Labor Day Sewing

Schoolgirl Dress
Originally uploaded by actionhero

I started this project during the long weekend and finished it this morning. The pattern is from a Japanese craft book. I really like the contrast between the soft pinstriped cotton and the crisp black linen. The only mod I made was to make the cuffs a lot shorter. In the pattern, they are extremely long and look weird to me. The only other problem is that the cotton reminds me of a dish towel and the dress sort of looks like pajamas to me. Maybe because it's so wrinkly. You can also see a close up here.

Some New Sewing Projects

I got some great fabric at the Bolt sale this past weekend. Amy gave me this Japanese pattern book a while back and I bookmarked this shirt and dress that I want to make. I bought the Liberty fabric, a print called Small Susanna, for the shirt and the cotton pinstripe and black linen is for the dress. But I'm not sold on the shirt pattern. I'm looking through my other patterns and books to see if something else jumps out at me. Maybe I should design something instead?

I've Got Mail

I came home to find this package of yarn from KnitPicks waiting for me. I ordered six hanks of Bare Merino Wool DK for the Aran Waistcoat project. I thought about dying the yarn, but then decided against it. I rather like the natural color. I hope to do some swatching before the week is over.

The other night I was looking through that Japanese skirt pattern book I just bought and I couldn't remember why I purchased it. I couldn't find one pattern in it that I absolutely loved, so I exchanged it for the newest Machiko Kayaki book, My Favorite Shirt. There are some really cute shirt and shirtdress patterns that will be fun to make.

Weekend Update

After seeing Mariko's extremely cute sundress, I was inspired to make one of my own. The pattern is from Heather Ross and you can download it for free here. I headed over to Bolt on Friday and bought Rabbit Hole from the Wonderland fabric collection by MoMo for Moda. I had eyed this fabric previously, but didn't have anything in mind to make, so I left it sitting on the shelf. I love the big random polka dots. The project shouldn't take long once the pattern is cut out.

This afternoon, on a trip to Kinokuniya with Mariko, I got these Japanese craft books. I was debating on whether to get the new Machiko Kayaki shirt book when I saw the Pattern Magic books. I had wanted those for a long time, but when they first came out, they were more expensive and I think they were only available on eBay. The other book is all skirts. There are some really helpful technique pictures along with the patterns.

Time to Sew

I stopped in at Bolt over the weekend and unexpectedly picked up some fabric. I plan on using the plaid for this simple shirt dress, which is from the Everyday Japanese pattern book. I still need to find a pattern for the dot fabric. Maybe a shirt or a skirt?

What a Relief

I made a trip out to Kinokuniya yesterday to check out their expanded crafts section and found these three books. The first book features all different kinds of slippers and shoes to sew. The second book has patterns for accessories and decorations made from felt. And the last book has lots of cute dresses and tops to make.

Also pictured is the back of the Rebecca sweater. The sweater is knit in a relief pattern, which consists of slipping yarnovers over purl stitches. The pattern is just enough to keep things from getting too boring.