Flannel Negroni

Kyle’s birthday was at the beginning of December, and even though it might not get very cold in Texas, no boy’s wardrobe is complete in Austin without the obligatory flannel shirt!

I used the much-loved Negroni pattern by Colette (man I seem to be making a lot of stuff from Colette, I promise I make things from other pattern-makers too). I was amazed that this fit pretty much perfectly without any alterations! I used a warm flannel from Joann’s, although I got a little frustrated with how easy it frayed and how hard it was to unpick stitches. But oh well! I’m pretty pleased with how it came out, and I think Kyle is too.

I found these great vintage pearl buttons at the Stitch Lab here in Autsin, and I think they give a nice subtle bit of flair to the shirt as a whole. Obviously I didn’t even attempt any plaid-matching here, but it doesn’t really bother me. Maybe next time!

The cuffs on this pattern gave me a little bit of trouble, but I don’t think you can super tell and Kyle normally rolls up his leaves anyway.

So after this I was planning to make my dog Thomas a sweater, since it actually does get cold here sometimes and he’s got very short fur. And then Kyle had the genius idea to do this!!

THAT’S RIGHT, THEY MATCH. I would again like to emphasize that this was all Kyle’s idea, I just made it happen.

Yeah this might be my favorite picture of all time now.

For Thomas’s sweater I just traced a dog costume he already has onto some brown paper bags, and then with some minor alterations whipped this up in about an hour. Overall, huge success!

Now both my dog and my boyfriend are ready for the winter, or at least for what passes as winter here. Now I really just gotta find more excuses to get pictures of them together, because I will never not be excited about them matching! I know it’s kind of cheesey but I have ~*~no regrets~*~!

Carolynn in Violet

One of the first things I made when I got back into sewing last year was the Violet shirt from Colette Patterns. It didn’t fit me quite right, so I ended up giving it to a friend of mine who I thought would like it. And luckily, she does!

Yesterday Carolynn was a good sport and let me photograph her while we walked around and got coffee, and really it was super fun to just hang out and chat and take cute pictures of my cute friend! She’s got a fantastic personal style, and Hyde Park is always lovely to take pictures in.

If you’re ever in Austin and would like to spend a Saturday afternoon strolling around town, I’d recommend you start at Quack’s Bakery for coffee and pastries and then wander over to the Elizabet Ney museum to see some amazing sculptures and also some really cool pictures of Austin as a tiny frontier town.

I really like this photo, I mean, check out those sunspots!? Also major props to my boyfriend Kyle for giving me a camera lesson the other day – turns out knowing how to use the ISO and the shutter speed and all that good stuff really helps! I was so pleased with all the pictures I took of CC while we were hanging out, narrowing them down to just a few for this post was actually really hard!

This is also one of the major benefits of living in Texas – this is the stuff we get to wear in the middle of January! It was a nice cool 70 degrees or so yesterday, and basically perfect weather for wandering around and taking pictures.

I really really like the style of the Violet, I need to give it a go again but in a better size for me. I mean, who doesn’t like a good peter pan collar?? Nobody, that’s who.

PS. Here is a close up of Carolynn’s nails, girl always has the most glamorous hands~*~

Mustard Bray Hat

Alright, second post time!

I saw this hat that Jen from Grainline Patterns made, and knew I had to make one in mustard yellow. It had been a while since I’d knitted anything, and I forgot how relaxing it can be! This pattern was pretty easy to memorize once I got the hang of it, and I think it took me less than a week to make the hat.

I love the combination of cables and lace! In fact, I love it so much that I’m currently using a modified version of this pattern to make a scarf (kind of late in the Texas winter season, I know, but so it goes.)

There’s a TON of great patterns on the BrooklynTweed website. I think at some point I’d like to make this cardigan, although I’m sure it will take me months and months so I’d better start around July!

Does anybody else like to have a knitting project going on at the same time as a sewing project?? I like it cause I can take my knitting basically anywhere, I’m not tied to my kitchen table like I am when I sew. And like I said, knitting is pretty relaxing! The repetitive motion, the clicking of the needles, it’s just nice. Time to go work on that scarf, I think!

OH ALSO did y’all see the Wardrobe Architect challenge over on the Coletterie? I really like the idea of designing a whole wardrobe, and being really mindful of where I get materials and why I’m making things. So I’ll be trying that in 2014 as well, it should be fun!

New Year, New Blog!

Alright, happy new year everybody!

I’ve been sewing for a while now, and the start of a new year seemed like as good a time as any to take all the things I’ve made and put them on the blogosphere. So hello! I’ve never been particularly good at blogging, I tend to be more of a passive consumer of internet things than an active contributor. But here’s to trying!

Technically I made this in 2013 (and I think I’ll probably retro-post some other things from 2013 as I get this blog going) but I made it specifically for New Year’s Eve and it helped me usher in 2014, so it seems fitting to get things going with this.

Apologies in advance for the weird quality of the pictures! I’m borrowing my boyfriend’s camera and tripod, and I haven’t quite gotten the hang of photographing myself or the garments yet. I’ll get there, I promise!

We spent New Year’s Eve at a party at local Austin brewery Hops & Grain. The theme was “a Black and White Affair”, and I had this awesome black fabric with white Xs embroidered on it that I got at Denver Fabrics just sitting in my stash, as well as the Colette Sewing Handbook my family gave me for Christmas. The Truffle dress in the book looked so so cute and I couldn’t NOT make something!

The only problem was the hip measurement – I’m a curvy lady and the snug skirt of the Truffle dress just didn’t want to cooperate with my hips. I cut the dress at a size 4, which actually ended up being perfect for the bodice but too small for the skirt. Should have graded it up, but ohhhhhhh welllllllll. I ended up just inserting some triangle panels on either side, which worked just fine! You can never go wrong with a fuller skirt.

Probably should have taken a closer up picture of the fabric so you can see how great the embroidery is. You can kind of see it here maybe?? Ahhhh I love it though, the little Xs are so cute!

Overall I am super happy with my dress and am currently looking for any excuse to get a little fancy so I can wear it more often.

So there it is, my first blog post. I promise I’ll get better at this! I’ve been sewing a ton so there’s a lot of stuff in the backlog, the real problem is motivating myself to go out and photograph them. But it is going to happen!!

Ok that’s it! Thanks for reading, see you later!