Christmas Present

I usually don't knit or sew Christmas presents, I never seem to have enough time that time of the year and I don't like to give myself extra stress. But this year I remembered that I had the supplies to make the Two-hour tote bag.

My brother teaches at Fordham University and like your typical professor he is always loaded with canvas tote bags. I knew this would be a useful gift for him. I bought the canvas fabric at Joann's as well as the cotton straps. The fabric was a little light so I interlined the bag with muslin and made the width of the bag narrower by a couple inches so that it would hold its shape better when loaded with books. He loved it and didn't waste any time filling it up!

Simplicity 4500 Skirt

I made this skirt with a beautiful wool gabardine from my stash. The fabric has a wonderful drape and it feels all swishy and feminine on.
Working with this fabric was a nightmare. You must believe what they say about gabardine. It was a bear to iron. Knowing that it was a hard to work with fabric I chose a simple design, but even simple designs require pressing to look good. I lined it with silver Bemberg rayon, the pattern does not include a lining so I just used the skirt piece and attached it to the facing, and with hand stitches and in the groove of the seam of the facing I tacked together the facing to the waistband. I also made a pseudo crochet chain with sewing thread to keep the lining attached to the fashion fabric at the hem. I used seam binding for the fashion fabric hem (I love how this finish looks!).
As you can see I have a beautiful coordinating wool waiting to be made up in the jacket ( I really like the version with the belt). The colors of the last picture are truer to life.

I am a winner!!

Imagine my surprise when yesterday I saw that I had an email from The Well-Heeled Society telling me I was the winner of the holiday giveaway. I couldn't believe it! Go check out the goodies I won.

Well , it has been two weeks since my surgery and I feel so good I started to notice how much cleaning I need to do...I have been knitting a lot while I had my feet up and the Tilted Duster from Interweave Knits is half way done.

I hope to have pictures up tomorrow of a couple of completed projects.

Thank you all for your wishes for my quick recovery.