The Last Free Knittn' Kitten Project: It's all about the Doilies

I wish I could crochet.

But I can't. I've tried to learn, and someday, I will, but it's just not happening right now.

I did get this amazing book by Linda Permann called Crochet Adorned - which is just chock full of the most amazing ways to incorporate crochet into pre-made garments as embellishments - and by following her instructions - which are very good - I managed to do a chain stitch. And I started trying to crochet into it. That pitiful little chain has sat ignored now for at least two months.


What happened next is that I picked up Generation T: Beyond Fashion by Megan Nicolay after a trip to the Knittn' Kitten (Portland's own crafty thrift store - I go on about it in depth here) and had an incredible brainstorm - a way to make myself a scarf that incorporated crochet - totally recycled, and without crocheting a stitch myself!

Doilies my friend, the answer is doilies.

And the result is this nifty doily scarf made from crocheted doilies from the Knittn' Kitten and a bunch of old t-shirts.



And yes, you can learn how to make it by dropping by the Knittn' Kitten and picking up the free project sheet - and while you're there, you can buy a few doilies or other other lacy tidbits and maybe some knit fabric at incredibly low prices. Ethel, one of the owners, showed me some knit velvet and velours that I think would work very nicely for this project . . .

Of course, the project sheet has a few bonuses - 'cause, well, doilies are just utterly inspirational. See, you can use them as stencils. . .

How could I resist?

And, if you missed the other free project sheets available at your favorite local crafty thrift store, it's not too late! I was in the other day picking up a few things . . . and found project sheets for all the projects to date (I picked up Sister Diane's tea towel pattern) - as well as some nifty beads and baubles:


For those of you who are just dying for all seven of the amazing Knittn' Kitten tutorials from such local luminaries as Heather Mann of DollarStoreCrafts, Teresa Sullivan, Diane Gilleland of CraftyPod, Joey Groendes, Christine Blystone, Susan Beal, Lee Meredith, and well, me, but don't live in town - you're in luck! Towards the end of November, all of these projects will be available as an e-Book from Sister Diane.

Or, if you're in a hurry for the crafty goodness, check out the e-Book Crafty Tree Trimmings - it's another collaborative of crafty instructions benefiting a good cause - 15% of sales go to Project Linus!

DEMO! Sun Dress Reconstruction

Yup, it's time for another DEMO - this one inspired by a commitment I made a month ago to not buy any new clothes for six months! I'm really wanting to embrace a consume less, create more mentality . . . but I love clothes. And I buy a lot of them. Like this stretchy knit sun dress from Target.

And some of them don't work out. Cute in the store, cute in the dressing room, not so much later on. A little too much arm showing, and well, hard to wear a bra under. Which I, er, need. But the fabric is pretty cool. And I liked the neckline and the dropped waist. So, I started cutting it apart.

DEMO: Sundress Reconstruction

So, this sun dress became a shirt! Poof! New clothes without buying any new clothes.

First, I cut the skirt off.

Then I cut the skirt in half - giving me what would become the two full sleeve parts.

I took the bottom of the skirt half, and lined the hemmed end up with the armholes of the dress.

I pinned the dress bottom/sleeves to the dress straps and the body of the dress. I didn't stitch the sleeve into a tube because I wanted to allow for the stretch in the fabric and make sure the sleeve lined up with the arm straps.

And I stitched the sleeve down - and then overlapped the edges so I could sew the arm up later.

Here, I've got both of the sleeves sewn onto the body of the garment, and the sleeves pinned into proper tubes. I did a top stitch on the right side of the garment.

Here, you can see the seam - and the hem on the sleeves.

I stitched the hem on the sleeves into a tube, and left a little slot open so that . . .

I could thread elastic through it! My favorite way to get elastic through a casing is to put a safety pin through the elastic and then use that to push through the casing.

Then I just tied the elastic in a square knot, and sealed up the casing.

Then I used a stitch ripper to take out the elastic that was putting gathers in the back of the dress.

Poof! It's a top! With sleeves!

And here I am! With upper arms fully covered - Phew! And I didn't have to buy a new shirt . . . one month down, five to go.

More Positive Thinking . . .

I've had the heat on the last few days . . . and I wore a turtleneck on Memorial Day. In spite of the unseasonably cold weather (and my constant whining about the lack of sun) I am still thinking about summer clothes. My bedroom floor is littered with sandals and espadrilles, I've been wearing capris, and I am obsessed with little summer dresses. I spotted one kind of like this at Target (though now I can't find it on their website):


They didn't have one at my local store that fit, so I picked up some funky fabrics at Fabric Depot and decided to make my own! The style is so simple - basically, it's a big tube with elastic around the waist/hips and adjustable shoulder straps fed through a casing at the top of the tube . . . The fabrics I got are both from Robert Kaufman. I was looking for cotton knits with funky patterns, but found these spandex blends instead. They way they drape is really cool . . .



I just hope they don't end up as UFO's!* My guess though is that I'll have them done in time for warm weather. Like, maybe next year.

*UnFinished Objects

DEMO! Sweater Reconstruction

It's time for another crafty demo, this one inspired by my love of (slightly) wacky clothes and my (slightly) compulsive shopping habit . . . How many of you out there (be honest now!) have clothing currently in your closet that you purchased with the best of intentions . . . and have never actually worn? It can be new or scavenged from the Goodwill; it can be something that seemed great at the time or that was purchased because "it's cheap and it'll work if I just tweak it a little bit." The issue of the gifted or inherited garment can be handled with much less guilt . . . and Sweet Sassafras does it with such style here . . .

I, however, have many of these high-guilt purchased items. One that has been nagging at my conscience is a baggy striped sweater purchased at Old Navy. It filled me with visions of 80's-inspired funk and hipness and legging-clad comfort when I bought it. In truth, every time I tried it on as part of an actual outfit, it was comfortable but it made me feel . . . frumpy. Here's the sweater:


So, after the last time I tried it on several weeks ago, I got crafty. Well, actually, I just pulled the scissors out and attacked the sweater. This has, luckily for us all, resulted in an actual demo - yes, something you CAN safely try at home . . .

DEMO: Sweater Reconstruction


Normally, cutting into a sweater is a quick path to running, unraveling madness. Two big exceptions: wool sweaters that have been "felted" or "fulled" by washing them with detergent in hot water and then dried or sweaters that have a very fine knit like a t-shirt. This particular sweater has a very fine knit - while cutting should be done with caution in these cases, it can be done. Here, I cut the sweater off about 8" under the armpit - removing a 10" length of sweater tube from the bottom of the sweater.


Next, I turned the tube inside out, and did a rough measurement of its circumference as compared to the circumference of the sweater's neck opening . . . Yes! The sweater tube could become a cowl neck! (If you have a tendency towards sanity, you will do the measuring bit before you cut into the sweater.)


Finding that they were pretty close, I pinned the sweater tube to the sweater's neck. I started by lining up one side seam (the one with the tag) with the back of the neck, and lining up the other side seam with the point of the "v" in the front of the sweater. Then, I pinned them in place, with the "right" side of the tube meeting the "right" side of the sweater's neck. (In other words, as I pinned in the photo below, I was looking at the outside of the sweater and the inside of the tube)


Then, I pinned the rest of the tube to the neck. The tube was a little bit bigger than the neck of the sweater, and so I made and pinned a few "tucks" in the tube on each side, close to the shoulders.


Finally, I stitched the tube to the sweater's neck. I used a zig-zag stitch, and a ball point needle for knits on my sewing machine. I did two parallel rows of stitching around the neck to attach the cowl securely and to prevent unraveling. I also did a row of zig-zag stitching around the "hem." This should keep it from running. (Stretching it a bit as you stitch will result in a ruffled hem - not what I was going for!)


And here's the final product - a cropped cowl sweater worn over a long black knit tunic and jeans . . . I kind of like the way it plays with proportion, and I love the stripes. I even going to wear this out in public today to meet with Sister Diane for coffee. And I may feel a bit, er, "fluffy" in this outfit (not so slimming, really) but I sure as heck don't feel frumpy!

Mission accomplished.

Added Later for the Very Ambitious and Inspired: It would also be possible to do something similar with old t-shirts. There are some wonderful books on t-shirt reconstruction, like Generation T (a lot of designs for the young, slim, and fit - but easily adaptable and so many ideas!!) Another thing to keep in mind is that if you've got several garments - sweaters or t-shirts - with similar weights, stretchiness, and fiber content, you can mix and match. Try taking a tube and sleeves from one sweater and attaching them to another one . . . There are also some great books out there on sweater reconstruction. One of my favorites is Second-Time Cool, which has a very alterna-grrl aesthetic while providing basic info on how to do different embroidery stitches, knit and crochet! Subversive Seamster also has some great deconstruction/reconstruction ideas for thrift store finds . . . lots of eye candy and plenty of basic construction advice.