Bolero cardigan from failed and felted sweater!

I had started to knit myself a short-sleeved mohair sweater a few days ago. I wanted it to knit up fast on chunky needles - I'm a bit of an 'instant gratification' knitter. The only mohair yarn I could get hold of locally was a very fine yarn. So I decided to knit it along with another yarn - the only matching yarn I had in my stash was a 100% acrylic yarn in DK, but it looked good together and started off well. Anyway, long story short - once I had finished the front and back, it didn't look so good. Ok, it looked pretty rubbish. What to do??....

I have never felted anything. Actually I have, but not on purpose. I have never felted anything with the sole purpose of refashioning it. Now I realise that the yarn really should be a high wool content or it won't felt. But I figured that since my mohair yarn was intertwined with the acrylic it would be worth a shot. So into the washing machine it went this afternoon... And I was pretty happy with the result. OK, it wasn't as good as if the whole thing was wool, or if I had been knitting on a smaller needle, but all things considered, I was pretty happy. As it had been knitted loose on large needles, it was now a kind of lacy (hole-y) effect fabric! Now what to make of it?

The pieces were fairly small, so I decided on a bolero cardigan for Daisy. Using one of her existing cardigans, I traced a template onto paper, adding a seam allowance. I cut a piece for the back and two pieces for the front.

Template for back of cardi and one side of the front (just reverse it
 to get a piece for the other side. I didn't make seperate sleeves, just
extended a short sleeve from the body)

I then cut out the pieces from my knitted fabric, and using my sewing maching and a zig zag stitch, attached the front pieces to the back, along the shoulder seams and side seams. It then looked like this picture below.

Because the fabric wasn't fully felted, because of the acrylic yarn, I was going to have to do something to secure the edges or it would end up fraying. The back and neck were ok, as I used the sides of the fabric for that, but the front edges and sleeves needed finishing.) I started to do a tight blanket stitch around the edge, but the fabric was too loose for that. I then toyed with the idea of stitching a ribbon edge along the front, but it was too fiddly. So I simply decided to do an overcast stitch around the edge, using my sewing machine (not a serged edge, as I don't have a serger. Maybe one day.). This turned out better than I hoped as it made the fabric 'ruffle'.

Overedge stich on the front of the cardi

It doesn't look so good in the photo, but it real life, it does look fairly good. If I do say so myself. It also looks very pretty on, but as I'm doing this long after the kids are in bed you'll have to trust me on that one.

I'm back...

I've not blogged for ages, but not because I've not been doing and making things (not sure that that is correct English, but never mind!). I've been knitting a plenty! As it is rather cold and snowy, it is definitely the season for warm knits. Here are some of the things I've made in the last little while - more information is on my Knitting page.

Baby Cardigan

Cosy Hat!

Chunky Sweater

I've discovered Ravelry - a great knit and crochet website. Most knitters will already know of it, but if you haven't heard of it, get yourself on there! It's a fantastic source of patterns and help!

Harvesting!

This is the time of year when all the hard work pays off and all the weeding was worth it! Down at the allotment this weekend we dug up all the onions, half the potatoes and picked the courgettes. More information and recipes as to what to do with that courgette glut are on my Allotment News page.





Girls Jersey Skirt

I made this simple girls jersey skirt from a cardigan I picked up at a Clothes Swap party. It was a large size, so there was plenty of material for a little girls skirt, but if you wanted to make a larger size, then you would probably have to buy some jersey material.
It is made with two pieces, a piece for the waistband and a piece for the skirt and can be run up in a very short time.
Full instructions are on my Sewing page.

Hessian Tote Bag

I love these hessian bags - ideal for the holiday season. I made my own one first and decided to make a mini-version for Daisy.

The basic pattern came from a magazine. They are so easy to make, basically two pieces of hessian (18 x 23in) for the front and back and two pieces (4 x 25 in) for the handles. I just halved the measurements for the smaller bag.

Flowers made from wired ribbon

Basic instructions are on my Sewing page, along with details on how to make the ribbon flowers.

EASY GIRL'S SUMMER SKIRT

I found this easy skirt tutorial from Oliver + s. It's so easy to make. The tutorial says to use a full width of fabric, which definitely works best, but if your little one is quite little (like mine), you can get away with using slightly less and having a straighter style. I tried it out, as as I had a lovely white and pink fabric I wanted to try, but only had little bit left over - not a full width. Here is the finished result in a blue print fabric (using a full width).

Shirring!

Shirring is everywhere in the shops at the moment - at least it is in the childrenswear departments! So I decided I would try to shirr another pillowcase to make another dress for Daisy. There are loads of websites and blogs on shirring and I read a lot... some were definitely more helpful than others. But there is no substitute for getting your machine out and trying it. And through trial and error (lots of error!) I got there! I'm really happy with the dress - more detail is on my Sewing page.

Some things I found helpful on using elastic thread, or shirring thread:

1. Hand wind the elastic thread onto your bobbin. Do not stretch the elastic when winding it, it needs to be fairly relaxed, but not loose.

2. Use the longest stitch length your machine has.

3. Use your normal tension on your machine (Some say to loosen your tension, but then I found that the thread did not 'gather' - you had to pull the elastic through by hand to create the gathers. Trust me, unless you have the patience of Job and a very light touch (I have neither), you do not want to do this.)

4. Use a good quality shirring thread - I found Guterman elastic thread very good and it comes in a range of colours.

5. Always test it out on a scrap piece of fabric first - I usually have no patience for this, but found it essential for this. Then you can adjust the tension of the elastic on your bobbin if need be.

6. I did not backstitch at the start and ends of rows. This means that if you do (though hopefully you won't) have to pull the elastic through slightly to adjust your 'gathers' it is nice and easy. Leave a tail at the start and end of your work. You can knot the ends together once you are finished, and then I just stitch them into a seam, or run a line of stitches over them to hold them down.

7. Lightweight fabric works the best for this.