Since my last post, I’ve already made two Renfrews and I’m already dreaming up more variations… here is the first!

Winter photography: you could see these pixels from space

I’ve had some purple cotton jersey sitting around for over a year. While I like it, the color has seemed somewhat informal (I’m not sure why), so it was a good candidate for a muslin of sorts.

I tried making a size larger than recommended for my measurements, just to see if I liked it. It turned out a bit roomy, but I’m still glad I made the larger size because I found that the sleeve connected to the body smack in the middle of my armpit. I can’t abide a tight and chafing under-arm. (For my second version, I re-drafted the armscye 1.5″ lower than the pattern’s.) And maybe I have a long chest (is that a thing?) because the v-neck seemed high on me. It’s also possible I’m just taller than the basis for Sewaholic patterns.

With a lot of time and effort, I’m guessing I could have come up with an ok t-shirt pattern but I’m really glad I got the Renfrew. A small alteration – lowering the armscyes – and using the recommended size made all the difference on my second Renfrew. I can’t wait to share it! I’m going to have to figure out a better way to take photos, however, because I was very discouraged about these (which is why you only see one small image). If you guys have any tips or gear recommendations for taking good photos in low light, let me know. Maybe it’s time to hire my sister for a photo lesson.

Anyway! This brings me to my next topic, which is the Top 5 Lists of 2012! Gillian from Crafting a Rainbow suggested we share our hits, misses, reflections, inspirations and goals. I love me a list-making exercise, and I love Gillian’s blog so this was a no-brainer to participate. I can’t wait to start, but I’ve actually made some of my favorite projects post-Minoru! I just can’t photograph them well enough to do them justice. So I might start with the “Misses” list and share the hits as soon as I can take a %!@#$ decent photo!