Wa(h)lsonntag

Today is election day in Germany.
Fun fact: in the German laguage the word 'Wahl' - 'Election' - is homophone to the word 'Wal' - 'Whale'.
So I made whales (yes, I made two), as we have two votes in our election system.
I used a free pattern from this webside here.
Number one, nickname 'Grünwal' (Green Whale), went to a friend's daughter.

If I'm to be any judge, it was well received (she insisted, it had to go to bed with her)
It can even make a head stand and show off its lovely striped belly.

Number 2 - Blue Whale - is made with the same striped fabric I used for Green's belly and from an old jeans of mine for the rest.

I used tiny, itty fabric scraps to stuff them both (I just don't throw anything away)

Disclaimer: The color choice of the two whales have nothing to do with the way I've cast my vote today.

Hayner Burgfest and Shirt No2

Last weekend was the Hayner Burgfest, a medieval market in the neighboring town. For some reasons I have managed to miss out on this one before, only a recommendation from a lovely lady at another market got us to check it out.

Even though I saw this demonstration of falconry before at yet another market, I realy enjoyed it.

We met this brave knight at the entrance, and he had no issues with posing for us (he was not quite as handsom once the helmet was off ...)

There were a couple of interesting demostration all over the place, and also really great food to buy.

This one will definitely go on our calender for next year.

I made a second t-shirt from the burda pattern I bought, this time a size smaller, which was much better. I had to improvise a bit, as I bought the blue patterned fabric a few years back, thinking of making yet another shirt, but found that the result (half way along) was not what I wanted. I didn't want to throw the fabric away, but didn't have enough for a full shirt. So I bought some more blue jersey, and made the upper front and the back in plain blue.

The shirt itself is okay, but there was one problem I couldn't fix. At the neck line, when I used the twin needles, several stitches were skipped. It happened only on the blue fabric, the other one was okay.

The root cause is that the twin needle I have (2.5mm) is not really for jersey.

I did buy one for jersey with a 4mm gap, but that one doesn't want to fit in my machine (when I try to tighten it, it just falls out again). It should fit (as the numbering and size should be the same as the other needle), but well, it doesn't.

I have to see what I can do.

Baby Steps

After I bought the dress dummy, I thought to start small with a simple shirt without any frills.
It was challenge enough for the beginning.

Sewing clothing is quite different than sewing a quilt pattern. Just preparing the pattern is not so easy. What size to pick (a picked wrong, by the way - I should have gone down at least a size, if not two).
The fabric is different, more stretchy than quilter's cotton and the transfer from pattern to fabric was tricky (that fabric is quite slippery and just doesn't want to get marked)
Then 3D sewing has additional traps. The neckline refuses to lay flat (I can smooth it a little when on the doll, but wearing it, it does stand out)

All in all, I learned a lot, so I do have that. The shirt is too big, but I propably will leave it as it is, and will get farbic for a second try soon.

Knitting wise, I finished this shawl for a collegue of mine who is leaving the company in October. She always complains it's too cold in the office...
The pattern is called Ley Lines by Loji Locatelli. The yarn is Drachenwolle Merino 500, a new long transition yarn I've bougth this year at the Schwabsburger Wollfest.