Yesterday in the fitting and knitting a 40s pullover series was Part 1 of my chat about of resizing the body, and I showed you some ideas on how gauge can be used to resize the body of a knitting pattern. Now it's time to talk about how I'm actually going to do this with the Cable Pullover pattern! Remember one thing that I'll keep occasionally pointing out: this series isn't meant to show you every possible plan of ... Read more »
Fit & knit a 40s pullover series: resizing the body (Part 1)
Time for more in the fitting and knitting a 40s pullover series! Today, I'm starting to talk about how you can change the size of the body of the pattern. It's lengthy enough that I've broken it up into two parts, so Part 2 will come tomorrow. And we'll leave things like armhole decreases, the neckline, shoulders and sleeves for later on in the series. What if I just changed the yarn weight & gauge? As you know, I'm ... Read more »
Ever After outfit: A Shabby Apple dress review
Recently I was tickled to be contacted by Shabby Apple to see if I'd like to review one of their dresses. Adorable retro dresses? Yes, please! Shabby Apple has lots of cute dress and skirts in their vintage clothing section. Their styles are influenced by eras gone by, with a myriad of vintage silhouettes to suit different tastes. Just like the lovely dress I was sent! My dress is called Ever After. It's a ... Read more »
Fall for Cotton: watch the final projects video at Lucky Lucille!
From the perspectives of your co-hosts Rochelle and I, Fall for Cotton was a smashing sew-along success! We had a blast hosting, and it was truly thrilling seeing dozens and dozens of amazing projects completed. Thanks to everyone who participated for making it such a great sew-along! And today Rochelle has something fantastic to share with you. You know you've been waiting for it: the Fall for Cotton final projects ... Read more »
Fit & knit a 40s pullover series: figuring out the expected finished size
Thanks for all the lovely comments about my Dragonflies Jumper! ♥ Today is the next installment of my fitting and knitting a 1940s pullover series. When last we met, I talked about how I look at a knitting pattern, the stitch gauge and yarn weight. Today, we're going to look at the knitting pattern and figure out what size the finished sweater will actually be. As you might expect, a lot of things hinge on knowing the ... Read more »
Dragonflies Jumper for fall
My latest knitting project is off the needles! And on my back, well, pretty much every single day since I finished it. The pattern is Dragonflies Jumper (that's a link to the pattern on Ravelry) by designer Joji Locatelli. As soon as I saw the dragonfly stitch pattern I fell in love with this sweater. As it happens, the designer was having a fall knit-along in her Ravelry group, so I joined in the ... Read more »
Fit & knit a 40s pullover series: deciding to change gauge & yarn weight
Hello everyone! This is the first meaty installment of my fitting and knitting a 40s pullover series. On Sunday I posted the pattern I'm knitting, Cable Pullover No. 3298, so make sure to download it if you'd like the pattern, too! Sorry in advance that many of these posts will be a little boring looking since much of what I'll be talking about is looking at sections of the pattern. Can't all be pretty. ;) Let's get ... Read more »
Free vintage knitting pattern: Cable Pullover No. 3298 (1947)
Hi everyone! To get you started in the fitting a 40s pullover series, today I'm sharing the pattern I'll be knitting, Cable Pullover No. 3298, from 1947. This way if you'd like, you can follow along with the pattern, now or in the future! It's written for three (vintage) sizes: 14, 16 and 18. Final measurements at the bust are 34", 36" and 38". The pattern uses sport weight yarn at a gauge of 19 stitches over 3 ... Read more »
Guest post: Chronically Vintage’s Jessica on the history of purple
Happy Friday! I've got a great guest post for you today. If you follow the lovely Jessica of Chronically Vintage, you know she is a passionate writer and vintage aficionado. Lately, I've been occasionally finding myself drawn to a color outside of my comfort zone: purple. I've had a little bit of an obsession with it lately, I have to admit! A quiet one, though. A little bit of purple fabric and yarn has snuck into my ... Read more »
Follow along as I fit and modernize a 1940s pullover pattern
Thanks for all the lovely comments on my Hedy Tyrolean Cardigan! When I sat down to plan out my next knitting project, I had a brainstorm and I'm rather excited about it! I hope some of you will be, too. I'll be knitting myself a pullover from a 1947 knitting booklet, Fleisher's Campus Classics. And I've decided to document the process here on my blog! As those of you who have been following me a long time know, ... Read more »
Hedy Tyrolean cardigan
I wanted to take a second to thank you for your warm comments on my announcement about my upcoming first pattern release. It's pretty exciting! I really appreciate all the support, it means a lot to me. I was so happy to finally share the news with you! ♥ In other knitting-related news, today I'm sharing my latest finished project. I'm in love with it! The pattern is called Hedy Tyrolean-Pattern Cardigan ... Read more »
Fall for Cotton giveaway winners
Wow, we had so many entries on the Fall for Cotton giveaway prizes for sew-along participants! And between Rochelle's two giveaways and my two giveaways, we have four lucky randomly-selected winners! Winner of Lucky Lucille prize pack #1: Jeanette from Lazy Seamstress Winner of Lucky Lucille prize pack #2: Sophie from Wild Child Sophie Winner of By Gum, By Golly prize #1 (That Clever Clementine ... Read more »
It’s time to come clean
Friends, it's time I come clean about a little secret I've been keeping for a couple of months now. It's been more difficult to keep this a secret as I've gotten further along in the process and more people are getting involved, so I thought it was time to let the cat out of the bag. You knew something was up, but not what. It's just a small little thing. But it's a big deal to me. And it's been ... Read more »
Fall for Cotton prize giveaways: 4 chances to win!
Hello sew-alongers! Fall for Cotton has been a great experience for so many of us. Rochelle and I have been happy to help, wrangle, and hopefully inspire you along the way! It's been an honor and pleasure being one of your co-hosts for this great sew-along challenge, and I couldn't have had a better co-host than Rochelle! ♥ Ready for prizes?? Today's our special giveaway day for Fall for Cotton participants. If you ... Read more »
My finished Fall for Cotton blouse
My Fall for Cotton project is complete! I wasn't able to accomplish as much as I planned, but I do have a nice new blouse. I sewed McCall 4854, a blouse pattern from 1942. As you may recall from my project plans, I used a vintage cotton fabric in my stash, along with red vintage buttons, and I sewed the buttonholes by hand with vintage red buttonhole twist. The buttonholes are probably my favorite ... Read more »
Fall for Cotton wraps up tomorrow!
Hey everyone! Just a quick little reminder that the Fall for Cotton sew-along is wrapping up tomorrow! Um, can you believe it's already the end of September? How did that happen? I'll be sharing my final blouse tomorrow. I put the finishing touches on it last week, including the buttonholes you saw in my tutorial post, as well as finally hemming it. A funny aside: I actually had a momentary panic that I'd ... Read more »