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Showing posts from January, 2014

Polar Vortex Mittens

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More Polar Vortex sewing: The fingerless mitts I have been wearing  just haven't been warm enough while we suffer through the Polar Vortex this winter. I used a wool sweater that I had felted when it got tossed into the donation bin, and this online tutorial. Instead of lining with fleece, I used a cotton knit. It sure is a lot quicker to SEW knit mittens than it is to KNIT them!

New PJs: McCall's 5248 & Vogue 8151

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In need of some new pajamas, I pulled out McCall's 5248 (bottoms) & Vogue 8151 (top). I have used both of these patterns before, so I could go right to cutting them out and sewing them up, which I did last night. The fabric is a cotton knit from Fabric.com , which I purchased a couple of weeks ago when I needed some yarn and had to fill my cart to take advantage of free shipping....you know how that is, right? I also found a black cotton knit in the stash for the neckline binding and hem band....needed to break up that jazzy print LOL! With the COLD temps we are having in the Midwest due to the polar vortex, these are just what I want to climb into at the end of the day. Guess I'm on a roll with two garments sewn in January, and this one meets the Jungle January challenge!

McCall's 6711 Garment a Month: January

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January's sewing challenge was to try a new technique, and so I chose to sew this more constructed jacket pattern out of a soft sweater knit, using  McCall's 6711 .   Lori noted that this pattern ran large, and I should have taken her recommendations to heart. I did my usual FBA, made an adjustment for a broad back, and also added one inch to the jacket length. Adding the length was necessary, but the FBA and the back adjustment were not. The armscyce seam falls off my shoulder now, and I'll need to go back and take that in a little. In the future, I'll need to pay more attention to making the broad back adjustment without adding to the neck-to-sleeve width. Even with the adjustments to the fit, I am happy with this jacket. The fabric is a very soft, double-sided sweater knit with minimal one-way stretch. I paid all of $1.50 for the 2 yards when I purchased this at an estate sale a few months ago.  I used a soft interfacing at the 2 fronts, a