What I've Been Up To...

So, lately I have been on a serious sewing/crafting kick. I know there are plenty of other things that I should do, but I just haven't been able to shake the want to make something. So, I just keep making things :)

I know I haven't mentioned it officially, but I am participating in the Shirt Dress 2-in-1 Sew-Along with Sunni of A Fashionable Stitch :) Everyone is using the same pattern (Simplicity 1880), which includes both a wrap dress and a shirt dress - hence the '2-in-1'. I decided to try this as my first sew-along because A) I already had the pattern B) I love shirt dresses and C) I've never done something like this before.

This is my fabric - the blue flower print cotton is some really cheap cotton (for real, this stuff is thin) that I got at Walmart a year or so ago in one of their 5 yards for $5 promotions. I didn't want to go out and spend a lot of money on really nice fabric for this project mainly because I don't really have it right now but also because I've never made anything like this and didn't want to mess it up and then be extra mad because of the expense. Since the material is so thin, I pulled out that gray polished cotton-like material you see also. This is another Walmart purchase from a year or so ago and I honestly have no idea what this stuff is. It is the weirdest fabric I have ever worked with, but it only cost me something like 49¢ a yard - I bought the whole bolt so I now have something like 6 or 7 yards. This gray is going to be my underlining.

If you are new to sewing, you may think that underlining and lining are the same thing, but they are not. Underlining is a fabric that you actually attach to your main fabric to make the main fabric thicker or more stable - then you use the combined pieces as one piece. Lauren at Lladybird gave a really good explanation of this a few weeks ago if you are interested.

Anyway, I have already cut out everything and I just have to attach the underlining before I really get cooking. Believe me, just cutting this one out was a feat on its own. I had to do it over 2 nights because I was cutting out the whole pattern in each fabric - it sucked and my back still hurts from crawling all over the floor for a few hours each night. At least the hardest part is done (as far as I'm concerned anyway).

Another thing I have been up to lately is yet another Craftsy addiction :) I've been taking the Knit Lab class taught by Stefanie Japel - it's literally a beginning knitter class and she goes over everything you may need to know. I technically learned to knit years ago, but it really never stuck and I have never knitted anything more than a small square. Before this class, I could cast on and knit - that was it. I couldn't finish anything or purl or understand anything about a pattern. Thanks to this class, I now know the difference between needles, how to choose yarn, how to cast on, knit, purl, increase, decrease, and bind off! I also am learning how to read patterns and the names of different stitches - and I'm only on the 6th lesson :)

The first project is a really cute scarf with lacy ends and a keyhole closure. The best part of this project is that it is all done doing mostly just the knit stitch with a little bit of purling so it's a very basic project as far as the techniques are concerned and you end up with a really cute scarf :)

This will be my first ever knitting project :) This is a huge feat for me and I'm really pleased with how it looks so far. If you have ever wanted to learn to knit, I highly recommend taking this class. It has really helped me out and made it to where I could actually make something nice for myself. I will easily have this finished before it gets cold this year and I will be able to wear it :) That thought is so exciting to me - I know, I'm a nerd. I just find knitting to be so magical. It really is amazing that you can make these complex groups of controlled slip knots in a single thread of yarn and come out with a wearable garment. I can't wait to finish it  - it really shouldn't take much longer seeing as how I started what you see above last night and got so far. I'm getting much faster at it and it looks very nice if I do say so myself.

Anyway, check out the Knit Lab class if you want to join me :) We could all have matching scarves!