Levi's shirt gusset

I try to keep a lightweight cardigan or overshirt in the car during the summer for those times when we're already out (running errands, going to doctor appointments, etc.) and we spontaneously decide to stop someplace to eat. Most restaurants keep their summertime air conditioning set to what feels like sub-zero, and I've reached the age where I get uncomfortable when I'm cold or sitting in a draft, so putting on an extra layer goes a long way toward keeping me content on those occasions.

We recently had a day where we were out and about, and we decided it was a good opportunity for us to eat out before heading home, except I didn't have a cardigan with me to put on in the restaurant. So, before heading to eat, we stopped at a shop and bought me this lovely lightweight denim/chambray Levi's shirt to slip on over the t-shirt I was wearing.

The shirt fit me well enough off the rack (I could button it down the front, etc.), and it kept me comfortable at the restaurant, but it was a snug fit, and I could tell that I would like the shirt even more if I added gussets for some extra ease. 

So, a few days later, I searched online and found some lovely light blue floral-print chambray fabric. I ordered 1.5 meters, which was way more yardage than I needed for the gussets, but I figured that I would eventually find a use for the remaining fabric. 😂

Even though the floral fabric isn't stretch chambray (which the description says), it's exactly the color and print that I envisioned using for the gusset panels on my Levi's shirt, so I'm happy with it. (The shirt doesn't stretch, either, so it's actually better that floral fabric isn't stretchy.)

Shirt and fabric before cutting:

First, I measured the length of the side seams (from hem to cuff) to know how long the gusset strips would need to be. My shirt measured about 29 inches from hem to cuff, so I cut my gusset strips from the floral fabric about 32 inches long (to give myself plenty of length for seam allowances) by 7 inches wide.

Before cutting the shirt open along the side seams, I had to remove the cuffs. This step made me a bit nervous, because I hadn't sewn anything with nice cuffs like this before.

I used my seam ripper and worked slowly and carefully until the cuffs came free from the sleeves. I set the cuffs aside to be reattached later.

Whew!! 😅

After the cuffs were removed, I took a couple of pins and pinned the tabs (the ones that secure the sleeves when they're rolled up) out of the way inside the sleeves, to keep them safe during the shirt cutting and gusset sewing.

Then it was time to cut the shirt open along the side seams. Using my sharpest scissors, and again working slowly and carefully, I cut as close as I could on either side of the bulky side seams, removing and discarding the strips from the old seams.

The next step was to zigzag stitch along all the raw edges of the shirt and the gusset strips, to minimize fraying later.

Now it was time to start sewing the gusset strips together with the shirt.

I finger-pressed about a 3/8-inch hem along one short edge of each gusset strip and then stitched across that hem to secure it. Then I put one side of the shirt and one of the gusset strips together with right sides facing, carefully lining up the bottom edge of the shirt with the bottom (hemmed) edge of the gusset strip, then sewed the pieces together from hem to cuff using a 3/8-inch seam. I repeated that process for the other three long seams. Then I pressed the seam allowance toward the gussets and topstitched over the seam allowances to secure them.

With all that work done, the only thing left to do was to reattach the cuffs. But, of course, the sleeves were now about 6 inches bigger around than they used to be, with the added gussets. So to get the sleeves to fit the original cuffs, I stitched two rows of basting stitches in the seam allowance of the ends of the sleeves and used the basting to gather the cuffs to a size that would fit in the cuffs. I pinned the inside edge of each cuff to the corresponding sleeve and stitched along that inside edge to secure the cuff to the sleeve. Then I enclosed the raw edge of each sleeve by positioning the outside edge of the cuff in place and topstitching to finish.

Crochet Romanian cord

Here is a quick tutorial video by Naztazia showing how to crochet Romanian cord. This cord works up fast and is useful for making lanyards, keychain wristlets, bracelets, tote straps — so many options for this lovely cord. You can use macrame cord, as in the video, but it also works well with most types of yarn.

 

A chibi demogorgon for Charlotte

My grandniece Charlotte's birthday is coming up!

I've actually been meaning to crochet one of these softies for her for the past four years, ever since I made one to give to her sister, Wendy. As soon as Wendy took it out of the gift bag, Charlotte said (in perfect little-sisterly fashion), "Ooooh!! I want one!!"

I'm so sorry, Charlotte; Auntie didn't intend for it to take THIS LONG for me to get this made for you! 😅 But I hope "better late than never" applies here. 😉

This is the Stranger Things Demogorgon, a free pattern by Andrea Leek. 

Charlotte's chibi demogorgon is made using the same mods to the original pattern that I used when making Wendy's version. The main difference between the two is that I used a 5mm hook for Charlotte's (compared to a 4mm hook for Wendy's). I did that mainly because the smaller/tighter gauge is really hard on my hands (so I was going easier on myself this time), but also because I figured the minor size difference would help them tell their softies apart, in case they ever ended up in the same place at the same time.

Both softies are made in a slightly less demonic "chibi" ragdoll style with a twist cuddly cuteness.

For more details of how I made these, check out the notes on my other Ravelry project page or my blog post about Wendy's demogorgon.

I wuv his widdle feetsies!!

Weaver's knot yarn trick

I've been using a different knotting technique than this for the past few years to join a new skein of yarn, but my technique leaves a bulkier bump at the join. This weaver's knot technique, demonstrated by Yarnspirations, appears to leave a smoother finish at the join, so I'm saving their video here to help me remember how to do it!

However, try as I might, whenever I use the above method, I ALWAYS have one end that pulls out when I try to tighten the knot.

So, for me, the method below, demonstrated by theweavingloom3304, is the only way I've successfully managed to tie a weaver's knot. 

And I have to say, this technique does result in a much less bulky join than the knotting method I've used in the past, so I need to practice it enough that I'll be able to do it correctly from memory!

This magic knot technique is what I've been doing for years. It has worked pretty well for me, although it leaves a slightly bigger lump where the knot is than the weavers knot appears to leave. Anyway, it's difficult for me to unlearn the habit of using this technique that has worked fairly well for me for so long. 😅

 

Boo! Wheelchair Spoke Covers

If you know me, you know I just had to do it.

As I said in the narrative of my earlier project for the first set of wheelchair spoke covers I made, having a set of these in Boo! by Marsha Glassner is an absolute MUST for Halloween, because if you know me, you know that I ADORE Halloween. (The cutesy-creepy Halloween stuff, that is, not so much the gory-horrific stuff.)

Finished set

Boo! is designed to be an adorable doily crocheted with No. 10 crochet thread. To make the same design large enough to work as a set of wheelchair spoke covers, it's necessary to use heavier yarn (both for size and durability) and a larger hook. I used Red Heart Super Saver in the colorway Soft White and a 4 mm hook.

I had seen pictures and videos where other crocheters had made these sized as wheelchair spoke covers, but I wasn't able to find where anyone blogged about how they did it, so I basically had to start my project from scratch and use the trial-and-error method to figure out how to make it work.

The first set of wheelchair spoke covers I made previously was done with Red Heart yarn and a 5 mm hook, and those covers were the right size to fit my wheelchair's wheels after crocheting 16 rounds. The pattern for Boo! is 23 rounds to the top of the ghosts' heads, so I knew I was going to have to make some adjustments to be able to get the design to fit the wheels of my wheelchair.

First attempt overlaid a previously made working spoke cover

I am not including all the details here of how I made the flexible hoops for the spoke covers, which is how they are mounted inside the wheels' hand rails, because you can find that info by viewing my previous spoke cover project. I used the same process for this set.

1st attempt (L), 2nd attempt started (R)

For my first attempt here, I decided to use a 4 mm hook to crochet the pattern as written (I found it easier to follow the chart rather than the written instructions) just to see the size it would make that way, and then use that to figure out how much I was going to need to change it to fit. I stopped on round 22 (which eliminated the last round at the top of the ghosts' heads). You can see in my photo of the first attempt overlaid on one of my previously made spoke covers that it was going to need to be smaller by at least three rounds. 

2nd attempt attached to hoop

For my second attempt, knowing that I needed to make the design at least three rounds shorter, I decided to try skipping rounds 2, 4, and 6. Doing that meant that I had to change the increases on rounds 3, 5, and 7 to keep the stitch counts the same. And, again, I stopped the pattern after crocheting round 22. Making the pattern that way eliminated three rounds, but you can see in my photo of the second attempt after I attached it to the hoop frame that the fit was still too loose, so I knew that for my third attempt I was either going to have to eliminate more rounds from the pattern or else come up with a different solution.

2nd attempt (L), 3rd attempt (R)

I was feeling somewhat stumped at this point, because I was worried that eliminating more rounds from the pattern would be detrimental to the ghosts' appearance. I was clicking around, still trying to come up with a better solution, when I came across this video of a livestream by TheCraftyCub on YouTube of them crocheting Boo! on camera. Near the beginning of the video, where they are describing the pattern for their followers, they talk about the stitches used in the design, and they mentioned half-double crochets. I had already crocheted the pattern twice by the time I watched this video, and (I intend no offense to TheCraftyCub, but) I was pretty sure that there were no half-double crochet stitches anywhere in the Boo! chart.

Third attempt

But then the lightbulb went on over my head. 💡

I paused the video to think: What if I tried crocheting Boo! using half-double crochet stitches everywhere the pattern used double crochets?

Well, I didn't know for sure how it would turn out, but I decided to try crocheting the pattern that way for my third attempt. And, as you can see in my photos of the finished spoke covers, using half-double crochets throughout worked and resulted in the perfect size I needed for my wheels, AND I was able to follow the pattern chart all the way through round 23, so my ghosties are fully complete (according to the pattern).

To store the wheelchair spoke covers, I'm using a cable keychain loop that can open/close, similar to these found on Amazon. It's easy to thread one of these kechain loops inside the flexible hoops of a set of wheelchair spoke covers, and then hang the keychain loop from a hanger in the closet. The spoke covers take up very little room stored that way, and they are easy to access whenever I want to switch out the spoke covers on my wheelchair.