Julianne

ANEMONE HAT

15 June 2013 by Julianne

Searching through Ravelry one morning, I was instantly smitten by this charmingly eccentric hat: Cat Bordhi’s Anemone. What’s not to love? There’s the elegant twist of the moebius brim, the wonderful bunching of rows of knits and purls, and of course, all those fabulous tendrils springing out from my head like a million brilliant ideas.

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This picture is quickly becoming my favorite picture of me. We took these pictures at Alcatraz a couple weeks ago. My dad and stepmom were supposed to fly in from Massachusetts but had to cancel at the last minute, so we went on the tour for them.

I love the moebius brim! You wind up knitting it from the center row out, so that instead of it growing from top to bottom, the rows are added to the top and bottom. It was a little tricky, but Cat Bordhi’s tutorials were clear to follow.

I have a gorgeous fuchsia yarn that I think would be great for this design, except it’s not superwash (the hat should be washed in a machine to plump up the tendrils). So I wanted my first rendition to follow the directions, which is laughable in retrospect and should have been obvious up front. I know who I am, and someone who follows directions when making something is not my style.

I love the rainbow slub of this chunky yarn, and it matches a scarf I bought in Florence in 2005. The yarn came from Micheal’s, and I believe it was on sale. I kept the sleeve while I was knitting and threw it away without a single thought about blog posting. I do remember that the colorway was “Tempo” and it’s a wool/ploy blend (I think 50/50). However, it’s much thicker than the recommended worsted weight, some sort of chunk, but for some reason I didn’t think that would be a problem, so I got to work on the brim.

Sans gauge swatch, my first attempt was way too big. Two guage swatches later, I realized that even the tiniest needles weren’t going to make this yarn worsted weight, and so using US#5 needles I just made the “baby” size. I wound up doing just one series of the tendrils (in each spot in the row) before beginning my increases. It fits perfectly!

My tendrils seem to curl a little bit, which I think is cute and due to either the uneven thickness of the yarn or unevenness of my twisting. With this yarn at least, I didn’t notice any difference after washing. I’m definitely looking forward to making this hat again with recommended yarn, but first I have two other yarns in my stash that need to be worked up!

I love this hat and wear it whenever its chilly at night in LA. I tend to get a lot of stares when I wear this hat out, which can be disorienting, because they seem to be of the “what the fuck is that hat?” nature. Whatevs.

NEW CIRQUE LEGGINGS

9 June 2013 by Julianne

I have always loved stripes, and although I obviously love colors, sometimes you just can’t beat a good black and white combo.

Each year this design is my #1 seller for Burning Man costumes. The pattern is my own design, for comfortable fit and stripe convergence.

These leggings are made out of slinky lycra that stretches 175% its original size! So they are equally perfect for dancing and gorging at a feast. You can get them in my Etsy shop now!

ULTIMATE SCRAPPY POUF

6 June 2013 by Julianne

It’s a cross between a pillow and a pouf, which I suppose makes this creation another tuffet! My friend Mary requested a rainbow pinwheel pillow, and I eventually obliged.

It’s made entirely of scrap fabrics. The triangles were sewn together, and then topstitched onto a backing of blackout fabric (it was the right weight and I had 2 yd lying around). Continue reading →

The trims were all in my stash as well. And even stash-bustier, it’s stuffed with shredded fabric! There’s a tiny bit of mystery poly-fil in there as well.

The shredded fabric was all diverted from the trash can: ugly or tiny scraps that I cut into ~2″ squares and tossed in a bag over the course of a few months. It builds up really fast! However, all that fabric is HEAVY, so this wouldn’t make a good stuffing for your bed pillows, but maybe for plumping up seat cushions.

Mary just graduated and moved up to Santa Cruz with her fiance, and I finished it in time to give her as a going-away/congratulations gift.

I’ve been non-stop busy with work, but either it’s not interesting enough for a blog post, or it is but I signed NDAs, or I haven’t had time to post it!

ZIPPER GAG MASK

19 May 2013 by Julianne

As Burning Man draws near, I start making zipper dust masks. It’s as seasonal as baby polar bears learning to catch seals for the first time.

EARWINGS

15 May 2013 by Julianne

I love these gorgeous faux-gauge wooden earrings from Sanskrit Dream, but since the natural wood color was close to my hair, they tended to blend it. So I painted them.

Before:

After:

The idea is “psychedelic rainbow peacock” so they fit in real nice with my wardrobe. I like that although they look like wings, they are vegan–no feathers, or bones (which is often used for this style earring). I wear them backwards by the way, inserting the post from behind.

I painted them with acrylics, with no primer or sealant. They really stand out now, and I absolutely love them!

MIIMII DRESS

5 May 2013 by Julianne

This is kind of amazing. I finished this dress, wore it to a party, took pictures, and got it posted all in one day!

This picture makes it look like the wind was blowing my hair to the side, but that’s just how I wear it nowadays.

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At the end of the party I smashed my thumb in a door, and wound up taking home an old-fashioned glass filled with ice because it hurt so much. There’s some discoloration and it’s sore, but luckily no major damage! Anyway, that’s why I’m holding my thumb in this picture.

I used Simplicity 3835, which is an out-of-print Built by Wendy pattern. Luckily I was able to borrow it from a lady in my sewing group, which has inspired a pattern tracing party to be held next week (and I can’t wait!). Thank you for the pattern Jill!

My step-sister-in-law got the purple fabric in Hawaii years ago (same as with my bathrobe). It’s a mid-weight cotton with fabulous drape. The orange collar was cut from a scrap of my wedding skirt, and the gold/blue trim was in my stash. In fact, the only new material for the dress was the $.50 zipper.

I’m really smitten by the orange/violet combination. I was inebriated when I made the original decision, and second-guessed myself a couple times while sewing. I’m so glad I trusted myself! So far I’ve only worn it during the day, but the colors are so luminous in the sunlight.

My version was originally inspired by Kristin’s chic dress, although I made many modifications to the pattern. The biggest change was that I lowered the neckline by drafting a new collar (I made a muslin of the whole dress first). Since the neck was lowered, there was less excess fabric to be gathered, which I might add back in if I make this pattern again. Instead of the back side darts I shaped the zipper seam, and added darts to the front. My pockets are slightly gathered at the bottom.

Here’s my muslin with the original neckline. The picture on the right shows the original pattern piece (in yellow) and my wider collar (in white). I wound up shortening the collar piece to 1.5″ finished.

I cut the longer length for the dress, but wound up shortening it a few inches. This is definitely the shortest length I’m comfortable with, but I think that since I’m so covered up at the arms and chest that this dress needs to be short to keep its edge.

I finished all seams with bias tape, cut from a random polyester in my fabric cabinet (and also used on my Cool Contrast tee). I also made a belt, with orange stripes. I’m not sure if I prefer the dress to hang loose or to wear it with the belt. The belt has a tendency to create the illusion of a belly pouch…

Now I’ve jumped on the shift dress bandwagon! It’s not the Laurel pattern, but it’s still the sewing-world trend. I’ll definitely be playing with this silhouette more, with raglan and set-in sleeves.

I’m calling it a miimii because, when it was on a hanger before the side seams were sewn, my husband asked “what’s up with that muumuu you’re making?” And since it’s smaller than a muumuu it must be a miimii.

I wore it to my husband’s stepmother’s 75th birthday party in Malibu today, which just happened to be Hawaiian themed. It was extra perfect because it was her oldest daughter who had given me the fabric, and had planned the party.

made by Julianne

adventures in making