Austin 2020: Tanks for the Memories

On March 7, 2020July 11, 2021 By qplourdeIn Sewing Projects, Travel, Uncategorized1 Comment

Pattern: Aurora Tank by Seamwork

I love to travel. Over the last few years, I’ve really made it priority and planning trips has become almost a major hobby. My latest trip was a girl’s trip in Austin, TX with a couple of my closest friends. We planned the trip under the guise of running a race down there, but in reality we were more interested in exploring a new place rather than being competitive. I wanted to have a new piece for my trip so despite it being cold and wintery outside, I decided to sew up a knit tank top inside.

I knew I wanted to make another Aurora Tank, since it’s such a simple pattern and I enjoyed the one I made before. However, I knew my previous tank was not perfect so I decided to do a little reading about twin needle stitching on knits before I attempted another one. I saw some familiar issues with “tunneling” between the stitches and also tension Continue reading “Austin 2020: Tanks for the Memories” →

Time for the warm & fuzzies: The Oslo cardigan

On January 16, 2018February 4, 2018 By qplourdeIn Sewing Projects, Uncategorized1 Comment

Pattern: Oslo Cardigan by Seamwork

It’s been a pretty strange winter, weather-wise. An overly warm fall turned into a very mild November. And then all of a sudden, the snow rolled in by mid-December, after what seemed to be spring-like temperatures. By the time Christmas and New Years hit, we were plummeting into single digit and negative temperatures. January in New England began to feel like Minnesota. Lucky for me that I had already completed this project – a new cardigan that I can wrap myself in on those bitter cold days.

This was my second Seamwork pattern and again I was amazed by how fast I was able to sew this project up. I used a fairly thin sweater knit fabric that I had envisioned would be perfect for a large cardigan just like this one. The pattern lived up to most of my expectations, however I was surprised at how huge it ended up being, even making the XS size. I even tried to take the shoulders in a bit so they didn’t droop down so much, but it still ended up a bit too large in that area.

Elastic installed on shoulders — The only extra notion you need is this clear elastic, which I was lucky to have bought for another project (that I haven’t started yet). It stabilizes the shoulders nicely, especially since this fabric was not too thick.

I did really like the cuff-finish on the sleeves. Since I don’t have a top-stitch machine, Continue reading “Time for the warm & fuzzies: The Oslo cardigan” →

Tanks for everything: the Aurora top

On December 6, 2017January 18, 2018 By qplourdeIn Sewing Projects, Uncategorized2 Comments

Pattern: Aurora tank by Seamwork

Skills acquired:

Double needle for knit
Installing a walking foot

Hello sew blog my old friend.

This past summer, running was my life as I was training for my first marathon (as seen in my other blog). It was almost impossible to find time to sew. The good news is that I’ve been sewing quite a lot in the last month, so I’m hoping to be able to carve out some time to write about my projects.

Amidst all the training, I was actually able to complete one project over the summer – the Aurora tank top by Seamwork patterns. On top of everything else, I also got a new job this September, so I never got around to writing about this project. I had picked this particular pattern due to it’s simplicity – only 3 pieces to cut out and Seamwork patterns are known for their quickness to assemble. All are supposed to take under 2 hours. I worked on this in pieces of time that I could find here and there, but I’m pretty sure the 2 hours is accurate.