How come?

People now use the word "sewist" instead of "sewer"?  I'm not a sewist; I'm a woman who sews, badly, but I persevere.  My mom would never use the word "sewist".  She was a sewer.  Oh wait, could the problem be that sewer could also mean the place where sewage goes?  Ack.   Do we say that a knitter is a "knitist", or that a crocheter is a "crochetist"?  Strange, bizarre. 

Way back in the middle ages, when I began to embroider (stitch?), those who did this were called "embroiderers".  Then somehow, embroidery became a no-no, and so people then became "stitchers".  I don't think they've become "stitchists" yet, but I could be wrong.

Enough of this bloedel (badly typed Viennese German for "foolishness")!   Here is what this sewer, sewist, sewing person made this week.  Notice that you are looking at the good side of the garments, and not at the inside or the backs.  Velcro and I have a hard time together, but the dolls don't care.

Left outfit:  The t-shirt is made from an old tee of mine.   What I learned:  Don't forget to change your needle to a ball-point needle; use the actual hem of my tee to make the hem of the shirt.  Sometimes I'm smart.  I should have used that part of the shirt also for the sleeves.  Next one.

Middle outfit:  This is a cutie tee shirt from Liberty Jane that I lengthened into a dress length and added a border to match the sleeves and belt.  The real pattern has elastic around the sleeves, but I'm too lazy to do that and anyhow, it's easier to get on the doll this way and more fun to do.  If you take the belt off, it looks like a nightie.  Hey, a multi-purpose dress!

The dress on the right drove me bananas!  It has a complex instruction (at least to my non-sewer/sewist mind) of doing the waistband.  Never again.  I like the dress, but the next time I do it, I'm attaching the gathered skirt to the bodice, and then making a little belt that I'll either sew on, or tie on in the back, maybe with ribbon.

So now, when Miss P comes, she'll have 5 new outfits to use on the girls.

And now here is my very first quilt top.  I haven't gotten the courage up to start the quilting process.  Right now I'm admiring it as it.  Yep, there are places where the points don't come together, and my perfectionist self finds every one of them, but I like it, and am not ripping it out.  I hope I'll get better as I do more of these, but I'm afraid that this is my peak patchwork talent.

The fool thing came out smaller than it was supposed to (and I'm not surprised at this.  I told you that this is not my great talent.), so then I had to fudge all the borders, but as a good knitter, I can fudge with the best of them.  If you embiggen it, you'll see my non-meeting points. Just smile and look at the rest of it.

I've loved doing this so much, that I've cut out another Schnibble pattern, with 10 zillion little pieces attached to the corners of blocks, stitched, and then cut.  I spent a chunk of time just drawing the sewing line on the little pieces.  I think the best part of all this patchwork stuff is handling the fabric and admiring it.

Did you take a peak at yesterday's post about brand new Lili Lace Yarn?  Go and do it.  The pics on the blog are 100 times better than the ones in the Etsy shop!

Sharon V - You poor thing, if you think you can learn something from me when it comes to sewing. I'm a frogging sewer, and everything I sew, gets a couple of seams ripped, sometimes more than once. But I'm having fun, and the grands are a bit impressed.

Go, grab a towel.

Why? Because you'll need it when you look at the latest lace yarn and colorways! This is drool city here! The pictures will not do the yarns justice, but then they never do. In real life, there is so much vitality to each colorway. And if you don't buy them, then they are Mine, all Mine! Mwahahahaha!

The new yarn is called Lili Yarn: 100 grams, approx 875 yards, 100% SW merino*, and a slightly heavier lace weight than my usual lace yarns. If you've been reluctant to try lace yarns, this is a great place to begin. There's more heft to Lili Yarn, and yet it still is pretty skinny. I'm knitting up a design on it, very very early stages, and as usual I've frogged it at least 5 times. The yarn looks as good as new, and is so pleasant to work with. I may never go back to lighter lace yarn again!  Price?  $33 a skein of incredible wonderful yarn, hand dyed by me, and in one-of-a-kind colorways. 

*About that superwash merino: I would never wash a shawl in the washing machine, especially one is lace weight yarn. So why even buy sw yarn for dyeing? Because it takes color so quickly and so easily, and I love dyeing it. So it's there for your information, but I never machine wash lace.

So here's the yarn.  Get your towel ready so you don't get your keyboard soggy!  You might want to click on them to get the full effect.  Each colorway consists of at least 2 colors, and  the greens have 3-4 colors in each skein.

In order: Carnation, Pink, Grape Juice, and Wild Orchid.

In order: Sea Spell, Evergreen, and Grass.

In order: Toffee, Rose Bouquet,  and Light Coral.

OK, all yarns are now posted in my Etsy Shop.  Go forth and buy!

Henya - I live to be a wicked enabler!