I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas!

Can you believe another Christmas has already passed?  I have been busy getting presents wrapped and the house to be filled with our family and festivities.  We had all of our families in yesterday, and it was so nice and enjoyable.  Now comes the time to find where to place all the kids' new toys, and what to do with all the leftover food! 

To give as a Christmas gift I did manage to get finished the Moth Wing Shrug that I had been working on for about a year and a half finished.  I really liked the way it blocked out, and the way it wears.  The edging detail on the front gives it such a nice attractive detail.  The best part was seeing my friend open it, like it, and appreciate all the work and details.  That, to me, is one of the best parts of Christmas.

Now, I still need to work on my coat.  I did get the inner lining sewn in and am ready to start on the lining.  I am hoping that it goes nice and smoothly since I have figured out all the changes on the outside of the coat. 

Winter coat pinned

I was able to get the outer portion of the B5145 coat sewed together.  And, yes, this was one of my intended projects for the sew along that I mentioned here that ended several weeks ago, but better late than never.  If I can get it finished before the new year I will be a very happy camper.

So, here is my coat at the stage of pinning the lower portion with the bodice, shown inside out also.  I had to pad my dress form to adjust to my new figure, it seemed to work well.  I did have to modify a few things once I got the original bodice on the dress form.  For one, the bodice came down lower than I thought it would, and cut into my higher belly.  I ended up removing the darts and it seems to work.  Then, from removing the darts the lower front was too narrow to allow for the now even more added room there.  Luckily when I cut it I had it flaring out towards the bottom, and even added a few extra inches to the length.  I ripped the stitches, lined the two section's hems up (instead of the waist edges as before) and sewed from there.  As you can see on the top picture I do have a little extra fabric on the front interfacing at the waistline now, but that is easily taken care of with a pair of scissors.

It also was nice to add the back panel on when it was on the dress form.  It made getting the pleat even and centered a breeze.  I must say that the coat does look better on me than on the dress form, which is how I prefer it being rather than the other way around.

I now have managed to get it all sewed together, added the sleeves, and even started to add the interlining.  That will be my project for the next few days since it consists of sewing each section of lining to the seam edges of the outer coat.  But, little by little I am getting a nice warm winter coat that will fit me and the baby!

Moth Wing Shrug almost there!

As you know I have been trying to finish the Moth Wing Shrug for quite a while, as I mentioned in my first day of vacation post.  I thought I would finish Wednesday, didn't so I then thought that Thursday would be it.  It wasn't.  I had it completed but didn't like how the sleeve edging fitted my arms so I redid it.  I finished most of it in the short time I had on Friday to work on it, finished the last round of actual crocheting yesterday, and wove in the ends this morning.  Now all I need to do is block it and trim the loose ends off. 

Next up is another top, the Luna Sweater, that I have had almost completed for a long time now too.  I first started it in the winter of 2009 or early 2010.  I just have one side seam, one sleeve to attach, and the neck edging to complete and I will be finished.  This one has me concerned about the size of the fit.  It looks SMALL!  I made the small, which was to my measurements.  However, this thing better block out a few good inches in length and width otherwise there is no way this thing will fit an adult.

With both of these projects being the only ones I have ever made to take so long for me to finish has me wondering why these.  What makes a project be set aside for a long period of time before you pick them up again and actually complete them?  Why have I on these projects and not others?  I wonder if when choosing another project I should think if I will truly finish it in a relatively short time, and if I don't will I be ok with possibly not finishing it.  Of course, then where would be the fun of trying something new!

The New Look 6802 dress

As you know from an earlier post that I was working on the New Look 6802 dress.  I finished it a while ago, but was never able to get pictures of me in it.  I have worn it several times and have received many compliments off of it.  I absolutely love it.  It is so comfortable and easy to wear.  As you know I did add width to the front panel to make it a little more maternity fitting.  To my surprise it worked out splendidly.  The only thing that I would do differently is make the sleeves a little longer, but I do love how I did the sleeve edges.  I made a narrow hem and put a 1/4" elastic inside so that I wouldn't have to make such a large hem like the pattern called for.

 

Here is me at 6 months along.  I still have room to grow, and the front bodice detail adds a nice accent to flatter even a maternity figure. 

I will most definitely use this pattern again.  I may have to look at other reviews to see how the other options look.  I am scared some of them will look very plain, but I may be proved wrong.  Either way, this pattern is a keeper! 

What I did on my first day of vacation

Yup, I crocheted with a Darla on my lap to keep me company.  Tuesday morning I sneezed and felt a muscle in my lower back flip over.  No fun at all that day!  Yesterday, which was my first day of vacation, I sat or layed with a heating pad off and on all day, and also did back stretches ever hour or two.  Thankfully I am feeling like I'm making progress.  Still stiff and sore, but luckily not even close to where I was.

So, my goal yesterday was to finish this shrug.  I was at the point to add in the 4 full motifs for the collar, do the 4 half motifs, and then all the edging.  Early morning I found that I had started attaching the neck incorrectly, and had to adjust the 2 I had just attached.  But, then I got rolling.  Finished all the motifs and one arm edging. 

Today, with the DVD box set of Mad Men season 3, I hope to finally finish this project!  I may even get it blocked and all the ends taken care of!  Woo hoo...bring on the crochet vacation!

Moth Wing crochet shrug

I have been working on this shrug from Interweave Crochet for almost a year and a half now.  I pick it up for a week or so, and then do another project for a few months it seems.  This past weekend I brought it along for a holiday trip and am determined to finish it. 

I am using Patons Lace yarn in Wasabi.  The previous work session ended when I ran out of yarn, and to my surprise the stores locally didn't carry the color way anymore.  Luckily I found some online. 

I am down now to the sleeves, collar, and the half motifs.  Each square motif takes me about an hour to do.  So, all in all probably only 20 more hours to go!



This is Darla modeling it in her usual pose on my lap in my comfy rocking recliner.  I am sure this is going to be how we spend most evenings this week! 

What was the longest time it took you to complete a craft project?