Tara Miller Designs

Sun Hats from Christmas

We went on a beach vaction early in April with extended family including some of Devon's cousins. I gathered since she was gettting a cool new hat from my Oliver+S book gifted to me over Christmas, that I should put my rotary cutter to the test and cut out 4 (1 for D plus 3 for her cousins) and set to work. The cutting was the easy part and making Devon's was super easy too. Her medium size hat went together like pie (hmm, I could go for some pie!) but the 3 larges didn't. The hang up was stitching the top of the sides. The top of the hat was just too big. So I grabbed my medium pattern piece and it fit perfectly. Not sure how this mix up happened but in the future I marked the medium piece: "Med/Large". Once I had that figured out the rest of the hats fell into place. The results were amazing and an equally big hit.

The red and pink is one hat and the dark blue and light blue are another and the spider/octogon are the last of the cousin hats. The last is Devon's floral and sort of abstract in green and pink. She wears it all the time and I can honestly attest to that considering I made them over a month ago!

We've Moved

Hooray! After having our house on the market since April we have finally found a renter and have moved across town. Our new place is 10 min from Garrett's work and 20 min from my parents house. Perfectly situated. We moved just 2 weeks ago so creative production has been at a slow crawl but I am getting back up to speed. Of course I have still been doing my regular posting for Fabric.com's blog but I have some of my own things in the works. A few new knitting patterns are almost ready and I am in Home Decorating Mode (Red level). Our new place is zero property line so some of our windows look into our neighbor's back yard. While they do have a fine yard, I think we will be better neighbors with a few curtains up. I have sewn up some super cool Cafe Curtains for the mud room and am only waiting on the hardware to hang them. Then I am planning som cafe curtains/roman shade for the master bath and closet. It will be amazing and of course I will post pictures as they come. Now here a some links to some of mmy free projects over at blog.fabric.com

Halloween Dish Towels (pictured above)

Pumpkin Bucket Cover

Ellis Square Square Crochet Cowl & Hat Pattern

Tybee Coverup Knitting Pattern

Back to Blogging

 
Everyday I have been thinking of blogging but when it gets down to it I have not made it the priority that it should be. Many of you may know that I have been blogging over here and not so much here on Gruenetree. The tide is turning and I am dedicating more time to my own projects so there is more for me to blog about here and more projects to come.  

One of my most recent projects that I am still super excited about is my new Cardigan Bay Jacket from Interweave Knits Fall 2011. I have been over the moon since this issue arrived. More and more I have been disappointed in the patterns the past few seasons but this issue makes all past transgressions forgiven. I love so many of the patterns and I could not wait to cast on for the Cardigan Bay. It took a little over a week to knit up and while I am still waffling over buttons, it is done and awesome. Too bad it is months from being cool enough for me to wear.

Next I knit up the Pembroke Wrap from Interweave Knits Fall 2011. This was also a fast knit and super cozy. I know I will be giving it as a Christmas present but I am not sure to whom yet. I used Lion Brand Wool Ease with US 11 needles so it is a little bit smaller than the pattern but still a good size. At the time I didn't have my size 13 needles (see this post on prepping for the move) so I ordered some new Harmony needles from Eat, Sleep, Knit (more below). Thus I used my 11's. I will definitely be making this again but maybe in 2 colors.

This issue has inspired me to branch out with the chunky yarns and I have 2 patterns in developments. One a shawl and one a jacket. I just received my yarn for both today so I will be casting on this evening once the child is asleep. Now more on Eat, Sleep, Knit. I have just discovered that this cute LYS is in my neck of the woods. But even better are all the deals they offer and the wide selection of yarn colors! Like I said I order my Knit Picks needles from them and the order shipped that day and was in my box the next! PLUS they included a Yarn lottery ticket and I won $100 store credit! So I ordered more yarn and then with that order I won a skein of Sploosh! Plus, they have a yarn marathon where you can win even more yarny goodness! To top it off shipping is cheap and fast ($3 and $5 or free if you order over $75). So I am in love now.  

Kid Tents- a double take

A recent birthday party got me back into the tent making game and I created a few shortcuts to make it painless to make these great kid toys!

1) get your self a 6 ft straightedge. I use a 1x4 that was used for a valance but now is reserved for an extra long straightedge. This will make it really easy to draw your cut lines. 

2) do not turn your raw edges under to make the rod pockets. This was too much ironing and too much hassle when sewing. I cut my tent with pinking shears and then leave the edges exposed. It looks great and is so much easier.

3) Because I cut with pinking shears, I also don't hem the top. This just shaves a little bit more time off and makes it that much easier. 

4) I use 1/2 in. PVC pipe because it is more bendy and thus fits into my car. The home improvements stores sell them in 10 ft lengths and don't cut them anymore so I had to bump it down from 3/4 in. to 1/2 in. but I have not noticed a difference in strength. This makes the rod pocket at 1 1/4 in. 

5) I use a strip of blue painters tape to mark my seam allowance for the rod pockets. The bright color makes it very easy for me to notice and keep my seams lined up. 

Round 3: Simplicity 2443

On more Simplicity 2443. I love this dress. I love the pockets (which are big enough to carry a sippy on walks with my little one, or my phone and keys to the store). I love that it is knit and super comfy. I love that it is still a bit sexy. I love how simple it is too. Also, I love how it works with some many fabrics. My latest is for Fabric.com's blog and it in Michael Miller Interlock. This is a thicker fabric so I recommend trying on as you go and then wearing. I found that I needed to take out the zipper, cut a smaller size and deepen my darts. I am in the process of ripping out the zipper and reducing the size a bit and refitting the the darts. I hope to have pictures next week. The fabric is awesome but fits like jeans- it stretches a bit with wear so I recommend cutting a smaller size than you wear in lighter weight jerseys. It will stretch to fit you better. 

You can find all the info you need for my darts, modifications and the ruffle on Fabric.com's blog. 

Simplicity 2892

Hot weather means linen tops, lots of them. My first is Simplicity 2892 with modifications. I started with Lightweight Euro Linen in a light seaform color which is to die for. It really goes with some many items. I made view D though next time I will make it with the belt. I usually wear this top with a wide belt which really nips it in and makes it look great. I left the edges raw around the neck because I really liked the uber casual look of the frayed edges. I also made the top an inch longer to hit at my hips. This tops looks great under jackets and cardi and looks great with trim skirts or worn with a belt with flowy skirts. I am working on a high waisted skirt and am excited to try this tops tucked in with the skirt. I am going to make at least one more this season from this pattern, probably in a print to fill out my wardrobe. 

Round 2: Simplicity 2443

After the gapping issue from my initial Simplicity 2443 dress, I have made quite a few changes to make the dress fit well. 1) I cut out a size 12 (one size down) 2) I shortened the shoulder straps by 1 in. total 3) I made a 1/2 in. dart at the sides seams in the bodice bands. I believe these 3 solutions eliminate the gapping and make for a much easier, more modest  (but not prim) fit. This dress is crazy awesome. I love it. The pockets are big and well placed but hidden. The fit is sexy but not flauntingly so. The knit is forgiving and comfy. I am in love. However, this pattern is ridiculously hard to match stripes, as you can see. I am wearing the dress now because I have earned it. I put in many hours on getting this much loved design to work on my bod. But tomorrow I will rip back the bands and flip them over. The bands have a solid facing so I will just have the striped bodice with solid bands. I have already spent a lot of time matching the stripes at the tops of the bust and forgot about the center there. Even with all my work the stripes still don't match up well enough. Oh well. I will have some stripes just not as many as anticipated. I now feel well prepared for my 3rd 2443 which will be in a designer interlock for Fabric.com's blog coming up this month. I am so excited! All these alterations were made possible by the great fans on the Fabric.com Facebook page- thanks again!

Oh and in my post on the first version of this dress you can see the original form of the striped fabric: my husband's shirt. It looks way better now!

Simplicity 2443 Muslin

According to the envelope, I am a perfect size 14. However, according to my muslin for Simplicity 2443 I am clearly not. This is a good picture to show the extra fabric at the waist and the gaping at the arm holes. I am cutting a size 12 next before I cut into my designed interlock for an upcoming post for Fabric.com (super excited about this knit).

* I have just finished the top in the size 12 and it fit well but there is still gapping under the arms. I am going to take up the straps about an inch for modesty but I want to eliminate the gapping at the same time. Hmmm....

You can really see the gapping in the above shot. It is drastic but I love this knit. It's a medium weight jersey, cotton. I must say I am loving the knits lately. It must be the walking foot and the ball point needles. I am totally into it. I am cutting the 12 out of my husband's now too small jersey striped polo shirt. It is too small for the facing strips but I will be able to cut all the top pieces out of it. It is going to look hot! I am matching it up with a brown interlock. The color doesn't match exactly but it is close enough. 

here's a shot of the back of the dress. Sorry about the bra. The bands were tricky to attach but once I clipped into them as recommended by the pattern, it made it 100% easier. 

Here's my Sewing Pattern Review 

A Mounted Deerhead

Over at Fabric.com's blog, I mentioned that I was making up some more kid tents and I have. I made 2 for a good friend's kids and her sister's little boy. I used Obsessively Stitching's tutorial but with some modifications. First, I made the grey tent with only 4 panels instead of 5. Mostly this was because one panel fell to the floor and I didn't realize it was missing until the tent was finished. Secondly, and I think key, was that I didn't turn the tent right side out went finishing the tent pole pockets. I simply left the seams on the outside and exposed. I did this because in the previous 2 tents I have made I have found that pressing all those seams open takes a LONG time and even with the seams pressed open it is really hard to line up 5, 6 ft long 1 1/2 in. pockets. I was always ripping and frustrated. But since I pinked the edges when I originally cut the pieces out I decided to just leave the seams exposed and save myself a lot of trouble. And you know what, it looks great and I am very happy with it. Before, I swore off making these due to that step but with my modification, I think I will get back into the tent making business (figuratively, of course). Both tents are made from $4 Walmart twin flat sheets but my daughter's will be a recycled bed sheet that is just the perfect color and laying unused in our linen closet. 

Lastly, I created 2 appliques with Heat n Bond and mounted them right above the door flap. One is a Deerhead (the dad is a big bow hunter) and the other is a moose hanging out in the woods. Both were created from free coloring sheets that I googled "hunting coloring pages). I am very relieved to have these gifts finished. They are bound for Australia for a dear friend. She has 2 boys and a girl. The girl was easy to make for the boys were a challenge. I knew the tents would be a big hit but I dreaded making them. Now, I have one scheduled for my little girl and another for an upcoming birthday party. Oh and I would show finished picture with the tents assembled but I am only sending the tent shells to Australia, not the poles. Hopefully, pictures will follow. 

Birthdays and Sundresses

Usually I am so busy doing puzzles and working on blog contributions that I haven't made time to work on anything else. Well, upcoming birthdays and a visit from an Australian friend have demanded that I make time. My mom's birthday is tomorrow and I really want to make something special for her. Since I have had my daughter my crafting time dedicated towards birthdays has shiveled up and died. I vowed to make it different this year. Mom has really stepped up to help me out since Devon has gotten mobile and having Mom around gives me some time to work and be myself for just a bit, helping me to be a better mom. A small hand made gift is the least I can do. I am embroidering a set of Tea Time napkins for her since she is a full fledged Tea-head. In the morning, it is all coffee but after the pot goes cold, mom is all about the tea. I know she will love these dainty napkins. Though she is a big embroiderer herself, she will love these because they are different and just for her. 

I am also crafting up a pair of convertible mittens in a purl stripe that I know she will love as well. The mittens look as though they are purled throughout but they involve only minimal purling and are 90% knit stitch. It's pretty awesome. I just need to find some vintage buttons, weave in the ends and we are ready for pictures and gift wrap. 

For my mom's birthday, her best friend, who resides in Australia, has flown in to spend 2 weeks with her. It is pretty special considering she  came last year for the first time in 10 yrs or so and we surprised my mom. She flew in and I picked her up all secret like at the airport. Then we drove to my mom's who only knew that I was coming to see her for the day. I called my mom when we arrived and asked her to meet me outside to help me with some packages. When she opened the door, her jaw dropped and we all started crying. Mom kept asking "is it really you?" This fine lady is also the mother to one of my best friends who has 3 kids herself and can't make the voyage over yet. So I want to make some specials to send back to her kids. She has 2 boy and one little princess. For the princess, I made 2 dresses from Heather Ross' Weekend Sewing: The Smocked dress and the Flower Girl dress. They turned out really nice but I think the sizing is a bit off on the Flower girl dress. I cut out 2 of the 2 yr old size (One for Devon and one for Aaliyah) and when I tried it on Devon (who just turned 2) it would not fit. It was more of an 18 mo size. I inserted a zipper into Devon's which fixed that fit issue. The Smocked dress fit but not like the book describes. I have the elastic thread working but I need to fiddle with it some more. Maybe work with the tension. I cut from the same material for each girl and used gray satin ribbon for the straps. It looks amazing on. Devon's is more of a tunic size.