Kelee: Sewing Skirts

I have been wanting to learn to sew. I have been trying to learn to sew. Sewing makes my brain hurt and makes me fill my swear jar right up to the tippy top. Quickly.
Initially, my problem was my sewing machine. My mom gave me her old sewing machine when I graduated from college. I love it because it's green and old and my mom's. I could not even figure out how to load it up with thread. I had to finally give up the sentimental idea of sewing something for my little girl on the same sewing machine that my mom had sewn me those uneven shorts with one pocket that went the wrong way and one pocket too small to hold more than a dime. My mother was quite wonderful at many things, but sewing was not one of them.

My instruction-manual-loving husband gave me a brand new sewing machine for Chrimbo two years ago, and imparted upon me the Biblical wisdom of the Wise Men (because it was Chrimbo time):

And I say unto ye, if swaddling clothes were good enough for the baby Jesus in the Manger, why are you trying to sew a dress for your child? Doth thou believe that your child needs better clothes than the human form of the Creator of all things? Oh, you do? Then thou shalt read the manual if you expect to learn to sew.

Manual, relay instructions.

I learned how to thread the machine. Easy enough with a handy diagram to follow.
I learned how to load up the bobbin. Pretty simple.
And the manual has a simple diagram that shows if your tension wheel number needs to be more or less. That solved three of my sewing problems.

My new problem was that every time I started to press the accelerator to start sewing, my needle would become unthreaded. Every single time. It would take me forever to sew something what with all the stopping, and the starting, and the rethreading, and the swearing, and the depositing of quarters in my swear jar. I finally called my sister who suggested turning the sewing knob at the end a few times so that the thread would already be anchored into the fabric and therefore less likely to pull out and more likely to impregnate the fabric with stitches. Genius. I've been sewing like crazy ever since. Except for all that time I spent at the lake, and at work, and reading, and sitting around listening to music, and playing matching games with my kids, and going for creemees, and updating my facebook status, and pulling teeth, and thinking about doing the laundry.

Anywho. I am still in the very extremely early learning phase of sewing. I am just so excited to finally be moving forward in the process. When I kept telling people that I couldn't sew, they seemed to think that I was saying, "I cannot sew as well as someone who can sew really, really amazingly." However, it was just this week that I discovered that those little markings next to where the needle bobs up and down are measurements to help you sew your seams to the measurement that the pattern suggests. And just today as I was taking pictures, I discovered that the lines continue down so you can keep your fabric lined up as you make your 3/4 inch seam. I really meant that I could not sew.

The girlchild's butterfly skirt turned a wee bit hoochie after her last growth spurt. I decided to make her a new skirt. I read some tutorials online:

http://www.home.earthlink.net/~cornpatchcreations/twirlyskirt.htm

http://www.houseonhillroad.com/photos/twirly_skirt/index.html

I decided to pass on the math and go more with a visual, trace-with-a-crayon pattern.

I ended up making three of them. Making changes in the "pattern" as I figured out new stuff.Until I ran out out of fabric.

Let's say you were going to sit next to the sweet girlchild on the fabby orange couch. You could find at least 372 things wrong with this skirt, but you'd have to admit she looks more stylish than if I'd just wrapped her up in swaddling clothes. I call this progress.

Kelee: Electric Kool-Aid Yarn Test

Last weekend was Maple Open House Weekend. We went to the Howrigan Family Farms in Fairfield where they still gather sap with horses. No, not those Howrigans in Fairfield who also gather sap with horses. These. Seriously, there are at least two sets of Howrigans in Fairfield who gather sap with horses. Is that only weird to me?

Not only did we eat sugar on snow (Note: please learn from our friend Ruby here and tie your hair back before you attempt to eat something super sticky like sugar on snow on a windy day), drink warm syrup from shot glasses, eat tons of baked goods, but they also fed us cheeseburgers just for being there watching them work. They were ridiculously nice, warm, and welcoming. We bought some Grade B syrup for our coffee shop for maple lattes and maple smoothies.

We went home with an incredible sugar high. Since nothing says sugar high like Kool-Aid, we decided to try dying yarn with Kool-Aid.

I have worked very hard not to become interested in dying or spinning yarn during the past. So while this venture was a step-forward for Craftiness, it was definitely a step back for Self-Control.

The whole process was so incredibly fun and easy and low-impact, that I can no longer remember why I resisted for so long. I followed a tutorial at Knit Pick. I used Lion Brand Fisherman's Wool which is a naturally off-whitish undyed yarn. It might have even been the Oatmeal one. This was all that I had on hand and I knew I wasn't safe to drive with the sugar high I was sporting.

It really is this easy. I circled the yarn around some chairs and made it into one long loop. This was probably the most difficult step because my evil and loved cat Gritty Kitty got completely tangled in the yarn, and I was afraid I was going to lose an arm trying to untangle her.

I got the yarn wet in not-too-hot water. I mixed up the Kool-Aid with water in emptied salsa jars. I didn't measure anything. I lightly squeezed out the water from the yarn and put the two ends into the jars.

I microwaved them for two minutes. Looked at them for a while. Let them sit for a while. And repeated it two more times. Seriously, could my microwave BE any higher?

When I lifted some of the yarn out of the Kool-Aid at this point, I could tell that the Kool-Aid was more clear than colored and declared it done.

I rinsed the yarn in the sink and washed it with a little dishwashing detergent because that's what I had sitting right there. I let it dry hanging elegantly from the shower rod. By the next morning it was dry.

I immediately made a hat. I couldn't resist. It did a really cool striping of the two colors after a while for a while. My little guy claimed it for his own and has been wearing it ever since.

The next day after my sugar hangover had been cured by a heavy dose of bacon and a super hot latte laced with hair of the dog (mmmm...maple latte), I tried Kool-Aid dying some cotton yarn. Not only did the cotton yarn smell like it was seconds away from combusting and the Kool-Aid explode all over my microwave, but it did not look like a lovely purposefully dyed yarn. It looked like someone spilled Kool-Aid all over some string. I did not photograph the episode so you'll just have to trust me that I am telling you the truth. I read afterward that cotton yarn needs a little more umph than the flavorful gentleness of Kool-Aid. Dying this yarn was so terribly satisfying and quick and easy and I cannot wait to try it again. Luckily, Alison errand-upped us some white wool so we can give it another whirl.

As a side note, thank you to Kyla Hartigan and Ben Maddox for the pictures as I was too busy downing maple syrup by the cupful to take any myself.

Kelee: Granny Square Bag Tutorial

We have had a lot of snow this winter. I've got no complaints about the cold or the snow. I love Vermont winters. Eventually, however, that much whiteness on the landscape leads to the purchasing of and using of ridiculously bright yarn. Last spring I went through a green phase while I was waiting for ANYTHING to bud. So far this year, it's all about color. I especially like it when the colors bang off of each other.

I made up a few batches of granny squares (or “motifs” actually because they are not square) based on the same pattern from the crown of the mullet hat. Then I outlined them in the same color per batch and sewed them together in a purse-like structure. Although the granny square motifs were not all the exact same colors, they were similar colors. I lined them in black, heathered gray, and brown. It was amazing to see how the different outlined colors changed the whole feel of the motifs.

Here is a tutorial so you can make your own gorgey bags with yarns that are too ridiculously bright or that are too ridiculously muted, if that's what you want.

Step 1: Follow this pattern and make 9 motifs. Obviously, I think you should ignore their color suggestions and improvise your own. I used a size K needle and worsted weight yarn. You do what you want to do.

Click here for pattern website.

Click here for pattern pdf.

Step 2: Add another round of your outline yarn following a repeating hdc (in the chain 1 of the previous round), chain 1 pattern. Leave a long tail to use to sew together the motifs. If these instructions sound vague, note that by the time you get to this point in crocheting the motif, they will totally make sense.

Step 3: Sew together the motifs in this shape.

Step 4: Fold over and sew where appropriate.

Step 5: Fold up the bottom and sew.

Step 6: Crochet a (hdc, chain 1) row around the top of the bag. I went back and forth across the toppest straight row three times to make it tall enough to fold over the handle without folding the colored part. If your handle is super big, you may need a few extra rows. Then I did a (sc, ch 1) row to make it really looked finished. Of course, I put the real stitches in the ch 1 from the row before and I chained the appropriate number of stitches to start the row. Step 7: Sew on the handle.

Step 8: Line that bag so you don't have a tampon poking out of a hole.