Indian Corn, Horace and Trillian - Say, What?

That's probably the most obscure title I've ever composed, but what else can I say about a shawl, a horse, and a scarf? These are some of the knitting projects I've completed in the past six months.

By far the oldest of these projects, I purchased this yarn in Maine and began knitting it at least 10 years ago. My longtime blog readers might recognize the fabric, as it was featured in a blog header last autumn. The yarn is a wool boucle from Mountain Colors, in a colorway they named indian corn. The triangular shawl is knit with garter stitch throughout. On size 7 needles, it took what seemed like forever to knit.

About halfway through, my relationship with the friend I was making it for cooled, so I put it away for what ended up being several years. When I came across it last fall I realized I now have a friend who will appreciate it, so I finished it up. The fabric is very spongy and not scratchy, so it will be a pleasure to wear.

**********

Meet Horace the Horse, a project I began a little over two years ago for my niece's baby. That baby is now a toddler, and there's a new 5-month-old in the house. I saw them over the 4th holiday, and decided a few days earlier it was time to finish it and give it to my grandniece.

The pattern is from the book, Vintage Baby Knits, and the pattern hails from the 1930's. I chose it because my niece likes horses, and she decorated the nursery with a vintage vibe. This took a fair amount of time to knit, and even more time to sew together, stuff and embroider. Not to mention the mane, which was hooked into the fabric, piece by piece. 

The finishing was rather difficult, as the book gave no instruction on how to do the embroidery, nor where to place it. All I had was one photo from which to make educated guesses. A look at Ravelry told me I'm not the only one who was puzzled by this. The instructions in the book are rather sparse.

Unfortunately, I wasn't able to present the horse to my grandniece in person, as there were 3 other toddlers present who would have wanted to play with it. But it was a big hit with the moms (my nieces) who got a sneak peek before it went onto a high shelf.

**********

Those of you who were reading my blog last summer will recall this scarf, as I started it last July, and photographed it for my blog header over the winter. It is finally finished!

This is Trillian, an elongated triangle that was fun to knit but took a long time. By now you're probably catching on to the fact that I get bored with most knitting projects before completing them. I always have several projects on needles, and I jump around between them. I take the easier ones to my weekly knitting club at my local yarn shop (The Fiber Loft in Harvard, MA), and save more complicated work for quiet at-home times. 

Along with the great stripes of this shawl, I really like the simple lace edging. I'm not a frilly kind of gal, but this bold, geometric lace adds the perfect finishing touch to the scarf. 

This scarf is going to be great fun to wear. I'll be using it to perk up black tops, and tone down purple and blue ones. You can read about the pattern and yarn at my earlier post about Trillian.

**********

That's a snippet of what my knitting needles have wrought so far this year. I'm sure I missed a project or two, and will post them when I finish another item or two.

I'm so glad I learned to knit! Although it took me away from sewing for nearly a decade, I learned a great deal about fabric and garment construction, texture, and color. My sewing skills helped my knitting skills, and learning to knit helped my design skills. I love having a knitting project at hand for those times when I don't quite feel like sewing.

How about you? How do you create when you're not sewing? Do tell!

Polka Dots, Print, and Stripes, Oh My!

The moment I saw Katherine Tilton's pattern for a top with a zipper trimmed double collar (Vogue 8793), I knew I wanted to make it. When I saw Shams' versions, I wanted to make it even more. I love the zipper-trimmed double collar, and the fabric collage.

Vogue 8793

With the pattern in mind, I sorted through my stash and found a rayon polka dot jersey and a rayon/metallic striped jersey (both from Marcy T) I thought would work. Wanting a third fabric to round out the collage, I added a printed rayon jersey from Sawyer Brook, and went to work on it. Here is the result:

I really love the look of these fabrics together. Each has a fun personality, making for a whimsical garment. Of course, the collar takes center stage on this design.

I like the contrast of the rugged zipper with the smooth fabrics, so I used lightweight molded separating zippers, as Katherine recommends. This required an internet order from zipperstop.com in NYC, but service was very quick so I waited only from one weekend to the next. Sawyer Brook stocks some YKK coil and invisible zippers, so I was able to match the lilac color using a real color chart instead of photos on my computer monitor - a big advantage. The collar edges are fairly long, and a 28" zipper was too short. Not wanting to piece them (Katherine gives instructions for this), I was able to get them in the 36" length.

The pattern instructions have the teeth beginning at the center fronts, rather than at the neck seam. I was ok with this, and sewed mine that way. When I make the pattern again, I might place them close to the seam. It might make sewing the seam more difficult, which is why I stuck with Katherine's instructions. The zippers are inserted into the seam between the collar and facing. I fused them in place using Steam-A-Seam II, which worked great. After sewing the pieces together, the edge is topstitched. Then the inner collar is laid on top of the outer collar, the edges are basted together, and sewn to the neck edge.

I can't say how much I like this collar. It is so unusual and on trend - I just love it! On Katherine's blog she shows some tops where she lowered the neckline a bit, extending the length of the collars. That would be great for warmer weather. (A couple of posts earlier, she shows how she constructed the collar for the red top on the pattern envelope.)

I'm pleased with my placement of fabrics, except for the striped sleeve. The fabric was narrow and I had short yardage, so I had to turn the sleeve lengthwise in order to fit all the pieces. I do like having the stripes vertical on the back.

However, cutting the back on the crossgrain means there is stretch in the length of the back. It was problematic only in the armscyes, which lengthened some. As usual, I added length and width to the front and back, and added bust darts. It took several tries to get the bust darts looking good. I first placed them in the side seam, but ended up moving them to the armscyes. That seems to be the best location for me.

I found the pattern instructions to be well-written and easy to follow. The sleeve length is quite long. The length of the pattern piece is perfect for my long arms, which means most women will need to shorten it. I found the shoulder width quite wide, so much so that the sleeves were dropped. I trimmed away over an inch around the armhole to get a better fit. It might have been a bit too much in the back, but it was definitely needed in the front and at the shoulder seam.

I love the design of this top, and definitely plan to make it again. I like the fabrics together, but, I'm not really comfortable wearing these stripes. I think it's their boldness. The narrower, subtler stripes I used in my Back Words collage top are very quiet. The stripes in this top seem to holler, "Hey, look at me! I'm glittery metallic stripes!" I try not to think about them when I'm wearing the top, but every time I see myself in a mirror I wonder who the clown is, wearing strips and dots together. One of my co-workers asked me why I don't buy enough of one fabric to make an entire top! She was joking, of course. At least, that's what she told me. (Ahem.)

I have enough of the polka dot and print fabrics to make another top, so maybe you'll be seeing them in a collaged top this summer. You won't see these stripes with them, though!

Back Words Top, or, How to Wear Horizontal Stripes and a Wild Print

If you're like me, you've purchased some prints that drew you to them, then had you wondering how you would ever incorporate them into your wardrobe. There are many prints I pass by because they're just "too much" for my large body. But some are irresistible, begging to linger in my fabric collection so they can tease me until I figure out what to make with them.

Back Words Jersey (Yes, it's readable in a mirror!)

With its dry hand and wonderful drape, this printed viscose/elastane jersey from Sawyer Brook was one of those teasers. I knew the print flattered my personality, and I knew the colors flattered my body. I also knew I could make a simple top to wear underneath a solid jacket or vest. But I didn't want to hide this stunning print that way - at least, not totally. That's when it dawned on me to make a collage top.

I get lots of sewing and design inspiration from the Tilton sisters, and I've long admired this collage top made by Katherine (you'll need to scroll down the page a bit). I noticed it again while browsing her blog last month, and set out to find fabrics that would combine well with my print. I knew I wanted to incorporate a black mesh purchased from Marcy some time ago. I also wanted to use a stripe, if I could find one that complimented the print.

This is where having my studio smack dab next door to a fabulous fabric store is the biggest blessing ever! I took the fabric to Sawyer Brook to see what I could find, and was pleased to discover that Fay, a bamboo and cotton striped jersey with a beautiful hand and drape, is a very close color match to the taupe in the print. Stripe mission solved!

To round out the grouping, I wanted a solid. At first I thought the violet jersey used in my previous garment would look good. While it echoed the red violet in the print, it was waaaaaay overpowering in the collage. I stepped back from the fabrics for a bit, then realized black would be the perfect finish. Black can be a bit harsh on me, especially an all-over black garment. But piecing it would lessen that harshness, and I just happened to have a black cotton jersey on hand. I was fortunate these four fabrics had similar drape and weight, another key to collage success. I had also achieved a pleasing mix of color, pattern, texture and solid.

One big reminder that came to me during the fabric selection process was the colors didn't have to match perfectly.  I grew up in an era when a stylish look required carefully matched colors, including shoes and handbag. As fashion trends have become more relaxed, so have I. This took all of the pressure off as I "shopped" for my fabric combination. I love how these fabrics speak to one another, and how the black and taupe visually calm down the wildly colorful and busy print.

Fabric choices resolved, my next task was to determine which fabrics to place where. Katherine had given me some good advice on this via email, specifically the importance of placing visually weightier fabrics lower in the garment, and flattering colors near the face. There was no doubt the print would go near my face, so I placed it on the upper right front, upper back and a sleeve. The mesh was a no-brainer; there are times when mesh worn high on a 50-something body is a good thing, but this wasn't one of them! I knew I would want to place it at the hemline and the lower part of a sleeve.  Taupe isn't a very flattering color for my face, so the stripe went to the lower front, upper back and a sleeve. Black balanced everything else out.

Now the cutting began. Using Katherine's version as a template of sorts (imitation being the sincerest form of flattery!), I took my altered Vogue 1261 pattern and traced off the front and back pieces. I determined where I wanted the seams to be, and added seam allowances. I also drafted a lower, slightly asymmetrical neckline. Since I didn't have a photo of the back of Katherine's version, I used the opportunity to play a bit. I moved the vertical seam to the center, and carefully positioned the horizontal seams in flattering places. Katherine advised me to not make the back placement just like the front, and not to try to match seams at the side seams. Viewed from the side, all of the horizontal seams fall at different places. To avoid over-matching the fabric placement, I switched the black and stripe on the back.

In order to obtain a good fit, construction of the top was somewhat unconventional. I sewed the top four pieces together, leaving the vertical seams open toward the bottom. Then I attached each lower piece seperately, tweaking the fit and length as I went.

My biggest challenge in piecing the collage was the sloped seam on the front between the print and the stripe. I cut both of these pieces about 2" longer than needed, so I could achieve some fit in the angled seam. Without doing this fitting, the stripes on the lower front piece would have sloped to the outside (because of my rounded torso). Using the print on top proved to be fortuitous, as it allowed me to add some length over my bust, in order to make the pieces fall evenly. No option for adjusting unevenness at the hem of this top!

Another challenge was to avoid having a bright blob of color on my breast. This took some work, and I'm not sure how well I succeeded, as it looks like I leaned into a freshly painted blue wall! At least I don't flaunt a big dark square or a large cream blob ladened with big letters.

For the sleeves, I cut them out to about 3/4 length, leaving a couple of extra inches to play with. I figured out the lower sleeve shapes later, when I assembled them. This helped me make them proportional to the body of the garment. I sloped the seams 1" on one sleeve, and 2" on the other.

Wanting a clean finish that didn't add more busy-ness to the top, I stitched the hems and neckband by hand. First, I used my favorite ultralight Design Plus fusible bias tape to stabilize the fabric edges. It shows through a bit on the mesh, but I didn't like the look of the mesh hem without it. The mesh is very large, so there isn't much fabric to stitch together. The tape gave me something to sew into.

Ok, time to talk about the elephant in the living room, so to speak. Stripes, you say?! Yes, stripes can perform a strong balancing act in a collage. I really lucked out in this case, as the taupe and black striped knit is so subtle. A cream and black stripe would have been much louder, and would have commanded a lot of attention. The size of the stripe makes a big difference, too. Imagine the same colors in a 1" stripe. Way too LOUD!

But horizontal stripes?! Isn't that a no-no? Don't they make you look fat? Once again, it all depends on how bold the stripes are. I'm a big girl, no doubt about that. But because of the other design lines in this top, the horizontal stripes recede to the background.

This project was a blast to design and execute. It took a lot of patience, ingenuity and double-checking, but once I got into the groove, the process moved along quite smoothly.  Katherine was a huge inspiration, and her advice was very helpful. I so appreciate pattern designers who are willing to communicate with those of us who are using their patterns and ideas!

This top is very comfortable and really reflects my personality.  I just love wearing it. Best of all, I have enough yardage left over to create another collage top. I'm thinking a more summery cut...

Horizontal stripes and a wild print? Oh yeah!