News from a (neglected) Sewing Room

I'm back from my extended holiday (meant to be 19 days, but ended up being 24 due to car trouble), cleaned up my sewing room and am raring to get started with the creating for 2013. I've got a few creations from last year which remain unblogged (I'll get to them, eventually) and a list a mile long of the things, both knitted and sewn, that I want to make this year.

For our Christmas trip, to help me cope with being away from my machines for the better part of 4 weeks, I packed a couple of knitting projects. I'm still very much a learner, but I want to improve my skills this year. My favourite husband ever thoughtfully gave me some KnitPro circular needles and some gorgeous Noro silk yarn. I'm loving the needles right now, but need a bit of experience before I feel comfortable tackling the yarn.

Still, I've started off 2013 the way I mean to continue...

Projects currently underway include:
(1) Super Simple Cowl (from Tossing the Stash)  - knitted while on holidays and just need to weave in the ends and block.

(2) Tiny Tea Leaves Cardigan (from Madelinetosh) - am making good progress on this one (This is an older photo, I've ripped that sleeve out and re-knit it three times, but I'm still a bit further on than this stage).

I didn't take this one away with me because I was up to a tricky spot and I just wanted some easy projects to work on in the car. It's at the very edge of my knitting skills and I'm learning heaps. Just today, I picked up stitches and knitted my first buttonband, ever. It's not great, but it'll do for this time round. I originally started knitting this cardigan for my DH's goddaughter, but apparently she's a bit bigger than I thought. I'm knitting a size 2 and she's just over a year old but is already wearing size 2 clothes. I think I'll have to get her actual measurements and compare them to the finished garment or find another baby to give this to. I'm loving this pattern, though, and I want to knit a bigger version for my daughter later this year.

(3) DROPS cardigan (in a colourful wool/silk blend yarn) for DD - this was the second of the projects I worked on while away. I made really good headway, but have put this one on the backburner while I concentrate on finishing the Tiny Tea Leaves cardi. I've got time. Winter won't be here in Queensland for a long time yet.

(4) My brown linen dress (aka the 'Nun' dress) - have finished all the machine stitching and have marked in the embroidery designs. Now I just need to do all the hand embroidery and stitch the hems. I am in love with the inside of this dress. I used an aqua polka dot polycotton to finish all the seams. I love this look so much, I've ordered a binder foot for my sewing machine. I anticipate using this finish a lot more this year. It's way more fiddly than a serged seam, but way cuter!

Embroidery designs are marked on...



...and will hopefully end up looking something like this. This is a fabulous book, BTW, and I plan to use it a lot this year. ETA: The book is called "New Crewel: The Motif Collection" by Katherine Shaughnessy.

The inside of the dress in all its Hong Kong finish glory. I love this view and am contemplating wearing it inside out.

(5) Another Hot Patterns Sunshine Dress - I have 3 of these in my wardrobe in constant rotation, but they're all prints. This time I wanted a simple black dress. Seeing as though all my other projects are portable, I needed a project that got me in front of my machines.

Well, that's the round up of current happenings in MY sewing room. What projects have you currently got on the table?