So I did manage to get a little bit of sewing and things done this past week. Finally! I worked on my capsule, really planned it out, and started getting some things worked on for it. I made a cardigan that was a huge success, and another (different) cardigan is cut out and pinned, all ready to be sewn up. We also had my cousin’s 6th birthday party, which I made some beautiful cupcakes for.
I decided to clean out my dresser drawers to really see what I have and to organize what has turned into a mess of unfolded clothes. I started another bag of donation items and threw out a few items. I have 2 stacks of shirts that if they don’t get worn by winter, I need to donate them, they’ve all just been sitting in my drawer, untouched for a long time. So I’m working on creating items and outfits that involve them, now it’s just about actually putting them on! Mainly they are smaller shirts with nerdy/geeky graphics on them (think The Avengers, Power Rangers, Pokemon, etc.) so I usually wear them as a crop top as they are shorter (read: kid’s size) but I don’t often wear high waist bottoms in order to wear these tops with. So I have 2 pairs of high waist pants and have another pair planned (with fabric for it on the way).
Other than that, my drawers are looking much emptier than they were. Though this will definitely change once my sweaters come back out of storage.
Shop Progress:
I have been working on a mermaid bra order. So I’ve been hand stitching a ton of seashell sequins onto the cups. One cup is finished and I will be doing all the finishing touches to that side today and starting the sequins on the other cup. I’m hoping to have it done this weekend to go out for monday. 
I also have a red velvet body suit order that I’m waiting on more fabric to come in for that. So I haven’t worked on that one yet.
Speaking of ordering fabric… I may have purchased some more (from fabric.com)… Like I don’t have enough in my stash already, right? But I needed to order some fabrics for the shop and I figured I might as well get a few things to make the shipping cost more worth it. (Always an excuse, right?)
So I picked out some Olive Ponte Roma fabric for another pair of the Sew Over It Mia Jeans, since I love that pair so much and I love olive colored things but don’t seem to own anything olive anymore. Plus that’s within my Fall Capsule Sewing Plans and color schemes.
I picked up some Burgundy/Wine Double Brushed Poly for a pair of leggings. Again, within my fall capsule plans and color scheme. Plus with everyone on the P4P facebook group raving about how awesome DBP is for leggings, I figured I should give it a shot!
Next on the list was some fleece. I picked some inexpensive Burgundy Fleece for an Oslo Cardigan/Coat. I’m really excited about this one. I’m all for comfy cozy outerwear that I can wear around the house and just head out to run errands in without having to switch jackets out. I can already see myself wearing this to death.
Last up was some grey Chambray for a button down shirt for my Fiance. He has an awesome button down that’s grey chambray and I want to recreate it. I love the way it looks and the little details and he’s been wearing it a lot and I love the way it looks on him. But it’s pretty old at this point and starting to fray at some of the seams. So I want to try to recreate it. This will probably be his birthday present, since I have already knit him a sweater for Christmas. (and I’m working on a hat with the leftover yarn from the sweater)
So I have a lot of fabric and a lot of plans. Now I just need to get my butt moving to start sewing it all!
Now for what you’ve all been waiting for: The Cardigan I finished! I made the Oslo Cardigan by Seamwork Magazine by Colette Patterns. I used a cheap very lightweight black sweater knit (it was one of those $1 knits from Walmart). I figured I would test the pattern with something cheap before digging into my nicer sweater knits.
I made a straight size xsmall with no adjustments! And it fit wonderfully. I might size up for the fleece version, just because the fleece doesn’t stretch and is much thicker. But so far I will definitely be making more of this size as is in my other sweater knits. I may add some pockets to my next version too.
The pictures that Seamwork has of the oslo don’t show much of the actual fit, they focus on the little details. The details are great and I want to see them, but I want to see the actually fit and shape of the item too! But overall the pattern ended up working out and being what I was looking for in a longer cardigan. It’s loose but not super oversized, it has a nice shawl collar, the sleeves are long, but I’m only 5’0″ so that’s to be expected. I did find that the cuffs were extraordinarily long, to the point where I thought I was sewing it wrong, but nope, I got it right. So, I’ll be keeping the cuffs folded up in half, or even folded up twice. But I do like thick cuffs and I tend to fold my sweatshirt cuffs up anyway, so this isn’t a deal breaker by any means. Though I will be cutting down the length of the cuffs for the fleece version as it’ll be a lot harder to fold up with the already double thickness of the fleece.
Other than that, I’ve been knitting on the socks for my friend, they’re slowly progressing. I also started working on a hat for my fiance with the leftover yarn from his sweater. I’m using the “Brioche Cable Hat” by Marilynn Blacketer. My main color is the dark navy and my contrasting color is the turquoise. And after many tried of casting on an intricately cabled cowl, I gave up and decided on my 2nd option of the Color Me Kale Cowl by Nichole Call this cowl will hopefully be finished by the end of September for my Fiance’s brother in law’s birthday. I’m using a sage green yarn from loops and threads woolike. I’ve done a few rounds on it, but I only started it last night.
So I have a lot of projects to keep me busy over the next month or so. Now hopefully I can get them done!
J'adore Le Cafe Sews 