sophy's knits, notes, etc.

i always like to recommend Joelle Hoverson's Last-Minute Knitted Gifts to new knitters even though it's the one book i don't actually have in my own knitting library; by the time i realized what a gem of a pattern book it really is, i felt i had already advanced past the experience level of the many projects in there. instead, i bought her Last-Minute Patchwork + Quilted Gifts almost as soon as it came out; i knew one of these days i'd find a reason to start sewing.

my first sewing project was a little ambitious — a dress modified to look like a Star Trek uniform. and though i was more than satisfied with the results, i was determined to start a new project that i felt was more suited to a beginner; LMPQG was the perfect source and Peanut the Elephant was the perfect project:

friends joe and keely's baby boy, benjamin, and his new denim elephant.

Pattern Peanut the Elephant.
Source Last-Minute Patchwork + Quilted Gifts, by Joelle Hoverson.
Fabric Recycled from old pairs of denim jeans and khaki pants.
Modifications Did not add eyes; otherwise not really any mods. the use of thick denim made this project a little bit more tricky. as for color scheme, i stuck with denim and contrasted with khaki under the ears and for the blanket over its back.

this was such a fun project! i especially enjoyed pinning the pieces together before feeding it through the sewing machine:

i think i quickly learned not to point the pins outwards...

as i continued, i loved seeing the fabric pieces joined together and start to resemble the finished project:

look! — there's half the elephant shape!

and soon, the only thing missing were the elephant's ears:

eep! it was late and i was getting cross-eyed from hand-sewing the blind stitch.
the ears had to wait for the next day.

here it is, finished at last!

i really like how the denim and khaki looks... you can see more pictures here.

overall, i think it took me about 5 hours to complete; most of that time was spent pinning the shapes together for sewing and then hand-sewing a blind stitch to hide the seams. i don't recommend sewing this with denim and probably won't do so again unless i scale the elephant up in size.

i really really want to make another one... in a pink and floral-patterned cotton.

Update May 20, 2009: when i gave ben this elephant (the first picture), he seemed to happy with the doll; but, i noticed he kept trying to pull the little blanket off the elephant's back. once that was accomplished, he kept kicking the elephant out of his stroller while industriously sucking on the khaki blanket! can a 7-month old be teething already?

by now you know that hilary and i agreed we would make costumes to wear to the new Star Trek movie. i gave you a sneak peak into my first dress sewing project; now it's time for the details:

starfleet commander sophy t. o'donnell!

Pattern Simplicity 2922; modified to look like the skant-style Starfleet uniforms that Deanna Troi wore in the first Season of TNG.
Size 12... i do not understand this sizing chart at all. by the measurements, i did not think this would fit. but in the end, it was huge on me and provided plenty of material to work with.
Modifications i modified mine to match the starfleet commander's uniforms, with dark red for the contrasting color. added colored piping between the collar and yoke. divided the front panel into three. added a sort of v-necked collar shaping. removed the gathering in the back — why is there gathering in the back? — instead, i cinched the extra fabric between each of the notches (that indicated where to gather the fabric) and sewed princess seams along those two lines.

hilary selected this dress pattern, Simplicity 2922; and really, most of the mods we made were her ideas: the piping and the contrasting color panel in the front. initially, i was pretty reluctant to make any major mods... i mean, i had no idea how to sew on the piping... and i thought breaking the front panel into three sections would be more difficult than it actually was. in the end, i'm glad i followed her plans and i think we both did an amazing job with our dresses (though we'll each point out the many flaws if you ask us). if you haven't already, check out hilary's science officer variation!

i actually did try to put more of a v-neck shape to my collar; but as you can see it turned out very slight... very "sort-of" v-neck. also, i probably could have gotten away with not using some pieces, but i was determined to use every single panel that i cut out. and, i did. in fact, i tried to follow the pattern to a T — at least, as far as i understood what it was telling me to do! this worked out for everything except the zipper, which looks completely fine... for a costume. i just didn't read the instructions before i sewed it. oops.

on movie day, i wore my dress to work... the popular comments from my coworkers were, "i can't believe you wore that to work" and "it's not short enough". i also got a few comments from some businessmen in the local deli i went to for lunch, "did you see that girl in the star trek costume? why is she wearing that? oh yeah the new movie."

i was very productive at work that day, but it was entirely too long before we were standing in line for the IMAX theatre:

Uploaded on May 9, 2009 by the yarniad.

the movie was awesome! anyone who is avoiding it because they're not Star Trek fans is missing a damn good and thoroughly enjoyable action flick. i can't wait to see it again.

...nerd!

many months ago, i did this to prepare for this (more here); and i didn't really know what i was doing. not too long after that, hilary and i agreed we would make costumes to wear to this movie.

the movie premieres in San Francisco this week — i'm ready!

my Star Trek costume, modeled after Deanna Troi's mini-dress uniform from TNG season 1.

hopefully, i'll find my TNG pin by Friday, or maybe the ToS pin will be more appropriate... I think i do need some pips, though... commanding officer and all... okay. Adam's shaking his head at me now. (i'm very jealous of those in Austin who saw the surprise screening!)

this is my first actual sewing-from-a-pattern experience and i have a lot to say about it, but i'll save that for another time with better photos... perhaps hilary (my science officer) will stage an away mission with me!