Let's Sew a Tunic -- Simplicity #2147

Looking forward to  Spring, I thought I'd try something new and sew clothing.  I usually only sew bags and accessories so I have some experience, but nothing when it comes to reading an actual garment pattern.  I thought it would be fun to put together a series of blog posts so if anyone else out there would like to learn, maybe my posts would help.  

I found this cute tunic pattern (it really is...the packaging leaves much to be desired, but I saw some really nice versions on Pinterest) and hopefully it is as easy as the envelope leads me to believe.  I also found some bright and cheery fabric in the bargain section of my local big box store.  It is a step put of my comfort zone color/print fabric, but I think it will work nicely with this pattern.

As you can see on the front of the envelope there are a few different variations included with this pattern and the sizes range from 6-18.  You get all sizes in this one pattern.  I am going to make myself the tunic (C) with short sleeves.  I am tall so I may extend the length of my tunic pieces to work for me.  

So, the front of the envelope lists some new skills that we will learn: pleats, stitch a yoke and apply neck facing are new to me!

If you turn the package over all the necessary details are provided so you know what items you need to purchase.  This really intimated me at first, I stared at it not knowing what I was really looking at until I calmly looked at each section, it started to make a bit more sense.  

If you look at the top box it lists what type of fabric will work nicely with the ease and style of this pattern.  I choose a cotton.   The next box lists all of the notions you will need with each pattern type (A, B, C).  I doing C so I need thread and 1/2" wide single fold bias tape (this is something new to me so I get to learn a new skill).

The next box is body measurements.  I think this is where we fail and don't properly take the time to measure ourselves or just assume and go with our bra size.  Take your time here and grab your measuring tape and do it.  The pattern sizes are different than our clothing sizes.  I usually wear a size 6, but with this pattern I'll be making myself a size 12 tunic.  when I measured I looked up, not down at the measuring tape.  You don't want your body hunched over -- this may distort things.  I used my hands to feel the tape where it ended, then looked down at the number.  As you can see from my written measurements, I fall between a few sizes.  For this pattern I'm not too worried about it, since it is an unfitted baggy tunic.....I'm going with my closest bust measurement which is 34 or pattern size 12.

Follow the chart to purchase enough yards of fabric for your size.  Fabric comes in different widths, but for this pattern it doesn't matter.  Other patterns may separate the 45" and 60" yardage requirements.

When you get your fabric home, you will want to pre-treat it (wash it) so it is all ready for pattern layout and cutting.

That's it for today...next up is opening the envelope to find directions and the actual tissue paper pattern, pattern layout, cutting, etc.  

Mint into the Dye Pot

I harvested a bunch ( I mean a bunch!) of spearmint, peppermint and chocolate mint from my garden this past summer and dried it.  I put all of the dried bunches together in a large box.  I didn't keep the varieties separate.  I got tired of moving the box around so I decided to squeeze the dried bunches with my hands to remove the dried leaves.  I filled a large freezer bag with dried mint leaves and still had some left so I pulled out my spice grinder and whizzed a bit to a fine powder to use in my soaps.

I got out my garden shearers and cut the dried stems up a bit and tossed whatever remained in the box + a few handfuls of some dried leaves into my dye pot added some water and let it simmer.


While the mint was simmering, I scoured a skein of Skacel Merino Lace - a discontinued yarn that I found at my LYS.  It was a bare skein of superwash wool.  After scouring it smelled kind of like bleach.

 Not sure if they actually bleached the fibers to get it white or if that stench is from the superwashing process.  From what I understand they coat the wool fibers with plastic so the barbs on each strand will not felt when agitated.....nasty!  I'm not a fan of superwash, but it was at my LYS, bare, within my price range and I had a gift certificate.  

This skein is 100g so that means I needed about 2tsp of Alum and the same of CoT for mordant.

Once the skein was cooled in the mordant bath I added my liquid mint dye.

This simmered for about an hour.  I pulled it out and it was somewhat of a tan bland color so I added 2 tsp of baking soda to the dye bath and mixed it around to dissolve.  This immediately changed the color of the dye to a darker color.  I made sure everything was dissolved and I put the skein back in.  The baking soda changes the ph of the dye - hence changes the color.  I let it simmer for a bit longer, turned off the heat and let it sit overnight.  The result is very pleasing.  

Reading online and in books, I see most people mention that mint dyes a green color so I'm happy with my result.  I'm planning to knit a cropped 3/4 length sleeve cardi with the mint dyed yarn and add a lace button band in grey....should be perfect for Spring.  Love the Grellow color combo.

Use it or lose it! -- How to mend your jeans

I'm pretty tough on my jeans.  I play with the boys a lot on the floor and my favorite jeans  have got to be years old.  You know the kind -- the ones that are your favorites and you cannot be without. When your having a bad day, feeling blue you put on your favorite jeans and forget about your worries.  Well, I wish it was that easy, but you know what I mean...so when you get a hole in the knee it is pretty sad.  I searched online and found a tutorial on how to mend hand-knit socks so I used the same method on my jeans.  Here are the steps to what I did and they turned out great. 

I used embroidery floss in a similar color and a sturdy needle.  I inserted a jar lid into the jeans to make it easy to hold the fabric and so I wouldn't catch any of the leg fabric.  This made it a lot easier.  For people who darn socks there are darning eggs.

  You basically are weaving a new layer a fabric over your hole and attaching it on all sides.  You may have heard the about warp and weft before.  They are the terms to explain the rows of thread you will be creating in your new fabric patch.  The warp is the lengthwise thread that lays the foundation that you will weave your weft through.  Below is a picture of me sewing the warp over the hole in the knee of my jeans.  I inserted the needle from back to front - I did tie a knot to hold the thread so I could get a firm foundation.  You insert the needle back down into the fabric front to back near your hole (pick a spot where the jean fabric is still firm enough and not frayed.)  Repeat this process until you have the warp thread over the entire surface.

Next comes the actual weaving in and out of the weft thread (I turned my work to make it easier to weave)  You go over, under, over, under the warps and at the end pick up a bit of the jean material to catch your work.  Below is a close-up.

I wove my weft over, under the warps and am securing the end of my work before pulling the thread through to weave another row.

Row two compete, secure the end of the row by picking up a bit of the jeans before working next row.   Make sure each row is opposite in the over, under of the weft through the warp.

You repeat in this manner until you reach the end of your warp patch.

Make sure your rows are snug.  This is a front side of my work.  I'm finished with my patch.  I inserted my needle from front to back and repeated the whole process for a double sided patch.  It is jeans...I'm tough on them....I thought I'd need double support on the patch.

Here is my patch inside-out and my thread ready to weave the weft into the warps.  

My finished patch after repeating the process on the back side.

and my two pairs of jeans newly mended.

Dried Orange Peels

My brother sent us a large box of Honeybell Oranges for a belated Christmas present.  The kids loved the oranges and ate quiet a few simply peeled.  I was throwing away all the peels initially, but after about the third orange, I thought there has to be some good to these peels.  I decided to save all the future peels and put them in the freezer until all the oranges were gone. I ended up having a filled bag of frozen peels.  

I turned to the internet to research these things...so after a few minutes I learned that Dried Orange Peel is wonderful at many things like:

• as an additive to food - sprinkle it on your oatmeal, onto sandwiches or add to cookies - apparently the good bacteria in your intestines love it!  They grow and thrive.  I also learned the opposite is true when you eat sugar...this helps the bad bacteria grow and thrive.  
• Dried Orange Peels also make a good tea - sprinkle a tablespoon into boiling water, let steep and strain.  I assume it works in a similar manner.   
•  Then there are the uses as skin benefits....helps with acne if you mix with yogurt to make a mask, many people use it to help with mature skin and as a skin brightener.  
• And the one use that peeked my interest is to use Dried Orange Peel in soap as an exfoliant.  Which is what I plan to do  

So here is what I did with my peels...watch this space to see the SOAP I make!

I laid my frozen peels on the counter to thaw

Then put them into a warm oven (200 degree) for a few hours.  You will need to check them somewhat frequently...you don't want them to burn and some will dry sooner than others.

I let them cool overnight.  Then ground them with my spice grinder. 

After grinding all of the peels, I spread the powder out onto a cookie sheet to sit overnight before I placed in a sterile glass jar.  I did this to ensure everything was dry to prevent mold.  There you have it!  Dried Orange Peels to do with what you may......ENJOY the health benefit from something you typically throw away!

Natural Dye Series #5 - Black Beans

 This is probably one of the simplest ways to dye yarn and fabric.   Get a large bag of dried black beans, find a recipe for black bean soup (because you will probably want to eat them after they soak), place the dried beans in a large bowl and cover with water.  Soak overnight.  Add more water if necessary. 

In the Morning, drain the liquid.

The bean are ready to be cooked into that recipe.  May I suggest this one.  Easy and delicious.

Place your yarn into the liquid you drained from the beans.  I used unmordanted unknown wool yarn that I found in my local thrift store on a big giant cone.  It is super rustic and scratchy, but perfect for little dyeing experiments.  I've been making a few different naturally dyed colors and am planning to knit a cowl.

I placed this is a sealed jar and put it in the fridge for about a week.  I stirred and check it every once in a while, but I left it alone.  It got kind of stinky so I'm glad I put it in the fridge.  I was afraid of mold.

Here it is...nice and greyish blue.  The yarn on the left was dyed previously and blogged about here.  I heated the black bean mixture which you shouldn't do unless you want a murky brown.

Here is another go with black beans....

I knit the Meadowsweet Shawl.  Out of JaggerSpun Zephyr Wool-Silk blend in the daffodil colorway.  I'm not much of a yellow type person so I thought I'd try and dye it with black beans.  

Yellow + Blue = Green!

I put the knit shawl in the black bean liquid.

I was a bit concerned during the soaking (which was about 3-4 days at room temp) that the color was a tad bland and not very vibrant, so I pulled the shawl out and stirred a few tablespoons (about 2-3) of baking soda in the liquid.  After this dissolved, I returned the shawl.  It soaked for additional day. 

The after.....

and all three black bean dyed items together for your reference.

Natural Dye Series, Part 4 -- Black-eyed Susans and Coreopsis Verticillata

No particular reason I grouped Blacked-eyed Susans and Coroepsis together other than I harvested and dyed them on the same day, since they were in full bloom and raging with flowers in Late August.

Black-eyed Susans (Rudbeckia)

I plucked many blooms straight off of the plant and placed them in a jar with some rubbing alcohol to soak.  I placed this in the sun to warm for a few hours.  It really didn't take that long to extract the color.  I also placed two large handfuls into a pot with water and simmered for about an hour.  I added the extracted color from the alcohol to the simmering water mix and cooked a bit longer. 

Freshly plucked pretty little flowers

Into the alcohol

and into the sun

flowers simmering away on the stove

and both solutions...alcohol added to the mix on the stove

and the two strained...look at that dark color!  What color do you think the yarn will be?

Did you guess green?  Here is the pre-modant (alum + CoT) in the pot on a light simmer

Here is the skein after a full soak on the stove and  a rinse

and after a post iron mordant...a wee bit darker

Coreopsis Verticillata

Most people dye with Coreopsis Tinctoria, but that isn't the variety I have in my garden.  I have verticillata which has a pale solid yellow flower with very wispy delicate greeny.  I absolutely love this plant.  Super easy to grow + I've divided my one plant into a few that I've scattered around my perennial beds.  

So I really didn't know what to expect when I harvested this plant in the fall.  So I dyed some yarn on a whim.  My thought was 'well it is still in the Coreopsis family so maybe I'll get some sort of color.'  The Tinctoria variety has a dark orange center to the flower while verticillata is solid yellow so I was thinking I'd get a green or maybe a yellow.

I placed my cut foliage into the pot and simmered for a few hours.   

I got a murky orange!

In went the pre-mordant yarn (alum + CoT).  Soaked and simmered for about an hour.

The skeins out after a rinse

and the before and after on doing a iron post mordant ... everything is a bit darker and more intesne

Here is the before and after on all the skeins

I didn't dye the skein on the far right and I added one at the last minute that didn't make the before shot.  The unknown stash skein on the far left really didn't produce any type of promising results. 

Rebatching soap - Haste doesn't always make waste!

A while back I made a batch of my Lavender Chamomile soap and it didn't come out very pretty.  I was a bit short on time and I added my lye solution to my oils when it was too hot...I knew at the time that something like this might happen, but I just went ahead and poured it in and swirled.  You can see in the picture below the effect this gives on the soap.  The edges are a bit lighter than the main body of the bar.  It is a perfectly fine soap...I used a bar and it had a nice stable lather and it smelled amazing, but it was ugly.  So I decided to try and re-batch it.  I got out my cheese grater and grated away all 12 bars and added the shavings to my crock-pot.  

I let this cook on the lowest setting for about an hour.  I added 1/4 cup water to help soften it a bit and mixed.  This continued to cook while I added a bit of water every 30  minutes of so.  I had to resort to using my potato masher to really mix the soap.  In the end it cooked for a few hours and I added about 1 cup of water. I did add a bit more Lavender Essential Oil too.  It looked like really lumpy mashed potatoes.  You might want to add less water, but I wanted to make sure it didn't stick and burn to the bottom of my crock-pot.  (I re-batched a different batch of soap and hardly added any water...I really didn't see any difference in cooking, etc - maybe this is personal preference and trial and error depending on your initial batch).  Once you are done cooking, you have to act quickly to get it in your mold.

Here is the before and after soap - both excellent qualities, but a bit of an enhancement in look.

And here is the other batch of soap.  It is all the shavings I've been saving when I trim the edges on my bars with a veggie peeler.  In the crock-pot they went...cooked and mixed with a potato masher for a few hours.  I added hardly any water and scraped into my mold.