The Beginnings of a Second Double Knit Project

I was hoping to have more of this completed before my first post of it, but since I have two conflicting personal goals I had to pull this out sooner.  Conflicting goal #1 - updating my blog every Monday.  Conflicting goal #2 - never posting anything that was commissioned from me.  (I respect my costumers and their privacy, so unless explicitly asked I won't post anything I'm making for them.  Besides my blog isn't about bringing in business.  That isn't the tone I want for my blog.)  So, with only having this between a quarter and a fifth of the way complete here is the beginnings of my next double knit scarf.

To the untrained eye this may look much like my last double knit project, The One Ring Scarf, but this is in fact the inscription for The Elvish Love Ring.  Here is a like to one of the sites featuring it -------->  *clicky*  The Elvish Love Ring is inspired by J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings, and The One Ring.  It is said to be in the Elvish language that Tolkien created for his books.  The first time I ran into it was when I was in high school, and Peter Jackson's version of The Lord of the Ring was being produced.  I've been in love with it ever since.

I made this pattern myself.  I made it to the same dimensions as The One Ring Scarf I made, so they will be a matched set once this is complete.  If you are interested in a copy of the pattern or know someone that would like it let me know, and I will send it to you electronically.  No charge for it, completely free.  I found it interesting that there are multiple versions of this inscription.  Mostly the appearance of different things in the inscription, such as the "O" like characters in my scarf.  I learned that after I made my pattern, and started working on the scarf, but overall I'm pretty happy with the inscription I used.

A Nice Trick for Fraying Seams

This is a great trick I learned from my mother.  I originally was having issues with this skirt fraying at the seams after I made it.

Photo taken by IJ Dee-Vo at Archon 2011.

The material didn't start fraying immediately, but over time after regular wear and tear the seams started fraying.  I always do stay stitching on my seams.  I don't have a serger, but I will still do stay stitching using a zigzag stitch on my sewing machine.  I was originally planning on just lining the skirt to help protect the seams, and happened to mention this to my mother.  She told me about this trick that I'm about to share with you.  It is cheap, easy, and quick to do for any garment.

 

This is all you will need; extra wide double fold bias tape.

This is the satin brocade tunic that I have been working on.  As you can see the satin brocade frays quite a bit, so I did this while making the garment this time around instead of after it was already made.  This photo was taken after I did the zigzag stay stitching.  Yes, I know there are anti fray or seam guard sprays out on the market.  I haven't tried them, but I know this as a tried and true method of fixing the issue that will last.  I'm not so certain that a spray on chemical will last through the life of a garment.  This includes wear and tear as well as washing and drying.  People seem to forget about the heat and chemicals that come into play while washing and drying a garment.

This is what the bias tape will look like.

First you open up the folded edge of the bias tape.

You may need to trim off all of the frayed ends on the seam as I have here, and then place the seam into the fold of the bias tape.

Pin the tape so that it is on both sides of the seam, and sew it onto the seam.  When I do this I place the seam for the bias tape between the fabric seam and the edge of the fabric.  This way it doesn't alter my seam allowance.

This is what it will look like once you are done.  I used this on all of the seam on my satin brocade tunic.  (Pictures will come soon for that.)  I also used this technique on the horizontal weight bearing seams on my velvet coat.  Velvet doesn't really fray.  Yet, I used to own a tiered velvet skirt.  The upper tiers couldn't bear the weight of the fabric and would rip and tear at the seams.  I had to mend the seams every time I wore the skirt.  It got to the point that I just couldn't keep mending it, and I eventually had to get rid of the skirt.  I didn't want that to happen to my coat, so I used this trick to help bear some of the weight.

Why I Go to Cons

Song I'm listening too --------*clicky*-----------> "Broken Pieces" by Clannad

I'm in the middle of a personal healing process.  It is part of life and we all go through it.  Bad things happen we recover and move on.  The more craptastic the bad thing is the longer it takes to recover.  I'm in the middle of healing from some spectacularly craptastic things.  There is a point in time during every healing process I have that I tell myself, "Okay, alright enough of the emotional BS, time to pick up the pieces and fix this!"  Hence the song.  It seems to capture that feeling almost perfectly.

This is me with my friend Jeremy Swan at my very first convention.  Picture was taken at NatsuCon in 2010 by Jeff Swan.  My very first attempt at a cosplay-esque outfit.  Not perfect, but still fun.

So, how do conventions play into all of this?  I'm getting to that.  There will be a bit of a back story here.  Yes, I'm a nerd.  I grew up that way.  I love anime, video games, table top gaming, I used to collect Pokemon cards and Magic the Gathering cards, I read comic books and manga, love science and technology, and I've spent more of my life in a library than some people would think is healthy.  Yet, this is only part of why I go to cons.

 

This is my first actual character cosplay.  I'm dressed as Chocolate Misu from Sorcerer Hunters.  Picture taken at Naka Kon 2011 by Larry Knox.  (Oh, the horrors of that wig! LOL!)

I was married from 2003 until 2010.  Most people I associate with now don't know this fact about me.  I had given up everything for my marriage. 
My friends, my family, my dreams, my career goals, and my hopes for the future.  Just in an attempt to make my marriage work.  My advise to anyone out there.  Never give up that much for someone.  If a person truly loves you they won't ask you to do so.  It was subtle things.  If I had plans to go visit my family (I try to at least once a year) then something critical would come up, and I wouldn't be able to go even if I had made the plans well in advance.  Toward the end of my relationship I had decided that I at least wanted my family back.  I would call my mom and talk to her, or I would sit on the computer and IM my brother.  This aggravated my partner to no end.  Simply because he didn't know what we were talking about, and I wasn't spending time with him.  He couldn't control me, and he wanted to.  In the end he told me that he wanted a divorce.  There is a bit more to things than that, but I'll save you all the details.  In short what he was looking for was arm candy, a maid, and a mistress.  When he found out that I wanted a partner that treated me like an equal, and that I had my own thoughts, ideas, and emotions he didn't like it.  During the time frame around my divorce (about a year before, and a year after) I was so depressed I would have black outs.  I would be in the middle of doing something, and my brain would just shut down.  It was weird and completely uncontrollable.  It didn't matter where I was or what I was doing.  I would just be "gone" for five to ten minutes at a time.

Another picture of Chocolate Misu.  Still the same wig, but I have replaced it since with a much better one.  I still need to remake the arm band and top though.  >^.~<  Picture taken by IJ Dee-Vo at NatsuCon 2011.

It was the weekend that my ex was moving out, and neither of us really felt like cooking.  We opted to stop in somewhere and pick up something to eat.  Of all the places we could go to we picked Little Caesars Pizza.  We never ate at Little Caesars Pizza.  It was completely out of character for us.  While we were waiting for our order they guy behind the counter says, "Hey, you guys going to NatsuCon?"  That was the start of my con going.  I needed a place to go to find people who had similar interests to me, a place to feel wanted, a place to make friends, a place to help me find myself again.  I was completely on the opposite side of the country from my family, and I wasn't in contact with any of my old friends any more.  And needless to say I am now good friends with the guy that was behind the counter.  Some of my blog readers may even know who he is.  >^.^<

Me and Dustin.  This was my first time wearing my completed Steampunk outfit.  Dustin will barrow my Chocolate Misu hat occasionally when I'm not using it.  Picture taken at Archon 2011 by Larry Knox.

I've found all of the things I wanted to at conventions and more.  It has helped me heal.  I've found more friends and support than I could have ever dreamed of.  I've found a place I can go to be myself, and be free of judgement.  I've found a new hobby and passion that I can truly get into.  And, I've found a man that loves and supports me for who I am, and treats me with respect.  When I say that it means a lot to me to have a person in my life.  It is true.  It wasn't all that long ago that I didn't have anyone by my side.  I really do love each and every person that has chosen to make me a part of their life and to be a part of mine.  No matter how small that part is.  Thank you!

A Do-It-Yourself Guide to Making Piping

I'm working on a satin brocade tunic, and I wanted to put piping around the edges as a trim.  I thought it would make a nice accent to the overall looking of the garment.  Yet, I'm making it out of satin brocade.  Store bought piping only comes in cotton.  I needed satin piping to match the brocade.  While I searched the interweb for a tutorial I quickly learned that there were inconsistencies from one tutorial to the next, and it was over something fairly simple and straight forward.  So, I have created my own tutorial in hopes that it will clear out some of the confusion.

 

I've learned that not everyone seems to know what those arrows on patterns mean.  Fabric is normally either woven or knit, but either way there is a definite "grain" to the fabric.

The arrows on the patterns mean that is the direction of the grain of the fabric.  Seamstresses do not make lots of money.  In fact they make very little, so they keep as much fabric as possible.  I have yet to meet a seamstress that doesn't try to make the most out of their fabric as they can.  If a seamstress tells you to cut something at an odd angle on the fabric that takes up lots of space and seems to create a large amount of fabric that can't be used for anything else on that garment there is a reason why.  It has to do with the way the garment will lay when it is worn.  If something is cut with the grain that piece won't have very much give when stretched.  Where if something is cut diagonally across the grain the piece with have the maximum amount of give that fabric has.  This really is important if you want to do things like wear a comfortable garment, sit, bend over, walk, etc.  You can technically do all of those things with a garment that is made without fallowing the arrows, but you will notice that it is more snug than it should be.  And, it will cause more stress on the seams.  Which leads to more mending.  In short:  follow the arrows, and the advice of a good seamstress that you know and trust.

Now with that said, onward to making piping.

What you will need:

• Fabric
• Cording in desired thickness
• Sewing pins
• Shears or a really good pair of scissors
• Ruler
• Zipper foot for your sewing machine

 

To make piping cut strips of fabric diagonally across the grain of your fabric.  My strips are 1.5 inches.  Yours may not be.  The strip of fabric needs to have two seam allowances plus enough fabric to go around the cord that you will use.

Once the strips have been cut out pin the ends together like this.  The right sides are together, and when I open the seam up I will have a nice long straight line of fabric.  Notice I overlapped the edges a bit.  I did this so that when I sew my seams they will be edge to edge.

Like this.  This is a sewn seam that I have opened up, so you can see what it should look like once the strips have been sewn together.

This is the cording I picked.  I wanted a smaller diameter for this project, so I went with a 3mm cord.  The only reason I went with a satin cord was I could get lots of it for cheap on Amazon.com.  If you want to pick up some yourself click here.  I didn't want to go with a braided cord since the braid tends to show up in the fabric once it is stretch over the cord, and I didn't wan that look on my garment.  You might however.

Now you are going to stretch the fabric over your cord.  Line up the edges of the fabric before you pin it.  I pinned mine right at the edge of the cord to help stretch the fabric over it.

You need to use the zipper foot on your sewing machine to sew this seam.  Here is a picture of what mine looks like.

When sewing the same get as close to the cord as you can without sewing onto the cord.  This is why a zipper foot comes in handy for this seam.  It helps you get close to cord while keeping it in place.

When you are done you should have something that looks like this.  That's all there is to making piping.  I trim the edges on my diagonal seams as needed when I place it into my garment.  Yet, you can do that before hand if you wish to.  :)

Hopefully this was able to help you out.  If you have any questions please fill free to ask.  >^.^<

Project Beard

So what do you do when you can't sleep at night because your brain is on hyperactive mode, and can't be switched back to sleepy mode?  Well late last night after four hours of trying (and failing) to sleep I decided to pool my energy into . . . becoming a Dwarf.  (Yes, I'm in my jammies.  It was supposed to be sleepy time.)

Now this has been a few months in the making, so there is a progressive storyline leading up to me as a Dwarf.  It all started with this hat here.

I had originally made this hat as a Christmas gift for Dustin.  If you are interested in making one yourself here is the pattern I used.  I found it on another woman's blog called Knit for Your Life.  As it turns out this hat was too small for Dustin's head, so I had to make a new one.  I used the same pattern, but I increased the needle size by one size.

So, now we both have Viking hats.  I need to line mine with something.  Since I was making this as a gift for Dustin I made it out of wool.  I'm allergic to wool, he isn't.  So, that would explain some of why you haven't seen us walking around in our matching Viking hats.

We ran into someone at Naka Kon that had this epic Dwarven beard.  It was all mutually agreed on that the Viking hat and the Dwarven beard would look incredibly awesome together.  So, I set about finding a beard pattern to make for Dustin.  I came across this pattern that I used to make a base.  I don't crochet.  I can do it, but I have this strange phenomenon that if you put a crochet hook in my hand my ability to count is drastically impaired.  It took me 8 tries to get the base started correctly for this beard.  So, have some heart.  If I can do it, so can you.  (Oddly I don't have issues counting in any other situation.  I have no issues counting while double knitting, watching a movie, and talking to Dustin all at the same time.)  I opted to stylize the beard a little bit more like this one.  Yet, either way once you have a base you can style the beard any way you want.  :D  The yarn I used was a mix of Lion Brand Vanna's Choice, and Yarn Bee Soft Secret.  I made the base out of the Lion Brand yarn, and then I used a mix of both yarns to make the rest of the beard.  I used a total of four different colors to give the beard a more natural look.

Dustin wants the beard.  He just doesn't want to go to the store and pick out yarn to make it.  I opted to get the yarn for me, and make a beard.  The hope was that if Dustin saw the beard in real life that he would want it more.  This didn't work out too well for me.  Once he saw me with the beard his reaction was, "Hmmm.  I don't like having a girlfriend with a beard."  Well, at least I have a totally epic accessory to wear to the theater for the next Hobbit movie when it comes out.

Tips and Tricks for Working with Fur

I had originally posted this as an album on my facebook profile.  Those of you that have seen it before my profoundest apologies.  I put this together while working on my velvet coat.  I do know there are people out there that prefer to hand sew all fur.  I applaud you for your great patience in doing so.  For those of us that prefer to use a sewing machine to speed up the process feel free to try out some of these things that I found helpful.

Most good quality fur has to come from a specialty store, and for most of us that means ordering online. This is just a helpful bit of advise on never trusting the colors of a picture you saw online. Always see if you can get a swatch before making a purchase. Fur is a pricy investment, so you should be happy with what you order. Swatches also allow you to feel how smooth or coarse the fur will be.

When cutting the fur you always want to cut one layer at a time. You need to be careful not to cut the fur, but the fabric backing. This will take longer then cutting other fabrics.

Shear away the fur in the seam allowance. (Sorry the picture isn't that great. It is really difficult to see.)

Adjust the level on the pressure foot for your sewing machine. Not all machines have it listed like mine does in the manual. Newer ones will have different fabric settings, and the machine will automatically adjust the tension for you. I have yet to see a "fur" setting on a machine, but find a setting that works for you.
  

Pull the fur away from the seams while sewing them. This will make sewing the seams take a lot more time, but it will be worth it in the end. I have also heard that hand stitching seams together will prevent the fur from slipping and stretching. I haven't tried this out, but thought I would throw it in here. All of these seams were short enough that the fur didn't slip or stretch, but I can see a useful application to doing this on longer seams when sewing two pieces of fur together.

 After you have completed the seam us a wire brush to pull any fur out of the seams. I picked mine up at a hardware store during grilling season. Wire brushes are used to clean grills as well, so they can be found with the barbeques and other grilling accessories.