Crib Skirt

Another quick, soft sewing project.  Keeping the crib simple I opted for just constructing the crib skirt myself and buying a plain solid colored sheet.  All the bumpers and dressed up cribs are nice.... but ultimately it turns out not the safest option for your kid.  It is now recommended to completely eliminate the chance of SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrom) by embracing the 'clean crib' concept and not to include bumpers, stuffed animals, blankets, or pillows in the crib as they are all possible suffocation hazards.  All the baby needs is a sheet.  And a nice bed skirt:).  

I found this fabric on Etsy as well.  I love the vibrant colors and the bold print, but I was disappointed by the weight of the fabric.  It is very thin, easily wrinkled, and not hefty enough for this application.  So I designed the pattern to include a hefty interfacing to make sure that the fabric hung cleanly.  The skirt has 2 pleats on the long side and one pleat on each of the ends.  I underestimated the amount of fabric needed to complete the project (opps!) so the skirt only hangs on 3 sides.  Not a big deal since I anticipate always having the long side of the crib facing a wall.  There are a few ties on the back side to keep this from slipping out of place.  The project came together well and I love the way it looks in the room.  Soon I'll have photos of the whole room so you can see how all these projects are coming together.

Gestation Quilt

For lack of a better term I've come to call this the 'Gestation Quilt'.  Shortly after moving to CA and learning that I was pregnant I wanted to start a project that represented this process of being pregnant, this time of prayer and anticipation and preparation.  So I designed this quilt, comprised of 280 hexagons, each piece of fabric representing each day of pregnancy.  Each side of each hexagon is about 2.5 inches.  The finished quilt is just large enough to cover a twin bed, approximately 4.5' x 6.5'.  It's a gift to my son or daughter and I hope it will become an heirloom that will be cherished for a lifetime.  The bold, primary color scheme also became inspiration for the color palette for the baby's room.  Playful and gender-neutral.

This quilt was so much larger of an undertaking than I anticipated!  The beginning was fun: designing the layout, searching for fabric, finding the right patterns and colors.  I even did some printing and stamped some of the pieces with custom patterns.  All the other steps after that could be described in one term: tedious.  280 pieces, each with 6 sides, all needing to be sewn together.  What was I thinking?  To keep myself on track I had to get on a schedule of working on the quilt for a couple of hours each day.  Every task seemed to last much longer than I anticipated.  Just getting all the pieces stitched together, even by cheating and using a sewing machine, took a month!  After that another week was spent just trimming and pressing the seams in place.  

I also used the sewing machine to quilt the blanket, more marathon quilting for a week or so.  Then I decided to complicate the project even more and finish the edges with a very complicated, mitered binding.  There was no way to cheat that part, it had to be completed by hand.  I went through spurts where I worked on this project exclusively... then I would complete a milestone and take a break and work on other smaller projects.  This was truly a marathon!

There are countless errors, puckers, and inaccuracies in this blanket.  That drives me crazy.  The architect in me knows that in theory all these sides and angles should line up perfectly... it's all math, right?  But fabric is stretched and pulled out of perfection.  My mother kept reassuring me that this small accumulation of errors is what give quilts their charm.  I hope she's right.  Now that the project is done I'm glad I stuck with it and I think it will be well used, as I intended.  If nothing else it looks nice in the baby's room :). 

Recovered Rocking Chair

I bought this rocking chair on Craigslist back in August. I love this chair so much! It is the perfect size for me - not too deep, just the right height. I also love the craftsman style. It is my favorite place to sit and work on knitting and sewing projects.

My plan has always to recover the seat of the chair which easily separates from the frame. I searched and searched for the right fabric. Originally I bought the chair to go in the baby's room but it has now become a permanent fixture in the living room (where I predict that I'll also spent lots of time rocking a baby). So when choosing a fabric I wanted something that would work in both rooms, just in case I changed my mind.

I found this print on Purl Soho's online shop (thanks for introducing me to this shop Lauren Robinson, I'm addicted!). The colors were a bit brighter than what was pictured on the website... But I think it does a good job of straddling the line between grown-up and baby appropriate.

The cover required a little planning to get the fit right. I drew up a pattern, made sure the graphic was lining up appropriately on the side seams. I also added a few layers of quilted padding to the seat. I fit the new cover over the existing seat at stapled the fabric in place with a staple gun. I like how low risk this project is... It only required the cost of the fabric and it's really easy try a different look for the chair with a new fabric later down the line.



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Loom!

I finally found a loom!  It is a Rasmussen Loom, made in Seattle about 30 years ago.  The company was sold and is now known as 'Montana Looms' with headquarters in Missoula.  This is a table loom (I was looking for a floor loom), it has 4 harnesses that are operated by the levers on top of the castle instead of by treadles on the ground.  It's weaving width is 26" and everything is in pretty good shape.  Heddles are rust free.  It came with one 12 dent reed.  I bought it on Craigslist from a man in Auburn who just found he didn't have the time to use the loom as much as he wanted.  He sold it to me for $150!  A comparable table loom brand new would be around $1000.

I compromised some in this purchase from the ideal loom I have been searching for (a Macomber Floor Loom).  But I'm quite pleased with this intermediate machine.  I think it will satisfy my craving for a few years and then I can reassess my needs and space availability.

I lack a whole bunch of supplies to make weaving faster and fun.  I think I'll just slowly invest in pieces over time.  In the short term I bought a heddle hook and a simple 8" weaving shuttle.  It proved to be enough to get me started.

I really need one of these (pictured left), a warping board.  Warping your loom is a fundamental process to weaving.  This board allows the weaver to quickly and uniformly measure all the warping strands for your work.  I don't have a warping board, so I used instead the legs of a few dining room chairs.  This worked OK, but much of the precision was lost.  If I were dedicating a lot of time to a serious project I would need to buy (for about $60) or build a warping board.  

This is my first product on the loom!  A scarf, made of one skein of sock yarn, 100% merino wool, in simple plain weave.  The weave is nice, tight, and consistent.  Good experimentation.  The actual weaving process (after the loom was warped and threaded) took about 4 hours.  I estimate that is about twice as long as it would have taken me on a floor loom.  But I found that I didn't mind flipping the top levers so much as I thought I would.  Success!  The one thing that drives me crazy about weaving is the waste created in the warp... check out the pile of unused warping thread (Above right)!  

Looking forward to more experimentation with the next project.

Felted Vessel

This is an exploration in a brand new process (as if I needed another hobby!) and I think I might be hooked!  Wet felting is the process of creating a dense cloth out of raw wool fibers, binding them by agitation.  The great thing about the process is that it is so fast and the product is so abstract and loose.  The Tin Thimble, the shop in Loomis California where I took this class, offers instruction on how to make scarves, wall hangings, bags, and other treasures through the wet felting process.  The vessels are made using a resist in the center and fibers are felted on either side of the resist.  I love the way this allows one to play with color and form.  To the right are the products of our 4 hour class, my vessel below.

I'm sure I'll use this in some way in the baby's room.  It is a nice way to play with form now that I'm not able to play with clay.  I like the looseness of the process and the informality.  Much faster than both knitting and ceramics.

I think I'm really more interested in making a felted cloth and sewing with that.  Below are supplies purchased for future projects.  I'm planning to make cloth to be used for some throw pillows and a bag.  Stay tuned for more experimentation with this new process!

Recent Handknits

Vitamin D

That's the name of this sweater pattern I found on Ravelry back in May (before I learned I was expecting).  I was attracted to the pattern because of the great drape in front, the eyelit details, and the cropped length.  Very subtle and sophisticated.  This is by far my most ambitious knitting project.  The knitting always required reference to the pattern.  And I actually followed instructions, to the letter!  (I often have problems with this).

The yarn added to the project's complexity.  It's a DK weight by Madeline Tosh, merino wool superwash.  Very light and fine gauge.... I worked on size 4 US knitting needles.  This is one reason it took soooo long to complete the project... just a lot of small stockinette stitching.  I actually bought this yarn online without having seen it in person, another first with this project.  And I am so pleased with the material.  Great subtle variation.  I really like this Madeline Tosh line of yarn - great color selection and a great price.  This marks a milestone... I'm actually comfortable enough with my fiber and knitting knowledge to correctly choose the right yarn without seeing it myself.

I'm in love.  So pleased with how it came out.  This is a sweater I will wear (and have been wearing)!  Success!  I have a bad history of making sweaters and ultimately never wearing them.  But not this one.      And considering it has no front closure it should be perfect for the pregnancy!

Spiral Star Baby Blanket

It reminds me of a hurricane!   I just finished this blanket last night, the first completed project for the little one.  From center to point the radius is 23" (46" in diameter).  It's so nice to see in completed... I had so many stitches crammed on my needles it was impossible to get a gist of the shape that was being developed.  I pinned it in place to block it, it's still drying.  This project actually called for Madeline Tosh DK, the yarn I was just raving about, but the thought of knitting such a large blanket from such a fine gauge yarn made my head spin!  So instead I substituted a chunkier, cheaper cotton yarn (which is more practical for a baby than merino wool, right?).  The project was easy, fairly quick, and fairly cheap.  Very pleased to have one (of the many) projects for the baby completed. :)

Mouse, Birds, and Bags

Just a review of recent projects I've been working on...

I've always wanted to knit a stuffed animal... this little mouse was a quick project and a great way to use remnant yarn.  A baby gift for a friend.

I made these throw pillows.  I carved the bird design and printed each by hand.  They'll live in our bedroom.

This is a repeat of a bag I designed last spring.  I made this for a clay friend; we exchanged work at the end of the semester.  I added my logo - a quick stamp to the inside lining.  

Skirts for Africa

In preparing for our trip to Africa (next week!) (follow here!) I learned that women in rural Kenya are quite conservative in their dress.  Women do not wear pants or anything that is tight fitting.  I needed to find some long, loose fitting skirts to sustain me for our 3 week trip.  I did look in a few stores before deciding to make the skirts myself... but apparently skirts this season are widely available in two different styles: short and shorter.  This made my decision easy:  I'll just make a few skirts.  This coincided nicely with the work I was doing in my independent study printmaking class.  After choosing a simple pattern and deciding on fabric (the spring linen was on sale at Hancocks!).  I decided to give the skirts a new life and make them a bit more personal by printing them with original designs.  Using the same basic process that I used on my quilt: I carved various designs from the rubber stamp material and went to work printing with the textile printing inks.  

So these are the 3 textiles I created for the skirts.  Mums, gingko, and a bird motif.  Mostly fairly simple patterns that each repeat in a different way.  The gingko pattern (printed on the heaviest weight linen) is a simple grid type repeat.  The mum design (printed on a lightweight linen) was simply a large flower, about the size of a plate, and I masked out sections to create overlaps.  This was the pattern that was easiest and most fun to print.  I was able to design as I went, creating voids between flowers and overlaps.  

The bird motif, which is printed on a rust colored cotton knit, was the biggest headache.  The design was intended to be continuous, lines that were fluid meant to unite the individual repeats of the patterns.  This was a pain to design and almost impossible to keep consistent and straight while printing.   But after review the areas that don't line up aren't all that noticeable and, as my husband said, I'm the only person who will ever know the flaws of the print.

There are a couple of nice things about the skirts.  Its a nice medium to work with because a long skirt accommodates a large pattern easily.  I wasn't burdened by trying to repeat a small 2"x2" design on yards of fabric.  I each design is roughly in the 7"x9" range.  I cut the pattern pieces for the skirts first and then printed (so I didn't waste time printing areas that would not be used).  Each skirt took about 2.5 hours to print.  And as I mentioned, a nice long skirt is forgiving and I think the inconsistencies of the heaviness or lightness of the ink, and the areas that don't line up, all add to the handmade charm and nature of the product.

And this leads to a comment about process.  The process of printing on fabric by hand is still widely practiced in Africa and India.  The act of creation and participation in this process was a nice way of meditation and preparation for the trip.  There is something so basic and fundamental about textiles and clothing... a universal need and a universal method of expression.  I was engaging in a process that is not unique but a natural instinct, and greater than myself.

The final product!  Nicely modeled on my dress form.  I did go ahead and make a skirt without any  printed pattern because at heart this simplicity appeals to me, and it's also quite practical.  I also used another variation of the pattern for the odd skirt.  Each pattern is really simple: side seams, elastic waist, and a hem. I probably spent as much time printing each of the skirts as I did constructing them.  I was weary at first, during the printing and the construction, that I wouldn't like them... but the patterns have grown on me.  I hope (and this is the true test), that I will wear these again, outside of my trip.  That is always the sign of success for homemade clothing, not whether it fits well, or if it is well made, but if it is used.

Daffodil Quilt

Below is my first quilt, a tribute to daffodils.  I love it when daffodils finally show their face... always when the winter is so dreary and lingering that daffodils, in their garish yellow, remind us not to loose hope.  They say 'Fear not'!  Spring is right around the corner!  Daffodils were featured in my wedding bouquet.  In Louisiana daffodils meant Mardi Gras was in full swing.  When we visited Keith and Gerry in the UK the daffodils celebrated Easter.   These daffodils in my yard are a sweet reminder of home:  bulbs my mother dug up from the Tietje farm, bulbs my great grandmother and grandmother planted, multiplied and divided, and now a remnant lies in this SC soil.  And my quilt is done right in time for the daffodils making their debut (a whole month earlier than last year).

I based the color scheme on the whimsical color pallet of a field of daffodils.  Pale blues, blue-greens, yellows, and then really strong yellow.

  

After many iterations, I settled on this layout for my quilt.  I tend to over think things, especially in the planning phase.  I really was doubting this whole project at this point - I just wasn't reacting to it visually and I really wasn't sure how the colors were going to react with each other. 

The pattern for both the layout and the printing scheme wasn't a typical one for a quilt.  It is not symmetrical, it does not repeat, it isn't predictable.  I wanted to convey a sense of movement, I wanted to  blur the edges between the foreground and background.  I really wanted to create depth by layering elements visually.  So the printing was really complex. 

 3 different stamps (daffodil foliage, small face and large face), printed in three different colors (yellow, orange, and brown).  This really changed the whole project in a way that I couldn't have predicted.  Color is so reactive... my cool color palette got alot warmer.  Whatever planning I did was just an outline because once I started printing I abandoned the plan and started reacting to what was happening visually.  It was a really exciting process and I'm glad I didn't get discouraged because it wasn't what I had initially intended.

All of the foliage stamps were printed before the quilt was assembled.  The flowers were printed over, or on top of the seams of the assembled pieces.  I used the sewing machine for the quilt assembly, then quilted and completed most of the binding by hand.

There was one day last week that I wasn't feeling well.  I didn't have school and couldn't motivate myself for housework, so I curled up with this project and spent the ENTIRE DAY quilting by hand.  Wow - I might have underestimated the task.  I had blisters by the time Matthew returned from his day shift at 8:30.  Two blisters on my thumb and forefinger.  I'll definitely look into thimbles next go-round.  I have to say the process of quilting added another dimension to the piece as well.  It added another layer of visual depth, and it reinforced the original layout of the fabric pieces.

If I could change one thing:  Less printing.  I think it is just a little overwhelming - I probably would have left more pieces with just the originals solid color to let the eye rest.

The last lingering question:  Who is it for?  What is it's function?  My professor suggests that it should be a wall hanging.  But this denies its obvious function (it's a wonderful, washable cotton quilt!) and my walls are filled.  It is a child size blanket, so I expect it to be a gift for a special kid one day.  Maybe it can hang on a wall until then.