OAL Progress

Due to technical difficulties I've not managed to post for a while, which is annoying, but hardly the end of the world I'm sure you'll agree.  To cut a long story short the app I use on my iPad for blogging is unavailable and my laptop has a massive attitude problem and a work ethic to match.  On the odd occasions that Mr. Craptop is functioning in a civilised manner I'll try and knock out a few posts and schedule them, but until I figure something better out then I'll be popping in and out for a while.

On the plus side I have a massive backlog of projects to share (and photograph, ugh!) so I have plenty to chat about.  However, seeing as we are about a third of the way through this year's Outfit Along I figured that the best place to start was with a little update for that.

The kids have found my secret photo spot!

Firstly I am happy to say that phase 1 is complete and I am very happy with it indeed.  It's not been too long since I made my first Belladone dress so I don't have too much to say about this one.  I made a few little tweaks to the flat pattern before I made this one, namely moving the bust darts down a little and adding 0.5 cm to each side seam.  The fit is much better as a result and this dress is really comfortable.

The fabric is 100% cotton, which emphasises the stucture of the dress nicely.  I had intended that the print would go the other way up but I completely forgot to check which way it was running as I was cuttting out.  I like it this way too.  I've got quite a bit left, this dress is pretty economical fabric-wise, so maybe I'll make something else with the print the right way up.  I bias faced, rather than bound all of the openings, using a rather fetching pink and white floral tape.  I bought a 33m reel of this stuff recently so it will be meeting all of my unseen bias taping needs for at least the next few months I think!

The construction of this dress was much less painless than the first time around.  Having misunderstood some of the directions last time I was much clearer on what I was supposed to be doing.  That always helps I find!  I slightly changed up the order of construction, leaving the side seams til last in order to make sewing the zip in a bit less fiddly.  I'll definitely do it that way again in the future because it was far easier for me.  I had intended to use an invisible zip, I enjoy sewing them much more than centred ones but I suddenly realised that I didn't actually have a compatible invisible zipper foot for my new machine.  Ooopsies.  I've bought one now but I wasn't waiting for it to arrive to finish this dress so a centred zip it has.

So that's that.  My matching cardigan has been growing very slowly due to cabled rib in 4-ply (yaaaaawn) but now I'm past that bit it's starting to speed up.  I haven't taken a photo for a while though so I'll save that for another post.  Probably next month at the speed I'm posting....see you then!

It's that time of year again!  You may have noticed that I quite like taking part in the odd challenge and of all of them I think I enjoy the Outfit Along the most.  I think it's probably because it involves sewing and knitting and I end up with items of clothing that actually go together at the end.  Win, win and win!  I'll also add that the Untangling Knots Ravelry group which hosts all of the OAL chatter is a lovely place to hang out and it's great to see so many posts there every day.  People are so knowledgeable, encouraging and helpful and I'd really recommend diving in if you're on the fence.  The official patterns this year are Andi Satterlund's newest offering Zinone and Sewaholic's Hollyburn skirt.  Neither of these are up my street so I'll be doing my own thing.

So, recruitment attempt over, what am I planning on making this year?  I do have a couple of projects in mind although the second project isn't entirely decided yet.  I made two outfits last year and I'd like to do the same again, but I'm aware I may not manage to knit as much this year so we'll have to see.

If I get to a second outfit I think these will be my fabric and yarn.  The yarn will most likely be another Miette cardigan, but I'm not sure of the sewing pattern yet.

My first project, however is completely set in stone.  Good job really as I should be casting on around....now!

I'm going to use the fabric to have another go at the Deer and Doe Belladone dress.  I knew I wouldn't leave it long to make another and this seemed like the perfect opportunity to go for it.  This cotton fabric should hold the lovely shape of the dress and the pattern isn't so busy that it will take away from the details of the dress.  I've made a couple of adjustments to the pattern ready for the off, moving the bust darts down a little and adding just a smidge to the side seams.

I put a good long think into choosing a cardigan pattern to go with my dress.  After last year's clashing neckline disaster....

... I thought I'd better take a bit more care!  I eventually settled on a DROPS pattern that will hopefully complement my dress beautifully in navy blue.

I've also taken into account the fact the Outfit Along takes place in Summer and I want to be able to actually wear my outfit right away so this little short sleeved cardigan, knitted in cotton, should be really useful in the coming months.  It is knitted using a 4 ply, which is not usually my first choice because I'm lazy but I'm hoping it won't take me too long because it is quite little.  I've done my usual DROPS pattern prep work and rewritten the entire pattern out in bullet points so that I can actually follow it and I've even washed and blocked my swatch.  I'm good to go.  I can't wait to see what everyone else comes up with.