Restyled Holiday Sweater

 Happy Friday!!

Just wanted to show you my new holiday cardigan.  It is a simple restyle of a crew neck sweater into a cardigan.

I got the sweater at a local thrift shop.  First thing it was washed and dried.  I then stitched up both sides of the red stripe up the front of the sweater with a sewing machine.  The stripe made it very easy to sew a straight line.  I then cut up the middle of the two stitched lines.  In my stash of trims I had a piece of satin cord piping in black which worked perfectly.  I stitched on the piping with the sewing machine and then turned it to the wrong side and hand stitched it to the sweater.  I also hand stitched a piece of black twill tape to cover the raw edges of the sweater.  The sweater has been machine knit carrying the colours in the designs across the fabric giving the inside of the finished cardigan and interesting look, almost like a colourful lining,  Although it is a simple restyle I think it worked out well.

 

 

Sorry about the sideways photos!!  I cannot get them to turn around.

Happy Holidays!!!

Stay safe

elaine

Knit along with the Knitting circle!!

Although I have many projects on the go I have decided to join the knit along with the Knitting Circle mystery knit along. Kal-week1 I have finished week 1 and am waiting for week 2 instructions on Tuesday.  I am using Sublime Luxurious Aran Tweed (40%wool, 40%cotton, 20%lama) in the brown colour, lime green and blue green (I ran out of lime green) that I had in my stash.  Trying to use up what I have on hand.  I am using 4.00mm needles. 

 

 Week 2 is ready to download.  kal-week2

 Stay Safe 

Elaine
 

Charity Blanket for Fort Mac

I finally finished my charity blanket that will be sent to Fort Mac Murray for the fire victims.

Hope it helps someone.

It is a garter stitch variation of the 10 stitch afghan.  I used 15 stitches with chunky yarn and worsted weight yarn doubled.  The blanket is worked from the centre out in a spiral working on only 15 stitches.   It is thick and warm.  It was quite fun and quick to do,  I think I may do this pattern again because it is a great stash buster.  Everyone knows that when you use up a ball of yarn you can go out and buy more!!!

I have also started the Maple Leaf Shawl pattern that I got in Quelph last month.  It is done on 4mm needles with Misty Alpaca yarn( alpaca,merino and silk).
This is a progress photo.  I will post more pictures when I get more done.  Hopefully this weekend.

Have a great weekend!!

Welcome 2016

I know I am a bit late but HAPPY NEW YEAR!!
I am hoping to make this a productive year and finish off my quilting, knitting, needlepoint, embroidery and tunisian crochet projects. Another bonus of this is to reduce my stash so that I can buy more fabric yarn etc.  The list is long but I am going to give it a go!!
The first project for the year is a simple garter stitch blanket knit with large (12mm) needles and two strands of a chunky boucle style yarn. The blanket is a new project but the wool came from a sweater that I started knitting for my daughter so long ago that she no longer likes the style or colour.  So I consider that finishing a UFO.  I was also able to cut down my stash a bit by using some yarn I already had for the contrasting colour stripes.  It is knitting quite fast and because of the boucle yarn and the garter stitch it is sooo thick and cozy.

Do something creative and have a great day!!

World Wide Knit in Public Day!!!

Hi all,

Just wanted to let everyone know the Saturday June 13 is World Wide Knit in Public Day!!

Where are you going to knit???

Work in Progress!!

2015 will be the year of the finished projects.  I have been knitting a lot lately and am trying to finish some started projects.
I started these socks for  Christmas 2013 for my nephew and they are finally finished.

This is a project I started this weekend and I want it to be done for Wednesday when our knitting group meets.  This is a little raglan sleeve baby jacket with a hood for a little boy.

 I don't know why it is doing this but photo is right side up - it just turns sideways when I upload it.
I think you can get the idea - just turn your head sideways. The bit on the needles on the side are the sleeves I just started. I will post a photo of the finished jacket before I take it to the knitting shop on Wednesday.

When this is done I can go on and start to finish another project that has already been started -probably the lace shawl that I started last summer.  I would post a photo of my progress but it just looks like a large hat when it is on the round needles. 

Design wall monday - summer projects

The last 6 months have been rather crazy with school (yes I decided to take another course at Algoma), National engineering week, our guild Quilt show, exams, easter,  a funeral and a graduation.
So to relax I thought I would get involved in a Knit-a-long(KAL) at our local wool shop.  It is a lace shawl and it is quite a challenge. It has been ripped out a couple of times and then I changed yarns - this was supposed to be relaxing!!!!!!  And then in my ultimate wisdom decided to knit a lace tank at the same time.
I must be crazy!!!
The lace shawl is coming along quite nicely now that I have got into the rythum of the lace pattern.  It is knit from the centre and is circular.  I am a bit farther along than this photo and onto round needles so it kind of looks like a hat right now.  The bottom photo is the tank.  I decided to knit it in the round so there would be no side seams.  I had a little trouble with the pattern but I am on track with this one as well. 
Oh well it keeps me off the streets!

have a nice day

elaine

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Monday Madness!!

This little beading project a custom beaded applique for a Christmas stocking that I have on my Etsy site.
Hopefully it will be done today along with all the other things that need to be done.
The weather has been bad for a couple of days and  today it is windy and snowing so it is a good day to stay in and get some sewing done!!

Have a great day!!

Dear Jane update!

I have managed to get some of the Dear Jane blocks done this week.

 Week 19

Week 20

Happy Quilting :)

Design Wall Tuesday!!

Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving weekend!!

It has been a while but I am finally getting organized.
This is the project that I currently have on my design wall.  It is a new pattern that I am working on and it should be ready to put in my etsy shop soon. 

 

I have also started working on my Dear Jane blocks again.  I will be posting some photographs this week.

Happy Tuesday!!!

Fashion and Textiles at the V & A

The fashion gallery is probably the most popular gallery at the V&A.  It has a collection of clothing from the last 300 years from famous designers and not so famous ones also.  Some of the clothing is made from fabulous hand embroidered fabrics and some are quilted and "sculptured" pieces.  This time they also have a gallery of costumes from plays in the city.

So lets get started:

   

This piece is a quilted outfit that was worn under the suites of armour.  We thought upcycling was new - these outfits were made from old quilted bedcovers.  The quilting is quite intricate and it was all done by hand.

There are many embroidered textiles in the collection some are sashes worn by knights and some are hand embroidered yardage made into clothing.

   

The ladies jacket is hand embroidered with a silver thread couched in a meandering pattern on the surface of the fabric it also has silver spangles (17th century version of a sequin) stitched on it.

 

This is a man's waist coat.  Even men got there clothing hand embroidered.

 

 

 

This gown is called the Origami gown.  It was designed in 2009 by the Korean designer Lie Sang-Bong and is a reinterpretation of a traditional Korean wrapping cloth.  It is made of organza and we counted 17 layers of fabric.  It is stunning!! Sorry about the photo's it was in a glass case and the reflection caused some problems with the photos. 

The new gallery with the costumes was fun.  It had an interactive area where kids and adults could dress up in costumes take photos - there were a few families enjoying getting dressed while we were there.  For me the intricate costumes were the most interesting part.  Unfortunately I forgot to get down what plays these costumes were from but I am sure you will like seeing them anyway.

 

Designed by Bruno Sandini in 1977 - "fairy queen" from the opera Oilanthe.

 

This is a rhino costume it has two people in it with bicycle chains to make the tail and the head move - up close it has the texture and colour of a real rhino (not that I have been that close to a real rhino lately).

This one was called "full" English breakfast.  I don't know what show it was from but it was worn by Dame Edna and it is hilarious.
Time for bed - I will post some more tomorrow. 

 



Victoria and Albert Museum

Today we visited the V & A museum of art and design.  It is the second time I have been there but I still haven't seen everything.  The museum is in an incredible building with some beautiful mosaic floors

   and painted ceilings.  All of these are great inspiration for quilt patterns.

 

To me the building is as impressive as what is housed in it.  In the main entrance is an amazing glass chandelier that could be called an art installation as well. It looks a little like medusa!!

 

The V & A has always been known for its collections of textiles, tapestries and fashion but it also has an art and design reference library, an glass and architecture gallery, sculpture, photography, medieval, Asian, Ecclesiatical art, costume and  jewelry galleries as well a a beautiful courtyard with paddling pool for the kids and a place to have lunch.

 

Tomorrow I will post some photos from the fashion and textile galleries.



London Calling!!

Just arrived in London UK.
We are here on a "working" vacation.  My family has archive (national archive and the royal geological society) work to do and I will be checking out quilt and bead shops as well as the London textile museum, royal school of needlework at Hampton Court Palace and the Victoria and Albert Museum, Portabello market and the garment district as well as a trip to Wiltshire to see family and Stonehenge (finally) and the I will be shopping and  writing reviews and posting photos.
Hope everyone enjoys them.
Time for bed now (10:14 England time) we have been up for more than 24hours wearing the same cloths so a good night sleep will really help.
Off bright and early to the Victoria and Albert Museum tomorrow to check out the fashion,  tapestry, embroidery and textiles galleries.  Will be posting photos tomorrow. As always there will be photos of floors, doors and ceilings.  If you don't look up and down you will miss a lot of design ideas.

Cheers
Elaine

Dear Jane update

Another two weeks of Dear Jane blocks are done.  I am still behind but am catching up slowly

Week 17

Week 18

Many weeks left to go!!!

Upcycle Thursday

Today I have found an idea to use up all those seams that get cut from jeans when making a denim quilt.  Instead of sending them to the landfill why not try this.

make coasters or hot mats from them!!! 

you can find the instructions at the link below

coasters

This morning I thought that I would try this.  So I pulled out a pair of jeans from my fabric pile and was just about to cut them up when I realized that there was nothing wrong with the jeans and they looked pretty new.  Oops!!  They were my dh jeans just waiting for a new button.  Oh well,  I will have to find some other jeans to use.

Another link that has great recycled denim ideas here .

Happy recycling!!

 

Dear Jane

Finally got back to doing some of the Dear Jane blocks.  We should be working on week 27 this week but we are falling a bit behind - Sometimes life just gets in the way!!

 week 15

week 16

Design wall Monday!

I have had these 4 squares on the wall for a couple of weeks and I will finally getting around to working on it this week.  It is one more of the quilts that I am making for birthdays this year.  It is made from the leftover shirt fabric from another quilt I finished in April.  It is an interesting "arrow" block that has a white space in the middle that would be great for a signatures.  It is quite simple to do but cutting old clothing is quite time consuming.

 

Upcycle Thursday!!

I was cruising around the internet the other day (ok most days) and I found this amazing wedding dress that was just up my recycling alley.  The dress is made of ......

This dress is made of plastic bread bag ties sewn onto a fabric backing.

You can read about the project here .

Have a great day recycling!!

UFO #3

I have finally got around to finishing another UFO.  This dresden plate quilt is done with english paper pieced plates appliqued to a background fabric.  It was put together in a quilt as you go method,which allowed the backing to be different colour blocks and then the binding added.  It is going to my mother-in-law for her birthday this weekend.

 front

 block joining sashing

 close-up of dresden plate

back of quilt