Pageantry in Progress

Productivity has been down this week in Seersucker Sally Land. I've been very distracted by bleak Norwegian dramas and synchronized swimming. Such feats of agony and strangeness, it's hard not to get sucked in! Anyway, here's a glimpse of the front flap of a messenger bag I've been working on when I haven't been watching the pageantry of the human spirit unfold on the screen:

Pattern Pyramid Winner

And we have a winner!

Randomly selected from 22 entries is #3- Tiffany James.

Congratulations, Tiffany- send me an email at sarahedaub@yahoo.com to let me know your street address.

Thanks for playing, everyone. Best of luck in the rest of the Pyramid giveaways.

Pattern Pyramid Giveaway- Round 3

As promised, I am hosting my first ever giveaway, courtesy of Karen's at Did you make that?  As part of her great Pattern Pyramid Giveaway, Karen sent several lucky participants bundles of patterns, of which they each kept one and hosted giveaways of their own to pass on the remaining patterns. As the winner of Sew Brunswick's leg of the giveaway, it's now my turn to pass on the sewing love.

Here is Sew Brunswick's beautifully wrapped parcel of patterns, having traveled from London, England to Melbourne, Australia to Philadelphia, U.S.A. Where to next?

Here are the patterns:

On deciding which one to keep, it was a toss up between the New Look 6674 and the "Economy Design" blouse. I decided to go with the New Look 6674. I've been wanting to find a work dress that could double as a post-yoga cover up (is that too much to ask?). I think the New Look 6674 just might fit the bill. Thanks, Karen and Leith!

So, here are the Rules: 

• Anyone, anywhere can enter by leaving a comment on this post by midnight EST on Tuesday, August 7th, but you must have an active blog.
• I will randomly select one winner, and post them the collection of 4 patterns along with hand woven labels to be sewn into anything made from one of these patterns.
• The winner will pick one pattern to keep for themselves, then host their own giveaway. They will randomly select a winner, post the remaining patterns to that Person D. Person D will pick a pattern for themselves, host their own giveaway and post the remaining patterns to the winner, Person E. Person E will…

For more information, including code for the Pattern Pyramid button and details of the charity supported by the very generous donor of the patterns, please see Karen's post at Did you make that?

Best of luck!

Applique in Progress

I've been wanting to start another applique project ever since completing this bag.  This time around, instead of using an Alabama Chanin stencil, I sketched out a pattern on piece of paper. Here is a peak of what I've got so far:

 The piece of fabric you see in the picture will be the front flap of a bag- BurdaStyle's Diana #8235A to be specific. Maybe next time I'll move on to applique on clothing. Check out these sources of inspiration for applique on clothing.

Gloves and Giveaways

I'm excited to announce that I'll be hosting my first ever giveaway, courtesy of Sew Brunswick and Did You Make That?'s Pattern Pyramid Giveaway. As the winner of Sew Brunswick's leg of the giveaway, I will be receiving four patterns and passing three of them along to another lucky recipient. Thanks Karen and Leith! More details to come!

Now on to the gloves... Here are my finished Ringwood Gloves that are en route to my sister-in-law as we speak. Maybe it was the combination of steamy iron and drippy sweat that clued me in, but as I was blocking them, I realized the ridiculousness of sending someone gloves in this 100 degree heat. I got a little twinge of self-consciousness, but I'm pretty sure she'll be tickled to get them nonetheless. I mean, winter's coming, right? For something to enjoy in the meantime, I sent her a copy of The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks .

The details:
Pattern: Ringwood by Rebecca Blair
Yarn: Manos Del Uruguay Silk Blend in Rust
Notes: Easy to follow pattern for a fairly quick knit. True to the pattern notes, the Ringwood stitch has a nice stretch to it that produces a close fitting glove.  The silkiness of the silk was especially noticeable after I blocked them. I would love to make a pair of these for myself!

Propaganda and Fashion: The Cold War Edition

This time we visit the Soviet Union for more evidence of propaganda and textile design. The books Soviet Textiles: Designing the Modern Utopia and Soviet Costume and Textiles: 1917-1945 discuss how Soviet textile manufacturers in the 1920s and 1930s produced fabric designed to promote Soviet ideologies . According to Pamela Jill Kachurin, author of Soviet Textiles,the purpose of the textiles was to assist in the dissemination of Soviet ideals and to transform the wearer into a model Soviet citizen. Most of the designs featured in the books show dynamic patterns with bold colors. Popular motifs were smokestakes, airplanes, and Young Pioneers. Others show peasants harvesting their crops for the collective.

Here are a couple of my favorites:

 From page 194 of Soviet Costume and Textiles: 1917-1945: Anonymous designer. The Red Navy, Late 1920s. Printed on cotton.

 From page 69 of Soviet Textiles: Designing the Modern Utopia: Young Pioneers Rally. 1928-29. Printed on cotton.

  From page 197 of Soviet Costume and Textiles: 1917-1945: Designed by N. Sokolov. Airplanes. 1932. Printed on cotton.

From page 77 of Soviet Textiles: Designing the Modern Utopia: Designed by Marya Anufrieva. Women Harvesting. 1928-1932. Printed on cotton.

Check out the books if you get a chance. In addition to the textile designs, the Soviet Costume and Textiles book also has plenty of colorful fashion sketches from the 20s and 30s.

On Deck: Ringwood Gloves

My sister-in-law's birthday is fast approaching, and I've been wanting to knit her a pair of gloves to go with a scarf I made her several years ago. She told me once that she wears the scarf practically every day in the winter, so hopefully, the gloves will be just as much of a hit. On the other hand, being that this will be my first attempt at glove-making, maybe I should get a back up gift...

My first task was to find some yarn in a glove-appropriate weight to match (or at least complement) the yarn I used for her scarf, which was this Manos del Uruguay Wool Clasica in henna:

I love Manos del Uruguay. Their yarns are kettle-dyed in small batches that produce amazingly rich colors with subtle variations. Their line of reds are especially complex- from deep plum to bright orange-red poppy to dark brown brick and everything in between. I love seeing them stacked together at Rosie's Yarn Cellar. I could stare all day.

The Manos Wool Clasica line, being a worsted-weight, was too heavy for most glove patterns, but luckily I found this rust color in their Silk Blend line:

Though the colors don't match exactly, they go together quite nicely:

I'm using this Ringwood Glove pattern, available on knitty.com. The extra long cuff with the buttons is what sold me. Here is a peak in progress: