes will be hidden!

If you see any black marks remaining, don't worry. You will rip away the stabilizer (carefully) after ALL embroidery has been finished. 

The satin stitch is very useful for stitching little five petal cherry blossom flowers. Just make sure that you leave a net diamond clear of the stitching in the center of each flower on the first petal so that you can go through the middle multiple times without getting stuck. 

After completing each flower separately, tuck the thread through the stitches on the wrong side of the work and snip the thread. Retie and start a new section. 

I recommend stitching all the flowers or repeating shapes first, and then doing the line work. You will feel much more accomplished if you do this. Have fun!

If there are any mistakes, cover them up with tiny beads! It will look so pretty and hopefully you will impress. 

Sockages

I mentioned in the last post that I cast on a pair of socks. They are for my Beloved Future Husband whom I refuse to diminish my raving about.

The yarn is from my ever-loving stash (more about the lovely stash later)

The main yarn is Schoeller+Stahl Fortissima 100 Socka 2085.

It is a nice 3-ply weight grey heather composed of three plies of brown-grey wool with two additional plies of black and white, and nylon for durability.

The toe, heel and stripes are knitted in an unidentifiable 3-ply cadet blue variegate.

I used the Turkish parallel needle cast on with two circular needles, size 1.

I finished the toe and a bit of forefoot in one night.

I placed 1x1 twisted rib and then 2x2 twisted rib for 1/2". (Durability in high stress area)

I then switched back to stockinette and added a cute blue stripe for 3 rounds before switching back to grey.

I shall add more later. But for now, back to knitting this sock for my Dear Loving Future Husband!

The Yarn Supply in Dahlonega, Georgia

Lady Lacewings loves to knit socks. Why am I writing in the third person?

Alas, sleep deprivation strikes again.

On a whim last night (as always, as things can only ever be created on a whim), I decided to cast on for a pair of toe-up socks. I am, of course, making up the pattern as I go along. Usual vendetta against my brain. But wait! What's this?

I used yarn from my stash. GASP! I didn't go out and search for the most perfect of perfect options?

No. Unfortunately, and to my immense dismay, there are but two locales from which to purchase fibery stuffs.--

*Except during the months of October (Goldrush) and April (Bear on the Square). Street vendors will sell beautiful artisan goods including needles, handspun yarn, and hand-dyed alpaca.*

--The first is WM. Now, the WM in Dahlonega, Georgia is not for the faint of heart. There, you shall find derelict dregs of society intermixed with sorority girls and the eyes from the hills. And then there are the sweet old ladies that want to talk with you for an hour before you must dash because you are now late after being stuck in the twilight zone that is the Dahlonega WalMart (For our purposes, it shall henceforth be referred to as the DWM).

Now, the craft section. Not so bad if you are a budget quilter who likes smurf and flaming basketball prints. No Michael Miller or Amy Butler here. Sigh. The ribbon comes in neon colours and the shelves have pictures of ribbon styles for ease of restocking. However, not all styles are present and some are placed where they do not belong, as if on purpose. Oh, the Laze. The sewing needles are ok, if you have a Singer or Brother machine in one of 3 models.

Note: NEVER purchase a serger/overlock machine from DWM. Enough Said.

And now, the "yarn".

Yarn is "yarn" here, because the quality and redheartedness of the entire shebang is just too acrylic for my little woolen soul. No offense to dear Gram, but loads and loads of sport baby acrylic and supersaver acrylic and that dastardly ribbon thing in garish colors to be made into a jellyfish-like thing are just an eyesore. Admittedly, the colours of the Lion Brand "Amazing" are appealing, but only until you read the label to discover that it is, alas, but an acrylic incog of wool. Ah! Lion brand has wool-ease, right? But only in weights that are not rather appealing to flighty fingers of the sock and lace knitting populus.

The prices should be a quarter of the shelf proclamations, because how many dollars does it really take to produce that petrol derivative stuff? (Needless to say, the price should be less because it is produced IN MY STATE).

The conclusion is that WM "yarn" is for beginners only. Unless you have the hots for those groovy McCall's Home Crafts or Needlecraft magazines circa 1967. Wavy Afghan callin' your name?

There is only one exception: The sadly discontinued bamboo rayon yarn that Red Heart marketed as crochet thread. It acts like silk and is very pretty. I got 6 balls for $1.50 each and never saw it anywhere again, ever. Sad.

The other shop in Dahlonega is Magical Threads. The building is the first house built in Dahlonega. You will find pure, unadulterated wool YARN there. I bought some pencil roving from Plymouth yarn company there, and it was $16. I later spun a 2-ply laceweight from it and ran it through a fishing line gauge to measure it at 748 yds. That would have cost me about $10 more if it were pre-spun, I figure.

The shop does have Crystal Palace Mochi in a few colours, and some kidsilk haze. The yarn selection is mostly novelty yarns, but they are all on sale and they have K1C2 Ty-dye coming in.

In the next post, you will find more about my past and present sock knitting. Let's not be preemptive. I can't even resist the future.

Back to University

School is back in session, and my university classes are taking up all of my time. Not to mention the fact that clinical times keep changing.

It is a boon that I finished the main structure of my wedding gown before the start of the semester.
I shall upload photos when I get home.

I am so happy that I do not need to make alterations at this point in time.
I allowed the dress to hang for about two weeks now. I will not hem it until I have completed everything else, including the beading, because the weight of embellishments can affect the way that the hem will fall.

One thing I am stuck on is the flat satin piping. I could not find any double sided satin ribbon in the town where I reside. I had to settle for one sided satin ribbon that is not as pearly as I would like. I don't know if I will end up using the self fabric, but I really don't want to go to that point. It will be difficult to pull off.

As for the embellishments, so far I have completed the cascades that will be attached to the back with hand stitches in white thread.

I shopped for embellishing trim for the cascades with my mother. At first, I wanted a heavy machine crochet Victorian-type trim with little picots around larger scallops. However, my mother dissuaded me and said, "That's just not you." So instead, we came to a consensus on a slightly pleated white lace trim with little scallops that have smaller scallops bordering the edges.

When I was pinning this to the edges of the cascades, I was disappointed to find that the lace was unevenly sewn to the strip of netting that holds all the pleats in place. So, different widths of lace throughout the length make it look kind of tacky in my opinion. But I am a perfectionist and Lord only knows that I would spend a year crocheting little picots round the edges with a size 14 steel hook and white sewing thread.
Or even worse, I would probably spend every waking hour with tatting shuttle in hand, clicking out gazillions of tiny little picots that would then have to be sewn onto the edges by hand.

I think I'll have nightmares now. My hands will be working in my sleep.
Actually, someone cast a spell on me so that I can be more productive and finish knitting all those UFOs in my sleep. I'll pay you in yarn.

Anyway, getting sidetracked here.

I shopped for lace fabric and could not find exactly what I wanted. I ordered lace from fabric.com but ended up sending it back because it was really strange and made of that shiny, heavily draping poly-acryl which makes me sweat, just by looking at it.

I went to JoAnn's Fabric in Gainesville (my wonderful Fiance drove me there, as I was coming down with some horrendous illness and had a migraine)

We decided on a luxurious, light-as-a-feather white Point d'espirit, the same type of lace used on Elisabetta of Belgium's beautiful wedding gown.

This is the same fabric I will be using for the  cascade veil.

I decided to omit the sleeves from the gown. For a June wedding in North Georgia, sleeves of any kind would make me suffer in the heat.

Besides, I worked hard for my biceps, and this gown will certainly show them off!

Speaking of biceps, I need to get to my 11am Critical Injury Management class.

And then hand off a rather nice 4-page love letter to my Fiance...

My wedding gown

Here are the preliminary sketches for my wedding gown.

I drew the design based on my actual body type and the shape of my curves.

I was inspired by my own personal interest in the 1930s and 1940s.

I find that the styles of these eras best fit my body and look very nice on me.

First, I sketched the basic shape of the dress I want.

I drew the front and added all the lovely details I want.

Then I drew the back. I added and removed details, then phoned my Fiance and asked him what he thought would look nice. I sent him pictures and got him involved in the process. I listened to his advice. He loved the ideas I had. I decided on a bias-cut design and told him about the fluid draping quality of such gowns. He was very happy about that concept. He said that the groomsmen would need a defibrillator after seeing me in the finished product. He helped me decide on the fabrics to use. After our decisions, I wrote little notes all over my sketches to lead me in the right direction. See, a little help from His imagination doesn't hurt one bit.

And so, here are my sketches:

Here you see the front and back of the design:

Detail of the back:

Detail of the front:

The back in detail:

The front in detail:

I hope that you are able to see the satin flat piping around the insets and under the bust.

My Fiance asked me if I was going to sew the sleeves out of the same fabric as the veil- the man is a genius.

As you can see on my illustration, I am planning to do exactly that.

Here is a list of details:

Bodice:

Bias-cut crepe back satin

Tulle underlayer grazing over decollete at neckline

Waistline and skirt:

Bias-cut crepe back satin

satin flat piping

Peplum at front:

Vienna lace inset with satin flat piping

Skirt back:

Bias-cut crepe back satin

Cascades:

Bias-cut crepe back satin

Bodice back:

Bias-cut crepe back satin

Vienna lace

Sleeves:

Tulle under sleeve

Vienna lace sleeve overlay

Of course, I am planning to do a lot of.... planning as well as a lot of hand-sewing.

As I did with my prom dress senior year of high school, I shall not do with this dress.

Lessons learned:

~Do not cut some pieces on grain and others on bias.

~Do not skimp fabric and end up warping seams. Seams will ripple and look horrible. (it only worked because it looked like a chiton)

~Do not underestimate your size on a pattern and end up having to add triangles of fabric to the bodice side seams around the zipper.

~Don't use a black zipper on a lavender coloured dress.

~Sew the seams securely, not using invisible thread.

~Buy the correct materials before you even think about starting.

I went in reverse of normal processes. First, you find inspiration and then you put together your design, no?

It is not this way for me, whatsoever.

I pull things from my mind, dash them down on paper, and then find construction details that I can utilize to make my process easier.

Pre-Engagement Wedding Plans

1) Favours

2) Dress Design

3) Ring

4) Catering

5) Bridesmaids

6) Reception

7) Groomsmen

8) Theme

9) Colours

{- Engagement Hints -}

1) Time Of Month:

SUMMER

2) Location:

Mountain View

John and I became engaged on june 16th 2014. His beautiful sister Kelli and brother in-law scott planned a mountaintop "ambush" for us, completely unbeknownst to me. 
surprise! check out the fun with this sweet video

Pre-Engagement Wedding Plans

My Sweetheart and I have decided on marriage. In fact, we both expressed our wishes to become married within a year of beginning a relationship together. Is this crazy? Perhaps. However, we have decided to wait two years before officially tying the knot.

This provides us time to plan AND graduate from college.

I graduate in 2016, so I have plenty of time to make this work.

We have planned our engagement for sometime this year.

This is where the process becomes complicated: I'm not allowed to know when or where this is going to happen.

I have been allowed one hint per month.

The latest hints will be posted here.

The excitement is almost unbearable!

I have been encouraged to plan our wedding years in advance so that we will have a head start and save money as we go along.

I will post on the procedure of my planning here as time goes on.

Wish us luck and in the meantime, enjoy this idea from my planning budget:

Pretty Simple Vases

Made from Wine bottles

I work in an Italian restaurant, where we pour plenty of vino each day and night. Of course, the bottles get thrown away after use. I make sure they don't go to waste by rinsing them out and bringing them home. My boss is totally ok with this. He'd rather have someone use the bottles than throw them away.

I have collected about 40 wine bottles to this date.

I've decided to leave the labels on. It adds charm and distinction to the decor.

By the way, this cost me NOTHING. $0.00!!!

With over 15 different wines to choose from and pretty labels to boot, I'm a happy wedding planner.

We have decided to cut the tops of the bottles off, leaving a simple, sleek-lined glass cylinder in which to arrange flowers.

What to do with the tops? Well, we will save them and turn them into funnels or candle holders. These will be our wedding favours. We figured that they would be more useful than little rinky dink plastic favours that cost a fortune.

The only investment for these favours is a little bit of elbow grease.

PROCEDURE:

The best way that I have found to do this is to use a bottle cutter with a scoring blade.

Place the bottle in the glass cutter. Slowly turn the bottle with a bit of pressure by hand. Do not make more than one line or overlapping lines.

WEARING SAFETY GOGGLES:

Run hot boiling water over the bottle score line in a sink, turning the bottle slowly. Run the cold tap over the bottle after a few seconds. Return to the boiling water and repeat the process of shocking the glass until the top of the bottle falls off.

This should happen within a minute for most wine bottles.

Don't use a butane torch or a flame. I have had glass explode in my face with this. Be extremely careful when working with glass.

You don't want to hurt yourself and have injuries in your wedding photos!

Better safe than sorry!

After the bottle separates, sand down the line around the edges with fine grit sandpaper. This will give you a nice, smooth edge without jagged edges.

Voila! Lovely vases that cost nothing at all! Make friends with a restaurant employee, bartender, or fine diner. They'll be sure to save the pretty bottles for you and you'll be able to check one more item off your planning list.

Past, Present, and Future

The truth is, I have had multiple career paths already and I'm only 20.

First, I decided to be a knitting, sewing, and crochet teacher at a really neat shop in Alpharetta. Business was slow and I was not paying my bills on time.

Then, at the same time, I decided to become a professional dancer with a dance company/Winterguard in Atlanta. It cost me way more money than I expected and I never earned a penny.

After I had to quit dance because of repetitive chronic re-injury and severe illness, I was still teaching lessons.

Then I produced tutorial videos for eHow.com.

All at the same time, I was moving to Dahlonega, GA.

I then got a job in a restaurant on the square.

After 6 months, I had to quit doing videos and teaching lessons.

I had been driving to the shop in Alpharetta 2 hours round trip early in the morning and racing back to Dahlonega to get to work by 12pm.

I have since focused on my Athletic training degree, working full time 5 days a week at the restaurant, and doing freelance commissions in knitting.

I am thinking about getting a second job and working 7 days/week.

I have a boyfriend, we are getting engaged soon, and we have our minds set on marriage.

He's a specialist in the U.S. Army Reserves and I will most likely work as a civilian AT on base after I get my certification/license/registration.

He has to go out of state a lot anywhere from 3 to 24 weeks at a time and it's difficult to deal with, I'll admit.

If you are young and overwhelmed, don't worry. I've almost lost my opportunities several times and I've had to burn bridges. It happens.

Know that you can become stronger because of difficult experiences.

Sewing Vintage

~on a tight budget~

How can it be possible to sew vintage style clothes on a budget? You may be thinking that I have lost my mind. However, if sewing is not your first rodeo, it is completely possible to make your dreams practical and attainable.

What do I mean by "on a tight budget"? Well, I make minimum wage working full time, and pay my own bills. There is hardly pocket lint left over for buying groceries.

Note: I am a sewing expert. I have been sewing since the age of 3 and made my first dress at age 7. Therefore, I have 17 years of valuable experience to offer. In addition, I have taught professional level garment construction for 3 years. I design all my own patterns and enjoy wearing my well-fitting clothes.

First, plan out what you want to wear. This depends on your personal style.

Don't get caught up in the body type battle that you have probably been tangled with in the past. There are styles that will work for everyone, and the stick thin figure on the front of that pattern is not a real woman, it is just a drawing. In all honesty, pattern croquis were drawn to make a pattern seem attractive yet inside the paper, the printed pattern included the size for the average woman: 5'4", 140 lbs. Guess what? That's me. I'm curvy and I love it.

My method for sewing spot-on, true-to-form vintage clothing which is not distinguishable from age-old vintage pieces that can cost you upwards of $300:

1) Get to know your body. Write down your measurements once a week for a month and then average those numbers. If you don't use your own measurements, your clothes won't fit. It's common sense. By the way, don't step on the scale because your weight is irrelevant to your sewing process. All you need is a measuring tape and a notebook. :)

2) Find fabric that you like.

I despise the feeling of taffeta, so I don't sew with it. I like fabrics that are heavy enough to drape but light enough to flow over my curves and swirl around on the dance floor. My favourites are chiffon, broadcloth, challis, and voile.

I usually find my fabrics in the thrift shops around my town. I have been able to find $1 per yard fabrics of excellent quality. Steer clear of people trying to sell old draperies for $25 unless you have a serious die-hard crush on the print and the hand of the fabric.

Lesson Learned: Don't shy away from heavy suiting fabrics or thin lining fabrics. You will find a use for them in business skirts, slacks, and blazers as well as my favourite: coat dresses.

Know what a grainline is, how to find it, and which way to cut your pieces based on the way you want the design to fit. If you want fluid drape, cut on the bias. If you want a conforming structured fit, cut on the grainline.

3) Don't be afraid to use curtains, bedsheets, and dust ruffles to sew with.

This is how I started out. My prom dress was made from a curtain and cost me only $5- for the purchased ribbon. 

You probably have a few old sheets that you could stand to part with. Use them for muslins and don't you dare go out and buy new fabric to use for a muslin. You'll be selling yourself short.

4) Get a sewing book and get familiar with the techniques therein.

I have been able to find 1960's sewing books at thrift shops.

My personal sewing book is Edith Bishop's "The Bishop Method of Sewing" from the 1950's. It will save you the trouble of sewing your skirt onto the bodice upside down.

5) Get thyself the correct tools.

Some shops have sewing boxes with all the necessary doodads to sew with. Honestly, here's what you need:

-SEWING MACHINE
-MEASURING TAPE

-SEAM RIPPER

-SMALL SCISSORS

-SCREWDRIVER

-FLASHLIGHT

-STRAIGHT PINS& CUSHION

-TAPE DISPENSER

-A1 PRINTER PAPER

-FABRIC SHEARS

-PAPER SCISSORS

-DOODADS TO USE AS PATTERN WEIGHTS (kids wooden blocks, toy cars, etc.)

-LOOP TURNER

-MARKING PENCIL

-HAND NEEDLES

-FUSIBLE TAPE

-STEAM IRON/ IRONING BOARD

-TISSUE PAPER

-CARD STOCK
-THREAD
-ZIPPERS
-BUTTONS
-SEAM BINDING/ BIAS TAPE

Notice I didn't include an invisible zipper foot, point turner, buttonhole maker, pattern weights etc. etc.

The above list is all that I use when I sew.

6) Practice new techniques with one-offs.

One-offs, in my mind, are scraps of fabric that you can't use for anything else. You can cut a chunk of fabric in 1/2 and practice inserting a zipper until you get it right.

This is also useful for darts and testing out new tension and stitch length combinations on your machine with different kinds of fabric.

7) LEARN HOW TO DRAFT FLAT PATTERNS

This is perhaps the most important skill for you to learn.
You will never really need a purchased pattern again if you know how to make your own.

Learn what a bodice looks like and get what is called a sloper. You can find one that works for your measurements and use it for every project that you sew.

Transfer your patterns onto cardstock so that you can use them over and over again.

Find books at your library about drafting patterns and red them carefully, especially the sections about seam allowance and grading.

Then, practice making patterns on paper, cutting them out, and sewing practice garments. Assess where you need to improve and make adjustments to your patterns. It's all cut and paste.

8) Sketch designs that you want to wear. Figure out what your flat pattern will look like and draft out the bodice, waist, and hip or skirt.

9) Fabric needs
Decide what fabric type and weight would work best for your particular design.

Decide how much ease you want and adjust the amount of fabric that you will need accordingly.

Generally, a dress with a slimline skirt takes 2.5 yards of fabric whereas a full skirted dress capable of a petticoat requires 3.5 to 4 yards.

10) Adjust your machine stitches to suit the fabric. Thin fabrics require small, sharp needles, less tension, and shorter stitches. Thick fabrics require thicker needles, more tension, and longer stitches.
Use common sense and make sure to pull bobbin thread out of the way so it doesn't get caught when stitching.

11) Press all your pieces with a dependable steam iron as you sew. This will give you a better fit and more professional finished product.
I use an ironing board from Walmart that folds up and hangs in my closet. My Mother-In-Law has a fancy no-holds-barred ironing board complete with sleeve board and pressing ham. I loved it when I got a chance to use it, but the amount of space it takes up is appalling.


So now, think about where you want to start. Learning how to sew collars is a good beginning point.

You can definitely purchase vintage patterns anywhere you like. Be forewarned that they may be expensive. However, if a pattern is not in your size but you absolutely love it, buy it and draft yourself a copy that is just your size and fit.

I have learned that I can take a feature from one pattern that I like and paste that idea onto my own pattern. My finished flat pattern ends up looking professional, but in the process of tracing, cutting, and taping, it looks like a Frankenstein creation. Don't be afraid to experiment with new shapes on different patterns. Just trace and tape pieces together to figure out how they'll work.

Remember that giving yourself more fabric to work with is easier than trying to add fabric to a too-small area. Always overestimate seam allowance when drafting your own patterns and pare down from there.

Knitting

Knitting is by far one of my favourite past times. If you have not already, visit Ravelry.com to sign up for the most popular knitting and crochet community online. You can access free patterns, upload your own patterns to share, and ask questions to receive help.

I was once a knitting, crochet, and sewing teacher at a fancy yarn shop. I worked there for two years freelance and had a grand time. Then I began doing media publicity and videos for the shop. After a while of slow business, I became burnt out. I moved an hour away from the shop and still drove the commute several times per week. My accounts were drained by my gas tank. I started a job at a restaurant and still worked at the shop on the weekends. It became nearly impossible and it came to the point where I had no time whatsoever to teach classes. I felt as if I had fallen off the face of the earth and missed the shop ladies terribly. Fortunately, my friend's business resurfaced and she was able to re-establish her shop in Canton, Georgia, United States.

Please visit her shop and support her. She is a sweet and caring artist, small business owner and mother of 4. She carries Swans Island Merino, Dream In Color, Louet, Berrocco, Lorna's Laces, Evermore Studios, her own hand painted yarn line, Knitting In the Red, and many more.

Here is what I am currently knitting: Templeton

It is a very simple, relaxing and easily memorized pattern. I recommend it to intermediate knitters. 

I am using beautiful cream baby alpaca from Liz at Southern Estate Alpacas. It is ever so soft to work with but very sheddy and fuzzy. It is soft on my neck so it should be fine for a baby blanket.

Hello, and welcome to my very first post.
I am a young lady well beyond my years. Someone should lend me a time machine ticket to transport me to the late 1930's so that I can live a lovely life in the 1940's mode.

I am the kind of lady who wishes that she could wear hats and gloves all over town.
I find myself collecting beautiful things with what little I have, or turning old finds into new treasures.

Remember, anything is possible. This means you, dear readers, can dream to the sky, to the atmosphere, and beyond. Your ideas and inklings are important, no matter how insignificant you might think. One of my favourite stories about this very concept is by Australian illustrator Shaun Tan.

This delightful story, A Distant Rain, is from Shaun Tan's book "Tales from Outer Suburbia". You should definitely read this lovely and somewhat instantly endearing book right away.

That is all for now. Enjoy your evening.