Day 20: Thinking and Resting Count

An Aside...

A great deal of work has gone into my sweater projects to date. As I mentioned in one of my previous posts, it is not just the making that is important. And it is not just the collecting, recording, and storing, either.

Today I participated in one of the most important aspects of this process:

THE THINKING!

A great deal of time is spent in virtually crafting an idea for a project. This is something that I spend many unrecorded hours doing, sometimes even in my sleep. While I'm out walking dogs I'm thinking. While I'm washing dishes I'm thinking. While I'm putting off doing the things that I should be doing I'm thinking.

This is where all those ideas come from that become my daily blogs. This brain activity must be given credit for what it is, so I am documenting this here and now ;-].

Today I am writing my blog about the thinking part. This is not so easy to do because how do I describe all the tangents that I take in my mental meanderings? You will just need to imagine for a few minutes how this process goes. All of you do this yourself. You start thinking about one thing, then in a microsecond you are off in another world thinking about something totally different. This is where all those brilliant ideas come from that I have referred to in the past.

So today must rest in it's shortened version.
There will be more projects upcoming because of today's labors.




Oh, but a couple of photos before I go...

Me, thinking.

My assistant, sleeping.

Good Night!

Day 19/365: Organizing Space!

Time to Regroup

Today needed to be a day of making things neat again! After many projects being created, and this last one in particular, my sewing area really needed a major clean up. There were scraps from every project so far! Pattern pieces, little bits of embroidery thread, triangles and other odd shapes of sweater fabric, the iron still sitting on the ironing board, previous projects waiting to have a place discovered for a home for them, etc. I'm not implying that all of this was done, but I must say I can now see through to open, flat surfaces upon which to work!!

For a crafting person it is important to be able to see what you have and know where supplies and tools are when the inspiration hits. It is quite a deterrent when those things you need for that spurt of energy and great idea are nowhere to be found without digging. I speak from experience. And now I really want to be able to pick up what I need and go with it. 

So I did a bit of organizing.

My sewing machine has been put to bed for the night.
Though it looks like the sewing table is stacked with things, they are the items I need when stitching. If I need to I can easily move them to the side.
No before photo. You don't need to see that :-/.

My assistant is happy that he is getting a rest! 

Some neatness: a stack of sweaters all ready to be the next project.

This wraps up my work for today. Another day tomorrow for a great sweater project!

Day 18/365

A Much Better Day

Yesterday's negligible progress was not encouraging. And after thinking about the options I had for the drawstring, neither one was viable. The blue cords that I had decided to use have been scrapped as an idea since I didn't have confidence that they would last long being pulled upon to open and close the bag.

HOWEVER, today as I pondered what to do, I discovered an idea in my head that is (once again) brilliant (once again, my word), but which has re-energized this project. This has also allowed it to be progressing wonderfully. 

Here is today's work:

This is the bright idea!
I decided to use the hem of the pink plaid skirt for the drawstring.  It will be much more sturdy and now will allow the skirt fabric to show on the outside, too. 

Cutting the hem.

Getting ready to press the strip for hand stitching.

...but then my assistant thought it needed further inspection. He is just a blur--another action shot.

Finishing the buttonhole slits on the body of the purse.

Now the slits are complete: machine stitching, clipping the slit, turning, and hand stitching to the inside.

The open purse in all it's glory.

The final product.
The skirt hem made a great drawstring.
And the flowers from WoolnFelt add a touch of class.

Hooray! Success!
Lots of thinking and changing of the original pattern from start to finish. It all worked out nicely. I am very happy with my latest project.
Thank you for following me. I learned a great deal and I had very much fun.

And until tomorrow...

Day 17/365

Slow Progress

Hello Friends! Tonight was a bit frustrating in that progress was not forthcoming. The next phase in my purse making was to make the drawstrings and finish stitching the buttonholes for the drawstrings. I had thought about using that strip of sweater fabric after all, but stitching it to finish the edges was not a great result. I am going to use the cords I had made that I talked about a few days ago. Two of each needed to be stitched together at the ends to make it long enough, so that is basically all that was accomplished in my allotted time for today. If I hadn't taken the time to try using the original pieces I would have gotten further, but I suppose that's the way things go sometimes. 

I only have 2 photos for you tonight. Tomorrow will be better I hope!

Here are the two options for drawstrings:
The cocoa brown one turned out too rough.
The midnight blue cords will likely be the ones to use.

You may remember this pic--the bound buttonholes I intend to make for drawstring slits.
I still need to stitch these into the ribbed portion of the top of the bag.
Hoping that tomorrow night I will be able to complete this :-].

Wish me luck!

Until Saturday...

Day16/365

Burning the Midnight Oil

OK, so here I am again with my usual Racing To The Finish Line, Cinderella Janda. I didn't have the time during the day to work on the project at hand, so this evening was full with design thoughts on how to complete my drawstring bag. It is getting very exciting now that I see it coming together. Tonight I measured and cut the lining (that great pink plaid skirt), stitched the seams, mitered the corners (both lining and purse body), and stitched the lining in its place by hand. Lots of things accomplished in spite of the short amount of time to get it done by the stroke of midnight. I couldn't help it...REALLY!

The lining is perfect in my estimation. I do love it. The sweater and the skirt pair so well together. And I just received some great flowers that I had ordered from a favorite shop at etsy.com made from felted wool sweaters, what else! I chose a pink one (or two?) from the bunch I received. You shall see in the photos.

Here is what I did tonight:

Cutting the lining.

Stitching the seams.
My Bernina gets top billing for its wonderful sewing skills and nice humming sounds as it makes it's way across the fabric.

Mitered corners of course, for a little class.

Fitting the lining to the sweater body.

The shades of pink, cocoa, and white make a nice complement to each other.

Hand stitching the lining.

The flowers that are so wonderful and soft from
WoolnFelt.

The pink flowers would make a nice touch to this bag.

Well, the bag is not finished but you can see that I am getting there. I think perhaps that tomorrow may be the big day for the Coming Out Party for my new bag.

Wish me luck!

More tomorrow.

Day 15/365

Another Day for Sweater Finding!

My gathered purse is progressing, though today I want to share with you some sweaters that I saw and purchased from a local thrift store.

I found three that are quite nice and very different from each other in color, thickness, texture, and pattern. Variety is good so that there is a selection of fabrics to choose from when designing a new project. I know that I tend to gravitate toward gray shades and the softest of feel when I am looking for more to add to my collection, so I make myself aware of that and try to branch out.

Actually when I am in a thrift store I scope out those sweaters that are of the content required (at least 80% wool or other animal fibers, as a general rule), then go back over them to find which are the best for the variety that I need. Sometimes I can't help but take something that might be similar to my others...I do fall in love easily at times and can't resist to take them home anyway.

Here are my finds:

This sweater is a very light-weight ivory with nice detailing.

You can see how the cabling and the stitching of the body of the sweater have potential for future projects.

70% Lambswool
20% Angora Rabbit Hair
10% Nylon
I love to photograph the labels!

A subtle lavendar.
This is something new in color for me.

Jones New York...very cool.
50% Lambswool
40% Angora Rabbit Hair
10% Nylon 

Cart before the horse. Label first.
100% Merino Wool* (see note below)

This sweater feels like it has been previously felted, accidently or intentionally?
Hard to see the simple details here, but this is beautiful, black, and medium thick.

Now I have my work cut out for me. I am getting backlogged on felting. There may be sudsy photos in your future. Who knows what I may throw in for your visual enjoyment.

*Merino Sheep

Just thought you might like to know what this kind of sheep looks like.

Very handsome and stately.

Known for the finest wool and whose name is on many labels of lovely sweaters.

I am acknowledging the website from which I found this great Merino:

www.blissranch.com/ ultrafine.htm

Hope to see you again tomorrow!

Purse Thoughts: Day 14

The Purse Saga Continues

I needed to make some decisions about how to progress with this gathered purse that I am now making. The long strap piece that I had cut from the sleeve yesterday is not really working out as I would like. To make it viable and neatly closed on the edge it would take a great deal of hand stitching. Either that or I would need to machine stitch the edge and turn it. Turning would pose some difficult bumps in the road because there are many lumpy spots where there are the underarm seams of the sleeve. Anyway I'm going to go another direction. A few weeks ago I made some cords with felted sweaters that I think I can use for the drawstring to close the purse. 

Photos to make all of this more clear:

These are the cords I made. Yesterday's pink sweater-ribbing bound buttonhole sample is here to show the cord threaded through it as it would be on the purse. 

You may be seeeing that wonderful pink plaid skirt sooner than I thought.
It wouuld make a nice lining for the purse. There is a cocoa brown section in the weave that looks like it belongs.

My assistant looking very sophisticated. (He is trying to convince me to advance his position to Assistant Supervisor!)

To prepare the skirt for being lining for the purse I was very brave:
I removed the skirt lining.
It is getting easier...the surgery part.

More to come tomorrow.