Finished: Catalina Beach Sweater (And a Giveaway!)

So I'm moving in a few weeks, and I've packed away my sewing machine in my mind already, which, oddly enough, makes me really sad, even though I haven't sewn in a few months. I guess the good news is that I'm itching to sew so I should have new objects by the end of September. Maybe.

Anyway, I've been knitting.

This is the Catalina Beach Sweater, and I am so in love with it.

I apparently have a thing for chevrons because that's all I've been knitting lately. This is clearly no exception.

I designed it at the end of July, and I probably unconsciously made it a sweater so I could still wear it for fall. Although, seriously, it's 95 degrees today - it has been for awhile, and I feel like I'm going to die.

But I managed to make it to the beach anyway!

Designed to be worn on those cooler, summer nights, the Catalina is knit with cotton yarn and designed with lace eyelets and chevron.

It’s oversized, with enough ease for you to slip it on easily over your swimsuit – or your button down.

The shoulders are dropped, giving it a casual vibe, and the sleeves stop at the elbows – perfectly cool for all seasons.

You don’t have to retire it at the end of the season. It’s perfect for layering in the spring or fall, over a t-shirt or a button down, and it’s perfect for school or work.

And even though it's 95 degrees, I dressed up like it's fall and modeled it, just for you. I hope you love it.

I'm giving away one copy of the pattern, designed by We All Knit Here (aka my knitting blog), so if you love it as much as I do and you want a copy, leave a comment below saying so!

If you just want to buy a copy and get started today (or bookmark it, whatever you do), here's the ravelry page. Use coupon code CATALINA50 for 50% off until August 25, 2015.

If you don't knit and you want me to make you, I will! Here's my etsy page for that. Use code NEWCATALINA for 15% off your custom sweater until August 30, 2015.

The giveaway ends August 22nd at midnight EST - and I'll contact the winner on Sunday so make sure I have a way of contacting you. Winner contacted - thank you to everyone who entered!

Quick and Dirty Tutorial for my Simple 30s Dress

So I've promised a tutorial on this dress for awhile, and I've been lacking. (And those asking have been so, SO patient, thank you!)

This is a quick and dirty tutorial. I want to do a proper PDF pattern for it, but that's not going to happen until next spring. Sorry, I just can't do any better than this right now.

But the good news is that if you know how to sew and have done a little bit of drafting before, you can pull this together because this really is a simple dress.

So here we go.

Seam allowance is half an inch. I also tell you to use your measurements (and you should), but go up an inch or two because this is meant to skim over your body, not fit perfectly - after all, we're going for simple so there's no zippers.

I sewed this in rayon, and I used between 3-4 yards, as the skirt is cut on the bias. You'll also need 2" elastic that's 2-4 inches smaller than your waist measurement.

#1 is the top. You'll cut out 4 pieces at 12" by 16".

#2 is the waist. You'll cut out four bands. So take your waist measurement, plus 2" and divide by 2. So my band is 3" x 16".

#3 is the front skirt panel. This is cut on the bias! You'll want it smooth across the front - so half your waist, plus 2" (ex, mine again, is 16"). You'll have to measure how long you want it to be/how long floor length is for you. Then, when measuring down, I made a slight taper out at the knees, with a total increase of 10" - 5" on each side.

#4 is the back panel. You'll cut out two on the bias.  Add an inch long dart in the middle, taking out an inch or two, depending on you and your body. Now, this is going to have more dramatic tail; we're doubling the waist at the bottom - again, flaring out from the knees.

Assembly
For the top, you'll stitch each side together 7" from the bottom - leaving a v-neck (and v-back, and room for the armpit). You can adjust how roomy you want everything to be if you'd like, whether that means more or less coverage for you. Then stitch together the shoulders, gather the seams as much or as little as you'd like, and secure the ruching. (For example, once gathered, my shoulder seams are 6".)

Sew the two pieces of waistband to each other to create a casing for the elastic.

Now, since we're using elastic on the waist, there's going to be some ruching. If you want, you can just sew the waist to the top and let the elastic pull and gather however it may, you can also tuck in the excess fabric on the sides, or you can gather the fabric on top underbust and make it look nice and controlled - it's up to you. But you'll need to attach the top to the waistband - making sure to leave room to insert the elastic. (But don't insert the elastic yet!)

Put in your dart, and stitch the skirt together, and then stitch the skirt to the waistband. You're almost done! Just insert the elastic, sew it up, and there you go!

And, you know, finish your seams and hem and whatnot.

The Magic of Tidying Up - and lots of fabric, pattern books, and more for sale!

I know I promised you guys some sewing, but it just hasn't been happening for a couple of reasons. Mainly I've been too hot (with the heatwaves here) and/or been too lazy or ill to drag everything out. I'm pretty sad about it, and you should just know that I see each and every item you guys are making, even if I'm not commenting!

So let's chat quickly about one of the things I've been up to: cleaning and tidying. My boyfriend thinks I'm possessed, since I'm not one to do cleaning or tidying, but actually I've been feeling rather discontent with my wardrobe and my life in general so I think getting rid of items helps you get back on track, right?

For those with short memories (or new people, hi!), I have a general disdain of wasting things. I don't buy items on a whim, and I certainly can't throw things away because there's a good chance that one day I might need it. But even though I do tend to hoard things, I don't buy new things either - so there's some method to my madness.

This is my second year as part of RTW Fast - which means I don't buy ready to wear clothing at all. I do go to a thrift store once or twice a year, and I'll allow myself to purchase undies, but that's it. Last year I found that I still bought fabric (unused fabric!) so I put a stop to that, and now I don't even buy fabric until I've gone through a few items in my stash.

Which brings me to: No, I haven't been going through my stash. I have beautiful fabric in there, you guys. I have plans for it. I want to get all fun and creative and experiment - but I'm just not doing it. And this stuff is meant to be sewn up and worn - it's not getting any love from me and I want to give it to a loving home!!

Okay, so, if I haven't lost you yet... I decided to go through my stash and see what I could part with. Big surprise - I decided I needed all of it because... what if?

I felt rather discouraged, but then, THEN I came across a miracle book. It's called the Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing. When I tell people they laugh, and say, "Is it really magic?"

YES IT IS.

It's some black magic, I swear. This lady had me pull out every single thing that I owned and sort it based on whether or not it brought me joy. Some things I tossed, some things I kept, some things I'm donating, and others I'm selling.

It's picture time.

Remember how I haven't bought any new clothes in two years? I also move around frequently, including across the country, so I don't have much stuff. Here's my clothes pile, with a cat on top for reference. (He's in the center on top, in case you can't find him.)

My clothes were busting out of my closet, couldn't fit in my dressers, some were in my fabric stash (which also exploded everywhere), and I ended up having two hampers: one for dirty clothes and one for clean clothes that I was going to wear soon and couldn't fit anywhere else.

                            

And here's the after! So check this out -  my bottom two drawers now hold my jeans, my skirts, my tops, and all of my dresses - and I can even see every single item I own - and there's room to spare!!

So what does my closet look like?

                         

Nothing but coats and jackets. I already had to take out 25 hangers - I have no idea how it all fit in there!

Anyway, I'm not going to show you before and after pics of everything, but I did this with my fabric stash, and, well, everything. 

I'm writing this to let you know:

1. This book is magic, and I'm recommending it to everybody. Stop arguing, just do it.

2. I'm selling some of my excess fabric, pattern books, and trims on ebay.

I actually feel kind of bad because I'd love to do a massive giveaway, but I'm listing everything super cheap. I just mostly want to get rid of it, especially since I'm moving at the end of the month - so you'll get cheap sewing stuff, and I'll get extra money to rent a car and head out.

I might go through my pattern stash and list some of my vintage ones that I know I won't get to any time soon, but that seems like an even bigger undertaking - and I feel like moving patterns is easier than fabric and books!