wallet tutorial

All right!  Another post within the month!!  Whatever...  So, my friend had her birthday party the other night, and I decided to make her a wallet as a gift out of some cute comic strip fabric that I snagged from my mom...according to her, a friend gave it to her when my older brother was born - wow, that stuff is old.  Well sort of.  Anyway, this would be a great project for a tiny amount of some cool fabric, or just fabric that couldn't possibly be much else  (comic strip canvas shorts, anyone?)  and the outside is also plain enough that you could easily do some cool stuff with stencils, applique, embroidery - the possibilities are endless!!!  So, yeah... I can't wait to try some other things with it myself.

Features of this fabulous wallet include: 

1. customizable exterior
2. top zipper
3. two inner patch pockets, sized appropriately for a checkbook or cash
4. an inner zippered pocket for change or other things
5. six credit card-sized pockets
6. very roomy main compartment

You could also add an exterior zippered pocket on the back, but I didn't in this case

Materials:

• roughly two square feet of fabric - canvas or wool or some other bottom weight fabric is best
• one square foot or so lining - cotton shirting is easier to work with than regular lining fabric
• two eight or nine inch zippers

I am using  recycled zippers, since I tear apart enough old clothes to have zippers for a lifetime - not really actually, they hardly ever match, but I use them when I can, or just don't have new ones sitting around, like now...

All of the pieces are just rectangles, so it's pretty easy to cut everything out:

• Outside: large rectangle (upper right corner) - 11"x6", x2 fabric, x2 lining
• Inside pockets: smaller rectangle (upper left corner) - 9"x5", x2 fabric, x2 lining
• Card pockets: smallest rectangle (above zippers) - 9"x3", x3 fabric
• 2" square (not shown) - x1 fabric
• a length of 1 1/4" fabric for double-folded tape, maybe about 12-14" or so

Sew the 2" square to the bottom end of zipper (the one intended for the top) double-folded like a piece of binding:

Press top of card pocket pieces under 1/2" and sew.

Pin one to one of the fabric pocket pieces (smaller rectangle) roughly halfway down.  Using a card as a guide, pin where the bottom should be stitched.  Sew straight across.

Sew the other two so that they are evenly spaced down the front, and the uppermost one's bottom edge lines up with the edge of the large piece:

Sew from top card pocket down to bottom edge right in the center (backstitch top):

 

 Now lay one of the lining pocket pieces face down over the thing just completed (face up).  Sew around, leaving a 4" or so opening at the top.  Trim and turn.  (Yeah, I made my opening too small so it took me like 20 minutes just to turn it)

Press.  Pin across top and topstitch (just top), closing the opening.  Pin in the center of the large lining outer piece and sew around sides and bottom, backstitching tops.

Now the small zipper pocket.  Some of you may know how to  insert a zipper, but I used to find it really confusing, so I'll attempt to explain it...Hopefully I won't make it more confusing!

Carefully mark a long skinny rectangle on the back of the other fabric pocket piece that is one and a half inches from the top and sides, and is 1/2 inch wide.  Baste along these lines, carefully and exactly, and then slash it open as shown.

Look at the zipper and note where 1/4" from center is - measure how far from the edge that is.  If you have a one inch wide zipper, you know that you need to sew 1/4" in from edge.  Since the slash is 1/4 inch wide, I can just line them up and sew along basting.  If it's a little more or less, just make sure that place where it's 1/4" from center lines up with the basting stitches in next step.

Lay zipper face down over slashed opening and pin - I somehow didn't take a picture of this, so I'll try to explain the best I can - you have the fabric piece face up with the slashed opening on the top.  Hold the zipper so that it is face down.  Place so that the lower edge of the face-down zipper lines up with the slashed edge of the opening, which is pointing downward from the top.  Pin in place, making sure they are exactly straight, and turn over and sew directly over the basting stitches, but only on the one straight line, and backstitching at each end.  Pull zipper through to back.  It should look like this:

Pull the other slashed thing (you can see it in the picture above) over the other side of the zipper and pin:

Sew along the basting stitches again, making sure everything is perfectly straight and in line.  You can do the same thing you just did with the little triangles on the short sides, which you would do if you didn't want to have topstitching on the front.  Since I'm going to topstitch, I'll skip this step.  Just pin everything in place, making sure the little triangles are tucked neatly under and topstitch through all layers.

 

Sew the lining to this right sides together leaving an opening, turn, sew the top, then sew sides and bottom onto large lining piece, backstitching top edges, just as you did with the other pocket.

Okay, so here I kinda messed up the order of how this sort of thing goes together.  I sewed the bottoms of the outside together and then did the zipper.  Basically, if you want to topstitch along the bottom, as I did, do it this way, but topstitching along the top will be a lot harder and will probably be messy, as mine was, a little.  So I'm going to show it the other way, zipper first, then the bottom, because the zipper topstitching is more important and you can just press the bottom.

Pin the zipper face down to the top of one of the outside fabric pieces as shown.  I have it here 1 1/2" from each side and 1/2" from top, but in retrospect I think it would be better to have more like 1 1/4" or even just 1" from the sides and 3/8" from the top.  If you want it to look exactly like mine, by all means do it the other way, but I had to sew over a 1" seam allowance on the sides because I put the zipper too far in.  Pin the other end in a curve as shown.

Lay the lining piece face down over this, lining up the edge with the edge of the fabric piece;  if you're crazy about doing everything perfectly without any shortcuts, you can baste the zipper first, but I didn't.  I would just suggest that you don't take the pins holding the zipper on out when you pin the lining on, and you HAVE to make sure that the zipper is a specific distance from the edge, and that you sew a larger amount - so in my case, I had 1/2" space, and I sewed 5/8".  That was cutting it really close though, so that's why I think it would be better to have 3/8 and 5/8.

Sew through all layers 5/8", turn, and topstitch.

Do the same thing with the other side.  You should end up with two sides - each with their lining, fabric, and pockets - separated by the zipper.  With the outside of the wallet facing up, lift each fabric section up till they meet and pin - they'll be right sides together.  Sew straight across the bottom.  Repeat for the lining.

The result will look kinda weird, like it might not turn right side out properly, but that's fine:

Work with it a little until you have turned it inside out, just like the finished wallet would be turned inside out but with open sides - it will be easier if you have it unzipped.

Pin the sides together, carefully matching tops, and sew through all layers.  Trim and apply a strip of double folded fabric tape to finish - I just made my own with the lining fabric.  All you do is cut a strip about 3/4 of an inch longer than the sides, and 1 1/4" wide, press in half, then press each side in half towards center so that there is no raw edges showing.  Pin it around the raw edges of the side seam, fold excess down, and sew through all thicknesses.

So there it is!  Enjoy.  And I am working on the tutorial for the shirt like I promised!  It is sitting in pieces waiting to be sewn as we speak...

shawl

Here is the shawl that took me forever.  The pattern is the Cyrcus Rectangular Shawl pattern, a free Ravelry download from Madeline Wardrobe.  The pattern was not what I would call easy, but I got through it :D  Anyway, my grandma is happy with it and I am almost tempted to take another three months out of my life to knit another one - it would have to be for my mom though because now she wants one too.

I like it best myself worn loosely around my neck as a scarf.  The cashmere yarn is so soft!

stripes again...

yeah I know what you are thinking...I know, it's sad...I have just not been sewing much.  I actually have spent the past, like, three months working on this shawl for my grandma - which is ready just in time for our triple-digit summer!  Oops...

So on a more positive note:

Yes, stripes, again.  I just have a thing for stripes.  The fabric was something I saw at a thrift store that I just had to get, and the pattern is improvised, based very very loosely on a favorite shirt from Forever 21 - actually, they don't have anything in common except for the dropped sleeves.

I did not photograph what I did, but I am planning on making one with some drapey off-white loose knit - gorgeous!   So yup, stay tuned, I'll do a tutorial then.  Knowing me though, who knows when that will be...jk

See my plastic spoon flower?  Yeah, cool huh?  I saw a glimpse of a blog that had it, and it was like in French or something, and it was a long time ago, but I had to try it, and I think it looks really cool!  It's just super bulky and makes a sound like, well, plastic spoons.  And a couple of petals fell off.  You just bread off the handles and melt them over a candle till they get floppy, then melt the broken part and stick 'em together.  Voila! 

You can also expect to be banished to the backyard if you happen to live with anyone with a sense of smell...sorry.

 

As you can see, it has a drawstring, which is because the curve in back ended up very odd-shaped and I knew it would be fixed if the front were narrower - hence the drawstring.  I think that doing a little stitch-in-the-ditch on the side seams will fix the problem I have with the fullness going into the back and making it all wrinkly and weird looking.

Hope you like it!  And I really do apologize for my uh, laziness I guess.

marshmallow lace free knitting pattern

Hi everyone!  I have gotten a couple of comments on my marshmallow lace pullover on Ravelry saying that the it was confusing, so I wanted to say a couple things about the pattern - first of all, if you've tried it, please please let me know what I need to do to make it clearer!  It would mean so much if you could help me with that! I write patterns all the time (in the cooler months) and would love to share them, but just don't have the experience with writing them in a traditional, readable-for-people-other-than-me format.  If you can get in touch with me it would be AMAZING. 

So, anyway, I'm going to be rewriting the pattern while knitting it in the next few weeks with you all in mind, so where I wrote it badly hopefully it will be much better!  If you have been planning to try it, I'd suggest maybe waiting until I've rewritten it.  This is really high on the priority list so it shouldn't take too long (when I first knit it, it was for the competition, and I actually had to reknit it two days before I had to send it off - so I can knit it fast, I just have to buy some yarn).

Sorry bout all this, folks.  Because of the time constraint, I wrote the pattern after knitting it, which is probable why it was messed up.  Hope you'll give it a try when it's all fixed up!!  Below is the pattern as it was, so if you are super anxious about trying it, you can take a whack at it of you so desire - be warned!  Nah, hopefully it wasn't that bad.  Anyway, I'll be posting the updated version in a few weeks so follow my blog so you'll know when it's up.  I'll delete this one then (after updating ravelry, of course).


Here is the pattern for the lace pullover that I made, as promised.  It's a very loose fitting pullover, as you can see in the picture.  Be warned, this is my first sweater pattern that I am posting, so I'm not sure if the grading is quite right.  Be sure to look carefully at the finished measurements and the diagram, and also keep in mind if you do want to alter the width of the pattern that you can do that just by adding or subtracting 6 stitches to the underarm section, which is equal to a pattern repeat.  Hope you like it!

Diamond lace pullover

Sizes: S/M, M/L, L/XL

Materials:

• approx. 600 (700, 800) yards bulky weight wool/wool blend yarn (I used recycled yarn, so the amount is not for sure, but this should be way more than you need)
• size US 17 circular and double-pointed needles
• size US 10.5 circular and double-pointed needles

Gauge:  7 stitches, 13 rows to four inches in diamond lace pattern on larger needles

Finished measurements:  bust, 40” (46, 52); length, 24”

terms:

• yo—yarn over
• k2t—knit two together
• k2tbl—slip two stitches knitwise, insert left needle, knit
• k3t—slip one stitch, knit next two stitches together, pass slip stitch over

Using the smaller needles, loosely cast on 74 stitches. Join for knitting in the round.  Place marker.

k2, p2 around for 8 to 10 rounds.

decrease round—with larger needles, *k2, k2t* until you reach the last four stitches before marker, k4.

Now we start the lace.  The neckline has short row shaping, as well as the raglan shaping, so we'll separate the neckline portion of the lace into three sections: back, front shoulder a, front shoulder b.  These are worked and then the piece is worked in the round.

Note:  every time the pattern says to turn, start by passing yarn to other side, then slip one stitch, pass yarn back, slip stitch back, and then turn.  This wraps a loop of yarn around one stitch, which prevents a hole from forming where you turn the work.

Turn work.  Remove marker.  The type of increases that we're doing doesn't allow for a regular marker, but you can tie a contrast bit of yarn a row down to mark the beginning round.  You may have to untie it and move it up as you go.  We'll call the yarn overs that are done over the markers “yom” to distinguish them.

Row 1 (wrong side): Purl 15 stitches.  Turn.

Row 2 (right side): knit 2, yo (yom), tie a marker below, k5, yo, k2t, k4, yom, k3, picking up one.  Turn.

Row 3 and all wrong side rows: *purl to marker, k1 p1 into that yom*, p 3. Turn.

Row 4: k1, k2tbl, yo, k1, yom, *k1, yo, k2t, k1, k2tbl, yo* 2 times, k1, yom, k1, yo, k2t, k2. Turn

Row 6: k1, k2tbl, yo, k3, yom, *k3, yo, k3t, yo* 2 times, k3, yom, k3, yo, k2t, k2. Turn.

Row 8: k1, k2tbl, yo, k5, yom, k5, *yo, k2t, k 4* 2 times, yom, k5, yo, k2t, k2.  Turn.

Row 10: k1, k2tbl, yo, k1, yo, k2t, k1, k2tbl, yo, k1, yom, *k1, yo, k2t, k1, k2tbl, yo* 3 times, k1, yom, k1, k2tbl, yo, k1, yo, k2t, k2.  Turn.

There are now 42 stitches.  

Shoulder A:

Row 1: *purl to m, k1p1 into yom* two times, p 20.  Now we're doing shoulder a.

Row 2: k2, yom, tie marker below, k2.  Turn.

Row 3: p2, k1p1 into yom, p3.  Turn.

Row 4: k1, k2tbl, yo, k1, yom, k1, yo, k2t, k2.  Turn.

There are now 58 stitches.

Shoulder B: Repeat shoulder A exactly, starting with p20, etc.

We're now ready to start working in the round.  You may notice that the beginning of the round is now in the middle of the sleeve, which is not a good place, but we're going to move it to the front shoulder raglan, where you won't be able to tell.  Here's what we do:

So we are ready to do a worked row  in the round.  Go ahead and work in pattern (see charts) around until you get to the front shoulder seam that is just before the beginning of the round.  This is going to be our new beginning of round.  Untie the marker and tie a new one on that is a different color to distinguish this shoulder. When you do the increase, do the yom at the end of the worked round, then switch to just knitting, so the change is really just after the increase.  You can't tell at all that there is anything different here once it's all finished.

Work in pattern until you have almost three full diamonds along the front shaping.  End with row 13 (worked round is next).  The last stitch we did is the p1 into the yom; slip it to the other needle.  Slip all of the shoulder stitches onto a holder—that means to the spot where we would do the yom, in between the k1 and the p1 into the yom before.  With the working strand of yarn, CO 3 (9, 15) stitches, and continue in pattern until you get to the next marker.  Do the same as with the first shoulder.  Continue working until you come to the other underarm.

The beginning of the round will now be 2 (5, 7) stitches into the cast on stitches.  Continue working until you have finished a total of three diamonds from center front, and then one more repeat up to round 11—or you can slip the stitches onto a piece of yarn and try it on to see if you like the length.

Switching to smaller needles, *k1, k1p1 into next stitch, p1* around.  K2, p2 ten to twelve rounds.

Bind off.

Congratulations!  You have now successfully finished the body!

Sleeves:

Tie a strand down at the beginning of the shoulder section.  Work in pattern across.  CO 3 (9, 15) stitches, join for working in round.  The beginning of the round will be 2 (5, 7) stitches into the cast on stitches.  Do the next round; tie a piece of string around the center stitch in the underarm.  Tie it like we did for the other markers.  Work the next two rounds, but stop at one stitch away from the center stitch.  At the end of every non-worked round, we're going to k3t—that decreases one stitch from each side of the center stitch.  Continue like this until you have 18 (24) stitches, then work straight until there are 4 and a half diamonds, or again you can try it on to see if you like the length.

Changing to smaller needles, *k1, k1p1 into next stitch, p1* around.  Continue for 10-12 rounds.

Bind off loosely. 

Here are the charts.  Yep, real high tech images lol!  But that's how I make patterns.

wool competition

Wow, it's been a long time.  Sorry folks.  Things get busy.  Funny thing though is that I've got a lot of stuff that is just starting now, so I'm not really getting less busy, but for all that I am determined to stick with blogging!

So, yeah, a couple weeks ago I entered into a competition and won first place in my category! =D  I had a blast.  The competition is designed to help promote the beauty and versatility of wool products and stuff like that.  This time, I made a pair of shorts out of some herringbone wool that have details similar to this pair, and I also knit a sweater from some bulky recycled wool yarn that I love.

Sorry for the bad pic!  You know, lighting.  I love the outfit, but as far as it goes, the shorts weren't the best thing I ever sewed.  They might not take me to nationals, anyway.  But life goes on, and I adore the sweater.

And, I wrote the pattern!  Right now I'm working on writing it out so that I can put it up for you all.  I figured out the lace and everything!  I'm not sure how long it will take before I can post it, hopefully within the next week.

some art

I thought it might be cool to share some of my artwork.  I've actually been drawing for much, much longer than I've been sewing or knitting, and in my personal life that is more what people know me for.  So these are some of my more successful drawings that I have done:

This is one of few that came out of my head, but it's sort of inspired by some Eischer art that I've been forever fascinated by.  My perspective looks off because of the camera angle and then trying to crop it, but it's not too bad in real life.

Here is one that is a copy of a photo from an old nat geo magazine. The sky in the photo was not so unrealistically bright looking, though!  This one is in oil pastels. I love the heavy, heavy contrast that the pastels give, which is definitely missing in this next one:

This one is done in crayons, just your eight basic crayola colors.  They didn't have the sharpness and softness to give the sharp edges and deep shadows, and it doesn't quite capture the gloominess of the photo (this is also from the same magazine).  I added some edges with a marker, but it didn't quite do it.

 

These two drawings are from a phase when I was copying a bunch of cool photos from this one magazine.  There are a few more, actually.  Another time!

drawstring cami tutorial

Here is a tutorial for this top:

It is super easy and it only took me maybe twenty minutes to put together.  So, here's what you need:

A big tee shirt.  For this one, it should be a good deal bigger than your bust measurement, but exact measurements are not that important.

First, cut it across under the arms, for a large tube.  Cut a one inch strip from the top.  This is for the drawstring straps, which should be long enough.  I had to cut excess off myself.  But, if you're working with a shirt that is closer to your size and not so big as this one, you may need to cut some extra length from the top of the shirt.

Cut the underarms.  For me, this is a 3" deep, 3" wide curve in the fabric when it is folded.  You can use another shirt as a guide if you think this is not the right size.

cut a curve out of the front.  mine is 2" deep, just a gentle curve from the center front to the top of the underarm.

So you see this is the blue version, but that doesn't matter. Fold and sew the edges of the underarms.  Maybe there are more professional ways to finish an underarm of a knit garment, but this works, and it's good not to have too much bulk since the drawstring has to pass through.

Ignoring the zipper in the picture, fold both front and back top edges 3/4" under.  It's not important to be exact, it just needs to be big enough for the drawstring.  Sew 5/8" in.

Sew the drawstring.  You'll have to cut it, since it is a big loop.  turn it.  It's a lot easier to turn it if you use a safety pin and crochet hook.  If the fabric is stretchy or if the stitches tore while turning, you can stitch down the center to reinforce it.  Thread through the front and back casings.  This is easier with a safety pin and crochet hook, too.  Fit it to yourself and sew the two ends of the drawstring together.  you can arrange it so that the sewn part is inside the back casing, not showing.

I added a pocket to mine, which you can do if you like.  I cut it from the sleeve so that the stitching would match.   I was not exact with any of it, I just cut and pinned till I liked how it looked, and tapered it in 1/4" at the bottom so that it was slightly drapy on the top. 

So yeah, there you have it!  Enjoy!