Along with their snuggles and kisses, my darling grandsons shared their cold... and it's a winner... going from not too bad, to horrible, to getting better over the last week. Most of my time has been spent lying on the couch but I did get some studio time in earlier in the week and yesterday, I did some more work on the grey sweater refashion.
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At left is how it started with a basic V-neck with a ribbed stitch. I started by cutting up center front after stabilizing it with some interfacing and then cut a curved hemline... which ended up looking rather chunky on me. In the video...
... I show some of the first decisions I made and how I go about starting a refashion. I made several other videos but I'm not sure they'll be of much use. First I'll have to see how the sweater finishes. It's being quite stubborn right now and not playing pretty.
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I took a break from the refashion to work on a dress using the same idea of serger strips as embellishments. As you can see, I inserted the sleeves from the sweater and that part works okay... as do the embellishments... and the white top stitching... however...
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... the dress is looking rather frumpy. It's a lengthened version of Marcy's Vogue 8876 that I wanted to look elegant and graceful. It's definitely not there - VBG. Because I hate matching plaids, I cut the side panels in a different direction than middle front and center back and only matched along the side seams. I have come to the conclusion that I dislike horizontal stripes immensely. The dress looks less than wonderful and this is the point at which I decide if I'm going forward or not. Probably not. Even though I've spent quite a bit of time on this dress, there is no point finishing it if I'm never going to wear it and right now, it doesn't look at all flattering and it's unlikely the shaped bottom will make much difference. I'm more inclined to start over and let this one become a learning curve.
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Originally, I wanted to wear the refashioned sweater over a sleeveless version of the dress only when I tried the sweater on with a previously sewn version, they didn't work well together. The cardigan fit too close to the body to be flattering with the dress so I put it aside and thought I'd make the dress next and then finish the cardigan. Apparently I'm at a bit of a standpoint right now - a frumpy dress and an unfinished cardigan, neither of which are going where I thought they were going, however, I still want to try the dress in a longer version and I am hoping the longer pattern will also be suitable for a coat. We'll see. I'll try again.
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With my cold, I haven't been out walking. These pictures were taken a couple weeks ago. They're of the walk along the lake that is 3 kilometers in each direction, six round trip, and mostly flat. This pair of Canada Geese walked part way with me.
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There are several walks that extend off of the main one. The two pictures above are of Christmas Island which is a bird sanctuary with a 1 kilometer walk around the outside edge. The Canada Geese are on a small pond in the middle of the island and the walkway is along the lake side.
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Salmon Arm is located on an arm of Shuswap Lake which is a HUGE lake. There are over 5000 miles of shoreline. When I was a child, my family often camped at a provincial park on the opposite side and I walked or rode my bike along that shoreline.
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Right now, the birds are pairing off and the beavers are building big dams and there's always something happening at the lake. Contrary to what you see in these pictures, a lot of people walk, run, or bike this path so there's always someone to greet along the way. I'm so grateful to live somewhere that's creative, calm, and peaceful and where walks like this are just minutes from my front door. It's a gift.
Talk soon - Myrna
Grateful - knowing when to call it quits
At left is how it started with a basic V-neck with a ribbed stitch. I started by cutting up center front after stabilizing it with some interfacing and then cut a curved hemline... which ended up looking rather chunky on me. In the video...
... I show some of the first decisions I made and how I go about starting a refashion. I made several other videos but I'm not sure they'll be of much use. First I'll have to see how the sweater finishes. It's being quite stubborn right now and not playing pretty.
I took a break from the refashion to work on a dress using the same idea of serger strips as embellishments. As you can see, I inserted the sleeves from the sweater and that part works okay... as do the embellishments... and the white top stitching... however...
... the dress is looking rather frumpy. It's a lengthened version of Marcy's Vogue 8876 that I wanted to look elegant and graceful. It's definitely not there - VBG. Because I hate matching plaids, I cut the side panels in a different direction than middle front and center back and only matched along the side seams. I have come to the conclusion that I dislike horizontal stripes immensely. The dress looks less than wonderful and this is the point at which I decide if I'm going forward or not. Probably not. Even though I've spent quite a bit of time on this dress, there is no point finishing it if I'm never going to wear it and right now, it doesn't look at all flattering and it's unlikely the shaped bottom will make much difference. I'm more inclined to start over and let this one become a learning curve.
Originally, I wanted to wear the refashioned sweater over a sleeveless version of the dress only when I tried the sweater on with a previously sewn version, they didn't work well together. The cardigan fit too close to the body to be flattering with the dress so I put it aside and thought I'd make the dress next and then finish the cardigan. Apparently I'm at a bit of a standpoint right now - a frumpy dress and an unfinished cardigan, neither of which are going where I thought they were going, however, I still want to try the dress in a longer version and I am hoping the longer pattern will also be suitable for a coat. We'll see. I'll try again.
With my cold, I haven't been out walking. These pictures were taken a couple weeks ago. They're of the walk along the lake that is 3 kilometers in each direction, six round trip, and mostly flat. This pair of Canada Geese walked part way with me.
There are several walks that extend off of the main one. The two pictures above are of Christmas Island which is a bird sanctuary with a 1 kilometer walk around the outside edge. The Canada Geese are on a small pond in the middle of the island and the walkway is along the lake side.
Salmon Arm is located on an arm of Shuswap Lake which is a HUGE lake. There are over 5000 miles of shoreline. When I was a child, my family often camped at a provincial park on the opposite side and I walked or rode my bike along that shoreline.
Right now, the birds are pairing off and the beavers are building big dams and there's always something happening at the lake. Contrary to what you see in these pictures, a lot of people walk, run, or bike this path so there's always someone to greet along the way. I'm so grateful to live somewhere that's creative, calm, and peaceful and where walks like this are just minutes from my front door. It's a gift.
Talk soon - Myrna
Grateful - knowing when to call it quits