Looking back

Over the weekend I opened Blogger for the first time in absolutely ages. Sitting at the top of my drafts was the start of a post I had planned to publish at the beginning of 2020...

Looking back now, it seems so appropriate that before I had any idea of what was to come,  I had chosen the word 'Challenge' for 2020. 

I'm sure like me, many of you found 2020 challenging; but the crazy, mixed up, and sometimes scary world events of the year were definitely not what I had in mind at the time at the time of starting that post!

Dumpster Fire GIFfrom Dumpster GIFs

Way back at the beginning of 2020 (it seems like forever ago now doesn't it?) I was looking at the word completely differently. 

When writing that post I had committed to a 100-day stitching challenge and had just started a year-long stitchalong. I had also just discovered and decided to participate in a 52-week sewing challenge. I really wanted to challenge myself and push my crafting boundaries.

So what happened with my challenges? Well...

I did actually do quite a bit. I didn't meet all of my challenges, but with everything going on in the world (and in my own home - it was a challenging year here as much as in the wider world, though for different reasons) I'm going to call it a success. We got through it and we survived!

Bringing this thing back!

It's been a while, and I probably could, or should, have just let this little blog make a slow quiet disappearance but instead, I'm bringing it back!

I've got a new project and I need somewhere to track my progress and store my notes and pics, so here it is :)

Watch this space for more info and updates on my latest crazy little project.

Cosplay Sewing 2018 - Lily Hoshina

My monster is planning to attend a con at the end of September and she has decided to cosplay Lily Hoshina from "B: The Beginning" for the event.

I've never seen the series and know nothing about it so she sent me some pics of the character so I can help her put together the costume.


I'm so pleased that the character and costume she's chosen appears be relatively simple to recreate - no elaborate foam crafting or makeup skills required.

She's on a pretty tight budget to put this costume together so a real leather jacket is out of the question but I think I've found a pattern for a reasonable facsimile of the jacket (with a few minor modifications).

The pattern I've settled on is  Jacket Pattern 4305 by Lekala sewing patterns.


I think with the addition of patch pockets on the bust it should work for the cosplay.

Now to tackle the actual making of what is possibly the most complex garment construction project I've ever taken on. 

This one definitely warrants making a trial version before cutting into the more expensive pleather (or whatever I end up finding/buying for the real version) so I'm off to the fabric store.

I'll keep you updated on how this one comes together. Keep your fingers crossed for me.

K

One-off custom quilt

One of the things I really enjoy about working with fabric is the ability to make gifts that are really personalised to the recipients.

My significant other (SO) is a keen online gamer and through that has made friends the world over. When he said a few months ago that he would like to send an Aussie care package to a couple of his gaming friends in the US and asked if I could do something special and unique in fabric as an extra item to include in the package I jumped at the chance.

I know that my SO was initially thinking that I might do something with an applique design using the recipients' gaming logo, and in all honesty it probably would have been a quicker project had I done so, but applique really isn't my thing. I almost certainly could have done the design component for what would have been a multi-piece applique, but I'm just not confident with the actual sewing part  - I can never seem to get the finish of an applique project just right no matter how hard I try. So for this project I just knew I had to do a paper-pieced design.

I'm not sure that my SO had a proper understanding of what I do as far as quilt design and construction before now so it was really nice to have him involved in the design process, seeing it come together and being so supportive and helpful as I worked on this one.

In the end the finished project turned out a bit bigger than either of us had initially thought at 30-inches square for the paper pieced logo panel plus a bit extra added all around, but I think it turned out to be a good size for either a lap quilt or a wall hanging (rod pocket added to back so it can be hung easily) and I'm really happy with the overall look of the finished piece. It's not identical to their logo, but I think its pretty close.

Paper-pieced quilted wall hanging/lap quilt
One-off custom pattern designed by me based on the Liberate Gaming logo 

I hope the recipients enjoy the Aussie package, including the quilt. I'm pretty sure the Tim Tams will be a hit and the Vegemite is sure to be an interesting experience!

Tim Tam assortment

Vegemite on toast
(image source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vegemite)

Dry season project dilemas

The season referred to as winter doesn't really happen here in the tropics; instead we have a dry season when the humidity drops significantly and the daily temperatures hover in the 18-31 Celsius range. It really is a beautiful time of year, and the sunsets are spectacular!

The cooler, dry weather means that it's much more bearable to work on projects that end up in your lap or draped across your body while you work - large quilts, knitting, crochet etc.

This dry season my go-to project has been a large crochet blanket. I'm working on the "As-We-Go" Stripey Blanket by Hannah Owens (Pattern on Ravelry).

As usual I haven't made things easy for myself. The pattern was originally designed as a throw blanket, but I decided to go all out and make it a full queen/king size blanket. I'm at the point now where I'm wondering whether that was such a good idea or not.

I love the colours I've chosen, and I love the pattern, but it's sort of busy looking and I'm actually beginning to think that an entire bedspread in this stripey pattern is just going to be too much.

So now I need to decide... do I continue with repeats of the pattern for the whole length of the blanket? or do I alternate with multiple rows of a single colour? and then if I do that, which colour? and which stitch pattern? Do I just have the stripey pattern for the top and bottom of the blanket with solid colour in between? or have 3 or more of the stripey panels?

Too many decisions.. Help! I need outside opinions in this one before the whole thing ends up as a never ending WiP.