Crazy Pants

One of the "fun" parts about being pregnant is how much your body changes. And then how long it takes for your body to get back to normal. In the meantime, it's a challenge to dress nicely. Thank goodness that I know how to sew!

Pants are particularly challenging at the moment, due to size changes in my waist and hips. This is doubly difficult because I need something nice to wear now that I'm back to work. Enter in the vintage pattern stash I recently received from my Grandmother and this stunning pattern from 1969, Simplicity 8550 [1]. I have loved palazzo pants since I first watched Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries and thought they would be a good choice for my transitioning frame.

The fun part about this project was that the pattern was a size 12 (too small), was missing directions, and required reworking the waistband design to accommodate my current size issues (yay elastic!). Needless to say, I made a mock up. Thankfully, the pattern only involved 4 pieces and I have several nice reference sewing books to reference when issues popped up [2].

Now I am the proud owner of a pair of cotton-linen palazzo pants with an elastic waistband. I think they look crazy awesome and should fit me until I can get back into my normal pants (and even after). In the meantime, it's been an interesting foray into sewing pants - in that the pattern was simple but also required adjustments - but will give me confidence for the next time I sew pants.

[1]: Also cool is the fact that these pants were originally made, not by my grandmother, by my mother for herself.

[2]: My vintage Vogue sewing book had particularly helpful notes on fitting pants and how to sew a crotch seam.

Baby Steps Toward a Finished Object

I've got some time off work to stay home with the little one and, as awesome as that is, I've needed to find something to keep my brain occupied during the quieter moments. Enter in the sweater that's been hibernating for over 3 years...

This is a Knitpicks Telemark ski sweater (both the pattern and yarn are no longer available). When last I knitted on it, I had worked the body to the neck steek division. Now I've finished the body and have started the first sleeve. Here's to hoping that I can get the whole thing finished before I go back to work in just over a month.

Handspun Kerchief

I realize I forgot to show off a finish object from January, an Age of Brass and Steam kerchief!

I started this way back in the springtime of last year and thought I should finish it before baby arrived. I love the pattern for its simplicity and how it sets off the handspun, which is '24 karat' from Hobbledehoy Fibers.

It's a bit artsy for everyday wear but it's still a lovely finished handknit.

Quilt Take 2

I've previously mentioned on this blog that I'm a serial repeater. If I like a pattern a lot, there's a good chance I'm going to make it more than once. My most recent repeat will look extremely familiar, as it's a twin of the project I just finished in January.

I've said before that I'm not a quilter but I admit that there is something addictive about quilting precuts. The one I used here is the Farm Girl jelly roll from Riley Blake. I took out the actual farm girl prints and just love the rest (particularly the canning jars I used on the quilt back).

Repeating the Jelly Roll Jam pattern allowed me to fix my mistakes from the first quilt, namely using a less lofty batting and doing a different quilting pattern. The result is that I like this one better than the first even though it may be a little too girly for the new little boy in my life.

I'm honestly lucky I finished this quilt at all with a newborn. It helps that everything but the binding was done before LittleH arrived and I've had lots of grandparents around to hold the baby while I got other things done. I'm going to have to scale my projects down a bit once the grandparents leave.

Hello World

You'll pardon me if I don't have a lot of crafting to show off in the near future as I've just completed a pretty large work in progress:

Little H is adorable, wonderful, and is taking up most of my time. On the plus side, we're having fun cuddling and using the new quilt for tummy time!

Happiness.

An Actual Quilt

I have a mixed relationship with quilting. For all that I'm getting comfortable with making quilt tops (one blogged here, the other set needs blogging), I've never actually finished a proper quilt. I've always gotten stumped at what to do once the top is finished. But I'm happy to report that I've finally finished a whole entire quilt:

The quilt in question is a Jelly Roll Jam quilt using this adorable Moda "Into the Woods" fabric. I really got into using quilting precuts in 2014, particularly mini-charm packs, and recently thought I would try my hand at different kind of precut pack - a jelly roll. It didn't hurt that the Fat Quarter Shop came out with a pattern (with video!) for making a simple and cute jelly roll quilt.

For all I like how things turned out, being new to a craft always means a few things to do better for next time. In this case, that means making my backing a little bigger, using a less lofty batting, and trying a more complex quilting pattern (I would rather my quilt didn't look like a row of mounds in a plowed field). Otherwise, I think my bumbling attempts (with help from this book) to actually quilt something turned out well and I'll be much more comfortable with the process for my next quilted project.

Overall, I'm happy with the final quilt, especially that I was able to use the second half of the jelly roll pack for a striped backing. I think the final quilt is adorable and I'm feeling much less anxiety about this whole quilting thing. This is good, as I have a couple quilt tops on hand to finish and my eye on the Fat Quarter Shop's second pattern in this series, Jelly Roll Jam II. :)

Baby Bits and Bobs

We're continuing the theme of baby knitting here at casa BrineyDeep. This time by revisiting a pattern I've knit a couple times before: Magic Slippers.

These booties are seamless and straightforward to construct, which makes them fun to knit. Plus, I learned that I can knock a pair out in the time it takes to watch a football game, which is perfect for getting me through all of the post-season NFL games that are on right now.

And of course, you can't have a pair of baby booties without matching mittens. These are the Teensie Weensie Mittens (Ravelry link). Not only are tiny mittens adorable, but I love that they don't have a thumb.

I'm hoping that these will both fit baby at the same time and that baby will be able to get some wear out of them before it gets warm again. Then again, I do live in Wisconsin, so baby might just be wearing these from the time zie's born in March until May or June when the snow finally melts! All the more reason to stock up on knitwear.