Okay, here it is. It took some finigeling but I think I got it. It’s still a bit too wide at the shoulders, but then the original shirt also was. I ended up making darts in the back of the shoulders which helped some. I like it much better than the original shirt, in any case.  Had to add a row on 2″ squares out of the bag at the neckline as it was a bit to low for the high cut sports bra which is my favorite. But I think they are kinda cute, anyway. So here’s the next steps. Mine- & you can see where to avoid this many with a little planning on yours!

Pinned the patchwork to the shirt at sleeve seam and shoulder.  Then top-sewed it down. >>> Then took out the shoulders because they were too wide. Sewed the dart in the back and the re-pinned and top sewed it again, easing the blocks. I also pinned and top sewed the bottom of the patchwork.

Then I cut out the section of the shirt under this leaving a half inch of “seam allowance”  in case I needed it. You never know. I hope you can tell that this is inside-out here.

And now it’s done. I am pleased with it, all in all. Used up a bunch of squares out of the misc bag and have a colorful shirt to wear this summer just by remodeling one I already had and didn’t wear. Meanwhile, I am still weaving for the tunic. But there are more blocks in the misc bag, too….

Just wanted to add a note here. I tossed this one in the washer with the regular laundry and it came out just fine. May have fulled a tiny bit but no shrinkage or distortion, not unraveling. Did just fine, which pleases me no end!

I am still weaving squares for my tunic but thought I’d do something with this bag of little ones, meantime. I think I mentioned that I’d… Had An Idea! So I worked on it a bit today.
Inspired by this shirt I found in the bottom of my drawer. Don’t know why I bought this, it’s an ugly man type shirt. Well, it’s red. I have a hard time resisting anything red.

Laid out my blocks on it.

Found a couple  wool ones and had to replace them as this will be tossed in the washer if it turns out wearable. Had to go so far as to weave one replacement.

but I got them all assembled! Not too shabby and I still have the evening to weave on the tunic. But now I’d better go tend the spaghetti before Himself starts getting grumpy.

To be continued……………………………….

Found one bag of misc small squares. Looks like there might have been at least two projects started and forgotten. ah well.

I laid out  some that look like a good start on a summer patchwork top. But left the room and came back to find a helper. Since it was laid out on the bed, the largest work surface in this dinky house, I had to bag them back up, anyway, for the time being. Spent a few wakeful hours last night coming up with ideas. I may have figure something out here but it needs a little testing before I share it. Hang on…

Counted this morning. Got 15 out of the 40 I need so still have a way to go. Going to have to do more than 2-3 a day. Wish you could feel this stuff. If you have some nice alpaca in your stash go cuddle it for a minute and you’ll know what I mean!

But meantime, I got out my bag of squares from the  6-7″ looms. There’s a varitey of them, none of them 6-7″ probably but both square and diagonal weaving. It’ll take some tricky doing to make those go together. Not sure what I can make of these, it’ll take some thinking. Somewhere there’s a big bag of smaller ones, too. Hummm… I’ve seen these dresses, mostly for children, that have a knitted bodice or yoke and a cloth skirt.  I rarely wear a dress but I might be able to do something like that for a summer top. I’ll have to think about that. It would be a sort of smock type blouse. Yes, that might work. Wonder what I have in my sewing fabric stash…

I guess I should have  shown a better picture of my jacket before I started this but here it is.

And one with me in it. It’s wool so is quite warm, perfect for the icy wind we’ve been having.

I’ve decided to follow this project right from the start. Those of you who have similar goals for your looms can Weave ALong. If you do, please post links to your blog or Rav post, wherever you keep track of things. We’ll all want to see!

Keep in mind that while I have woven several garments for myself, I am certainly not an expert so we’ll be learning as we go. I might declare something an absolute fact one day and have to recant the next so don’t hold me to anything just yet!

But there are a few things I’m pretty sure of.

!. Start at the beginning. You need your loom and an idea of what you want to make. Here’s my start.

I went though knitting books and catalogs and watched what other people were wearing, keeping note of those things I thought might be possible to make with the small looms. The sketches above are some of the ideas I noted down. Not all suitable for the looms or for me but you want to make copious notes to start so you have something to work with. Find a sewing pattern that fits you. Try thrift store if you don’t have one on hand, they’re pretty pricy these days. It doesn’t have to be a fashionable pattern, just a pretty simple one that has the correct measurements. (You do know you’re going to have to measure yourself, too, or get a buddy to. Don’t try fudging here, you won’t like the results and you’re going to have a lot of hours in this project.)

I decided on the tunic at the top left, It has a draw string at the under-breast line that is going to be purely decorative in my case and may even be left out once I see how it looks. But I wanted it fingertip length and fairly simple. One thing that may be added is three quarter sleeves. Right now I do not have enough yarn for sleeves, but I really prefer them. Between being fat and old my arms are not all that attractive. (A good reason for you younger ladies to get rid of any excess now, while the loosing is easy- or easier, anyway). But back to the subject.  I picked my style and found a pattern that is pretty close to what I want and that is tested to fit me. This is the same one I used for the jacket. Next comes the math. I bought a lot of Blue Sky alpaca at a good price last year and wanted to use that if possible. I wove a square. This is your swatch to test your gauge. Wash, dry, measure. Now you can figure how many blocks you are going to need to make the fabric to fit the pattern. If you aren’t sure how much yarn it takes to weave your block, check my web site, there’s a list of looms and how much each takes. Don’t forget you’re going to need yarn for sewing your project together so allow quite a bit of extra. If you are going to be knitting or crocheting trim, you’ll need to account for that, too.

Okay, Next thing is a project bag. This keeps all the bits and pieces in one spot so you don’t lose them between weaving sessions. Don’t kid yourself that you’ll remember what closet you put your loom in and which drawer the pattern is in and which bag the yarn is in and etc etc. Keep it together. Here’s mine.

So that’s it for this session. Himself is grumbling where’s dinner. I’ll spend the evening weaving squares and thinking about this project. If you have questions or ideas to help, you can post here or email me. dorleska at tds dot net. I would really like to hear your feedback.

Not Irish but  hope you had a green and sunny day, anyway.

I wanted to address a question I get asked frequently, by new weavers, but by those who have had their looms for a long time, too.The question is.. “What can I make with my looms?”

Pretty much anything you would like to make. You are weaving fabric. You can make a mug rug! Well, wow. But that’s what most people start with. Now all flat surfaces are covered with pretty little squares and you’re ready to move on. It’s fabric so what ever you can make with fabric you can make. From that mug rug to a pillow top to a scarf to a baby blanket to seat covers for his pick-up! Here’s a few things I’ve made over the years, just to give you the idea.

There’s so much more. But that should give you an idea. And if you need more the web site has a gallery of project photos sent in by other weavers. But I hope you are getting the idea. To paraphrase and old saw–  Get Out Your Looms and Make Stuff!

Made BIG progress on my woven sweater/jacket today! Finally got it to the sewing machine and have ti assembled in rough form. Next is more hand work. But it’s getting there!