Odds and ends and Mondays

It was lovely to have the Monday holiday this week - that means Daddy gets to stay home.  Which means that I get photos of my latest projects from Daddy's wonderful camera.

Well, that's not the only reason I like long weekends, of course!  But I did get some good shots :)

The past few weeks I've been working on knitting these arm warmers; they're super-long, reaching over the elbows, and they button all the way up, with eleven buttons each arm.  I used Slither, from Knitty again, and altered almost nothing; I did recalculate the spacing of the buttonholes, since I couldn't find quite enough buttons and had to leave one out on either arm.  I'll probably move the top two buttons further in, and possibly run elastic around the ribbing at the top, to counteract their slight tendency to sag above the elbows, but all in all I'm really pleased with this pattern and the result.  Instant long sleeves!

Saturday and Sunday I made an apron.  I need one for when I cook at school, and Saturday afternoon the mood and inspiration came upon me.  So here it is!

This was a quick, fun project, with the added benefit of being stash-busting!  I made the main body of the apron, and the lining of the straps, from an old corduroy skirt which I, my mum, and my sister have all worn, and which I believe came to us second-hand to begin with.  Eventually the elastic in the back waistband gave up the ghost and it was consigned to my rag box.  But it was just right for an apron!  I removed (and saved) the zipper and two buttons, ripped down the centre front seam, and turned it back-to-front.  Then I cut off 10" or so from the bottom of the skirt, unpicking the hem and using this fabric for the bib and the inside of the straps.  The ruffle and pockets are leftover from a dress I made back when I was 15, and the straps are from the Romantic gown I made my sister a few years ago.  The bib is lined with fabric from another skirt I made; looking back, I had enough of the darker fabric that I could have pieced it together for the bib, and I wish I had, just to use it up completely.  Oh well!

I used rick-rack, of course.  This time I layered 1/4" satin ribbon on top and stitched it down, for a slightly different look.  I think I'm in love with rick-rack; I'm going to be sad when my stash of white is depleted!  I guess I'll keep an eye out for sales.

I stacked two widths of satin ribbon, stitched them together, and used them as a sort of binding to cover the raw edges where I stitched the ruffle on at the bottom.  It's funny - I didn't like either of these colours, individually, with all the different fabrics I used, but used together they work perfectly.  I didn't have to buy a thing for this project - everything came out of my stash or my scrap box.  I love projects like this!

It's a grey, gloomy sort of day here, and I wish I'd put socks on this morning, because my feet are cold!  But my sweet cat is sleeping in my lap and I hate to move her.  I'll have to, soon, though, because I need to get some sewing done.

I discovered last night that it is possible to cut a long-sleeved shirt out of 2 yards of fabric, even when the pattern calls for 2.5 yards!  It was close though.  Pictures of that to come soon, I hope.

I'm also about to start work on the dress for my recital.  I could post updates here, but I was thinking of making a separate page and just putting the link here, so that I can keep the "dress diary" together.  Does anyone know how I could do that?  Input would be fabulous!

Off to more sewing,

~Gillian