Summer Dress One

Today I finished my first dress using the McCall's M4444 pattern. This was a pattern I had already and I thought it looked easier than the swing dress, so I decided to make it. I used a cotton fabric that actually worked out nicely. I actually did not make any adjustments, except that I only hemmed it 1/2".

Embroidery

I have a strange affinity for bacteriophages, which are viruses that attack bacteria. I think I like them so much because they look like mini robots. I have wanted to do a science inspired embroidery project for a while. I think I will stitch it onto muslin and then frame it or make a little pillow, but I am leaning more toward framing it. Aren't they just so cute?!?!?!

This picture is from my biology coloring book.

This one is probably more of what I will do. I like the circle flow chart-esque.

Summer of No Pants 2011

Over on the Hideous! Dreadful! Stinky! blog she is doing a little wear no pants, only skirts and dresses thing during the first month of summer. Check it out if it sounds like something fun!

Lazy Sunday

Happy Easter everyone!

Today I do not really feel like doing much of anything, so I decided it was time to do a little update on here! I have gotten some done on the Briar Rose Knit-Along. I think it will be pretty, but it is somewhat slow going, but I guess that is what I should expect from size 3 needles! :] Also, I am finally starting up the Swing Dress Sew-Along. I am beginning to cut out the muslin. School ends in two weeks for one school and three weeks at the other, so I'm hoping to get really going on both of them then!

Here is my Briar Rose so far. I am using Comfy Fingering Yarn in Peony from Knitpicks. I do like the yarn so far. My only worry is that it will stretch too much, but I am hoping that with such small stitches it should be okay. I have about 6.5" so far.

Here is my Swing Dress scattered across the floor!

Sweater...Vest?

One thing I am not good with is a deadline. I seem to always figure out a way to get something accomplished, but not necessarily at the level I would have liked. For this post the topic that I am alluding to is my vest. The plan was to have this be a full on double breasted jacket, but for now it is a vest, and one that does not fit all that well either! Because of my time crunch, I did not do the sleeves and ended it faster than I should have, so for now it's a vest, but eventually I will return to it and fix it so that I'll actually wear it. I like it, but I like the idea in my head better. But for now I am moving on to the Briar Rose Knit-Along!

I do love the DNA cable, and think this thing still has great potential!!!!

Knit Knit Knit!

Last weekend I went to Utah and could not help but stop by a yarn store. I did limit it to just one so that Skyler did not have to pretend to be interested more than he had to! :]

This is Skyler, by the way!

And this below is the front of the yarn store I went to in Provo.

I only bought one thing because I really do not need any more yarn right now unless it is for something specific. I'm really trying to cut my buying yarn on a whim habit until I get my yarn stash under control! So instead of buying yarn I got this little pattern booklet.

Yes, that baby is dressed in angel wings....Anyway, they had the cardigan and hat below knit up as a little sample in the store and it was love at first sight. I don't have kiddos and won't for a while longer, but I love baby things like this and just can't help but fall in love with them. They had a little "deal" at the store where if you buy the yarn you get the pattern free. Well, after browsing around I realized I would pay about three times as much if I got the yarn versus the pattern booklet and I had no where to store the yarn on my flight home. So I got the booklet instead. I think the hat would be a great baby shower gift.

Now, remember how I mentioned I was going to dye my yarn? Well, since I am on a bit of a time crunch I actually did it!!! I have dyed all three skeins of the yarn! I'll have a little bit more on this in the near future. (How near it is depends on how quickly I can figure out my video editing software.) I like the result, but definitely think I am better off buying the color I want. I think our kitchen will be permanently blue because of this.

Beans For Brains

Today while I was whining about being broke and not being able to afford to move out my mom had one word for me Scholarships. So while I took a BIG little break from studying for my physics test tomorrow-yuck!!!- I did a mini scholarship search. On one of the major scholarship search sites I saw the title "Beans for Brains" and knew that looked familiar. Yes, Jimmy Beans Wool is yet again doing their scholarship, but this time the winning dollar amount is much, much higher! I knew there was a reason I did not win last year. Haha. The due date is April 1st, so I have some serious knitting to accomplish in that time.

About three years ago I decided I would make the Military Style Jacket. I bought the yarn, did a test swatch and dove in. I got about ten rows in and lost my place. I did this twice. I hated that thing, so I put the yarn in my closet and forgot about it. Until now! I have decided to retry this thing, but with some modifications.

First, I am going to dye my yarn. It is a not-so-pretty brown color and I don't like it. I'm going to try to use RIT dye to get it a more navy blue color. Because it is a medium brown color I'm not sure how well dye will take, but I can hope and cross my fingers!

Second, the jacket is too big for me. The smallest size would not be flattering at all on me. I need to take it down about five more inches, so this will be an interesting endeavor for me.

Thirdly, this jacket has cables up the wazoo! They're EVERYWHERE! I need to take a closer look at the pattern, but I'm thinking that I will switch one of the cable patterns to be a DNA-looking one. It would be so cool!

I''m planning on dyeing it next week, and if all is successful be on the lookout for a yarn dyeing tutorial!

P.S. Here's my "loser" sweater. It lost in the 2010 Beans for Brains and the State Fair. I still love it, though!

Fascinator Hat

Yesterday I found this video while looking around on the internet. I've been wanting to make a hat with a birdcage veil similar to this for a while. I love the idea of using a lid for the hat part! I made mine in about a half an hour. Really, the only changes I made were that I used a clip-thing instead of elastic. I don't really like having something around my head when I wear a hairpiece. So far, so good!

 

Fabric Outing

I like to shop sales. Like many other people, I'm sure. Recently I got a coupon for Jo-Ann's that I decided I would use today. In the e-mail I also saw that solid flannel was on sale! (The reason I was excited about this is because my mom and I sew and sell pillowcases and I had gotten some prints a while back and needed to get some matching solids!) I set out to get some fabric for the sew-along and the pillowcases.

I found these two for the dress. The floral print if for the top and the red for the bottom. Man, am I excited for this one! The floral print is pretty sheer, so I'll be needing to line it in some way, but I love it so much that I don't mind.

The solids are what I got today. Unfortunately the green is not "limey" enough. Oh well, I'm sure I'll find a use for it! I took pictures of my fabrics, but I guess I was still a little off.

I also scored on some bathing suit material and a book called Sew Retro, but I think that those will be brought up in a later post. :]

Swing Dress Sew-Along

A blog that I have been following for a while now that I absolutely love is hosting a sew-along! The blog is Casey's Elegant Musings. She does lots of posts on vintage things, especially sewing. I am so excited to start this sew-along. I haven't made such a large project before, but I think I can do it, especially with the guidance of a sew-along. So if this sounds interesting go check out her blog!

Summer Lovin'

I can't say that I am a lover of the summer, but I do like being able to go outside and play. I love to lay in the grass and spray my siblings with a hose. One thing I have had my eyes on for quite a while is a bathing suit like this. I've seen multiple people wear one of these, but this picture is of Martha Vickers. I kick myself in the behind because one time I was searching on Ebay and found a vintage pattern for this suit, but because it was about ten times too small I did not purchase it. WHY???? For some reason I was not thinking I could adjust it. Oh well. So now I am going to try to figure out some way to make something similar. Any suggestions?

A little side note. This does not look like it would hold up all that well in water, I think it would be more of a bikini romper. :]

Who is Sydnee?

I'm starting a brand-spankin' new blog! This one I am devoting to the crafty/artful side of my life, maybe this will kick my crafting into high gear instead of low gear. I love all things vintage, well, from about the 1930s to the 1950s. I also love science, with an emphasis in biology. I'm a sophomore in college in Nevada and I enjoy it very much. Finally, I love crafts. Mostly I knit and sew, but I'm not bound to just those two craft forms. I hope you enjoy my blog as it gets going-feel free to comment and follow it!

There's a little bit about me!