Drum Roll Please!

 That's right folks, that means I'm finished the Christmas Pyjamas and it's not even Christmas Eve yet.
I actually finished them.....wait for it.....yesterday! So they were done one day early! YAY
See I'm a procrastinator and that usually means getting stuff done in time but finishing, what ever it is I'm working on, at the last minute (or maybe leaving off a detail or two like the extra buttons on S's Hallowe'en coat LOL). I have even been known to be finishing a hem on the way to the event.
(I did find out a couple of years ago that, that might be a bit of a family tradition as my Aunt was finishing up her dress on the way to the wedding! Not that I've ever been that bad....noooooo. Okay, maybe, but it wasn't MY dress for MY wedding day! LOL)

What's really funny about procrastinating is sometimes to avoid working on one thing I will work on something else entirely and then get that done too! That's what happened this time at least. While not working on S's pj's I managed to start, rip out (too wide) and finish a scarf for C from the 2 aplaca rovings I finished spinning this month.
Weird huh?
Here's the yarn in a ball, the scarf and then a close-up of what's supposed to be a C at the bottom. It's been a long time since I've crocheted anything so my tension probably isn't the best, plus this hasn't been blocked or anything.

And here's some pictures of the new pyjamas and the pattern I used for the top (bottoms were from a previously used pyjama pattern that I've used twice before). The pattern really didn't quite suit the material as you can't see the yoke details but hey, I didn't pick either so it's not my fault. LOL
I used the pattern as sized but copied the medium with the large length. I'm glad I did, it's just barely long enough as it is.

One thing - lately I've discovered a love for vintage. I'm slowly developing a collection of vintage reproduction patterns from the big 3 (gotta love those sales!) and I'd like to collect some real vintage patterns. I've been reading about them for a while now and here's the thing I noticed; in the past I would have just cut what I needed out of the pattern for S's pyjamas, but after reading about vintage patterns and having them cut or uncut or cut to a single size, it occurred to me that one day - my patterns might be considered vintage and collectable and therefore *I* shouldn't cut them to one size or such either.
In the past when multi-sized patterns were something new to me I used to cut to my size but keep the extra bits "just in case". Then when pattern co.s started having the 99 cent sales and such I'd just buy multiple copies. But now....I'm going down a new path and trying to preserve patterns. Funny how we change, huh?

 Here's a couple pics of the details. First, the buttons; snowflakes for the snowflake pattern on the material. Too much? Eh, S likes it so who cares, right? It's not like she's wearing it out in public anytime soon!

I know it's hard to see, but this is the detail stitching I did on the hems and such. Kinda hard for something to show up on such a busy pattern but I know I can't get away without it....it's a tradition!   ;-)

I'm  off for another week after Christmas so I'm thinking I might try and get C's costume pictures up.

I'm not sure what's next on my sewing list. Not that I don't have anything to do, it's just that after a busy sewing for Hallowe'en and then pyjamas I'm going to need either something easy or something that really engages me to get me back to the machine.

Of course I'd also like a new pyjama shirt/nightgown for me...... I have the pattern and I plan to use bits left over from the girls pyjamas from years gone by. With 2 girls and making pyjamas for at least 10 years, I should have enough, right?

Hmmm, maybe I should go find out.........

Wednesday Already?

Well, my plan with blogging although vague, I'm pretty sure included posting once a week, probably on the weekends.

As you can see this weekend.....it didn't happen.

Probably because I got no real sewing done. :-(

I did get some mindless prep work done though so that's good. Both sets of flannel for Christmas pj's are ironed and ready.

Christmas pj's are a tradition I started when C was .....maybe 2? So 11 years or so now. I actually got the idea from a book. The girls each get a set of new pj's (or nightgown or whatever) and they get to open them on Christmas Eve.

It's silly really as they pick out the material and now the patterns and yet, somehow, it satisfies the need for something to open early. Go figure.

I did get *something* done though which was good. I finished spinning up the Mulled Wine I got in September. I got it plied up too. Amazingly enough that means that I have spun and plied everything I've bought this year! And stuff from last year too. Isn't that amazing?!?!? Trust me, it is. Especially since I've gotten stuff at 3 events this year.

Here's a pic of the spun and plied Mulled Wine.

I don't know if you can really see the colours but it's gorgeous. Mostly a deep red with the odd bit of purple and then some hints or orange (which really kinda spun out).

As usually I have no idea what I will do with it. Maybe mittens? Anyone have any ideas?

Well, time to sign off, I have to get a good nights rest as tomorrow is my last day before vacation. I'm home for the first bit and then it's off to Disney! Just over a week away. I'm finally getting excited. Wheeeeeeee

No Sewing Sunday

Lot's of sewing planned for yesterday and not a bit of it done :-(

But I did get more spinning done, so the day wasn't a total loss. I bought some pretty pencil roving at my last Spin-In in September and I'm almost done spinning it. Which is pretty amazing since it's a 1/2 lb (I think that's the biggest lot I've ever bought) and I only bought it in September. I have no idea of the breed of sheep this came off, it's from Louet and says 100% wool top. Not very helpful huh?

Oh well, doesn't matter, it's still a nice roving to spin and that's what counts. It's a lovely colour too. It's called Mulled Wine. It's a deep red with some purple and bits of yellow. The yellow is pretty bright in the roving but muted in the spun yarn. I like it like that personally but I might have been disappointed if I wanted that bright contrast.

If I get a couple of quiet evenings this week I might even get this done and then wonders of wonders, I will have spun up BOTH batches of wool I bought in September. Spun up in the same year?!?!?! That's a bloody miracle! Now if only I could actually get something made with it. LOL But I guess for me, the fun is in the spinning. Hmmmmm

A Busy Saturday

It's feeling like it's been a long day today. I'm not sure why, but as I reflect...yeah, I've gotten a fair bit done today
First yesterday; while watching Ghost Whisperer I finished up the spinning and the plying of the lilac BFL. This is a pic of it spun up and waiting on my big wheel. I say big not because of it's footprint but the orifice and bobbin size. Huge compared to my other wheel. My spinwell has a really small orifice and that can be a problem for me as I like to spin thick a lot.

I'm not sure what I'm going to make with this but it's destined to be something to cuddle in! This wool is sooooooo soft.

This morning I started working on the hood for S's coat. Here's a pic of the finished coat from this morning.

This was part of S's Hallowe'en costume (she was a police officer) but I have to admit it didn't have all the buttons on for trick or treating. Which is pretty typical of me! LOL

It's made from Kwik Sew 2749 which is an older pattern that I bought from Shiela at Out of the Ashes

http://www.risingfeenix.com/

I had known that I wanted a pea coat style for S for her costume but couldn't find one. Lucky for me I stumbled upon Out of the Ashes. Not only did she have what I needed, she was wonderful to order from, she shipped to Canada and the pattern when it came was wrapped so wonderfully it was like getting a gift in the mail!

But the pattern had no hood and here that's a necessity. So I started mucking about with ideas in my head this week. Some things I decided are; it needs to be removable so I need to figure out how to attach it after the fact - buttons and elastic are what I've decided upon,  2nd I want to make it warm but not heavy so wool outer and polar fleece inner, 3rd,  I have no pattern so I'm going to have to figure something out. Yikes!

I started with a pattern from a Hallowe'en costume with a "head" but a trial of that led to the discovery that it really wasn't deep enough for a hood. Thought #1 down the drain.

Then I decided to let my brain work a little longer while I did some web surfing and some reading and then shopping. The surfing led to - you need a curved bottom edge, but no patterns. The reading led to - I don't like the hood designs in any of my sewing books that I can find. The shopping led me to 2 Burda patterns; one with a hood. hmmmmm, let's see what I can do with that.

So I did. I traced out the smallest size, reshaped the front edge (it wrapped about the front of the coat more than I needed), trimmed some off the top, and then some more before I was happy with.

Turns out that it was a good thing I trimmed - the pattern I ended up with *just* fit in the piece of black polar fleece I found. And people say keeping the left-over material is silly. hmpf! I'll have them know that material was left over from C's FIRST Hallowe'en costume.....12 years ago!

I basted that up and it looks okay so the wool is now cut and everything is basted together. Tomorrow I hope to see where the elastic loops need to go for the buttons and then get it finished in time for Monday and walking to school. It's Monday so it will probably rain and hoods are nice when it rains.

That's it for tonight. The dog is walked the dishes are put away and it's time for bed.

TTFN

A Quiet day off

Nothing special got accomplished today although I did get a couple of little jobs off the to-do list.

Another adjustment was made to the dog's coat. Hopefully this will be the last one as, honestly, fixing stuff is my least favorite type of sewing. I have already put a buckle across the front as the velcro just wasn't cutting it and now a buckle and some elastic is in the belly band. I hope that will help until such time as I can find the pattern and make Scooby a new bigger coat. Although it's a large this one just doesn't seem to be big enough; especially around the neck.
Do dogs get the thick neck that horses get if they're not neutered? We got Scooby when he was (supposedly) 2 and he wasn't neutered so ....would that make his neck thicker than normal? Thicker than the pattern would have expected?
If anyone knows, feel free to enlighten me!

I also got the dress cover done for C's dress that we found. It's a gorgeous wedding dress we found at a local store. It's in great shape and they only wanted $50 for it!
Compare that to an older dress with stains and damaged beading at another thrift store in town - $125!!!!!
We got a steal and we know it!
Because of that I wanted to protect it so it now has a zippered cover that used to be a sheet. LOL It's nothing fancy, just a sheet sewed up the side with a zipper in the bottocm and a fitted top to go down over the hanger. I'm not sure what we're going to use the dress for; Hallowe'en maybe? But we want it to be nice when we decide.

No other sewing done today but I did get some spinning done. I haven't spun in a while so it was nice to sit down, watch the rest of NCIS and NCIS: LA and have a quiet spin. The girls were downstairs so it was the perfect relaxing moment. The wool is a lovely lilac and mauve BFL that I bought in April at a local event. We went looking for some fibre for S's rug that I was making and I couldn't resist the colour and softness of this bundle. I bought the one she had all weighed out and the rest of it before she even had it ready for sale. LOL
I'm spinning it rather thick and I have no idea what it's going to end up being, but here's a look at it on the wheel.

It's just about time to walk the dog, we'll see if I can get a picture of his fixed coat. TTFN