First (Day of School) Dress

 Hello!  I made it back to my blog.  And I made a dress.  What?  I sew?  I've been trying to learn to sew for a few years now.   I've been taking classes at NYFA for some time here and there.  This Monday I finally started going full time as a certificate candidate.  Back to school!

This isn't actually my first dress, but it's my first "real" dress - made of a woven, with shaping, and actually wearable. 

I have pockets.

And no back!

Peek-a-boo

 I used my sloper and converted it to a princess seam bodice.  Then I converted the back to be open and to close with elastic as a slip-on.  Zippers still make me nervous. The wide, navy blue elastic exactly covers my bra strap.  The skirt is my sloper skirt in the front.  In the back I used my sloper skirt back placed 5" from the fold to accommodate my hips to get it on and off.  Then I let it gather over elastic encased in the waist band.

The fabric is a cotton I stashed abut a year ago from ebay, I think.  I still have over a yard of it left.  I lined it with a sheer brown fabric some one gave me for free. 

I like this design for a casual sun dress.  I'm going to make it again right away!  I'm going to shorten the bodice by 1" and try using wide elastic for the entire waist band. 

 Here I paired it with tan accessories.  The bag is Coach from years ago when I worked corporate office jobs.  The shoes are thrifted.

Matchy-matchy!

I'm a goofball.

 I also paired it with my Audrey in Unst cardigan, a pattern from Twist Collective that I knit a few years ago.  I should have taken some detail shots.  The fabric has pretty, stylized flowers on it with light blue, navy, and green.  The sweater picks up the green perfectly. 

Here are a few pictures of me dancing around the garden in my me-made outfit.  I'm so happy.  I've wanted for years to be able to make pretty dresses to match all the sweaters I knit up.  I'm finally starting to have the skills to make that happen.  Yeah!

 And here's one last shot to make you laugh. :)

Funny out-take.... my photographer shocked me by his posing suggestion.  My face!  hahahah!

Chiloe

FLASHBACK:  Remembering three months ago...

I've been slow to write this post because there's so much to say about Chiloe.

Chiloe is a lovely, special island.

We took a short ferry ride over, and on the ferry we met a lamb!  Oh, teeny, tiny, wee, baby lambie!!  I got to hold him, and he was super cuddly.
We met the family who had just gone to buy this little lambie on the mainland, and we gave them a ride to their house on the island in Ancud.  In typical Chilean style they insisted we stay for tea and sweets at their home.  It's a wonderfully friendly, hospitable country. 
Here are some pictures of the darling baby lamb.

He's only three days old.  Yes, he's wearing a diaper. 




We then drove further into the island to the small city of Castro, a lovely historic town on a large bay in the center of the island.
Here is the beautiful cathedral in Castro.  (Ok, let me take another opportunity to apologize for being a crappy photographer.  Actually, Kurt probably took these pictures.  Maybe mine would have been worse!)


This is the great hostel where we stayed, Pallafito.

It is supported on poles out over the water, as is typical in this region. 


Here's the beautiful room where Kurt and I stayed.

 

It is decorated with traditional local handcrafts.  Above are some weavings.  The kitchen is equipped with hand made ceramics.  It seems Chiloe is just isolated enough to have a thriving, intact local economy.  Here people are as likely to have a horse as a car because they are about equally useful. People wear hand made clothes and lots of hand knits.   The markets are full of locally grown food and traditional local breads, pastries, preserves, and liquors.  I would like to spend a lot more time here! 

There's a little town not far from Castro that is reputed to have the best, biggest, most amazing market in the area.  I really, really wanted to go to the big Sunday market, but we were a day early.  Still, it was lovely to browse the little shops and arcades.

Wool!!

Look how excited I am!
Here's another shop, one of many more.
Here's a stand in the Artisans' arcade.  Wee baby booties -- so cute!
These slippers have a piece of lambskin as the sole with the wooly side inside to snuggle your toes. 
Lambies!

This weaver was very friendly.  He told us all about his work, some of which I understood.

He showed us his truck with his sheep in the back!  He figured out that sheep made me very excited.  I think maybe he just bought them or... I wish my Spanish was better.
I did understand that he lives on the next island across the channel, a very beautiful place with hills covered with sheep.  I figured out that the ferry to go there was That Way!  And Now!  There we go...


More to come soon. :)

I'm back :)

I'm back!  I mean that in two respects -- back from Chile (for awhile) and back on this blog (finally!).

Naughty blogger that I am, I've let lots of life and lots of knitting happen without finishing the story of my trip to Chile.   I went to Knit Fit out in Ballard and saw some of the Purly Girls there.  Every one was so nice, and I realized... whoa, people do read my blog.  I'd better be a better blogger! 

I promise to finish telling all about my trip to Chile.  I'll start... tomorrow.

Knit Fit was great.  The first day I hung out with Sooz all day, and the second day I took a class from Jennifer Hagan.  She blogs about it here. It was a really good class.  I learned a lot and met wonderful people.  Now I really want to make the Sherrod sweater.

I also met Anne Weaver.  She was wonderful and friendly.   I really admire her style and her designs.  Her look is really graphic and modern, which I find refreshing in hand knits.  She let me wear her Doubloon shawl around while she was teaching.  It was soft and beautiful, and I actually think the color is good for me.  It's a design from her new book, White Whale II,which I bought and she signed.  So fun!



In other fiber news, I recently when to an exhibit at the Bellevue Art Museum. 
My friend Luke Haynes showed a collection of pieces.  It's my first time seeing his work, and he's awesome!!  Luke, buddy, you rock!  I should have taken better notes on the names of these pieces, but I'm sure Luke will happily answer any questions if you contact him through his website.




These are some other works I liked.  I took pictures of the artist statement to credit the artists.

These baskets were gorgeous.


These quilt squares are excitingly graphic but with lots of intricate detail.




These men's jackets are fantastic.





Crochet amazing!




I have to admit something a little embarrassing...  I included this really intricate, adorable, and symbolic quilt especially because it reminded me of Ysolda.  Yes, I have a total knit-crush on her.  What!  You do, too.  She's an amazing knitter.  I want to make all her designs.  I wish my photos showed this quilt better. 



Thanks for reading my blog. :)