2007-05-31

Fitting doll research

I've been doing some further research for the Fitting Doll Project Helen & I are doing.
I found some interesting reads:

Sewing Stunt Double - How-To Guide
Craftster Discussion

2007-05-30

Duct Tape Body Double

I was at Helen's for one of our sewing nights yesterday. She has a serger, so I took the opportunity and finally got started on my black 20's cocktail dress. I didn't get very far though, that piece is advanced! Advanced in this case means that it calls for a lot of hand stitching, which is very time consuming. But, I did get the top half, or the "bodice", almost finished. No pictures yet, I have to sew the shoulder seams first, at the moment it just looks like a black pile of fabric.

Helen is really in to designing and constructing her own patterns, and has been looking around for a good fitting doll. While searching online forums for affordable ones she stumbled upon a DIY guide on how to make a customized fitting doll. Now, how awesome is that? A fitting doll that is your own double, not just with 3 adjustable measurements, but one that perfectly matches every inch of your own body! This is where to find the guide: http://www.sysidan.se/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=9327&highlight=provdocka (in Swedish), which in turn is based on this: http://www.leanna.com/DuctTapeDouble/ (in English)
So we booked one day for supply shopping (loads of duct tape, old t-shirt & some kind of stand) and one day for creating our Duct Tape Body Doubles. :D Now that's something to look forward to!

I'm stuck on the cabled sweater. I got the idea that I could make it a short-sleeved cardigan. It would definitely look good, but would it be practical? When am I likely to wear a short sleeved wool garment? Will it look good with a longsleeve t-shirt underneath, so I can wear it in winter time?



I don't know. We'll see.

2007-05-27

Onsala Weekend

We spent the weekend at Chris' parents' place and I got a lot of knitting done. (:

I'm working on a cabled cardigan and I almost got one of the sleeves done. After that there'll only be one sleeve, picot edgings and seams left, and then I'm done, joy! Although, I am a bit worried as the front and back look quite wide, especially around the chest. Probably I'll be able to adjust the shape when blocking, but it still bothers me. I'm knitting from an old pattern from 1983 and I'm not sure my choice of yarn is compatible with the pattern... But I'll find out, I suppose. :P

The lovely pattern:



I almost finished the wrist warmers for Chris' mother, I just have to sew the last one together. Knowing that she won't read this, I'll post pictures when I'm done. I'm going to have big problems to keep myself from giving them to her right away. But it's summer now, warm and fuzzy wool wrist warmers are not in season!
I'm thinking of making myself a pair, just to use up some acrylic yarn I have stashed. I'm not a big fan of acrylic yarn, but I bought it, so I have to use it for something. I'd like to make them in a zigzag pattern but I can't decide whether I should use one, two or three colors. I made a swatch to see what white and grey looks like, but I didn't really like it. Maybe I should stick to one color? This is what I have to play with:



Even though I have a ton of projects going on, I keep finding new things that I really, really want to make. I've been browsing loads of knitting blogs and the knitting forum on Craftster and have added some new things to my constantly growing to-do-list:
  • First there's Flicca, have a look at it and you'll understand why I want it!
  • Second, the beautiful Nora Gaughan "Capecho" from Vogue Knitting. It's from the winter(?) issue, which I didn't buy, because that was the only piece I wanted to make from that magazine, and I didn't think it would turn out well. But after having a look at a knitalong for it I changed my mind. With some modifications it should be possible to make something nicely fitting from the pattern. So now I need to get my hands on that pattern!
And finally, this weekend I recieved partners for the Hand Made Bead Swap, so now I can really start working on the beads!