Tour de Fleece 2014

So, there hasn't been any sewing for a bit, but with good reason.  The Tour de France is on right now, which means that the Tour de Fleece is on as well.  All my spare time lately has found me in front of my wheel.  I haven't officially joined this year.  I joined last year on a few teams, but found that trying to post pictures of my progress every day on all the teams' threads at Ravelry was a bit too much for me, especially with all the travelling I do during the summer months.  So, instead this year I decided to just keep it chillaxed.  No official teams, just spinning every day that I can and posting my progress to Instagram (my latest time suck, other than spinning!!) when I can.

So...here's my daily progress so far:

Stage 1 - 4 oz. Dragonfly Fibers SW Merino Silk in the Zombie Apocalypse colourway
Second bobbin for a 2 ply, attempting to spin as finely as possible 

Stage 2 - Waterloo Wools BFL in Waterlilies colourway
Attempting to spin thicker for a worsted weight

Stage 3 - More Waterloo Wools Waterlilies.  Finished second bobbin of singles

Stage 4 - Plied Dragonfly Fibers Zombie Apocalypse 

Stage 5 - Plied Waterloo Wools Waterlilies  

Stage 5 - Started another 4 oz braid of Waterloo Wools BFL
Turkish Delight colourway, spun 3 oz of singles

I started off the morning by winding off the plied yarn to the niddy noddy which winds it into skeins so I could soak and thwack it (so much Fun!!).  The yarn is now drying and looks better than I could have hoped.  Finished photos to follow.

I'm out for a bit tonight with friends, but I'm hoping I'll have time to ply the Turkish Delight when I get home.  I also have to choose the next braid/bump/cloud/batt to spin!!  That's often tougher for me than the actual spinning part!

Gratuitous shot of my spinning helper

Continuing the Summer Collection

Or...Black is the New Black.

Yesterday was a holiday here in Canada, and I was lucky enough to celebrate Canada Day at home.  I had been trying to get to L'Atelier the entire weekend, and had limited success until yesterday.  With black thread on my serger, I decided to continue on with the grouping of clothes in black.  I am now focusing on the "bottoms" portion to give me a few more options.  I was relatively successful in creating a few basics yesterday.  When I looked at the pictures again, they all looked like a variation on the theme.  But go with what works!!

I jumped on the bandwagon for this pattern, and have to admit that now that I've tried it, I wish I tried it earlier!!  It's the Loes Hinse Cap Sleeve Dress pattern.  The pattern offers a number of variations.

Line Drawing from Loes Hinse Cap Sleeve Dress pattern

I made view A, without the dart, in a black rayon crepe that is light to medium weight and very drapey. I really like it.  So much so, I want to immediately cut it out in at least five other fabrics. The little bits you see sticking out on the dress form are the gussets required for versions made with woven fabric to add a bit of width to the bust/underarm area.  They are not visible when you are wearing the dress.

LH Cap Sleeve Dress

I made View C as well, but neglected to take a photograph of it.  It is a touch small through the hip area, so next time I will have to add a bit through the side seams.

Line Drawing from Loes Hinse Tank Dress Pattern

I made a cami as Loes and Sharon call, them from a very luscious jersey.  It's view E from the Tank Dress pattern. It's shown below with a skirt from the same fabric.  This skirt is view C from the Boot Skirt pattern.

LH Cami view E from the Tank Dress pattern,
Skirt is view C from the Boot Skirt pattern

Line Drawing from Loes Hinse Boot Skirt Pattern 

 From the same fabric, I made a modified longer version of the skirt View A.  I cut the front on the fold, and left slits to just above my knee on both side seams.  I added about 5 inches in length to make it a maxi maxi (I have a 34" inseam).

Top is Tank Dress Pattern, view E
Skirt is LH Boot Skirt, view A, modified

 And lastly, but still somewhat the same, is View C from the Tank Dress pattern in the same luscious jersey, and the Sarong Skirt pattern in the rayon crepe.  I've lightened the photographs a bit so you can see the details. I shortened the skirt by 2-1/2 inches to make it hit at the sweet spot, just above where the knee curves into the calf (the narrowest part by the knee, at least for me).

Line Drawing from Loes Hinse Sarong Skirt

LH Tank Dress View C
LH Sarong Skirt, view A

For the top, I did my usual sway back adjustment of a little over 2-1/2 inches in total, and sewed with a centre back seam instead of cutting it on the fold.

I am wearing the maxi skirt today with the tank (View C), with a slightly oversized chambray shirt.  I feel elegant, cool and sophisticated. The jersey wears like a dream!

I have one more garment in the luscious jersey - a pair of Oxfords, ready to be sewn.  I only need about an hour to whip them together!  I'm still at a loss as how to take photographs of the pants I make, and still don't have a tripod.  I was very pleased with the result of the pants I made yesterday (black Oxfords in the same rayon crepe fabric), but can't show them to you in a fashion that would be flattering, so I won't - you'll just have to take my word for it that they're great!!

I stopped in at Fabricland today to pick up more black thread, and black serger thread (I am running low of both!!!) as well as more elastic.  What did I find?  More of the luscious jersey - they had a plethora of other colours that were on sale before their inventory. I found it really hard to restrain myself at only $7/m, but I behaved.  I chose 6 meters of a deep stone colour and 4 meters of a light cream colour.  I am convinced this stuff is the perfect travel fabric!  I also found a lovely red with black and cream floral print ITY jersey knit for another Perfect Tee and a short knit skirt (Boot Skirt view C) to coordinate with the .  More sewing to come!