The Mojo is Back! The Mojo is Back!

Apparently it just takes a call weekend where the family leaves me and there's no reason to stay downstairs. I was on call for the 4th, so I opted for my Alabama Chanin red skirt, white coat, and dark blue tank. I felt quite patriotic. And it's funny - I read another fashion blogger's post about avoiding the "cliched red, white, and blue color scheme." Cliched? Seriously? It's about our country - hello!


Sorry - needed to get that off my chest. Okay, on to my stunning productivity. This is the knitted headband gift from Ravelry that started me back on the machine (had to seam it together)....and broke a needle - yowza. The recipient can wear it like this...


or like this.


After that, I decided to make a new tankini top, since the old pink one is starting to sag a bit at the neckline, exposing a bit more of moi than I'd like. I divided my time between cutting and sewing upstairs and researching the internet for patterns and techniques. I even broke out my coverstitch machine that I haven't used in months! Hel-LO, LA-dies!


I didn't have enough pink fabric, but I DID have the black nylon lycra I previously made Pure Barre pants from, and it coordinates quite well with hot pink, so voila! (And yes, Sister, I put on my tight Pure Barre pants and monster heels, and strutted around singing "You're the One that I Want" from Grease - just didn't want to embarrass Dean with a pic.)


I didn't want an identical tankini, so this is McCall's 5400, which I first attempted here. That effort was just a bikini top and bottom that scared me away from swimsuits for 2 years, so I'm very proud to come back and conquer this thing!


I wonder if I'm really that crooked or if it's just my arm positioning. I still need to hem it, but I don't want to lose any length, so I might just run it through the coverstitch to LOOK hemmed.


And I need to tack down this strap - McCall's has you sew one end on, add your elastic around the top, then try it on before sewing the other end of the strap. Kinda weird. (Also weird is the way my elastic turned out - kinda overdone there on that side, and much less on the other side, but I don't think anybody'll notice.)


Also, I didn't have enough nude lining, so I paid Hancock's and Joann's a visit today. Oddly (or not, actually), Hancock's only had white lining, and Joann's was tres cheap-feeling, so white it was. And when the family returned, I was wearing it - hooray!


Okay, back downstairs, I packaged up the white washcloth gift and the headband gift in these recycled white gift bags...


and I have a larger bag for this scarf gift when I finish it. Love this pattern!


Oh, and I'm still couching. Anybody else bounce between knitting and sewing projects every hour on the hour?


I might start getting depressed that my big crafting weekend is coming to an end. OH - tomorrow I'll try and show you the crazy swimsuit fabric I bought for more tankini tops to coordinate with the pink bottoms. One has pink palm trees and black skull and crossbones - kind of piratey!