Someone wise once wrote:Measure Twice, Cut Once.
This is the thread to discuss all your sewing, knitting, crocheting, embroidery and other needlework projects! The previous thread on the subject can be found here.
I've had a few personal projects this year, which is far more than usual.
The first one was a beret for one of my sisters, who was in a play of Jane Austen's Emma back in May. Since she was playing the always fashionable Mrs. Elton, my mom and I were looking up some costume ideas and ran across this gorgeous beret (mine is nowhere near as pretty, so please don't judge too harshly! ) There was absolutely no way we were going to be able to get one, but it inspired me to look into making a beret. It turned out to be pretty straightforward---merely a circle of fabric and a band. I made my own 18" circle pattern using a tape measure and some Christmas wrapping paper (...yes, I believe in improvising) and then measured my head and added a few inches (...I also apparently believe in working on projects for people while they are out of town) for the band. I gathered the circle to fit the band and then stitched it all up by hand.
One picture of the beret
The material is just a light brown cotton with white dots on it. It's really pretty and looks delicate, but it kind of gets washed out from far away.
Another picture of the beret
That was actually supposed to be just a rough mock-up but I tidied it up a little once I realised a) it looked pretty good and b) I wasn't going to have time to make another. I think I'd like to make another fancier one sometime, but we'll see.
(Oh, and, somewhat surprisingly, she did wear it for the play---the ball scene---with a feather headband over the band and it worked fine. I don't really have any good pictures of her wearing it, though.)
The next project was a pillowcase I made with a friend. I found this lovely dragon patterned fabric (no good pictures, I'm sorry!) and we knew we had to use it for something. So, voila, pillowcases.
The pillowcase
It was my first time doing a french seam, and I actually didn't sew quite far enough over and some of the material stuck through the seam. I trimmed as much off as I could, though, and it's not terribly noticeable.
I'm also currently in the process of unraveling an old scarf (which was way too wide and short to really be a good scarf) and knitting a new one. It's about half the width it was before (and, actually, a little narrow now But it's pretty thick, so it should be okay) and about a foot long now. The yarn is a feathery black strand with another multi-coloured "nobby" strand. I think it'll be pretty forgiving, which is good since I have no idea of gauge or consistency there, though I'm pretty sure the scarf is already narrowing down.