fiberaddict | Entries tagged with pictures

I seem to be on a once-a-month update schedule here.......:shrug: Works for me. We got quite a bit done this month - mostly sewing. I have filled most of the holes in my wardrobe, and am now working on Mom's. Herself is slowly filling her closet - I think I've created a monster! :lol:

Let's start with Herself's new clothes, shall we?

First up, the Lobster dress:

This was her 2nd dress, her first BY HERSELF. She bought the collar pattern off of Etsy.....the blouse is the only thing she didn't make herself.

She then tackled the "Little Betty" dress by Tea & Treadle. Yes, I am naming names. This pattern.....is NOT well-written. Steps are confusing, and the underskirt instructions are wrong. (This is the same vendor we attempted before - that dress is still wadded up, because the yoke does NOT fit in the bodice. It's 2" too tall.)

This is the dress-from-Hell. It took both of us to figure out what we were supposed to do, and honestly? We ended up winging a lot of it. The resulting dress is cute, but......yeah, we're not buying from her again.

I pulled out a tam pattern for her; I think it makes the outfit. :lol:

This one she JUST finished (it gets its first bath today!). It's a mash-up of the Simplicity pattern she's been using, and the McCall's "Mannequin" pattern. I think it turned out beautifully!

She's going to work on a matching bonnet for it today.

Now, moving on to my sewing....:lol: I bought some fabric from FabricMart, and went to town:

This is the Vintage Shirtdress from Sew Over It. I had enough fabric left over that I made a Libby Shirt (also from SOI)

Because I was on a roll, I made Mom a Vintage Shirtdress, too, from some gingham she had dropped off:

(no back photo...but ehh. It's the same as mine, but gingham. :lol:) I DID put buttons on it - I forgot to snap a photo after it was finished; this was an in-progress shot for Mom.

I then decided to try StyleArc's Vivienne dress:

(front is for Mom; the back is mine. I...don't know why only have one side of each, but.....:shrugs:

This is an interesting pattern - there are no side seams. It's.....different. Comfy, but...I'm not sure how I feel about it.

I then tackled the StyleArc Montana dress.

It's...OK. I'd like more swish in the skirt, but it works. I have enough fabric left for something - maybe another Vintage Shirtdress? I dunno.....

And, last up is a "work" shirt I whipped up. I, um....made the design decision that the embroidery looked better on the wrong side of the fabric (IOW, I screwed up when I hooped the fabric. :rofl:)

I went back and added some waist ties to the Montana, and also to the Nova and Clementine dresses from last month. It pulls in the waist just enough to give it a bit of shape. Also, none of these dresses have pockets :gasp!: because the fabric just isn't hefty enough to support them. I want wearables, so having unusable pockets makes no sense.

I need to make a few more simple woven tees, then I should be good. I need to start on pants for Himself.....I have the fabric, just need to sit down and sew.

Current Mood: happy
Current Location: command center

Because I've been a busy little Fiberaddict. :lol: I can't remember when I actually sewed up some of these, so I'll just post them. I do remember the order, so.....:rofl:

Anyway. Barn destruction still on-going. We have the office/tack room almost finished - 6 more floorboards to go. The plan is to then move to the roof...we'll see....

Because the husband got a job! Praise God! With Amazon...in the warehouse. He claims to not know/not believe the reports of worker treatment.....and he thinks this will give him an "in" if an IT position opens up. I've tried to tell him that the job market is MUCH different than he realizes....but he told me I'm stupid and don't know what I'm talking about. :sigh: Oh, well - he can't say he wasn't warned........(the kids and I have a betting pool going. Herself thinks he'll last 2 weeks, Himself gives him 6. Me? He'll last a few months, at least, just to show me how wrong I was. :bangs head:)

Moving on to more...pleasant things:

Knitting! I FINALLY finished my....April? socks! May I present the Lotus socks, by Kulabra Designs:

Yarn is Franklin Natural from Webs that I dyed up in Avocado and Lilac. I LOVE this pattern - it has haunted me ever since I first saw it; I just didn't get around to knitting it until now. The pattern is (what I assume to be) typical of Russian designs - it's the charts, only. The knitter needs to know the basics, and be able to plug the chart into the item.

I have started another pair - this one a basic Monkey - but have only made it halfway down the foot of sock #1. I've been sewing instead of knitting...

Sewing! LOTS going on here. We started last month with StyleArc's Clementine blouse. I made the first one for Mom:

Once I knew it fit both her AND me (our measurements are pretty close!), I grabbed my white linen and embroidered 2 more, 1 for me:

and 1 for her:

then I grabbed some Rayon and did another for me:

(for some reason the back of this one didn't show up....hmmmm. Oh, well - you get the gist! Same flowers, only in pairs - 1 at each corner)

Still in an embroidery mood, I dug thru the stash and found some blue voile....it became a StyleArc Melody:

While digging, I found some handkerchief-weight linen, so I decided I needed another Melody, but this time Celtic:

At this point, I figured I had plenty of tops, so I started to fill in the hole in my pants drawer. I didn't get photos of all of them, but...oh, well. I started with the much-needed StyleArc Emma shorts. I have 5 pair: blue, green/white plaid, natural, denim and pink, but only got a photo of the pink pair:

I then made up 3 pairs of StyleArc's Ethel Designer pants: Denim, Brown, and Green (the green is green/black iridescent, which is very hard to photograph)

The next items....well. Last year, since I was sitting a home so much, I spent a lot of time evaluating my wardrobe. I decided that I need to totally revamp it - graphic t-shirts just weren't "me" any more (I kept all of them......some day I'll turn them into a quilt.) Menopause has done a number on my body.....my weight is almost the same, but the distribution.....knit tops aren't flattering. At All. :sigh: So.....even though I am not a dresses-girl, I realized I really NEEDED a few in my wardrobe, for the hot, hot Summer days (this year, it's been a HOT Spring....:sigh:) It's been hot enough that I don't want ANYTHING around my waist....and it's only going to get hotter. Loose dresses that only touch at the shoulders/bust sound SO nice.....

I started with the Clementine dress. Since the pattern is set up for a VERY dropped waist (the waist sits at the fullest part of my hips - NOT a good look!) I chopped 4 inches off the hem of the top before adding the skirt. The fabric is Rayon I got with the Cashmerette Harrison Shirtdress kit I ordered on launch (before realizing that the payoff (the finished dress) wasn't - to me - worth all those princess seams. Live and Learn!

I like the dress....but. It feels too '80s for me, so for the next one I did a StyleArc Nova dress in a cotton I got from Supreme Fabrics before it got hit by a tornado (in 2017....I tend to let fabric age a bit. :lol:)

I sewed it up as designed, except I made a much deeper hem - 2" instead of 5/8" (I'm 5'4" if I stretch. StyleArc designs for 5'6". I didn't want an ankle-length dress.)

I.....like it, but.......the bodice is a bit......boxy. I thought I was done...but Herself needed to go to Hobby Lobby. While she was browsing, I hit the 50% off fabric...and this lovely cotton fabric jumped into my cart. It feels a lot like lawn.......

This time, I used the Clementine bodice (but hacked 6" off the hem to bring it to the Nova's length) with the Nova's tiered skirts. We won't discuss the screw-ups (i ended up piecing 2 of the tiers because I can't read, apparently), but I LOVE the finished dress:

I have 2 more lengths of fabric that I think need to become maxi/midi dresses - one is lawn, one is poplin shirting. I just need to get over the fact that *I* want to wear dresses first. :lol: StyleArc seems to design a lot of......loose fitting dresses, which works for me, even though they feel a bit.....um......how to put this.....frumpy? I mean.....I don't *feel* frumpy/stodgy/old-ladyish when I wear them, so that's a plus, but they *look*.....:sigh: I think I'm going to make some clips for the backs, to pull in the waist just a titch to give them a little more shaping. (2 alligator-type clips, connected by self-fabric covered elastic. 1 clip on each side seam, and voila! Shaping!)

I have the StyleArc Bob pants to sew up (similar to the Ethel, but longer) - and yes, StyleArc is my new favorite pattern company. Their patterns fit right out of the box, and right now that's what I need. The directions are sparse - but honestly? I prefer that. I HATE patterns that want to hold my hand the whole way - maybe I have my own preferred way of doing sleeves, so don't tell me I have to do it your way. And please, let's stop with the 20 pages of pictorial directions, with photographs of EVERY. SINGLE. STEP. Really, I know how to press a seam - you don't have to show me. Every seam. Really!

Herself has made 2 lolita dresses, but I'll save those for later. This post is long enough. :lol:

Current Mood: happy
Current Location: sofa

:whew!: It's been a bit busy around here.......LOTS going on. Let's dive in, shall we?

We started March the usual way - by picking up a load of chicks. We started with 20; lost 2 the first few days. That's normal....actually, it's better than usual. Day-old chicks spend their time looking for ways to die. :sigh: Any way, we have 9 Sapphire Queens, 4 Silver-laced Wyandottes, and 5 Cinnamon..something or other. They've grown quickly, and we are planning on moving them out today/tomorrow.

As well as the......geese. Um, yeah - the feed store got in 16 goslings, and...um.......we ended up with 6.

They're cute, but BOY HOWDY are they MESSY. And huge, comparatively speaking. So far, they are sweet...we'll see how long that lasts. :lol:

This explains last weekend's project - I built (with a little help from the husband) a fledgling hut. We'd been using dog crates, but.....they were not going to hold 24 birds. One of the mobile homes down the street has been sold to a flipper; the rehabbers told me I could rummage thru their trash pile if I wanted. I scored some skirting (tin!) and 2x4s.....after a quick trip to pick up some used pallets, I was set. It took all day Saturday, and a couple of hours Sunday, but we now have a fledgling hut (or, as we call it, the "Fluffly Butt Hut". :lol:)
Total out-of-pocket expense: $60.

I have more than enough pallets left to build a goose hut - I need to get more skirting first. For now the goslings will live with the chicks.

Last week, Zoe lost her kids......5 weeks early. I've been trying to bring in her milk, but it's just not working. :sigh: Hopefully the other does will carry to term - we need the milk!

It hasn't all been work, though - I've been knitting as well. I already showed you the Birds of Paradise mitts, now I give you: Dreidle Socks! The yarn is Blue Moon Fiber Arts BFL in the color way "Dreidle"; the pattern is Cookie A's Cubist Socks.

I then knit up a pair of mitts for Herself - another pattern by Kulabra, this one called "Frozen Songs". I dyed the yarn to Herself's specifications - Soot and Fire, and........here are her Firebird Mitts:

I was over the pattern halfway thru the first one.....:lol:

I've started a pair of socks, but you'll have to wait for photos. Since I actually started them in April, I'll save it for the April posting. :lol:

One more photo - this one is the resident Dragon King, Iroh. Herself made him a hat......he is NOT amused:

Today is grocery day, then we have to fix the run so the chicks/goslings will be safely contained. I'll try to get photos of them outside.......

Current Mood: tired
Current Location: sofa

So...I've been on a knitting kick lately. And a Dyeing one, but I have no photos of the newly dyed yarn. :lol: (What? I spent all of Snowvid dyeing up yarn for socks....and a pair of mittens. It was quite productive - I think I ended up with 9 sock kits and the mittens!)

Anyway. After I finished my Windmill Socks, I pulled out a skein of self-striping yarn from Brazen Stitchery. The name is "Captain Tight Pants", which is a Firefly reference. I decided to just knit a plain vanilla pair of socks - no pattern, no thinking. :lol: The only thing I did was try to match the stripes - normally I don't, but I wanted to up my game. I think I did OK:

I then grabbed a set of yarn I had just dyed. The purple was exactly what I had in the mind...the "green" was supposed to be "wheat". It was....off....but when held up to the purple put me in mind of grapevines. So....it was a match!

This is Piccolo Mondo Antico. The pattern was relatively easy, but non-repetitive. I was pretty much over it before I finished sock #1; sock #2 was a bit of a slog.

The closeup shows the colors really well, I think.

I finished these on March 1, so not quite within my February goal. Oh, well! :lol:

Then I grabbed the mitten kit - 3 colors of Cash-Merino yarn. In less than a week, I had these:

They're my first attempt at Norwegian/Latvian mittens. The pattern was pretty easy - the charts were a bit much to keep up with, but not too bad. The pattern is "Birds of Paradise" by Kulabra Designs - I have a LOT of her patterns, and now I REALLY need to knit them up! :lol:(Some of the yarn I dyed is for more of her designs). I started them on 1.5s, but when I hit 75% o the first mitten I admitted it was a bit snug...so off to the frog pond I went. :shrug: I should have listened to my gut - it kept telling me it wasn't right, but I wanted to KNIT, dammit! :rofl:

Herself saw these and ordered 3 pairs. :sigh: I'll be dyeing up the yarn for them this weekend. :lol:

I'm currently working on a "plain" pair of socks - 1 yarn, but in a textured pattern. I started Monday; last night I frogged it because, while it fit, I wasn't happy with how stretched out the pattern was. I'm now back on size 1.5 dpns (I started on 1s, because 1.5s are a little loose. Oh, well. Socks are small, so it's no big deal!)

Anyway, back to it. I want to get this pair done, and get at least 1 color work sock done before the end of the month. Or maybe mittens.......:shrug: We have a bobcat problem again, though, so....we'll see. :Sigh: Sometimes I HATE country living!

Current Mood: busy
Current Location: sofa

I finished a pair of socks...which is normal, and normally I'd wait and have a few to upload all at once, but this pair...well....

Pattern is "La Mancha's Giants", I've had it in the queue since at LEAST 2015 (that's when I dyed the yarn for it), and, well - I am very very very pleased with them. Herself picked out the colors, I dyed the yarn, and then it sat until I was ready to knit them. :lol:

Pattern was relatively easy. LOVE how they knit up!

I just had to share.....off to work on my current pair (Plain vanilla, no pattern - just knitting.)

Current Mood: happy
Current Location: sofa

Mainly because, while it's beautiful outside, it's also nippy. I...don't do nippy very well any more - my wrist and ankle don't like nippy. :sigh: Oh, well - at least I've been productive!

This is going to be very picture-heavy - I've been busy! I'll put them under a cut to save my (non-existent) friend's pages. :lol:

( Cut to save space! )

Current Mood: accomplished
Current Location: sofa

Again. Because......well, I've been busy. TOO busy, but that's all on me. :sigh: I.....fell back into the addiction. Yarn fumes are dangerous. :nods:

Why do I say that? Because.....well, here:

I started these the minute I finished the hat, and finished them last Friday. Photos were taken Sunday, when the socks were nice and dry.......um. I immediately cast on another pair (this one is textured, so 1 yarn only. Easy-peasy.).....but had to set them down shortly after. I, um.....well, I'm halfway down the leg of #1, and can *feel* it, so......

I started a new hat yesterday, to take the edge off. It's on larger needles.......but.....I need an intervention. :lol:

Anyway. These are the Cherry Dream socks. I've had the pattern for years, even dyed up the yarn and "kitted" it 3 or 4 years ago. I just didn't need cherry socks - but Herself, now - Herself wants to sew up a cherry-themed Lolita dress. So.....she now has socks to go with. :lol:

Pattern was easy. But! I have apparently become a much looser knitter - my normal is to use size 2s.....this pair? Size 2s were HUGE. I went down to size 1.5 - which for color work has NEVER worked for me. Now? They are a wee bit loose - on ME - but work. The plain sock I started? I stuck with the size 1.5s, but reduced the stitch count from 72 (my "normal" for years and years!) to 64.

AND THEY FIT. :gulp:

This opens up more patterns for me, but...it boggles my mind. ALL the other socks in my drawer are size 2s, on 72 stitches for color work, and size 1.5s on 72 stitches for plain/textured. This.....is an interesting departure, but I'll roll with it.

I think I'm going to put the socks in time-out, and knock out a few hats. Hats are on larger needles, with fatter yarn........but I don't need a lot of hats. The current one goes in the present box, but.........

Anyone need a hand-knit hat? :seriously: Wool only (but willing to dye up some of my special base yarn - Cashmere/Merino blend - if you need scratch-free. Seriously - there is BUTTER out there that is scratchier than this yarn!), prefer color work (to keep me intrigued)........I am willing. Otherwise I might drown in hats.....:lol:

Yes, this is a serious offer. I have....well. A bit of yarn in the stash. In.....a few colors. And I have......a few patterns. :lol: It'll keep me amused, out of trouble, and help rehabilitate my hand/wrist. I will TRY to knock them out before the holidays, but please remember I'm dealing with recovery here. :smile:

So. Hat, anyone???

Current Mood: happy
Current Location: sofa

because I just finished something I started on Sunday evening - well, finished it yesterday. Photos today - I had to wait for it to dry from it's bath and block. :lol:

This isn't for me; it goes into the "present box" that is woefully empty this year. Normally, I stockpile things for gift-giving.....this year, since I couldn't knit, I couldn't think of anything to gift. I'm trying to make up for lost time......I just started a pair of socks for Herself. Again. I started yesterday, but that little voice told me "too big! Abort!"....I measured it against a pair of my socks, and yeah - it was about 2" to big. :blink: I haven't been that far off in...well, years! I went down a needle size (from 2 to 1.5....:eek!:); this time the cuff looks a bit more reasonable. I'll be restarting the color work in 6 rounds, so we'll see then.

I did bugger up my wrist this AM......I mowed the back yard. I don't use the self-propelled part of the mower, because I figure mowing is the best form of full-body cardio I can get. Normally, it hasn't been a problem. This AM however, I ended up with a weird.......tingly feeling, almost like how you feel when you bounce your hand on a trampoline. The kinda......"sproing-y" feeling, with a bit of pins-and-needles thrown in. Really weird and off-putting. It's still kinda..weird feeling now, almost 8 hours later, so I don't know what's going on there, but I'll watch it. :Sigh: I just got my knitting back, too!!!! :pout:

I need to get dinner going - tonight is spaghetti night. The challah is done and cooling, now to start the sauce.

Have a great one!

Current Mood: happy
Current Location: sofa

I know, I know - this is the lazy way out. But....I finished Himself's scarf last night!!! And - AND! Herself actually sewed an entire outfit!!! 95% by Herself!!!!!!

:deep breath:

Let's start with Herself, OK? I'm SO proud! (OK, so it's not a style or fabric *I* would have chosen, but that's OK. She did a pretty good job!) ETA: the blouse is bought; we haven't found a good pattern yet.

Dress pattern is the infamous Simplicity 8444 ("infamous" because a bunch of Lolita's got their petticoats in a twist; seems that a large company can't put out a Lolita dress pattern without "stealing" it. Um. Yeah. Whatever. :lol:). The pattern is OK, the instructions....are a little bit obtuse. Herself didn't want to "wing it" - she wanted to follow the instructions. She ended up winging part of it, because neither of us understood what the instructions said. I knew what we were supposed to end up with, so I talked her through, and I serged all the edges (my serger intimidates her.) We added the waist ties; she cloned a pair from one of her purchased dresses.

The major difference in ours and the pattern, though, is that I did a rolled edge on the underskirt ruffles. The pattern wanted a 1/8" hem.......right. MUCH easier to simply let the serger roll it. Also, the pattern doesn't have you finish the raw edges of the TOPS of the ruffles......:shrug: I did a fast serger edge and we went from there.

The hat is from Choly Knight; it gave her a bit of trouble, but she did ALL of it herself.

Why yes, I AM a bit chuffed! :lol:

Now, for my turn: a closeup of Himself's finished scarf!

Pattern is the by now ubiquitous among knitters "Irish Hiking Scarf". Yarn is something-something Shepherd's Wool I got at Tuesday Morning a.....few......years ago. It's nice; not super soft, but bouncy. The marbling kinda hides the cables, but it looks really, really nice.

All 7' of it. :blink: When I picked it back up, I was at 24", maybe. I think.....I think I got back into the rhythm of it pretty quickly. :lol

Oh, and one more photo of what I had to put up with this morning while heading out to my Studio:

ALL the dogs had the "zoomies" this morning. I was able to capture the Dunnelstan in full zoom. :lol: I spared you the joy of having him AND Chloe running into me......THAT was fun. At least I didn't fall!

Current Mood: happy
Current Location: sofa

Because machine embroidering is FUN! :lol:

I forgot to give the details last time, so:

Pattern is Style Arc's Melody blouse. It's very similar to the Twig & Tale Breeze, but it has a back yoke, and it's looser all over, with a hi-lo curved hem. The sleeves are supposed to be 3/4 with elastic, but I *hate* elastic (it's a necessary evil in undergarments, but outer clothes? I prefer gathering and cuffs/binding, thank you very much!) It's supposed to have a collar, but I like the look of the stand by itself.

Fabric is another piece of the Irish Shirt-weight linen from Fabric Mart, this time in lavender. It's gorgeous fabric, and the motifs seem to fit. Herself picked out the embroidery thread - she has a good eye for color.

crane front washed

The front embroidery came from Royal Present embroidery They have *beautiful* stuff, and an etsy shop - the files are actually cheaper on etsy than they are on their own site, for some reason. Most of the files are larger - at least 5"x7" - so you have to make sure your machine can handle it. The back and cuffs came from Emblibrary - I LOVE their stuff! They have such a huge selection, and the prices are competitive - especially when they run sales!

I need to work on some household stuff next, while I wait on bra straps and elastics to come in. Fun times! Machine embroidery is addictive stuff, I've found - I have to keep telling myself that everything does NOT need embroidery on it. :rofl:

Current Mood: accomplished
Current Location: sofa

Well, more than 1, but I'll spare you the photos. Mostly. :lol:

I finally received my order of Irish Linen from Fabric Mart (it got lost; it went ALL over the Northwest US, almost to Canada 2x before finally realizing that Texas is not, in fact, Up North. :sigh: The first thing I did was sew up a new shirt for Himself, wherein I learned quite a few things:

1. Irish Shirt-weight Linen is, in fact, ultra fine, whisper-thin, and lovely. It takes a steam press perfectly, and is a joy to sew up - and wear.

2. Irish Shirt-weight Linen is, in fact, of the devil. It takes every chance it gets to wiggle off-grain - both before AND after cutting. I quickly came to the conclusion that perfection was over-rated. :bigger sigh:

3. Embroidering on Irish Shirt-weight Linen is.......well. It embroiders beautifully, it's just keeping the blasted fabric on-grain while trying to hoop up and actually embroider that is difficult. After a LOT of back-and-forthing with the designer of the project I'm about to show you, I ended up doing a metric butt-ton of pre-embroidery work.

a. Starching the ever-loving crap out of the entire yardage with HEAVY spray starch, and ironing it 2x, with heavy steam

b. Hooping with medium-weight cut-away stabilizer, AFTER using basting spray to secure it in place (normally, I use medium weight tear-away, and no spray.)

c. Praying. A lot. during the actual embroidery.

The results? Well.....take a look:

The back, before washing out the Crayola washable marker. If you sew and don't use these to mark your fabric, you are missing out. Nice, solid marks that wash out - usually the first wash. (Red/Pink and yellow seem to hang around a bit longer. The rest of the colors are gone. Ditto with Cray-Z Art washables, if you want to go cheap.)

See? No marks! :lol: (You can kinda get an idea of how I set up my files; I mark any seam lines/topstitch lines, then mark the center point of the design. For 2-sided bits, I try to have at least 1 mark go all the way across; on this design I couldn't, because I had to tilt the design to get the effect I was after. It's easier when the horizontal line is the same all the way across the piece.)

The design isn't perfect - the outline still wavered a bit, but it's a LOT better than my first go thru (a t-shirt made from the leftovers from Himself's shirt. Unfortunately, not only did the file not line up correctly, I misaligned the left and right sides of the collar, so it's......wonky. Perfectly wearable as a work shirt or sleep shirt, but.......not what I want to showcase here, y'know? :lol:

*This* is why I wanted an embroidery machine. Back when we did Ren Faires all the time, there was a vendor (House of Dra) that sold lovely embroidered pirates/mens/poets shirts......at a price I could NOT afford (a shirt like this? Would have run - in the 90's - about $175+. The "economy" shirts, with just a simple knot on either side of the neck slit, started out at $75.). I LOVED her stuff....but could't justify the cost. I can see *why* they were so pricey - it's not that easy (for me, anyway!) lining up all the different motifs - I can definitely see the appeal of a much more expensive machine, with a much larger hoop! I'll stick with my PE800, though - it does beautiful work!

I'm working on another shirt now - this one in lavender linen, with an Asian motif (cranes and lotus blossoms. the files are *gorgeous*!). Pics when it's done!

Current Mood: accomplished
Current Location: Studio

on craft stuff. I, um......got a bit busy in the Studio last week, and now have 3 new shirts. :whistles innocently:

Real quick: Loki is healing. He's still a bit ouch-y, but......we think he kinda likes the attention. Sometimes he'll walk normally, and jump on the couch and bed with no problems, other times he's limping and whining. Now, I've BTDT, so he could still be hurting, but....it's funny. I took him off his pain meds 2 days ago - I don't like giving too many, and I like to keep the extras on hand. (IF he were really hurting, he'd get meds. I'm not a horrible person! I just don't like the side effects.)

( Cut for friends...not quite as pic-heavy as last week, but still... )

Current Mood: sore
Current Location: sofa

I *have* been quite busy, and QUITE productive lately in the Studio. Buckle up - this post is VERY photo-heavy.

For the record, all fabric is from FabricMart, unless otherwise noted. What can I say - they have *awesome* fabric, at *fantastic* prices. Most of these came from the Swatch club......I can say that I have honestly gotten my money's worth from that!

Without further ado, let's do a cut! ( Just to save space - click for photos! )

Current Mood: happy
Current Location: sofa

Figured I should show you what I've been working on since Hanukkah - it's quite a bit! I'm limited in what I can accomplish each day - 4 hours is my maximum, and that leaves me sore and achy for a couple of days. :sigh: I'm trying to push through, which...isn't really a good idea, but I don't know what else to do. I can't take anything for pain - allergies are *great*, aren't they? - and I don't want to just STOP, y'know? Anyway - onwards!

To be nice, I'll put them behind a cut.

( Make with the clicky for photos! )

Current Mood: happy
Current Location: sofa
Crossposts: https://fiberaddict.livejournal.com/930873.html

i have pictures! been busy, as usual - i can sew, but can't knit much. i spent most of last weekend tidying the studio - i have carpet! who knew?? :lol:

let's start with my arm - these pics are about 2 weeks old, but nothing's changed. it is a *lot* better than it was when it happened, so i don't mind sharing these:

the worst one, pain-wise, is the one at the heel of my hand. it feels raw......i still can't flip my hand over, and my range of motion is still very limited. my pain level is sitting at....3.5-ish. :shrug:

next up, meet Tohru! herself has had Iroh for almost a year, now, and he was acting very mopey. we discussed it, but had decided to not get him a tank mate - females are hard to find, and putting 2 older males together isn't recommended....then the serpantarium called with an owner-surrendered female. we resided...until my brother sent a photo. :sigh:

she's the bigger, darker one....and according to herself, she's mine. :lol: she and Iroh are getting along, so that's good - and he's no longer mopey. (i like lizards, just hadn't really considered owning one. herself didn't want to be a multi-lizard owner, so.......*i* have a lizard. :rofl:)

now, the important things: what i have been up to in the studio: shirts. for me. i wanted some classic camp-style shirts, and victoria jones #220 caught my eye. it's a traditional man's hawaiian shirt, which was the look i wanted.

this was the first one - fabric was from a "famous hawaiian designer" from fabric mart. this was my muslin - it fits, but not quite well enough.

2nd attempt. fit is better, but not quite there. i added 1/4" to the side seams.....it made the body fit my curves better, but i wanted a little more ease. the collar is better - i didn't like the pattern instructions; too much hand-sewing. i basically used the simplicity dress shirt's directions - i like the finish the yoke-burrito gives you. fabric is from the same lot from fabric mart as #1; i have enough left to make herself a top, too.

this one.......my favorite. the fabric is from hawaii - it's cotton, it's a nice mid-weight, and it is lovely. i have 2 more pieces i need to sew up.....anyway. i added 1/2" this time, instead of 1/4", and the fit is exactly what i wanted. loose, comfy, and iconic. i did move the buttons to the other side.....silly, but i wanted to emphasize it was a women's shirt. i'm not sure if the other 2 pieces will end up as this pattern, though, as herself and i went in together and bought 2 used lutterloh sets.

which...here's my first attempt at a lutterloh shirt for me (i made up a tank for herself, but it needs a little more work. the first book is from 1980....and i had to lower the neckline/armscyre/bust dart. i should have just lengthened the shoulder straps.......) this pattern is from the current supplement; lutterloh is interesting as you get a book of 40 tiny patterns that you have to draft to your size. it's not a perfect fit - you still have to make your normal alterations - but it's closer than commercial patterns. and cheaper - 40 patterns for $20. (if you're interested, try to find an older set - the new sets are about $130; we scored 1 set for $30 (280 patterns) and the other for $42 (280 patterns) Supplements are $20-ish.......all you really need are the supplements and the ruler. instructions are on-line - it's easy. and fun. and faster than tracing, for me.) we'll see how it fits, once i get it done.

think that gets you up-to-date....later!

Current Mood: sore
Current Location: couch
Crossposts: https://fiberaddict.livejournal.com/927517.html

not much going on - it's hard to do stuff one-handed. do have photos, though!

we "updated" my cast!

the other 4 doggies wanted to express their well-wishes....i stamped their paw prints on card stock, the traced off clean versions onto stencil plastic. herself cut the stencils out, then used a sharpie to put them on my arm. i used a magic marker to fill them in. i find it highly amusing to have 4 paw prints on the arm that was mangled by the 5th dog....i freely admit my humor is warped. :lol:

here are the 3 shirts i've sewn for himself. the plum one i managed to *finally* finish yesterday.

blue on blue herringbone shirting from "a famous designer". i love fabric mart!

this one was fun - look at my plaid matching! i have 2 more plaid shirts to make for him - this was the experiment.

this fabric is from "a famous hawaiian designer". i didn't have enough fabric for a pocket; the pattern calls for the pocket to be cut on the bias, which i stupidly did - in this pattern, it looked totally stupid. i didn't have enough to recut it, so...no pocket.

i'm trying to find a nice button-up, oxford-style shirt pattern for me. i have 3 lengths of fabric i want shirts out of.....i have the Granville shirt that i might make up, but it's a little too boxy. we'll see....

Current Mood: happy
Current Location: sofa
Crossposts: https://fiberaddict.livejournal.com/926741.html

for Comic Con (coming this Star Wars weekend (5/4. Give it a minute. Say the date like Sir Alec with a mild lisp. May the......fourth. Be with you! :lol:)). At NTIF, Herself had an idea for the punniest cosplay - urban assault pants and boots, with a grammar-centric shirt, red pens, and our Boba Fett helmet. I'd be a Gramandolorian! :rofl: We hit the Army store the next weekend where I picked up the pants and boots (no worries- they'll be used for Nerfing, too!) I was all set, and rather proud of myself, when we got an email from the Con.......ALL the voice actors for MHA are going to be there. Oh noes!

Fortunately, we have a cosplay hoodie pattern, and JoAnn's had all their fleece on sale. I traced off my pattern....decided it looked "small", so added to it, then panicked and decided to make a test sew, first. Walmart had fleece for $3.50/yard, so I grabbed 3 yards, ran home, and...this happened:

hoodie - dragon back

I had planned on doing a plain one....but got to the hood, where the instructions said "if adding details, STOP and do it now!" and...well, why not? It turned out too big - because, of course, the pattern was correct. :sigh: Still, I've worn the heck out of this thing, so - win!

Then I cut out the good fabric. I decided I needed an All Might Silver Age hoodie (Herself has a Golden Age one, and you can find those all over the place. The Silver Age.....not so much, unless you want a cheap printed one.) I think it turned out pretty good:

hoodie - AM front finished

Yes, it has a cape. No, it's not permanent. Just funny. :lol:

Then Herself decided SHE needed another hoodie...this time, Bakugou. I told her SHE needed to sew it herself, so......we ran out and bought the fabric (which was now *70%* off. Woot!) While she dithered on beginning (just started today) , I decided to whip up another one....this time, Uraraka.

hoodie - Uraraka front finished

I even sewed in the back piece! I'm proud of this one - I had found (and purchased) a pattern, but upon actually looking at it, decided it wasn't accurate enough. (Yeah, yeah - it's a hoodie. Still......if I'm going to put in the effort, it's going to be as close as I can get it. :shrug:)

So. That's 2 days down - 3 if I do use the Gramandolorian cosplay on Sunday. We'll see.......

Anyway. Taxes are due tomorrow - yes, a LOT of people owe this year. No, it shouldn't be a surprise - withholding was Decreased this year. Withholding is a payment plan for the taxes you owe......DEcreasing the "payment" doesn't decrease the amount due. Anyone who's surprised by this wasn't paying attention. (That'd be a LOT of folks. :sigh:) Add to it the fact that exemptions were changed, so most people can't go long form anymore, and the fact that taxes due go up almost every year, and.....yeah.

We were at a funeral yesterday for one of our clients. We had just finished his return......and he was in a fatal truck accident. Very sad.....we've already contacted his heir, and have offered to help with any financial questions they have.

I *really* need to start working on jeans soon. I am running out of pants to wear - for real. And undergarments........at least we're done with taxes for the moment. We filed 3 extensions, but have time before they are due. Think I'll try to spend some time in the Studio this week, working on "real" clothes.

Current Mood: tired
Current Location: sofa
Crossposts: https://fiberaddict.livejournal.com/924251.html

First up, what you're actually here for - Puppy Pictures!

(See, I know my audience! :lol:) The top pic is from the Vet's yesterday (final puppy visit. He's a healthy pup - he went from 35 pounds 3 weeks ago to *56* pounds yesterday.); the other 2 were taken on Friday for the breeder. He's such a cutie! :lol:

The husband started his new job yesterday. Today they threw him on an actual route; he had to be ready to roll out of the warehouse at 0530. Which meant he had to get UP at 0330. Which meant *I* had to get up at 0330. :sigh: Ah, well - its not like I was sleeping well, anyway.

I have another short contract job this week......which is good, financial-wise. I made a batch of soap for laundry-use........basically just a bunch of vegetable shortening and scent. :ugh: NOT for skin-use, but perfect for laundry-use. I also have 3 bags cut out, just need sewing up. When I'm more awake.

Oh! I bought a video game - My Hero Academia: My Hero One's Justice. It's *AWESOME*, especially if you're a fan. Himself and I have been bashing each other - I've even won a couple of times! :rofl:

Current Mood: tired
Current Location: sofa
Crossposts: https://fiberaddict.livejournal.com/922372.html

I have some good excuses, though....

Seriously, can you blame me? :lol:

Let's see.....

1. Duncan came home 9/16, and had his first vet visit on 9/17. He's healthy and happy, and so are we. He's figured out the pet door....but hasn't quite figured out that poopies are OUTside, not Inside. He's also figured out how to climb up on the couch...puppy snuggles are great!

2. Herself and I opened an Etsy shop - I can't figure out how to link here, but the shop name is thatdamnfangirl . Herself's idea - it's a riff on something Kacchan from MHA says ("You damn nerd!") She thought it was hysterical, so......there ya go. Not much there right now except earrings, but I'll be uploading bags as soon as I finish my cosplay. (Uraraka from MHA, in her UA uniform, with a Deku doll. We have the wig, and I've finished the blouse. Just need to do the jacket and skirt....I have until 10/19.....wish me luck!)

3. The Lord sent a contract job my way - it has been a HUGE blessing. I've earned enough so far to buy a new, improved rice cooker (Himself's request. This thing.....it's a Zojirushi, it has multiple rice type settings, and....well. I haven't figured it all out yet, but Himself has.), and new tires for the Jeep (soon as that check comes in, we're off to Firestone. :huzzah!: Next up is some more storage for my studio (Ikea lack and kallax, both in white), and a new sofa and loveseat for the living room. (Ikea. The Evil Empire has me in thrall. :lol:)

4. Ankle......yeah. Moving on.....:sigh:

Happy Sukkot, y'all!

Current Mood: happy
Current Location: sofa
Crossposts: https://fiberaddict.livejournal.com/921666.html

We didn't get to visit the breeder this weekend (more on that in a moment), but she sent me some lovely pictures yesterday. He's gotten Big!

We're planning on going out this weekend, since all our necessary chores are done (as of today - right now, in fact.) See......last August, when we got our septic tank pumped, they informed me that the tank (fiberglass) was collapsing, and gave me anywhere from a few months to a year.

It lasted just at 1 year. Last month, the alarm went off - so we called. They sent out an inspector.....long story short, the tank has totally collapsed and needed replacing STAT. Gave me an estimate of 6 weeks......2 days later the planner came out, did a drawing, and gave me an estimate of, still, 6 weeks.

3 days later, he called and said they'd install the new CONCRETE tank, in *3* weeks. Or, today. :gulp:

So. I went into work mode. No one else did. :sigh: Last weekend, SG finally realized that Oh, S**t! Tank install is THIS THURSDAY oh dear! :sigh:

The back fence has been moved to behind my Studio (FINALLY! 2 years I've been waiting......) We put up a temporary side fence, and yesterday (yup. YESTERDAY. Why do I even....?) the old back fence was removed (well....most of it. There's still 16' that needs to come down....but at least MOST of it's down, right?)

This AM, SG removed the temporary side fence so that they could get the equipment in. I have 5 very upset dogs in the house right now - don't I understand that there are THINGS that need barking at? Outside? Now???? :lol:

We also got Himself's Studio and the "sweat shop" (what? It's better than "torture chamber", yes?)(home gym) painted, all the lights/fans installed, and measured for carpet. The carpet has been ordered and paid for, and the floor store ordered it Tuesday. Should be here in 2 weeks or so.....

Herself and I have "opened" an easy store. There's only 1 thing in it right now (Pokemon cards), but soon it'll be stocked with geeky jewelry and bags. I'll post a link once it's open - and then I will try not to mention it much again. I don't want this to devolve into an advertisement channel. :lol:

ETA: well....I am a klutz. While the guys were getting ready to remove the electrical box for the old system, they told me they needed to cut the power. I said OK, then realized that they didn’t know to also cut the solar box. I ran outside and got them safe, watched them remove the box, tie off the wires, and restart both boxes. I turned to walk back to the door, and found a hole Chloe had dug....and felt - and heard - something in my left ankle POP. Sigh. I have an orange-sized ankle now, turning a lovely shade of black - down from the softball-sized ankle of yesterday. Hurts......but I’ve survived worse. I e is my friend.......

Crossposts: https://fiberaddict.livejournal.com/921529.html

Profile

fiberaddict

My webpage

January 2023

S	M	T	W	T	F	S
1	2	3	4	5	6	7
8	9	10	11	12	13	14
15	16	17	18	19	20	21
22	23	24	25	26	27	28
29	30	31

Syndicate

Page Summary

Style Credit

Style: Neutral Good for Practicality by timeasmymeasure

Expand Cut Tags

No cut tags

Page generated Jul. 18th, 2025 07:10 pm

Fiberaddict's Fiber Fumblings

Entries tagged with pictures

July Update

June Recap and Photo catch-up

March Madness....and a little April, as well

February Round-Up

Um....guys?

It's Photo catch-up time!

It's Picture Time!

I seem to be on a roll....

It's Photo time!!

Here, have another!

I made another thing!

So. Apparently grief makes me focus...

What I've been up to lately.....

Picture Intensive Post - You have been warned!

good morning!

updatey-thing

So. There I was, all set...

Well Hello there!

SO Sorry for the radio silence!

Have some Photos!