Draping a Top

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I decided it would be interesting to try draping a top on my dressform. I see so many things that appear to be done without a pattern (probably not really, but you know what I mean) and although this quickly changed into something very different than what I'd originally had in mind, it's still been a fun project. The check is a crinkled woven, and the solid is a knit. I decided to just 'go for it' and have been cutting and pinning with abandon. I've been basting since I took the photo yesterday, but it will be awhile before I can actually try it on and get a feel for how it's going to look, since I still have some 'things' I'm wearing around me since the surgery. But, since it's on my form, it's probably going to be close enough to make the fit tweak-able.

I'm not sure I'm crazy about it, especially now that I've seen the photo. It definitely needs something at the neckline, which I had planned from the beginning. I wanted an asymmetric neckline, but I'm not sure about the angle of this. I will have to see. The sleeves are a definite experiment, and may change a lot before they're done. I have to get it basted before I can take it off the form though. I started it a couple weeks ago, and now I'm not able to do much on it at a time, as I still have no stamina whatsoever. That is the most annoying part of this whole thing.



I have been doing some knitting, and finished a pair of socks. I used Serenity Sock Yarn from JoAnn's, and the Lacy Arrow pattern from SpinOff's Socks book. I have used this pattern several times, (it's the center photo on the cover) and it always turns out nicely, and is interesting to knit. I have to say that I think it would be better in a solid color, or at least one not so wildly striped, but it's a fun yarn. I've started another pair in the Concertina Lace Socks
pattern by Jackie Erickson-Schweitzer.


I'm up to the heel flap on the first one, and I have to say her heel method seems nice, but is kind of fiddly. It looks like it will be nice and cushy, though.

I want to thank you all for the very nice wishes and comments after my last post. I am attempting to find out what part of Sweden my ancestors are from. I am Swedish on both sides, and I know I used to hear about Malmö(?) as being a place in family history, but I never paid enough attention to know just what it had to do with things. There are relatives who've done extensive genealogy research though, and there's a big family reunion every August, so I may have to find out a few things this year. I do remember finding it very interesting several years ago when a sewer from Sweden posted some things on PatternReview, and her figure was almost exactly like mine. Aha! I thought. My alteration/figure problems aren't what I usually read about people dealing with, or at least not all of them at once, but she seemed to be doing all the things I have to do. Somehow, that seemed encouraging or something.

More Draping

No photos in this post I'm afraid, but I thought I'd just do a quick update on my draping progress. I decided I really like the back, but it didn't go with the wrap style of the front. I spent a lot of time thinking about what the front should look like, and taking quick looks at my draping so far to refresh my memory, and then thinking some more.

I finally came up with something I'm very pleased with. So far, anyway. It's a very plain front, with a V-neck and a plain seam at CF up to the V. I pinned the seam, making sure that the knit hung evenly and on grain. I then tried it on as far as it was done, and asked Pearle for an opinion. He thought it looked very nice, especially when I told him it wasn't going to have a bare upper back. So far, so good, except I realized something when I tried it on and looked in the mirror that I hadn't noticed at all when it was on the form. One side (the original overlap side) was on the lengthwise grain, and the other side was on the crosswise grain. It actually worked very well since this is a crinkled, 2-layer knit, and it could be a cute design detail if there was an obvious difference between the two grains, but this just looked like a mistake once you noticed it.

I re-draped the crosswise grain side, and re-pinned the CF and CB seams. Tonight I stitched those seams by hand, and they appear to be fine. BeeBee had the worst time machine sewing this same fabric, and I had quite a time doing some hand basting at first. I wasn't using a large needle by any means, but getting it through several layers of this was really tough. Thank goodness for a very good thimble. So I changed to a very fine needle, a size 10, and had no trouble going through 2 layers for permanent stitching. I think I may have saved myself a lot of trouble by doing this, and at the moment it's easier for me to hand stitch than to get to my machine and do much of anything.

Tomorrow I hope to put the dress back on the form and start working on the back. I'm thinking it would be very nice to have the sleeves incorporated with the back, and I can see how it would be fairly easy to do so.

We watched the Kentucky Derby today, and it was a very exciting race won by Big Brown, but what a sad occurrence just afterward. If you didn't see it, Eight Belles came in second, and after passing the finish line, she suddenly had 2 broken front ankles. Seems this kind of thing happens more and more, although perhaps it really doesn't, it's just so awful when it does that one remembers it vividly. We go to the races locally quite often, and 2 years ago there seemed to be more than their fair share of horse injuries during races. Our local season starts again in a few weeks I believe. I always get a lot of knitting done at the races, so I hope we'll be going often. We're usually able to run out for a few races at least, a few times a week, and it's quite a nice break.

A Form Workshop & Yarn

Today was the day set for the local Sewing Guild's Dress Form Workshop. I was the "leader" which turned out to be much easier than I'd dared to hope, and mainly consisted of just spearheading the effort and booking the room. Originally, 9 members wanted forms; 8 duct tape and 1 paper tape. 2 cancelled out because of late-arising conflicts, 1 decided she'd rather just watch and help, and as it turned out, 3 others didn't show up at all, so we did 3 forms and went home early. I can't blame anyone for deciding not to come, as the weather was supposed to be freezing rain and snow on top of the snow we already have. It didn't start with all that until we were about done, which was lucky. The high was only 14 degrees today, so it was not nice any way you look at it.

I did most of one duct tape form, and it turned out well I think. We had decided not to try to stuff them today as we assumed we wouldn't have time, so it will be interesting to hear how they turned out, and if everyone likes their form and uses it. It was nice to have enough helpers to cut tape and keep an eye on how it was going.

Since we got done earlier than we might have, I had time to stop at the LYS and snatch up this gorgeous ribbon yarn.

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It's Segué by Trendsetter and I think it's the most beautiful colors, so I hope it shows up correctly for you. Suggested needle size is a 15, but I think I can probably get by with a 13 or so. I want to make a simple shell from it, and will probably have to rewrite the pattern for the gauge of 2spi.

Dress Form Stand

Carolyn asked what I was using for a stand for my dressform, and I thought I'd take photos and show it. The form itself has a 3/4" PVC pipe inside which is notched at the top with a not-very-thick, curved wooden hanger sitting in the notch. This fits into the shoulders, and the shape is padded up to match mine. This pipe fits on the outside of a metal tube which is part of the stand I got with a Uniquely You form that is very much the wrong size. The stand is something that I think could probably be easily made from components available at the hardware store. Here's a close-up of the lower part.



You can see that the "feet" are straight rods. These are threaded, and screw into the center piece, which has 4 holes for them. The metal tube/pipe is screwed into the center of the same piece. The PVC pipe fits over the metal one, and the plastic bushing slides on the metal pipe, but the PVC pipe sits on top of it. The wing-screw lets you secure the bushing at any height you like on the metal pipe, thus also raising or lowering the form. I will have to drill a hole in the PVC pipe for another wing-screw so that I can keep the form from twirling on the pipe. It's a very satisfactory system though, and should be easy to replicate if you're interested.

Here's the stand showing the bottom of the form.

Duct Tape Dressform

OR:

How I Spent My Thanksgiving Vacation


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Actually, the title refers both to the form and the top I have on. It's another of the FSG1960 tops I've been doing lately. This is a nice, soft knit-back fleece I found. I just about froze to death on Thanksgiving evening at my parent's home and knew I was going to be spending a lot of time there in the next several days. Also, I was the only one who was cold, so I went home in the evening and made this top, and it's just what I needed. In this photo, there's a dusty streak near the bottom, but I was moving things around the basement and apparently didn't notice. So, you get to see the real me.

The form was very kindly wrapped by my sister, who was here for the holiday. I think she did a beautiful job. It's very true, especially in the shoulder/bust area. The midriff/waist/hip was bigger than I measure, probably because I had to breathe while we did this, so we made some changes. The shape is still very good. We extended the form one tape-width or so below the rear, onto the leg. You can see how that worked out. I think it was probably a good idea.

I am rather stunned to see just how crooked I am, but we really checked and looked and it is just like me. Oh well, better to know than not, I guess. Here's a close-up of just the form. I'm leading a form workshop in December for my local sewing guild, and I'm glad we did this first. It's going to be interesting to see if everyone else is as pleased with their results as I am with mine.


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