Sweater surgery preliminaries

Arisaig gets a lot of wear, and usually that's a good thing. Unfortunately somewhere between Salt Lake City and Boston during a business trip last week, I noticed a hole in the cuff.



After getting really pissed, I realized that there's an easy fix. The sleeves are too long on the sweater, so I decided to rip back to a better length and knit back down.



I used circulars as a lifeline through the stitches in the row where I want the lace pattern to begin. I'll post updates as the surgery progresses.

Great big huge sewing project (part 1)

So here's the deal: C and I got married (finally) on December 27. In a moment of insanity last winter, I decided to sew my own wedding dress (photos on Flickr).

The bodice was sewn from a modified version of the Truly Victorian pattern TV490, which I altered to lace up rather than button up in the back. The skirt is TV221. The only reason why I'm still sane after this experience is that Truly Victorian patterns are incredibly well written, are very easy to resize and come with great instructions. C was also a big help when I was fitting the bodice and helped mark the hem on the skirt.



The fabric is red doupioni silk underlined with denim. I used spiral steel and white steel boning for both the bodice and the corset. I lined the bodice with rayon, but also faced the hems with gold/pink shantung silk bias strips.

Rather than use the typically puffy sleeves found on bodices during the Victorian period, I drafted a pretty generic short sleeve, which was cut on the bias and lined in the shantung.



I'll add more details in my next post, and show off the petticoat and corset. I also have to point out the bouquet and C's boutonniere, both created by the great people at the Welded Garden. The bouquet is currently sitting on my fireplace mantle in grandma's crystal vase.

C also got a new hat for xmas (ravelry project link).