Cutting fabric

If there is one thing I wish I could avoid, it'd be cutting out fabric for patterns. But, somehow it wasn't too bad for the one I'm working on now. (Likely because I was taking study breaks, which probably made it seem like less of a chore)

Here is what's gone on so far with the coat making process:

Step 1 pick out pattern
Done: McCalls M5525

Step 2 pick out material
Done: Navy Gabardine, navy lining, sew-in interfacing (I wanted a contrasting lining, but the selection was not so great, so navy it is)

Step 3 cut out pattern
Done: For some reason I cut this pattern out when I first bought it... three months ago. Weird, I never do that in case I don't make the pattern. I guess I knew I'd try it?

Step 4 cut out fabric
Done

cut out fabric

Next, on to the sewing...

Here are some links to my other posts on this topic:
picking the pattern
first few stitches

mission: first coat

At the top of my "to make" stash of patterns is McCalls pattern for jackets/coats M5525 . (The pictures in this post are all from the McCall's website, click on the "M5525" below each picture and it will take you to their site)

M5525

I absolutely love all of these coats, but decided to try pattern "B" first.

M5525

I was hoping to get brown fabric, like the McCall's picture shows the coat in, but when picking out my fabric they did not have it. So, I got navy blue instead. I chose to use Gabardine, one of the suggested fabrics, and also had to pick up some lining and sew-in interfacing. The fabric store did not have fabrics with the same widths as the pattern called for (a couple inches shorter) which was only a problem when cutting the interfacing.

With all the supplies in hand, I can now start (or attempt...) to make my first coat. I'm not sure how this will go!

Here are some links to my other posts on this topic:
cutting the fabric
first few stitches

bad BAD Beagle

Several months ago, hubby-to-be and I picked out a new couch. Our beagle, who is a year old has half of the house to roam freely, which includes our living room (the other half is for our scaredy cat). Well, we brought the couch home, put it in our living room, and it was instant love for beagle. He could now look out the window and see what was going on in the outside world.
red couch
We were a little hesitant to leave him with this new furniture, so every few hours I would check on him to make sure all was well. And, it was. He was a really good little guy...
beagle being good on red couch

...for about a week. Then, as I was studying in another room, I decided to take a break to play with the little guy. I never heard any ruckus... but was speechless when I saw a VERY guilty looking Beagle sitting on the back of the couch. Oh, and stuffing all over the floor. He had thrown one of the back cushions off of the couch and decided to dissect it. There was no way for beagle to deny his role in this mess... he had a chunk of stuffing hanging out of his mouth.

Anyways, we were able to order a replacement pillow. BUT I still would like to fix the old one, and keep the other "on hand" in case it's needed in the future. The nice new one hopefully can be for when he is a little older, and A LOT better trained It seems like an easy enough fix, assuming I can find some matching fabric. Plus, it should be kind of hidden... though the hole is near the top. Here is what needs to be fixed : (it looked a lot worse before... not so bad now)

aftermath of beagle on red couch

Suggestions on how to patch that?

the blanket now

Here is what the crocheted blanket looks like now...

red redheart yarn crocheted blanket in progress

The blanket is opened out on a queen sized bed. It is hitting just on the edge of the mattress the right side, and just on the edge at the head of the bed. But, it hangs over a lot at the foot. I wasn't going to measure it, but now I feel like I should to see that I'm actually making a difference when working on it! So... currently it is 45" wide by 86".

2 more skeins to go (plus the little bit left I'm currently on) hopefully. If it looks crazy proportion wise, I'll have to do the dreaded... and buy more yarn.

blanket progress

Here is the blanket I'm crocheting... about a month ago.
red redheart yarn crocheted blanket in progress
The ruler on the bottom right of the blanket is 18 inches long. I think I've added 2 skeins since then, so I'll take an updated picture and post it soon. Because it is so long, 2 skeins may not be very noticeable, but we'll see what it looks like!