This is absolutely fantastic, and I'm surprised that you managed to find something like that dress in a *thrift store*! Did you have to do much to it?

Where did you get a plain wool hat? I've been wanting to make a tricorn - just black, with a white edge - and I tried a pattern where you knit the tricorn and felt it, but it seems that I used a wool that doesn't felt. I have no idea where I *can* get wool that felts, and so if I could buy a plain black felt hat like your tan one, it would make the whole thing a lot easier, because the only reasonably priced tricorns I can find online are costumey and rubbishy looking.

Ok...after seeing the fantastic sweater/jumper knitted on this board by..erm..someone (it had words of a Dorothy Parker poem in it), I wanted to knit a fair isle sweater/jumper in the round, with dk wool. (The reason for DK is because I already have random bits of DK which I need to use up.) The thing is, almost every single pattern for sweaters/jumpers, in the round OR flat that I find is either worsted weight (10 ply) or sport weight (5 ply.) Is 8 ply really unpopular or something? Whyyyy.

Anyway, I found this pattern http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/dances-with-yellow-dk145 but the needle size sounds REALLY tiny for 8 ply. Like...3.25? Seriously? Every single 8 ply thing I've knitted has been at least 3.75 to 4.5. So...can I change the needle size? If I change the needle size to something that isn't so teeny weeny, should I go down several sizes so that I get the gauge right? I'm a pretty Ok knitter (lace shawls, cable jumpers etc), but I've never really gotten to the stage of fiddling massively with patterns or writing my own, so I've been trying to look for just a simple jumper/sweater pattern, in the round, with 8 ply. (Barely anything seems to be in 8 ply. I think it's popular in Australia, but not in America and most of the patterns seem to come from America.) Preferably not using tiny weeny needles. If you can tell me how I would change THIS pattern so that the gauge will still work with bigger needles that'd be great.

If not, I have a pattern, but it's flat knitted. I want to change it to in the round because the fair isle will be easier (i.e. I won't have to remember exactly how I knitted the front so that I can make the back match up at the side seams.) How do I change an in the flat pattern to be in the round? Do I just minus a couple of stitches and then knit the front and the back together in the round and then change to in the flat once I get to the armhole shaping?

Thank you very much! Now I understand what I'm doing, I hope

Oh dear, I don't think I'm destined for Estonian lace. I should probably stay away from lace in general, actually!

So, this is just a thing which I can't quite work out. The pattern says to work the starter chart, which I did, and didn't seem to have any problems. Then it says to work the yucca chart, and there's a section with the pattern repeat highlighted. Do I just knit that pattern repeat section over and over again for the row, or do I do the whole row, including those extra y/os on the end, which means that I'll have like..two yarn overs in a row and..oh help, my brain. For the first row of the chart I knitted it all the way through and did the repeat, and then knitted it all the way through again and then just the repeated section, but now on the third row of the chart I can't work out how to do it. I started just doing the highlighted pattern repeat section, but it doesn't seem to divide evenly into the number of stitches I have.

With the starter chart, you worked the chart twice on each row, and there's a marker in the middle. With the yucca chart, how many times do you work the chart on each row? Does it increase? What's happening!

I can't see anything terrible happening with my knitting at the moment, but as it's a lace pattern it's not too easy to see until I've knitted myself into a hole. I tried to knit Laminaria and came up with a similar problem - after working all the increases I must have done something wrong because I had no idea why I didn't have enough stitches.

Thanks very much for all the assistance! I know it sounds like I'm a horribly lazy person, but I did do some googling myself and turned up some redcoat patterns. I was just wondering if there was anyone out there who had made one (since there seem to be several in progress blogs for things like..civil war gowns, regency dresses etc.) Maybe no one is interested in making mens' stuff, or it's easier to purchase? (I found some fantastic made-to-measure examples, but they'd probably only be for museums, really serious reenactors, or film productions, since they are...rather expensive, as they should be for the level of detail and craftsmanship that goes into them.)

Hey everyone! I'm an internet reviewer, among other things, and I have a few different shows. http://blip.tv/infamoussphere#!page=2 One of them is called "period drama drama", and on that particular show I like to dress in the costume of the period the film is set in. It doesn't have to be 100% accurate, but I generally prefer it to be visibly accurate, and not cheap and nasty looking.

It was a slightly bad creative "rule", in a way, because it means that I have to sew like hell whenever I want to make a new Period Drama Drama (unless I have clothing from that time period just sitting around.) And I would like to do a review of Barry Lyndon. Which means that I now have to make myself a redcoat (huh. Redcoat is also what you call the soldiers themselves. It makes googling hard. Is there a better way to describe the army uniform?)

Now I'm aware that there seem to be a crazy amount of variations in the army uniform (all to do with what regiment etc), but what Barry wears is the fairly "standard' white facings, white turned back tails at the back thing, red waistcoat, etc. Like so. http://i32.tinypic.com/2n6daib.png
http://i2.listal.com/image/462824/936full-barry-lyndon-screenshot.jpg
I suppose it's sort of like..a coat with a vent in the back with the split parts sort of..buttoned in the middle? And it's sort of..double breasted but the facings are turned back and buttoned on themselves? Sorry, the terminology is really confusing. My basic approach so far will be screen capping lots of images from the movie, and then doing some sketches, and then making a muslin, which I will do, but right now it's all at the nebulous conception phase and I wondered whether anyone had any experience making this kind of uniform stuff, and any tips (like..where does the shoulder seam sit? What's the general shape of the coat? Waist seam? Etc)

Thanks I've found a bit of stuff with googling, but not a tonne, seeing as "Redcoat" is the name of the soldier as well as the garment.

I edited the post - hopefully now you can see the first shirt!

No, the second shirt has cuffs I nicked from a Paul Smith shirt which I picked up at the thrift store for $8 a few years ago, but the collar I long ago used on some failed project (well not failed but not that good) so I couldn't transplant the collar. The collar is made out of the rest of the sleeve fabric.

I was given 4 patterns by my grandmother because she was clearing out her stash, one of which was for a shirt with several different options as to cuff and collar finishings. This was all very well but the pattern was neutered and ineffectual, when it came to shirts. I wanted something with a collar stand! With plackets! So I drafted those bits myself, and used some japanese cotton I got cheaply in Thailand.

So that was all very well. This shirt, however, was the test for my really expensive fabric, some fantastic italian cotton. I bought the last of the roll but it was probably only 1.4 metres - not enough for collar and cuffs. So I got some bits of a white Paul Smith shirt I'd unceremoniously hacked up a while ago - the sleeves were still intact, and I Gordon Gekkoed it up.

Incidentally I'd always wanted to do a coloured shirt with white cuffs and collar, but until now I didn't have the excuse!

Close up of the fabric, which I got the last of from a fantastic draper, which unfortunately closed down becuase it apparently wasn't profitable enough anymore. Now all I have in my town are fabric chain stores which generally only have...awful, awful fabric. I'm going to go cry now.

Well Cervy should be a good painter because as far as I know she's an honours painting student. Hello, fellow visual arts student! I'm in printmedia third year and I see one of your picnic trees when I cycle to uni.

The skirt looks rad by the way. I haven't tried freehand painting on a garment since I was in year 8 and I was a terrible painter.

I bought some beautiful print fabric, and it took me a while to decide what I was going to do with it. Luckily some looking through my inspiration folder, some surfing flickr, and a few tutorials helped me decide.
First up - a tulip skirt! I only had a scarce metre of this fabric so I didn't have enough for a waistband or pockets. I still love what I've done, and it only took me a morning of sewing time! I drafted the pattern from this really helpful tutorial. http://www.burdastyle.com/techniques/make-a-tulip-skirt-pattern-from-a-pencil-skirt-pattern

Sorry, it's not very easy to pose for self timer in a way that isn't awkward.

The back only looks crooked because I am. As it's a quilting cotton it is a little bit..creasy.
a nice close up of the fabric

With the other fabric I had a lot more than I thought I did, about 180cm by 120 cm, when I thought I'd bought some tiny amount. I should have just done a nice simple shirtdress or something, but I did a smocked design with an a-line skirt and a chiffon yoke, inspired by a dress I'd seen with a lace yoke and pleated bodice (sorry, I have no idea where on the internet that was.) Chiffon was so awful to sew it kept distorting all over the place when I cut it! It has a stand-up collar but I did make the top a bit wonky. Oh well.


^ that last photo probably has better colour.
The dress has hidden pockets, because although dresses with no pockets is fine when I'm on holiday...I hate not having a pocket for my phone when I'm at university.
I might get some more detail shots later, and upload my design sketches for both if anyone's interested.
I used this tutorial for the smocking:
 http://tumblingblocks.net/blog/index.cfm/2008/9/22/Honeycomb-Smocking-Tutorial
I warn you..BE VERY CAREFUL to secure your smocking stitches properly. That means knotting on both sides. I thought looping the thread without knotting would work, but whenever I'd put the dress on for a fitting, several smocking stitches would pop out and I'd have to redo them. Oh well! Lesson learnt, and hopefully my next project will be something nice and breezy.