FINALLY: Cabled Chartreuse Knotty Gloves

"They remind me of rubber dishwashing gloves."

Said my husband, innocently enough, as he photographed me doing the dance of knitting victory with my FINALLY complete spring-green merino wool Knotty gloves.

It wasn't exactly what I wanted to hear about the gloves I had started over a year ago and finished on size 000 needles after three false starts. Maybe it was the color, or the length, or my pose?

Anyway, they fit perfectly now and I just love them. Chartreuse makes me happy!

These gloves were made to fill a serious wardrobe gap. I have several pairs of me-made fingerless gloves, but on truly chilly days I needed real finger coverage. So I've always ended up wearing ill-fitting cheap acrylic RTW gloves that were too short and left my wrists exposed to the cold.

Hence, the Knotty Gloves by Julia Mueller -- a free pattern designed for fingering-weight yarn with actual fingers and lovely cables and just the perfect length (she also has many other gorgeous glove patterns, all currently available for free since she closed her business).

I made mine with Studio Avenue 6 Bellwether Sock in the Spring colorway, a 100% merino wool hand-painted fingering weight yarn that seems to be discontinued (boo!).

My husband made up for his comments by taking an inordinate number of photos for me. We struggled with lighting and focus, though -- most of the outdoor photos (we're visiting my parents, so there actually IS an outdoors) came out terribly, so we came indoors:

Oh, and here's a closeup, but it's preblocking, so the stitches look a bit wibbly wobbly:

And why FINALLY? Well, I started these gloves in February of 2014, and gave up on them halfway through the first when they were coming out way too big even on size 0 needles. I finally found size 000 double-pointed needles (none of my local yarn stores had them, but you can find them on yarn.com or Amazon) and started them over again in January 2015 while I was waiting for baby and needed some serious distraction.

It felt like I was knitting with fragile bits of straw, and I went SO slowly for fear of the needles just snapping on me:

And they were STILL way too big, so I ripped back to the beginning AGAIN and added in lots of decreases (modification details here on my Ravelry project page).

So: hurrah for finishing UFOs, hurrah for chartreuse, and hurrah for the spring weather that means I will need to pack these up pretty soon.

My current creative focus is on the Small Human Being Sew-Along for April, but my next knitting project is finishing up the Hetty cardigan by Andi Satterlund last seen on this blog when my waist disappeared mid-pregnancy:

She just needs sleeves, and then she will be Me-Made-May ready.

P.S. Has a casual comment ever made you feel bad about a just-finished sewing or knitting project that you put a LOT of effort into? I certainly won't be taking these gloves anywhere near soapy dishes!

Ill-Fitting Bathrobe or Stylish Peplum Jacket? (McCall's 5529, aka my oldest UFO)

So my oldest unfinished sewing object is finally finished... and I can't decide if I totally hate it or find it mildly acceptable.

I mean, there are a few pros here: it has raglan sleeves, it's an adjustable wrap style, and it's made from a stretchy (but not too stretchy) chartreuse RPL doubleknit. Plus: a peplum!

But... there is a big con here, and that is the poor fit. It's just way too huge all over—in the sleeves, the shoulders, the body, the front. Even when I wrap it as carefully as I can, it feels more "ill-fitting bathrobe" than "casual, yet chic jacket" to me.

This could be because I muslined and cut it out when I was seven months hugely pregnant back in 2010. I thought it might still work now because it is a wrap and a knit, but... I think it's also the pattern. The examples on the envelope look equally large and rather baggy and wrinkly in the sleeves—it should have been a warning sign that the model has her sleeves scrunched up:

The basics

Pattern: McCall's 5529, a self-belted unlined raglan-sleeved cardigan/jacket with peplum, designed for wovens or stable knits. I believe it's out of print in the envelope edition, but I bought it as a download from SewingPatterns.com and tediously taped it all together. I made View C, with self-fabric belt and smooth non-gathered peplum. But I don't think I really recommend this pattern. The collar doesn't seem to know what it wants to do, the belt is rather "meh", and the peplum could be more fun, but isn't.

Fabric: Chartreuse Sophia doubleknit rayon/poly/lycra from Fabric.com (similar here on sale for $8.99/yard). It's a great fabric... BUT I think this would have worked better in a softer knit—like a sweater knit or stretchy French terry.

Size: According to my old notes I made a size 14, did a 2" FBA (adding four inches across the bust total), shortened the body by about four inches to hit my short waist... and added quite a bit of width to the front to accommodate my then-huge pregnant belly. I also took in the too-baggy sleeves by an INCH each but apparently that was not enough.

Instructions: Just fine—nothing exciting.

Construction notes: Back in 2010 I had originally been making this on the serger. When I picked up this UFO a few weeks ago the body and sleeves were together and all that remained to be done was attach the peplum and collar and sew up the belt. I finished it on my machine with a narrow zig-zag stitch.

I did the topstitching and hems with a regular long straight stitch since this doubleknit is so stable.

I slipstitched the inside of the collar by hand and it took me AGES—I ended up carrying it with me to playground excursions and such. A lot of work for such a mediocre result!

Wear: As lackluster as I feel about this make I do still think I will wear it, mainly to work. It's warm and cozy and I got quite a few compliments on it when I wore it to work Friday—mainly due to the color, I think. Chartreuse is kind of my thing, to say the least.

I have a theory that scrunching up the sleeves might help—thoughts?

Successes: My first jacket! OK, so it's an unlined unfitted knit belted wrap jacket--a glorified girly sweatshirt. But still--my first jacket!

Room for improvement?: The FIT! Next time I make a raglan-sleeve top, I want to see if I can make the armhole more comfortable, perhaps by adding a gusset.

I suppose I COULD take it apart and alter it to fit better... but I'm just DONE with this project. Whatever. At least the unfinished object pile is TOTALLY EMPTY. For now, anyway... I doubt I will ever make this pattern again and I can't say I recommend it.

My next knit jacket project bodes much better for success, as I KNOW the style is just perfect for me—the Cake Patterns Carmine Jacket (which I drew the cover flats for, naturally):

Is your Unfinished Object (UFO) pile getting you down? + Me Made May Week 3

I am regularly subject to fits of Unfinished Object Overload. Back in my early blogging days, I even drew a cartoon of how overwhelmed my many half-finished projects were making me feel:

I have a tendency to start garments I am very excited about at the time, but then I run into a slight challenge—a fitting problem or a serger malfunction or just my own tendency to sew so late at night that I start attaching the pieces together backwards... And I throw the item in my "in progress" bag and it never sees the light of day again while I start making something else new and shiny.

Until this Me Made May. Because in the last few weeks I have finished three former UFOs, and am almost done with the fourth—and last, I think. I defined UFOs as sewing projects that had been cut out in fashion fabric more than four months ago, and knitting projects that I had started more than four months ago. Here was some of the pile earlier this month:

I've now finished the Cake Patterns Red Velvet Dress (see finished object post), my chevroned Cake Patterns Hummingbird Blue peplum top with swiss dot dickey and cuffs (see finished object post) and my Delancey cardigan by Alexis Winslow.

I think the Delancey (finished object post here) felt like the biggest win simply because I had been knitting it (with a six month break) since LAST May. And also it is awesome:

I also just decided to toss a few objects and definitely decide NOT to finish them (like my blue silk bias half-slip that I hadn't really cut out properly or the bras I had started making in a size I no longer am). It felt equally freeing to just admit it was NOT going to happen.

I haven't quite gotten there with this McCall's 5529 doubleknit peplum jacket, though—it really isn't fitting right (even the sleeves are baggy... probably because this pattern is supposedly for knits AND wovens) but I'm just going to plow ahead and hope a belt will make it wearable:

The UFO bag is almost EMPTY. And wow is it a good feeling! It was also fun to get to start these projects at the sewing stage, instead of the cutting out and alterations stage.

And Me Made May? Here we go for week 3:

Me Made May 11: Mother's Day at the Met Costume Institute

For Mother's Day my husband took us to the AMAZING Charles James Beyond Fashion exhibit at the Costume Institute at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. No photos allowed, so here are my daughter and I in front of Perneb's Tomb.

Top: Partially finished Cake Patterns Hummingbird Blue before I attached the cuffs and dickey (blogged here).
Skirt: Hummingbird straight skirt (blogged here).
Necklace: Gift from sister-in-law
Shoes: Ahnu Karma flats because I wear the same comfortable shoes over and over again.

Me Made May 12: Teal Takeover Day for Food Allergy Awareness Week

As anyone who reads my sewing blog (or even more so my food allergy/ recipe blog Safe & Scrumptious from Scratch) knows, my three-year-old daughter Z has severe multiple food allergies.

She's allergic to sesame, nuts, peanuts, milk, eggs, mustard, cumin, poppy, canola and peas. So we don't eat in restaurants or buy much processed food, and we ALWAYS carry two EpiPen auto-injectors with us and make sure she wears her allergy alert bracelet.

Today was day two of Food Allergy Awareness Week, and today's action was #tealtakeover — since teal is the official color of Food Allergy Awareness. There are 15 million Americans with food allergy—and many, like my daughter, at at risk of life-threatening anaphylaxis. Please think about the food allergic people in your life—and what you can do to make them feel welcome and safe! Learn more at www.foodallergy.org/.

Dress: Me-made McCall's 6070 ombre polka dot dress.
Cardigan: had forever.
Necklace: Old and cheap
Shoes: Another pair of Ahnu Karma flats, in a green vegan mesh version.
On Z: A she-made starfish headband and me-made wax print Oliver + S dress (technically the "Ice Cream Dress" but she's allergic to dairy, so we call it the "Coconut Cream Dress").

Me Made May 13: The finally finished peplum top

The no longer un-finished UFO.

Top: Fully finished Cake Patterns Hummingbird Blue (blogged here).
Jeans: Not Your Daughter's Jeans naturalish-waisted straight legs (bought at 6pm.com for less than 50% retail). They're supposed to be natural waisted but they hit me a few inches below that.

Me Made May 14: The Tearful Trousers

Oh, these Vogue Elements 9745 wide-legged trousers just make me want to cry. When I first made them I was super into them—they are a beautiful shade of blue, they are corduroy, they are my first pair of successful non-pajama me-made trousers and they fit and they are SO COMFORTABLE (partly due to the hidden elastic waistband).

Yet I haven't worn them since Me Made May 2013. Mainly because my husband who usually loves everything I make hates them and says "they aren't very... flattering." I like wide legs in theory but I think I will stick with more fitted styles... they seem to work better on me.

My daughter is wearing her Tomten Jacket I knit for her a few years ago—she's finally growing into it.

Me Made May 15: My most-worn items

These two items (along with the Georgina cardigan I ended up throwing on to beat the spring chill) are my most-frequently-worn me-mades for sure—I always feel comfy and happy in them. I rarely wear them together but decided to give it a go and I THINK it works, no?

Hummingbird peplum knit top in a hummingbird-colored rayon jersey that needed some VERY careful pattern placement (blogged here) and a self-drafted knit half circle skirt with simple no-elastic waistband (free tutorial here).

Me Made May 16: Too Pretty to Wear Pants

This Friday's theme for the Me Made May challenge was "Too Pretty to Wear Pants" but since I wasn't exactly sure what that meant, I took it to mean: wear a skirt or a dress, maybe something a little extra girly? The me-made here is a trusty Jalie Scarf Collar knit top (blogged here).

Me Made May 17: There are six me-mades in this picture

Most of my photos so far have contained just one or two me made items... But there are five me mades in this collage if you count my daughter's sweater and some hidden underthings. And six if you count my daughter herself!

Phew!

So tell me—how many UFOs are in your pile? And how do they make you feel?

*Disclosure: Actions you take from the hyperlinks on this site may yield commissions for polkadotoverload.com (quite likely to be spent on yarn or fabric).

Finished: The Not-Red-or-Velvet Red Velvet Knit Dress, Joan-Style (Cake Patterns 0369)

This dress makes me feel fancy and relaxed at the same time—like I'm secretly wearing a nightgown at a cocktail party. (Except I'm just drinking apple juice because I took these photos at 8 in the morning, and I have the alcohol tolerance of a thimble).

There are so many things about it that make me happy. And now I will list them:

• It's a former UFO. I cut this dress out in September right before I got computer-induced carpal tunnel... and I actually finished it less than a year later. Go me!
• I got this awesome fabric for free from a fabric swap. I THINK it belonged to Clio or Nettie but I'm not 100% certain (ladies, who was it? I love you and THANKS).
• The fit is AMAZING and barely required any work on my part.
• These colors and print are out of control. Just big enough to be fun, just small and squiggly enough to hide any mistakes (not that there are any) and not require print matching.
• It goes perfectly with all those accessories I bought for the Joan Mad Men Challenge dress I never finished two years ago. (The fitting was just too much trouble, oh well).

The pattern: Cake Patterns Red Velvet Knit Dress 0369, with envelope/instructions illustration and graphic design by me and my husband.

My original plan was to go for a solid colorblocking thing in ponte/doubleknit, and I even went fabric-hunting at Mood:

But in the end I was worried the scissor pleat detail might be a bit bulky in the ponte, and this blue/purple/black splattery fabric was just calling my name.

Pattern Description: Knit dress with a faced circular neckline, optional petal collar and pleated underbust seam. I went for the scissor-pleated skirt, but there is also a flat boxy-pleat option. I left out the optional hidden zipper pocket because I was in a rush.

Pattern Sizing and Fit Adjustments: The pattern is sized for a 30-59 inch high bust, 25-55 inch waist and has bust proportion sizing A-D. Fit adjustments were easy, and minimal (unlike with my ill-fated Joan dress):

• I have a 34.5" high bust and 38.5" full bust, so I went with the 35C and did a simple 3-inch "Deep Bust Adjustment" as advised in the Red Velvet Sewalong to add needed length over the bust. I also shortened the pleats accordingly, to come to about 1.5" below the bust apex. (Please note that 35C is a special proportionate Cake bodice sizing and not a bra size — in bras I wear a 30F or 32E, depending on brand).
• For the skirt, I cut my actual waist size—29.5".

Fabric: As I said, I'm not sure who the original owner of this lovely, midweight ITY jersey bold print fabric was, but I thank her kindly for swapping her away to me. The only slight downside is that the pleats are a bit hard to see—can you spot the scissor shape here?

Notions: As advised in the instructions, I used stay tape in the shoulder seams. And I used fusible web tape to create quick, perfect and stable knit sleeve hems and stick down the neckline facing. LIFE-CHANGING, people. I used the 1/2" Steam a Seam 2 Lite, but it doesn't seem to be easy to find these days—Clover Fusible Web is another similar option.

Instructions: Once again, surreal following instructions that I helped draw myself. I mostly just stuck to the printed instructions, but did take a few peeks at the sew-along here and there.

Pattern alterations: I left off the optional collar and pockets. They are awesome but I am just trying to get back into the sewing game at all and finding any spare moments I can, and if that means leaving out the cool details, so be it. Otherwise unaltered.

Construction notes:

• I didn't bother finishing the seams (or hemming), since this fabric is so stable and not-at-all prone to unraveling.
• I used the sewing machine only, for speed, and just a simple narrow zig-zag stitch (the lightning bolt knit stitch on my particular machine does not a happy knit seam make).
• It all came together pretty quickly—I cut it out a year ago, but the actual sewing was just two evenings late at night—maybe 3 or 4 hours at most (and I am SLOW).

Wear for: Work or a date with the husband—or even to a wedding. Or a cocktail party, if my life were such that I actually went to such things.

I am SO making this dress again! For Me-Made-May, it's all about the UFO (and TNT) patterns over here.

P.S. This is obviously not an objective review, since I do artwork for Cake Patterns... but I don't get paid to sew Cake or blog about Cake. I just love me some Cake—which is why I draw for them!

P.P.S. Isn't that purple purse wonderful? She's real 1960s vintage, from Etsy, and was actually still in the ORIGINAL original box with her price tag on.

Me Made May 2014: the pledge, the sad inventory, the UFO pile & the plan

Most of my Me Made May outfits from last year

The Pledge

I, Mikhaela Reid, of Polka Dot Overload blog, sign up as a participant of Me-Made-May '14. I endeavor to wear one me-made, refashioned or friend/mom-made item each day for the duration of May 2014.(Cutting myself a little slack here because my size has changed, I didn't sew for six months due to carpal tunnel and lost sewing mojo, and a few of my favorite me-mades have gone mysteriously missing).

The (Sad) Inventory

I'm calling this sad because I am sad that a number of my me-mades have either gone mysteriously missing (lost during travel or in the laundry room, I guess) or are just too small (or in the case of old maternity makes, too big). What remains, and can be actually worn:

• 2 dresses: the polka-dot ombré frankenpattern and the candy-striped Cake Patterns Tiramisu
• 4 skirts: the self-drafted knit polka dot skirt, the striped and piped denim Cake Patterns Hummingbird skirt, the brown and white $1 polka dot woven skirt, and my new blue twill Tilly & the Buttons Miette wrap skirt.
• 4 tops: Two Jalie scarf tops (in polka dot and blue floral) and two Cake Patterns Hummingbird peplum tops (in polka dot and wild colorful paisley).
• 1 pair trousers: my never-worn wide-legged navy blue corduroys.
• 2 handknit sweaters: my refashioned blue cotton-silk cardigan and beloved chartreuse Georgina cardigan.
• 3 pairs handknit socks: in magenta, gradated blue, and TARDIS blue.
• 3 pairs of panties: in purple, stripes and more stripes.
• 1 kitchen apron. (I cook a LOT. So it counts!)
• For a total of... just 20 wearable items, 6 of them socks or undergarments.

When I look back I have made over 50 garments over the past five years or so, but some of those were maternity, some were for my daughter or other babies, and some just didn't work out. So... this is all I've got out of the starting gate. And you all saw most of them during Me Made May last year. Oh well!

The UFO pile

These are the UFOs that are so close to done I hope to finish them within the first half of Me Made May.

1. My Cake Patterns Red Velvet Knit Dress in blue and purple patterned ITY (upper left). She's all cut and ready to sew, but I abandoned her after sewing one seam due to carpal tunnel last fall.
2. My third Cake Patterns Hummingbird peplum top—the Blue version, with the dickey and three-quarter-length sleeves. I cut her out during the sew-along last summer, but was so busy moderating said sewalong I didn't actually finish her:
   
3. My Delancey cardigan by Alexis Winslow (center bottom row): I am just finishing the bands, then the buttons and collar and I am DONE.

There are a few other items in the UFO photo I probably won't bother finishing with any urgency—it's the wrong season now for my coming-out-far-too-big Knotty Gloves. The chartreuse doubleknit jacket you can just barely see the edge of on the bottom left is too big and requires more fitting (it also dates from 2010). And the blue silk dot bias half-slip in the upper middle is cut rather askew.

The plan

• Wear at least one me-made every day.
• Don't worry about outfit repeats.
• Don't worry too much about boring the blog readership (that's you!) with the same clothes I wore last year.
• Take a photo every day—even if it's just an Instagram mirror selfie.
• Whip out a few TNT patterns in fabrics from the stash.
• Make at least one pattern I haven't made before.
• Refashion at least one wardrobe item.

I cannot even describe how excited I am for Me Made May. Last year it really got me energized and sewing again after a horrible six-month bout with severe chronic sinusitis and surgery for same. This year I'm hoping to get back into sewing after a ... horrible three-month bout with carpal tunnel (no surgery this time, but the mojo was definitely lost).

And it also gives me an excuse to dress up and feel, well, pretty. I've got to admit the winter has been getting me down, and I've been feeling a bit like Frumpy Food Allergy Mom (or that's how I imagine myself in my head) who never does her hair or makeup, always looks frazzled and sleep-deprived, is always covered in flour or pickle juice from one allergy-free culinary experiment or another, and wears the same jeans and old falling-apart T-shirts and worn-out flats every day.

So here's to old makes, new makes, refashions and new ways to wear and combine them!

Colorblocking Fun + Sewing Schemes Overload

Yet ANOTHER project to add to the in-progress mountain--my Kwik Sew 2771 color-blocking experiment for Sew Grateful week.

Guys, I'm getting a bit overwhelmed over here. The more I get back into sewing and knitting, the more obsessed and excited I become--and the more frustrated at how my limited making-stuff time inhibits my ability to actually FINISH any of my grand schemes. February is practically here and I don't have a single finished object to show you!

Z and I went to the Brooklyn Burdastyle Sewing Club meetup yesterday (we meet every month and Manhattanites are also welcome!) and it was awesome. We hadn't been since she was a wee wee not-yet-walking thing and it was so great to see everyone again and all the fabulous things they've been sewing. We're going to meet up again two weekends from now in the Garment District for a little shopping expedition.

I had stayed up way past my bedtime the night before trying to finish my wide-leg corduroy trousers for the meetup, but got tripped up by waistband treatment indecision (petersham? interfacing? both? elastic-backed waist? what?!) and had to wear a skirt I sewed out of $2 polyester polka dots back in 2005. Which bummed me out. Because I have such grand plans, and SO many unfinished or almost-started projects! Currently--in vague order of (hoped-for) completion:

The Wide-Leg Trousers of Eternity

• The dream: Create stylish and comfortable dark cuffed corduroy trousers that I can wear for work and weekend.
• The reality: I knew so little about making pants that even with the help of four books and a DVD it has taken me more than a month of agony to get these things properly fit and almost but not quite constructed. (Seriously, pants are HARD. Just ask the Slapdash Sewist).
• What's done: I've finally got the fit about right, I think--I ended up having to pin out two inches (?!) from the hip area, partly due to randomly losing a small amount of weight since I muslined these things a month ago, and partly due to the mysterious differences between muslin and fashion fabric.
• What's not: The waistband.
• What's stopping me: Over-ambition. If I was following the pattern directions I'd be done ages ago, but I stubbornly resolved to try and make them more versatile and comfortable by using a petersham-faced front and an elastic-faced back waistband... This from someone who had no idea how to construct a fly front or put in pockets.
• Urgency/guilt factor: High. I have only one pair of other pants I like to wear and they are rather frayed at the bottom hem. And once these are done to my liking, I plan to clone them quickly and repeatedly.
• Status: Go go go!
• Hope for eventual completion? Tomorrow night?

The Pretty in Plum Tomten Jacket of Perpetuity

• The dream: Make a fun, warm, chunky stripey soft wool hooded sweater for my daughter--something oversized that she can grow into. Seriously, why are almost all RTW kid's sweaters--even pricier ones--made out of cotton, acrylic, or fleece? Don't kids need to be warm too? Surely I could whip up such a thing in a weekend!
• The reality: Three months of occasional knitting later, I am finally ready to make sleeves--if I have enough yarn.
• What's done: The body.
• What's not: The sleeves, hood, and zipper.
• What's stopping me: I mostly knit during my weekly workplace knitting group and on the subway--I reserve the evening hours for sewing.
• Urgency/guilt factor: None, as my aunt just bought Z a hand-knit sweater and hat set from a knitter friend of hers.
• Status: Keep on knitting like a snail!
• Hope for eventual completion? In a few weeks?

The Sudden Urge to Colorblock Skirt

(see sketch at top of post)

• The dream: Achieve a super-quick sewing win for Sew Grateful week with a basic Kwik Sew knit skirt pattern given to me by my beloved grandmother Melba, using the sewing machine and serger she left me when she died in 2004.
• The reality: I haven't even ordered the fabric yet because I can't decide on a color scheme (leaning towards #1) and I worry about buying wool jersey fabric I haven't touched or inspected, even if it is on sale for an amazing $7.50/yard.
• What's done: The sketch.
• What's not: Everything.
• What's stopping me: Colorblocking roadblock.
• Urgency/guilt factor: Sew Grateful week is in... a week!
• Status: Must order fabric!
• Hope for eventual completion? Yes!

The Mitered Mittens in Way More Than a Minute

• The dream: Persuade my mitten-averse daughter to cover her adorable little hands before she catches frostbite.
• The reality: These Malabrigo mitered mittens from Elizabeth Zimmerman's Knitter's Almanac should have been done in like, five minutes, but I keep feeling guilty I'm not working on the sweater.
• What's done: Almost one mitten.
• What's not: The thumb, the other mitten.
• What's stopping me: Inability to focus.
• Urgency/guilt factor: Low—my parents just bought her six pairs of mittens before I could finish these.
• Status: Plugging along.
• Hope for eventual completion? Yes.

The Vintage Valentine's Day Red Dress

• The dream: Make a sexy red 1940s vintage dress in time for Valentine's Day. Or at the very least for the Pattern Review Little Red Dress Contest this February.
• The reality: That's barely two weeks away.
• What's done: Drew the sketch, bought the fabric. And yes, I'm going with Du Barry 5525--the sweetheart neckline one.
• What's not: Tracing the pattern, grading the pattern, making a muslin, fitting, altering, cutting out slippery silk fabric... EVERYTHING.
• What's stopping me: The physical constraints of space-time. Also, the Little Red Dress contest rules specify no cutting of fabric til February.
• Urgency/guilt factor: High—now that I've told you all about it.
• Hope for eventual completion? I WILL MAKE THIS DRESS.

The Cabled Cashmere Toddler Sweater Refashion

Cabled Cashmere Cardigan Toddler Refashion Picks by m1khaela on polyvore.com

• The dream: Serge up a quick soft sweater and set of leggings for my daughter from a gigantic thrifted cabled cashmere sweater.
• The reality: Er...
• What's done: Thrifted the sweater (it was red, and just $4), found inspiration pictures, paged through Ottobre magazine stash for a base pattern.
• What's not: Oh, you know. EVERYTHING ELSE.
• What's stopping me: I think I'm going to pass out now.
• Urgency/guilt factor: Low—this should be a fun quick refashion.
• Hope for eventual completion? Sure-ish.

And I haven't even mentioned the Colette Macaron I started to adjust...

Or the cabled alpaca hat I almost finished but will have to unravel and reknit an inch bigger so as to prevent tight hat headaches:

Sigh.

In other news--hello to all my new readers and thanks for visiting! Looks like I'm approaching 150 followers--when I get there I promise to host a vintage pattern giveaway.

So tell me: how overwhelmed are you by your sewing schemes? How often do you feel like this?

P.S. Just realized I ALSO forgot the Ottobre baby cord overalls which go with the above sweater, which I've already cut out and are all ready to sew:

Orange Dress Plans (+ Actual Fabric Acquisition)

Considering I haven't so much as opened my sewing machine cabinet since Baby Z's birth, I really have no business adding to my overflowing fabric stash. However, I recently brought Z along to my first post-baby Brooklyn Burdastyle Sewing Club meetup (wearing an outfit I made for her, naturally)... and afterwards we took a little stroll over to the fabulous Brooklyn General yarn and fabric store.

When I saw the above fabric, I thought it'd be perfect for one of the Oliver + S patterns from my stash, either the Tea Party Sundress:

...or the Playdate dress:

I also got some solid brown cotton for the yoke or bodice:

Of course I already have three UFO baby dresses I started for Baby Z back in March that would really require only a few hours or less to finish... but considering the state of the apartment after several months of taking care of a newborn, and my return to work next week, it might be a while.

Still, a girl can dream!

Unfinished Blog Post Overload

Oh dear. Not only am I suffering from a serious case of Unfinished Object Overload and Fabric Stash Expansionitis, I'm also down with a touch of Unfinished Blog Post Overload, as you can see above. Fellow bloggers, does this ever happen to you?

In addition to the 66 posts I've actually published in the month since I launched this little blog, I have 30 other pieces in various stages of completion. Some are just titles or ideas; others are elaborate manifestos, essays or tutorials in need of editing or completion. The problem? It turns out sewing and style blogging is just WAY too much fun!

But I'm a tired pregnant lady with too little time for all my bloggy ambitions, and I have come to accept the fact that some of these posts will forever remain unwritten, just as some garments will forever remain unsewn.

Here's some of what I have planned for you lovely readers if you stick with me... (with likelihood of completion in parentheses):

• "Sewing at a Moving Target: Maternity Style Strategies." My pregnancy-modification magnum opus, an illustrated compilation of various strategies and methods for maternity sewing, with notes on adapting non-maternity patterns and the potential for post-preggo wear for various styles. (Fair to middling).
• "Polka Dot Crush: New Vintage Lady" The first in a series of mash notes to my favorite sewing bloggers, reverse-inspired by the Selfish Seamstress's sinister parade of nemeses (Sometime next week).
• "A Life in Mail-Order Patterns": The story of a collection I acquired via Ebay that belonged to one woman who sewed from mail-order patterns from 1954 to 1990. Her size changed over the years; her love for simple shirtwaists did not. (Quite likely, as I've already photographed all 23 patterns).
• "Hair Lessons, Part 2: It's All Good Hair." In the first part of this series, I chronicled my own cluelessness in all things hair-related. I want to change that both for myself and in anticipation of the arrival of Cartoonist Baby. So this post is a review of a book I bought ("It's All Good Hair") that teaches a variety of natural hairstyles for black children (including braids, twists, dreads and more). Plus my thoughts on the promising-but-flawed Chris Rock documentary Good Hair. (Fair to middling--this is such a complex topic I want to get it right!).
• "Tutorial: Try on Patterns Before You Sew--Or Buy--Them!" This is the one I'm most excited about--it's a tutorial aimed at helping non-artists create their own personalized croquis for envisioning how patterns will look on their unique and fabulous figures! It'll be like the ones I use to sketch ideas and play with alterations and color, but a bit more basic. Better yet, it's illustrated with examples of a few of your favorite sewing bloggers (plus me and Masheka, as I wanted a male model in the mix)! I'm working up versions of how to do with both pen and paper and free online image software. (My top blogging priority!)
• "On Pregnancy and Body Image." My personal take on pregnancy, and--you guessed, it--body image. (If I have time between massaging my puffy ankles and inspecting my new stretch marks to get to it).