Striped Socks

Learning to dye my own yarn has been a lot of fun! Making self-striped yarn was easier then I thought. My first test I used the primary colors: red, yellow, and blue. The next time I make striped yarn, I'll be sure to photograph it so I can make a tutorial.

I do have a few hand dyed striped yarns available in my shop Color to Dye For!

My go-to sock knitting pattern is David's Toe Up Sock Cookbook from Ravelry. It's one of the easiest patterns to follow that I've found so far. These socks are considered 'plain vanilla' aka basic knit with no pattern design. You can make fancy lace-y socks with this pattern as long as you make a gauge. Yes, I said the G-word! Anyways, this striped yarn didn't look that great with anything but a knit stitch.

I hope to make more fun yarn and socks as time allows! 

Clean Dish, Dirty Dish

Dishwasher Magnet

$15

https://www.etsy.com/shop/HeathersCustomSewing/

Mint and Chocolate Chip Shawl

I've never designed any knitting patterns before. I've always found plenty of inspiration on Ravelry. But I recently made that leap and tried my hand at making up something for myself. It was a challenge, to say the least, that I doubt I'll repeat any time soon. :) The finished garment turned out beautifully and is just like my favorite ice-cream inspired treat.

Testing the pattern

I came across mosaic knitting while working on another shawl. I liked the idea and knitted up a test swatch so I could determine how many repeats I wanted.

Finished knitting the border

The completed bottom border with all the diamond repeats has a nice weighted/drapey feel to it. The mosaic knitting was really enjoyable!

Working on the shawl

Knitting the last of the striped repeats on the shawl seemed to take forever. As soon as it was done I wove in the ends, washed and blocked it, and called it done!

I took notes on my progress but I doubt I can make heads or tails of them now and I'm not going to become the next amazing knitting designer. I'm happy to make my own stuff and keep it at that.

Thanks for stopping by!

Winter Wool Coat

The finished garment

Last fall I took a couple college classes, one in pattern drafting and the other in tailoring. These two classes gave me the foundations I need for creating my own clothing and I have enjoyed making several items from scratch since then. In our pattern drafting class we had our measurements taken so we could pretty much design any kind of clothing we wanted from our basic blocks. 

I found this really pretty woven fabric from Mood and knew I wanted to make a winter coat from from it. I began with an idea I had in mind and sketched it out on paper first. I wanted a wide collar, an overlapping front, and it had to be knee length. Either way, I wanted it to fit my own frame perfectly.

Drafting the pattern

Mock up created from the original pattern

Coat Lining

The coat is fully lined in matching light brown satin. It's smooth and slick putting it on and taking it off.

Catch stitching the inner garment

The inner construction was very involved and isn't seen on the finished garment. I used traditional tailoring techniques and catch stitched in hair canvas. The woven fabric is 100% wool and easy to work with. Wool is such a versatile fiber and can be molded however you want with steam and heat and the hair canvas gives it a nice foundation to sit on.

Buttonhole mock up

While I was constructing the garment I knew I wanted bound buttonholes to fit my large 2" buttons. I took the extra time needed to do them properly and made a sample first so I could get the technique correct.

Creating the bound buttonholes

The finished garment fits perfectly and turned out beautifully. It was a ton of work but I'm glad I created it.