GiRD 4 - ARGH

So i cut out my dress, being very careful to measure it because i thought it would be tight/small according to the measurements i made of myself.  I finally got around to sewing it up today and guess what i discovered? The dress is too big.  The sleeves are the right size but the back and front are too large. Because of that, the dress wants to lay with the neckline too loose and too low, becoming a boatneck of sorts when that's not at all what i'm going for.  I'm also not sure if it's as long as i'd like, which is horrible but there's nothing i can do about that without buying more fabric.  I'm going to see if i can fix it w/o doing that but certainly not tonight.  I am simply too frustrated.  This is why i never sew, nothing turns out the way its meant to. /cry

GitRD 3 - complicated cuts

So Simplicity patterns are finally on sale at work.  It took me a couple of hours, much measuring, and lots of careful adjustments, but i managed to make the Simplicity 1800 pattern's shoulders fit the McCall's 6612 dress body.  The cap of the shoulder is very strange, and i will probably have to figure out a facing/lining for the shoulders and back collar, but otherwise i have cut out the entire dress.  This was rather nerve-wracking, and i really wish i could have found a pattern that was closer to the original product, but i think that i am ready to sew and that it will be a passable replica.  But of course i have work tomorrow and now i need rest.

Oswin/GIRD update

So the shoulders on the McCall's pattern are definitely not the same as what's pictured.  I'm considering on using Simplicity 1800 for the sleeves portion of the neckline.  I'm not decided yet, i would like to wait for it to go on sale for 99c at work but am impatient to sew this dress as soon as possible.  I didn't find an alternative on the McCall's site unfortunately.  Apparently some have had trouble with this pattern. /:  I'm not sure i can get it to look the same (or as good) as the dress that Oswin wore.  I have a wide neck, broad shoulders, and wide bra straps to hide.  I might have to do something out of character and make a muslin mock-up before i cut the red knit (not that muslin will fit the same).  Maybe i have an old pair of knit sheets that would work better.  This is going to be an experiment, no doubt.

the girl in the red dress

I am going to make this dress.

Source: thesun.co.uk via Luinel on Pinterest

At least...a version of it. First of all, i loved Oswald, second of all, i loved her dress (and her apron, but i digress), third of all i think it's close enough to the reboot Star Trek Uhura's costume that it could work for a Doctor Who or Star Trek convention (i really need to go to a convention someday). Of course, i probably couldn't be going as Uhura (makeup, wig, too much work), i would totally be going as Janice Rand instead. xD Or any anonymous yeoman, i suppose.

Source: comicbooked.com via Luinel on Pinterest

Today, at work, I saw the perfect pattern going through my check lane...McCall's 6612. It's on sale for 99c this week and i grabbed the last one in my size as soon as i clocked out. Phew.  View A is cute but a little short for me.  I plan to go with view B...which, oddly enough, isn't pictured on the McCall's website.

Pickings are slim for knit fabrics at work...we have travel knit in black, heather gray, and brown (i keep meaning to make something in those last two colors), and then some prints for the rest of the (thinner) knit fabrics, but we just so happen to already have the Fall and Christmas fabrics out, so i was able to find a really nice darker red fabric. I can't decide if it's more of a maroon or a brick red, but i'm sure it will go great with my Burgundy Boots / Maroon Converse. I'm not even going to try to find her shoes.  Sometimes i love working at a craft store because with a coupon and my employee discount the fabric came to $14.25. I never could have bought a dress for that price, let alone on in my size! So this won't be identical...but i think it will be close enough for people to be able to tell once i've got a belt or communicator on.  As for her apron...

Source: dw-cosplay.livejournal.com via Luinel on Pinterest

I'm not planning to include that in the costume, though i'm sure i could modify a flour sack apron in a pinch.  The fabric is thick enough that i really don't want to be wearing any more bulk if i don't have to, and since i probably won't be baking in this dress, i just am not going to buy the apron. ...  Yet?

Differences...Oswin's dress has a different neck (can't decide if it's asymmetrical or just pulled that way? but it definitely has modified raglan sleeves) and slightly less draped than the McCall's pattern is.  I'm sure i'll fill out the front more than she does and i think that it's close enough to get by with.

so frustrated

So i decided to look up Valley Yarns 2/14 Alpaca Silk on Ravelry to make sure that it is something i really want to invest in.  The colors are so lovely that i want to use several of them, not just the Pacific but the Olive and Copper if nothing else.  Alas, but this yarn is also getting bad reviews.  Splitting yarn is not ideal but the real deal breaker for me is that in a sweater it wears out quickly.  I would like to knit a shawl someday but that is not what i intend for my next project.  If in fact i can even manage another project.  I am so busy right now with work that the only day of the week i seem to manage knitting on is Tuesdays, and that only for a couple of hours.  My hands and arms are always tired from working nine hours the day before and taking Sign Language the hour before.

I want to be able to knit more...but of course i rarely get what i want.

Baby it's cold outside...

Well...it's not as cold as it could be, but it is getting to be that time of year.  Right now i have a hoodie with a broken zipper, a wrap sweater that is starting to show its age, a green sweater that is very warm, and a brown vest with sleeves about 2/3 complete.  I really feel like i need another sweater...if not two.  The question is...how much money do i want to spend on yarn?  How much can i afford to?  Would it be more cost effective to knit my own sweater, or would it be better to buy one (/shudder perish the thought!).

For months now i have really wanted to knit up Pangea but have been daunted by the price of the recommended yarn (not to mention the fact that it's grafted in the back...what's up with that?).  Fortunately i looked it up on Ravelry and have discovered that i really don't want to spend money on this pattern.  Suffice it to say that only a few people have attempted to knit Pangea, and apparently everyone except the designer has frogged it.

Here's my issue.  I want a wrap cardigan that looks similar to Donna's in End of Time.

I thought that Pangea looked similar enough for me as shown on the Webs site...only i intended to knit it in Pacific rather than Olive (the color which is modeled below).

I love this sort of lacy look, particularly since my own Tangy Giselle is about the right weight when i knitted it with larger needles than this pattern calls for.  So i was willing to compromise thickness for this beautiful yarn rather than trying to find something in a DK or Sport weight.  Then i saw the designer's version of Pangea and was more than a little surprised.

It's so thick compared to the Webs version!  She claims that it's because she didn't block the sweater but i am skeptical.  If i used the same size needles as she did, this would actually be very close to the weight of Donna's sweater.  But i am still put off by the fact that everyone frogs this pattern without fail.  I think that i am going to try to find another pattern that is similar and use this yarn, as when one looks at it objectively it isn't that expensive considering the fact that it's Alpaca/Silk.  Some people have complained about variations in tension but i experienced that while knitting with the Crystal Palace Kid Merino as well.

I also want to make a longer version of the Bergen Street Cardigan (probably in Pumpkin and Oatmeal?  maybe in Pumpkin and an Indigo/Navy) but am daunted by the fact that the cheapest yarn that i can find which is probably of a good quality will cost me upwards of $80.  I don't know if i need to knit this with worsted and adapt it, but i definitely don't want to use Fisherman's Wool yet again (which would probably be the cheapest option, actually, but i want something nicer than what i'm seeing in my brown wrap...it's already getting fuzzies and i've not worn it much).  Of course fuzzies seem to be a pretty common theme even when i pay more for yarn.  I'm starting to wonder if shopping at Webs is even worth it as everything is pricy and i'm not seeing the quality that i'd like to.