Making Miscellany: 3
A month of two halves …
Hello, hello!
Another month has come and gone! How’s March been for you? Making-wise (which is, after all, what I am here to talk about) it’s been a game of two halves for me. At the start of the month, it felt like no projects were advancing and nothing was happening … but then suddenly, lots of things have finished off at once (not that it’s all about finishing project … but it does feel nice!) So today, I’ve got maybe more finished stuff than usual to share with you and plenty of dithering over what to make next. Grab a cuppa and join me for a little meander?
On The Needles
The honest answer to the question “what’s on your needles” is … not a lot. I always feel a little unmoored when I don’t have a garment-sized project on the needles, but a case of knitting ennui is making it hard for me to settle on a next project! I finally cast off my Anker Summer Shirt, a project I plodded through, motivated only by the knowledge I would love the finished object. But I’ve had some issues with the unusually dyed yarn and need to give it some triage … which has made that “tada I’m done” moment I’ve been waiting for with this project feel a tad anti-climatic. While I’ve dithered, I’ve returned to my neglected Hibernal Socks, which have also turned into another project that’s not turning out quite as expected, leaving me feeling a bit meh (as much as aI love the pattern and yarn).
The result of all this is I want my next big-ish project to be something I am really excited about and .. maybe the pressure of that is making it hard to settle on something? I’ve considered lots of things that I have yarn in stash for (here are a bunch of Ravelry links incoming): a Paul Klee Sweater (oh the fun of choosing those colors, but will I keep momentum past the yoke?); a Fairag Cardigan (I do love a bit of cable and lace, but also might not quite have enough yarn); a Deschain Pullover (a bit of interest, a summer knit, maybe a winner?); a modified Gibbs Hall Cardigan (probably the most useful for my wardrobe and I’ve got some beautiful Jill Draper yarn … but will that be enough to hold my interest?); the newly released Mandolin Cardigan (large gauge lace, be still my heart … but 100 yards short of yarn and probably wouldn’t wear it until autumn) …. I could go on like this for quite awhile.
So while I cast about for a cast on, I’m pushing on with my socks (they’ve certainly been on the needles long enough) and have picked my Sophie Shawl back up, and, as soon as I have a chunk of time where I can review crochet terminology and watch some videos, I’ll cast on this little spring cardigan for my babe. Perhaps I should just embrace working on smaller projects for a bit … because I have found that, now that I’m actually working on my second sock and Sophie Shawl, they are actually growing quite quickly (funny that … it seems they don’t magically get bigger when left in the project bag!)
On The Sewing Desk
Following a wobbly start, it’s actually been a really great month for sewing, and I’ve taken a lot of joy from being back at my machine in a regular way! I think three things have really helped reignite my sewing practice … scrap busting, batch sewing and prioritizing prep!
After realizing my inability to accurately sew a 1/4” seam and some bad fabric placement decisions meant that the quilt I’ve been going on about making was not going to come together as planned, I really needed a project to give my sewing confidence a little boost … so, I obviously decided the thing to do was to try self-drafting something for the first time! I’d made myself a lightweight open jacket in Merchant & Mills beautiful Jacquard Cotton (which has a quilted appeareance) last spring, and I wear it all the time … and ever since I made it, I wanted to do something with the leftover pieces. As luck would have it, my three year old spotted the fabric at the beginning of this month and said she wanted me to make her a jacket like mine. I find sewing children’s clothes, especially with leftover fabric, really low stress … obviously I don’t want to muck it up, but also, if it doesn’t turn out … that’s okay too!
While working without a pattern was a little out of my comfort zone, I enjoyed the puzzle of figuring out how to make something that would fit my daughter and make the most efficient use of the scraps I had. I made a pattern piece using tracing paper (referencing the grown up pattern pieces I had and a jacket that fits her), made a quick toile of just the body which led to a few tweaks, then cut and sewed the jacket over a few sewing sessions, binding the raw edges using the bias binding I’d made to finish the seams of my own jacket. Though I try to embrace the slowness of my making, it was really refreshing to see a project going from idea to finished over the course of a few days!
Buoyed by the success of my scrap busting project, I started the wheels in motion to fill some gaps in my spring/summer wardrobe. Tracing pattern pieces and cutting out fabric take me an age, so a few weeks ago when my eldest was at nursery, I transformed the dining room into a workshop and just planned to spend any free moment I had in there tracing, cutting, prepping a few projects so that, when I found myself with the energy and inclination to sew post bedtime, I was ready go.
I decided to ease in with a pattern I’ve already made and know I like, the Collage Gather Top. I’d treated myself to some new fabric, and decided I’d make another short sleeve view (I made my first one last summer) in some two colour double gauze but also try out the longer gather sleeve version in some chambray. When it comes to knitting, I very rarely reknit a pattern. But with sewing the fact that the patterns are more expensive, the making process is in general swifter, and, perhaps most crucially, there’s time to be saved by not having to trace or cut pattern pieces a second time, all make remaking a familiar pattern a more attractive proposition. I took advantage of that and the fact I knew my size to cut two that I could batch sew until the point of the sleeves and top stitching, and that made everything feel pleasingly efficient. There are some processes of sewing that I find really sensorily satisfying, no matter the result … sewing with double gauze, making gathers, finishing seams with my overlocker, and these two tops ticked all of those boxes! I finished them off yesterday and haven’t even had time to properly try them on. I’m a little uncertain if I’m going to feel comfortable in the dramatic gathered sleeves of my chambray version, but I really enjoyed making it, and I can always take off the sleeves and replace them with the short sleeve band if I find I’m not reaching for it!
As I finished off my tops, I took some time last weekend to cut fabric for the Arenite Trousers (I’d gotten the pattern pieces ready in my big prep fest weeks before), the fabric and pattern a birthday gift from a lovely friend that I’ve been itching to get to, but wanted the time to do it properly! I’m hoping that now that I’m really warmed back up to sewing, this project will go well. I’ve already been dreaming of future Arenite iterations!
On My Mind
As I mentioned above, my quilt project, which I had been quite excited about, came to a grinding halt before it had even really begun; my inaccurate sewing meant I was going to struggle to make any sort of sensible block. I have to say, initially I took it pretty hard! I knew I hadn’t done anything more than a simple patchwork, but I had the confidence and excitement of a complete novice with a sneaking suspicion I was going to have some sort of eye for putting fabric together. In my head, I was already three quilt projects along, dream shopping for fabrics for more complicated quilts. And then I realized I hadn’t thought properly about how the fabrics were going to line up in this project, and that my sewing wasn’t accurate at all, and it really knocked every bit of beginner’s confidence out of my (quilted) sails … not just for quilting, but sewing more generally. I was casting a more critical eye over everything I’ve sewn, and, with my knitting projects also not altogether behaving, feeling in a real funk about all my making endeavours. How silly, to feel so defeated from one project not going right!
Then I happened on this article on the joy of mediocrity. And I thought, yeah! I mean, it is sort of weird, this drive to master everything we turn our hands to, and preferably to do so quickly. Like, why be surprised or disappointed that it takes more than one go to get a grasp on something new? In general, as someone who has been on Instagram a very long time, who became an adult alongside social media (I remember when you could only have Facebook if you had a university email!), I’m pretty comfortable with the idea that social media is where you share the good things, not necessarily 100% real, there’s more off screen out of frame, etc. etc. etc.. But I realized one place I do fall into the trap of comparison is when I see people who are new to sewing tackling much more challenging projects! Or fabric and designer accounts that show off a customer make with a “and they’ve only been sewing for X months/years.” But of course, it’s not inherently better or worse to learn quickly or slowly … we can celebrate the quick studies and those of improving where we can and feel like it, and those of just doing something because it feels mighty good to be doing it. (And while I need to find some time to take apart my wonky quilt strips, my quilty dreams aren’t over yet … even if I never become a super precise quilter).
In My Dreams
Speaking of things I like to dabble in with mixed success, I am so excited about this book of knitted toys by Cinthia Vallet. I have loved making some of Susan Anderson’s knitted toys, which also tend to be seamless, for my daughter, and it looks like there are some really lovely friends who could join our knitted toy brigade.
And while we’re on the subject of toys, I’ve been toying with the idea of sewing some scrappy bunnies for the girls for Easter, using either this free pattern (found via a lovely crafty friend) or this one. I’m not sure if it’ll happen this year, given Easter’s just over a week away, but maybe … or maybe waiting until both girls are an age they might appreciate a bunny makes more sense!
I’m really looking forward to the release of these fun trousers (scrap busting! patchwork! elastic waist!) [I promise this newsletter is not secretly sponsored by Matchy Matchy Sewing Club]
As I mentioned up top, the release of this Savory Knitting pattern stopped me in my tracks! What is it about large gauge lace?
And I’m also really excited to try these free placemats from Cedar Quilt Co (a new pattern company from Helen’s Closet, whose garment patterns I really enjoy).
Righteo, I’m going to sign off here, not least because it’s a bit late and my bedtime is fast approaching! Thank you as always for joining me! If you’ve got a making win (or even a making moan!) from March you’d like to share with me, do feel free to hit reply … I’d love to hear it! And if you’ve got a crafty friend who you think might like this newsletter, perhaps pass this on to them?
Until next month!
Katherine
Thank you for the link to Kerri Duncan’s article - I should probably reread this weekly! And is that the gorgeous orange fabric you were given at breakfast in Glasgow?? I’ve been waiting for it to appear and wondering what you would make with it. Those trousers will be fabulous!