sew and tell time!

Yeah, I could just come out and tell you what the gender is. But it’s so much more fun to take this as an excuse to sew something to show it!! (Ok, so I already posted this to Instagram/the Stashbusting Sewalong group on Facebook. But this warrants a blog post too, right?)

So this is the outfit I made for Hobbit.

That’s right, it’s a boy! Doug is absolutely thrilled, since he was hoping for that outcome more than he was willing to admit, even to himself. Plus he’s excited to teach him all about hockey. I’m excited too, though I will admit that some of my first thoughts were along the lines of wondering how long I’d actually be able to sew things for him/can I still do crafty stuff with him/etc. Good thing I’ve already seen stuff on Pinterest about building toy catapults and such, because that looks fun! I’m also giving myself pep talks about all the geeky things I like that boys often also enjoy, like Tolkien and Star Wars and Legos and Marvel movies, to remind myself that I’ll be ok.

Oh, right, I should probably talk about the actual sewing project, too! This pattern is McCall’s 6494, made in a size small, which looks like about 1-3 months. Ok, so I’m guessing on that– I’m pretty new to this whole kid sewing thing! I’m hoping this will work for this summer and into September, since our Septembers are often on the warm end as well. I did have this pattern on hand, because I’ll admit that I did buy a couple in the cheap pattern Joann’s sales back when we first started talking seriously about having a kid. And I chose this one, because minimal pieces made it look like it would sew up fast! We told our family and closest friends on Monday, but this was my chosen method for the Facebook reveal, so I didn’t want anything that would take too long and risk someone accidentally letting it slip. Also, the dinosaur was fun.

The fabric is lightweight denim, left over from my Thurlow trousers. I had 1 3/4 yards of that left, and this project used up 3/4 yards of that. So I guess some little baby jeans-like pants may be in order to use up the rest–I don’t think I can squeeze anything for myself out of a yard, given that I don’t entirely have the full width of the fabric to work with due to how I cut the Thurlow legs out. I made the applique from the last scrap of the solid green that I recently made those Lord of the Rings bibs out of, plus some rick rack purloined from my mom’s stash (with her permission). Yay for stashbusting! I also had just barely enough snaps of a slightly larger size to do this. I guess I’ll need to pick up some more if I’m going to make any more baby clothes. Unless I can find snap tape at Joann’s, since I need to stop there today to check on supplies anyway. (Not fabric, for the record. Hardware for a diaper bag so I can use up some fabric.)

I did make a couple of changes to the pattern/instructions:

1. I left off the facing, because those partial facings always flip out somewhere and annoy me, no matter how careful I try to be with understitching. Also, an interfaced extra layer of denim that ends partway down the chest sounded like it wouldn’t be too comfy for a baby’s sensitive skin. (Look at me, trying to sound like I know what I’m talking about!) So I turned and topstitched those edges instead, and added a little tab on either side of the snapped shoulder to reinforce it. It looks more jeans-y that way anyway.

   (Note: I’m very, very glad I basted this first, even though it made things take longer, because I would have not caught the edge in multiple places otherwise.)

2. I did the bias tape facing for the snapped crotch lining before I hemmed it, because why wouldn’t you want to eliminate unnecessary handwork? Sewing on those 7 snaps was enough!

With that update, here’s my question for those of you with sons or nephews that you’ve made things for: any cute boys’ sewing patterns to recommend/sources for fun prints? Because my general overall lack of boy-friendly fabrics in the stash means I can justify a little bit of shopping, right?

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fabric fail

I was so excited for this project. So to say I’m a little disappointed in the outcome is an understatement. But, since I believe that the fails should be documented along with the victories–mostly so I don’t make the same mistake again later–I’m going to share the sad story of these leggings anyway. Slippers, ridiculously lightened photos since it was the only way I could show the seams, and all.

(Hey, from this angle, I don’t look pregnant at all! Anyway.)

The pattern is the Manila leggings, from the current month’s issue of Seamwork magazine. (Doug bought me a year’s pattern subscription for Christmas, which made me very happy since the whole point is quick projects, and I’m going to need those in the coming months!) I had one pair of maternity leggings, which I’ve been wearing instead of tights under the few skirts I have that fit. So I was quite happy to see this pattern and give the leggings-making thing a try, given that I just wasn’t in the mood to play connect-the-dots on my Espresso pattern to try and get a fit when I wasn’t sure what standard to use for the waist/I’d have to modify it anyway. The pattern itself is pretty simple: front piece, back piece, cute petal-like cuffs for the ankles, waistband, done. I knew I’d be altering the top to add a panel for the growing belly, but aside from that, I thought this would be a quick, straightforward make.

But I made two mistakes right away:

1. I didn’t realize that my chosen fabric–a cool denim-looking knit that I got on sale at Mood when I was making my last online purchase there–didn’t have enough stretch to work for something like this. Honestly, why would you make a knit that stretches more cross-wise, when basically every single pattern ever made would have you cutting so it stretches horizontally? Especially for something that’s pretty much screaming to be some kind of bottomwear. But still. I should have checked this more closely.
2. I also didn’t realize that, even though there is a full-length view shown in the pictures, the only view included in the pattern was the cropped version. Leggings that only come down to my upper calves are absolutely useless for anything but exercise wear. Especially this time of year.

The result? Yeah, not quite so chic as I hoped. It took so much hacking to even get these to the point where I could pull them on all the way! (And sorry for the weird looking-down pictures– I just couldn’t get the seaming to show up well enough in the others.)

What I probably should have done with the legs was add the extra length around the knees first, and then add the extra width so the stripe would be unbroken. But I did still have hopes that once I managed to get the leggings all the way around my calves, the cuffs would add enough extra length that I could get by with my boots. Didn’t happen. Neither did seam-matching, despite multiple efforts and a lot of seam ripping.  Ugh. It honestly got to the point where I was so fed up with them, that I didn’t even bother with the cute cuffs (which I wasn’t sure would stretch around my legs all the way anyway, given the way things were going) and just cut a strip to give them a sweatpants-like finish.

I was hoping that this would give me another color option to wear with skirts, though I’m not sure why, since the only skirts I have are black, denim, or that long teal one that would hide them anyway. (I’m generally of the school of thought that leggings are not pants, the fabric on my store-bought pair is way too thin for that, but for the sake of these photos, I’m wearing them as such. The things I do for the blog.) I’m not going to say they’re a wadder yet, since I can wear them on days I don’t have to leave the house, like today, and save my jeans for the days I do, but they’re definitely not a project I’m proud of.

On the plus side, the maternity panel alteration seemed to work great. Especially once I went back and cut a new panel on the cross-grain so it would actually stretch. (Yes, I know it’s not really a cross grain for knits.) It does make me feel a little better to know that, at least in this, my pattern hacking skills are beginning to improve.

I do have a decent-sized remnant of this left, which I think is probably just enough for some kind of babywear or undies, though I wouldn’t even try the latter until things are back to more of a normal state. I.e. I’m not being told to put on a pound a week. But essentially, this takes 2 yards out of the stash, for a total of 6.25 yards out so far this year.

Speaking of kid stuff– we had our ultrasound on Monday, and I know the gender now! So I cut out a simple baby outfit last night, am hoping to get it all sewn up today, and my next post should be me telling you all what we’re having. Just warning you now, because this very well could be a double-post day.

One last, unrelated, administrative-type detail– I’ve turned my Instagram into a private account, since it’s at the point where more kid-type stuff will be going up and I don’t want just anyone on the internet to be able to find it. I have still been posting a lot of crafty stuff on there, so if you are a friendly sewcialist (seriously, what other kind is there?) and want to follow, don’t be afraid to send a request! My screenname there is different than my blog/Twitter handle, but I do have a link to the profile on the sidebar.

pondering knitting

Me and knitting have reached a weird point in our relationship. I have a couple of UFOs that I just don’t feel like working on at the moment, about half of the projects in my Ravelry queue are pullover sweaters (which are obviously out for now), and I’m not really sure what to do next.

So I recently swatched for a cardigan that I already bought yarn for, the Rocky Coast from the Coastal Knits book. Amazingly, the gauge actually worked on the first try! But I wonder if the yarn/needle combination makes it look too loose of a knit. The trials of almost always having to substitute the suggested yarn, I suppose. I may go ahead and start this one anyway, because it has enough cotton in the yarn that washing could tighten it up. And knowing me, by the time I finish knitting this, it’ll be just in time for fall 2016 and my body will probably be at its new normal anyway.

I also had this random single ball of yarn that I bought at the beach shop a couple of years ago, and I figured a bulky yarn would knit up fast and get out of my stash. I wanted to take advantage of the yarn’s ability to change textures–it kind of knits up like a t-shirt yarn, but can open up to more of a lacy mesh. And I haven’t been able to find any patterns I liked for the amount that I had, so I attempted to design my own cowl pattern. The pattern itself worked fine–it’s a combination between a moss stitch, to show the closed texture, and a drop-stitch to hopefully allow part of the yarn to open up. I think I’d have to block this to make that happen. The problem is, I only had enough yarn to do three repeats of the pattern before I had to bind it off, which makes for a very narrow cowl! So I’ve had this sitting on my table for something like a week, trying to decide if I should go ahead and block it and see what happens, or to unravel it and try to come up with a different project. Any thoughts?

Either way, I’m feeling kind of mental blocked on anything yarny until I make decisions about what to do about these two projects. So in the meantime, I’ve been tracing out patterns that I was given for Christmas for geeky baby quiet books instead.

ooh, sparkly.

First of all, thanks for the advice offered on my last post! You gave me some great ideas for what to avoid (my entire wovens stash, I’m looking at you), and there were also some rather brilliant thoughts on how to make some of my ideas more nursing-friendly, and therefore able to be worn longer. Yay!

Today, I actually have two finished projects to show! Late last year and after I already knew about the pregnancy, I got lured into buying a couple of knits at Joann’s while there for an unrelated shopping trip, because I knew that the bulk of my knits stash were solid colors and I was craving some printed goodies. Also, look how sparkly they are! My original intent was to get these done in time to wear for Christmas, but due to all the sickness issues, that obviously didn’t happen. So I decided to get these sewn up quickly. I need some color in my extremely pared-down winter wardrobe anyway.

The cardigan is McCall’s 6084, and the top is Simplicity 2852. For the cardigan, I didn’t really change much of anything, other than add a little length to the sleeves to accommodate my monkey arms. I do that pretty much automatically for long-sleeved things now, but in this case, it looks like I actually didn’t need to! So I just gave it a bit of a wider hem on the sleeves than it called for.

The pattern claimed it could be made up in an hour. It took me a little longer than that. For one thing, this knit was really awful about clinging to itself, so it took me awhile to smooth it out enough that I could cut the pieces well! I did construct it completely in one sitting, and it especially helped that I was able to skip a couple of awkward-looking steps due to having a serger. But then I let it hang overnight so the hem could settle a bit before finishing that.

The top is one that I actually have made before, though I did view E for that one. That’s actually one of the shirts I already had that I’ve been continuing to wear anyway, and so far, it’s worked. I do think that I’ll have to toss that shirt at the end of this cold season, though, because the fabric is getting horribly pilled. Especially now that I’m wearing it at least once a week! I honestly didn’t think this view was one I’d ever sew, especially because I hated that bubble hem trend! The gathered front made it look like it would give me some room to grow, though.

I made the sleeveless view so I could wear this into the warmer weather. I even already had another cardigan that coordinates! I did make a couple of changes to the pattern to maternify it even further–besides leaving out the hem elastic, because ugh, I added 2″ width to the center front and 2″ to the hem. I like this a little longer, actually–if I was the type who wore leggings as pants, this would actually work! I think I’ll stick to wearing it with things that cover my lower half a little better, though.

Honestly, if I wore it with a belt to cinch it in, this top does have some non-maternity potential as well, I think. We’ll see whenever I get a waistline back. (Actually, now that I’m looking at this picture, it probably needs a belt somewhere anyway, doesn’t it? It really is kind of a sack. A sparkly sack in a fun print and a color scheme I love, but a sack nonetheless.) In the meantime, I had nothing but scraps left over from both of these pieces, so at least they didn’t live in the stash long! Between the two pieces, that’s 4.25 yards down.

The belt really highlights that the bump doesn’t want to hide anymore, doesn’t it? I have to keep reminding myself that it’s ok to not suck my stomach in for pictures! The more exciting thing is that we have the ultrasound scheduled for next week, so hopefully we’ll be finding out if the baby is a boy or a girl soon!

I think I also need to work on the camera setup–Doug’s been working hard to get the former office/library ready to turn into a nursery, so all the furniture there has been cleared out and the room is repainted. So these pictures are in the sewing-now-slash-computer room. (At least I still have one!) But I think I’ll have to experiment with where to put the tripod so I don’t look like such a giant next to the door. I already feel like I look big enough!

maternity wardrobe building, part 2: what I still need

I apologize in advance, because this will probably be a long post. Last time, I showed what I’d managed to assemble for my wardrobe so far. And like I said, I was pleasantly surprised to see how quickly a palette started emerging!

Most of what I already had or was easily able to acquire was black, grey, cream, or teal. I threw in navy as a neutral as well, mostly because of denim. And with a few additions from thrift stores, clearance racks, and the knits in my own stash, royal blue, a brighter leafy green, and coral also showed up. I think this looks like a really good balance between neutrals and statement colors, actually!

Here’s what I know I still need:

• Several tops, in both long-sleeved and shorter lengths. I know I’m going to need a few shorter sleeved things for May going into June, so I’m trying to keep that in mind and plan for layering in the colder months. I’ve already got one top done and a coordinating layering piece in the works for this, though I’ll wait to photograph until they’re both done.
• A couple more skirts. I’ve seen a tutorial for a maternity version of the Sewaholic Crescent skirt, which is a pattern I do already have. I’m also thinking that the Colette Monetta might be a good one to try, if I add some ruching or a panel or something. Color might be nice. And I do think a nice maxi-skirt could go a long way.
• Another pair or two of leggings. I’ve been wearing my black pair in place of tights under my shorter skirts, but I really could use another option. I have some denim-looking knit that might be perfect for this, if I can adapt a pattern sufficiently. There’s also some black knit that I’d specifically bought for trying out the Cake Espresso leggings anyway, but I can buy black maternity leggings easily enough. So I’m debating whether to hold off and make those later for more regular wear–I’m actually kind of liking the warmth of the leggings in place of tights, since I’m usually wearing boots with that sort of look anyway!
• Dresses! I’ll probably be mostly living in these once the weather warms up some more. I have two that I’ve found so far, and I have a pattern for a top/dress that works for nursing as well. For those, I’m going to try to plan the style so that they work for the end of my pregnancy and the remainder of the summer, if I can, since I know I’ll need to be careful of necklines while I’m nursing and my stomach likely won’t go back to what it was that quickly.
• One more pair of jeans. I have two, and I could have sworn I bought a third, but I can’t find it anywhere! But now that I’m only working a few hours a week for my teaching, and I tend to wear jeans on weekends/days at home, I know that only two pairs of jeans will not be enough to get me through any given week. I’m just going to buy that, since it would be the most time-consuming thing on this list to sew and I have way too many other holes that I can fill quicker.
• Not to go TMI, but I think I’m going to have to suck it up and buy a couple of bras, because mine are all too small in the cups now! NOT flattering. I’ve heard you’re supposed to put off buying actual nursing bras as long into the pregnancy as possible, so I’ll probably just buy a couple of cheap ones a size or two up, and hope it gets me through the next few months. 
• Warmer weather PJs. I think I can get through the winter with what I have, but all of my summer stuff is mostly little nighties and such that I was given right before the wedding. So I’m pretty sure none of those will fit this year. I guess if all else fails, I can steal one of Doug’s oversized t-shirts, right? But again, I think it might be nice to come up with something that will work for both the end of the pregnancy and nighttime nursing, if that’s at all possible.
• Possibly a new pair of sandals. Pretty much all of them tend to buckle around the back of my heel, and I’m honestly not sure I’ll be able to get those on by the time it gets warm enough for sandals! I do have one pair of black flat strappy sandals that I can pretty much slip on over my heel, so maybe I can figure out how to maneuver those on with my toes, or get Doug to put those on for me, or something. But if that doesn’t work, I’ll probably need to buy something to get me through the last 6ish weeks of the pregnancy/the first couple of weeks post-partum. Which hopefully would also be comfortable enough that I won’t spend that whole time fighting blisters on my overly-sensitive extra-wide feet. (Dear God, please don’t let those get bigger!!) Ugh. I hate shoe shopping so much.

On a happier note, I’m trying as much as is possible to use patterns and fabrics that I already have stashed. So here’s what I’ve come up with that could work.

Patterns! Not pictured here are the aforementioned Sewaholic Crescent skirt, the Deer & Doe Plantain top, the Colette Moneta/Mabel (pdfs in manilla envelopes are boring to show in pictures), or any leggings, though I have two patterns I could potentially experiment with. (The Cake Espressos and the Manila leggings from the current issue of Seamwork.) I’ve already been experimenting with maternifying the Renfrew, as you know. Actually, the two on the far right are the only two patterns that are actually maternity! They’re both Megan Nielsens, even though one is distributed through Simplicity.

Fabrics! All of these are knits–nearly all of the ones I own, save a couple in colors that don’t quite fit the palette. If I do try the Crescent, maybe I can work in a woven, too? The top three on the left side of the pile are ones my mom gave me for Christmas, and I’m hoping to come up with something especially fun for that ITY print on top! And I know the two solids on the bottom of the right don’t quite fit the palette, but I figured they’re close enough.

So far, I’ve tagged the black for a maxi sleeveless version of that Simplicity Threads dress on the bottom (the one with the crossover v-neck), the denim-looking stuff (that looks charcoal but is really navy) for leggings, and that dark turquoise closer to the bottom, (which is darker and a little closer to teal than the picture), for a potential maternified Mabel skirt. It’s the heaviest knit in this pile. That black and blue print, which I got at Mood last year, is also screaming maxi-dress at me, so I just need to figure out what pattern I might want to use–I’m considering maybe trying to adapt the Tiramisu for that, since it also has a crossover neckline and I know it works as a maxi. Maybe if I mash it up with the Red Velvet skirt? Or just add some gathering to the front after I narrow the waistband? Aside from those and the sparkly royal blue, which is already cut up into a layering cardigan and ready to sew, any suggestions of what I should do with all these solids that won’t bore me to tears when I wear them? What would be the best pairing for that ITY? (2 yards, for the record.) Any other advice/pattern suggestions for making maternity and/or nursing clothes?

administrative details

Just two quick things today:

1. Since the sidebar widget I had for my finished projects hasn’t let me add anything to the list since May (really, Blogger?!), I finally got fed up and reworked the page for what’s in my closet to take care of that. It’s just a big link list now, since trying to figure out how to add that many pictures would take forever, given that this is on the older side for sewing blogs. But I did at least organize it between what’s in my closet/what isn’t in my closet anymore/stuff I made for other people/etc.

Incidentally, I’m kind of surprised at how old certain items in my closet are now. Like that black military jacket I made back in 2006–whaaaat? I guess that explains why the lining is tearing. I’m also wondering how many of those current closet residents will get to stay around post-baby, but I guess it’s too early to worry about that.

2. Since I ended up with significantly more yardage than I started last year with, and the Facebook group is really fun, I’m doing the Stashbusting Sewalong again. With all new themes and a bunch of new hosts! I didn’t volunteer to host a month because, you know, baby stuff, but best of luck to all you ladies who are participating! So here’s my pledge for this year, which I kept really simple:

I, Becky, will endeavor to end 2015 with less yarn and fabric than I started this year with, and to only buy notions as needed for specific projects.  I shall also try to limit the number of new patterns I buy for myself this year. 

To avoid stressing myself out, I purposely am not doing a number of yards/pieces of fabric type pledge this year, since I have no idea what sort of wrenches being pregnant and having a newborn will continue to throw into my sewing. And I did also specify limiting patterns for myself, because I’m sure I’m going to want to start collecting a few kids’ patterns. I do have a few from things I’ve made for friends before, and whatever’s in my Burda magazines, but not a whole lot to pick from in my pre-existing stash. If Hobbit cooperates, we should see if we’re having a boy or a girl in less than two weeks, which I’m getting quite excited to find out!

And with that, I guess I’d better finish practicing my flute so I have a shot at actually cutting something out today. Yeah.

maternity wardrobe building

I really have been feeling lately like I have nothing to wear! But now that I’m finally feeling up to some sewing again (yaaaaay!), I thought it might be fun to do a little mini-series about trying to put together a cohesive wardrobe to get me through the next several months.

The big challenges so far:

• When going through the Wardrobe Architect series last year, I was reminded that the silhouettes I’m most drawn to involve a fitted waist. Which means that, despite actually losing weight overall due to being sick all the time and barely eating, most of the clothes I already had stopped fitting there before my first trimester was even over! On the plus side, I’ve long liked the look of empire waists, but not on me, because I thought they made me look pregnant. So I guess I have an excuse to rock those for a few months!
• I’ve mentioned this on Twitter here and there, but finding maternity clothes in the stores has mostly sucked so far. It seems like everything is either black, grey, red, or taupe. While black is a wardrobe necessity for any classically-trained musician, and I do wear grey, I don’t really do red, and I loathe taupe. Also, I was having trouble bringing myself to spend money on clothes that didn’t even fit right in my shoulders or left my wrists hanging out of the sleeves oddly. It’s not like those are getting bigger.
• Also, almost everything I’ve been able to find are solids. Which are fine and actually very important for a real mix-and-match wardrobe, but I’ve missed my prints. I haven’t had great luck finding clothes at Goodwill either, sadly, but I did find one ITY print top recently that will work as a maternity top. The first day I wore that was the first day I really felt like myself again, style-wise.
• It’s winter. And while I’m trying not to do all long-sleeved tops/make sure I have layerable things, since this will go through the spring, I legitimately do need a few more long-sleeved tops. 

I have found that I do have a pretty solid color palette emerging, at least. So to wrap up this post, I’m going to show what I have managed to assemble so far as a capsule wardrobe.

So here’s what I’ve got, top to bottom:
2 dresses: 1 thrifted, 1 purchased new on clearance rack
5 long sleeved tops. The Simplicity top and my Plantain aren’t maternity, but are fitting ok so far. Hoping the length will stay ok until it’s warmer. Also my maternity Ariel top, a thrifted empire-waist shirt I already had, and a purchased lightweight pullover maternity sweater from Target.
4 3/4-sleeved tops. The black and coral were purchased new on the clearance rack, the blue print is one of my previous refashions that I’m hoping will adjust for the bump, and the other print top is thrifted, and may also not fit the entire time since it’s not specifically maternity either.
3 skirts: 2 thrifted, in denim and black, plus my Ariel maxi-skirt (not pictured).
3 pairs of “work” pants, all refashions, 1 in navy and 2 in black. (One not pictured, because I think it’s in the laundry.)
1 thrifted embellished tank that I already had, but it’s very flowy, so it should have plenty of room.
2 short sleeved tops: 1 teal purchased new on clearance, 1 thrifted tie-dyed in navy/gold/maroon.
3 maternity/long tank tops for layering. Showing the navy, but I also have black and teal.
2 pairs of jeans, 1 bootcut and 1 skinny. Both purchased.
Cardigans/sweaters: Camille shrug, thrifted green 3/4 cardigan, purchased black, refashioned turquoise, and my Roheline.
I also have 1 pair of maternity leggings in black, purchased, not shown. And that is all of it!

Next time: My sewing plan, as it stands so far.

The last little unblogged bits of 2014

The good news is, I think I’m finally starting to get better. The constant nausea is going away, at least, but it’s kind of hard to tell–just when that started letting up, I got slammed with a virus 2 days before Christmas! The doctor at the clinic called it “flu-like”, and while I wasn’t actually having stomach issues from it, I did have to spend the next 3 or so days fighting off fevers. Since then, it’s just felt like a nasty cold. And hopefully without going TMI, when I’m really stuffed up, I easily get nauseous anyway. So I still haven’t had a nausea-free day, but I’m hopeful that it’s coming soon. At least I’m slowly able to start expanding my diet again–I can actually drink water and a little tea now, and I’ve been eating fruit in the form of smoothies. I may even be able to start cooking dinner again soon, and while I know that takes up time, when you’ve been living off of chicken noodle soup and cheerios for a few months, that’s pretty exciting!

All that to say, I wasn’t able to do much sewing for those first couple of days after I finished up at my retail job. Because that ended the day before I got sick, and I was feeling so progressively lousy that day that I couldn’t even finish cutting out one of the projects I do have to show. But I did get that done on Monday, and then sewn up yesterday.

I’m going to start with some knitting today, since I recently finished this fairly quick project. The pattern is called “Magic Hat”, and it’s supposed to be so stretchy that it can fit a variety of sizes. I used some leftover bamboo-blend yarn that I already had, and knit this up in the 4-12 month size, since Hobbit will probably be about 5-6 months old when he or she will need a winter hat. I also didn’t quite use up all of the yarn, and I’m rather tempted to see if I have enough left to add some Yoda ears! But the yarn is so drapey, I’m kind of afraid it wouldn’t work.

The hat looks a little cone-head on the table, so I had to improvise on a model. My parents gave us a few Christmas presents for the baby, including this little stuffed German shepherd. So its ears seemed to be enough to make the approximate shape. Cute, right?

I do have a little sewing to show. I stitched up this first one back at Thanksgiving, but never posted it here. Just a quick refashion–my mom was getting rid of some unwanted pants, so I picked the zipper out of these corduroys, scooped out the front and stitched up what was left of the fly, and then added this stretchy panel. I know it looks kind of distressed brown in the picture, but these pants are actually black. I have another pair all cut up and ready to sew, save the panel, in navy blue. Hopefully I can knock that out soon, because I literally have two pairs of “work” pants (both black), and two pairs of jeans right now. And that’s it. I swear I bought 3 pairs of jeans, but the one pair seems to have vanished without a trace!

And then yesterday’s sewing project was these burp cloths. I promised Doug I’d make some hockey-related things, so I found this flannel print that has the logo and colors of one of his two favorite teams. I managed to use up about 2 yards of flannel on this, between the one yard of Penguins fabric I bought, and the solid black that I partially got for this and partially to back one of the geeky bibs I made earlier in the month. There’s a total of 9 burp cloths here, and I know my mom has a stack of others for us, too.

I do have one more bib to sew up, since Doug also really wanted to help make one! So he cut one out yesterday and I’ll be sewing it. I also need to fix a pair of pants for him ASAP, but then I’m hoping I can start sewing some clothes again! 

I did some quick looking over my spreadsheet to see what my final tally was for stashbusting this year! It looks like I started 2014 with about 340 yards in…and ended with 375. Oops. Granted, I did just buy about 20 yards of stuff to make diapers with, which will get used up in the next several months and accounts for the bulk of the overage. On the plus side, it looks like I sewed up close to 72 yards this year. And I did manage to use up about 27 pieces of fabric altogether. I think that’s pretty good, considering that I spent the entire last third of the year unable to do much at all, between traveling and pregnancy sickness!