sunflower

so I'm finally able to post this project now that the recipient has seen it! it's the first flower I did before the ring I made. this one took about 12 hours to stitch up, but it kinda flew by doing a little at a time while listening to music and the first installment of The City Life Supplement.

for the petals I did a picot stitch in rounds for 7 rows, starting from the center and making each row progressively larger

did a bunch of french knots for the middle

and I went around the edge in a green chain stitch

I finished the back side like this lady did on her blog, but I used a piece of metal from a biscuit can and cut it to the same size I traced from the inside of the hoop.

I had originally envisioned larger petals that would spill over the frame on the hoop, but the picot stitch didn't come out right when I did it on a bigger scale. I can go longer with it, but wider didn't look so good. I think I know how to correct this, but after all these petals and french knots, I think it'll be a little while before I pick it back up again ;)

knit socks

I tried to knit some boot cuffs, but only made it through one before I decided I wanted full socks instead so I wasn't always having to situate them while wearing them.

it's kinda hard to find tall socks for boots, so I've been using men's socks and folding down over-the-knee socks. then I stumbled across these videos for knitting socks by Very Pink Knits.

I was always so intimidated with a knitting project that involves shaping until I saw these! she shows exactly what ya hafta do - so helpful! when I see a knitting pattern I get lost looking at K1, P2, K2T, SSK, PSSO, R2D2... I just give up before I attempt it, but now that I've seen it done I'm inspired to knit some for next fall.

boot extensions

I found these boots at Payless and got them in brown and black during BOGO. they can be worn "up or down", but I wanted them to also be taller, so I whipped up some extensions that go over the top of the boot.

I measured the boot where the bottom of the extension will wrap around, how tall I wanted them to go up my calf, then measured how big around my calf was at the point I measured up to on my leg.

I made a pie wedge looking pattern and rounded the top and bottom a bit and tweaked it to fit around my leg.

I added an inch on each side the eyelets went on, and half an inch to the top and bottom for seam allowances. I used the measurements sans the seam allowances for the lining and spray glued them to the insides of the vinyl. folded the seam allowances over the lining and straight stitched down. vinyl doesn't fray so the edges don't need to be finished, and the lining is sandwiched on the inside of the seam allowances so that's taken care of.

nifty tip for top sewing vinyl or other "sticky" fabrics if you don't have a walking foot - put scotch tape on the bottom side of the presser foot. helps it glide better and not get stuck. I used to use baby powder... which is probably really bad for the machine if it collects inside and dries up the oil :\
also, pounding the vinyl with a hammer in the corners helps flatten the thickness of the fabric down so it's not so bulky to sew over when you have multiple layers.

once all the stitching was done, I just measured for the eyelets (the extra inch seam allowance and the lining doubled as a stabilizer), pounded those in place, and then laced them up with some black t-shirt yarn. I think I'd like to find some good stretchy elastic instead so they're easier to get off and on, but the shirt was all I had that I could make work at the time.

skinny jeans

I saw these knitted boot cuffs on Etsy - how cute are they? I'm glad it's getting warmer out, but sorta sad that the season to wear these is almost over.

growing up in boot cut has made it hard for me to get used to the idea of skinny's, but out of curiosity I took some stretchy jeans I already had and skinnified them using this tutorial:

try getting that song out of your head now... you're welcome.

they came out alright, I guess - still getting used to them. if the style lasts until it's cold again maybe I'll get to try some boots cuffs, but for now I've been using them to fit into my taller boots :)