I had a wonderful vacation. Spent time with my parents, eating and laughing, and with mom, beading. Turned her on to a whole new level of temptation known as the Joann’s and Michael’s bead selection. She has always shopped at specialty bead stores and never with 40% off sales. She was in heaven and we found some bodacious stuff. Stuff even Boudiccea would love.
I relaxed, got some of my list done, some things that I forgot to put on the list, and ignored the rest. Niiice. Read a couple books, including The Red Book: A Deliciously Unorthodox Approach To Igniting Your Divine Spark by Sera Beak. You can find herblog at Spiritual Cowgirl. Naps, yuuum.
The main thing I did that I forgot to put on my list was to make a new fitted slipcover with separate cushion cover for my grandmother’s old easy chair. It’s a lovely chair with wonderful carved legs but it’s been too well used and needed a spruce up. I used a lovely leaf green wide wale corduroy and it looks darned spiffy.
Where does Magic come from? According to the homeless fellow who showed up at the local AA office, well, let me start from the beginning. A group of us were buying food for lunch, we were personning the phones Saturday afternoon, (and I decided to treat the HF, Bob by name. I took him his lunch and he asked me about my tattoo. The only one I can have because turns out that tattoo ink has nickle in it and I’m allergic. And it’s a very special tattoo. I had it done when I dedicated myself to the Goddess in 1992. It’s a tribal band that always made me think of a faery crown. At any rate Bob asks me “What does your tattoo mean?” Hmmm, well nothing exactly, but you could say its faery jewelry. “Do you believe in magic,” he asks? Why, yes, yes I do. Now imagine this fellow, Bob, stabbing and pointing and waviing and getting very worked up. So worked up in fact that every time I spoke with him that day, I covered my heart chakra with my hand. Very intense. “Do you know where magic comes from?” he very gleefully demands? “It comes from the Land of La. Lala Land. Between the light and the dark.”
Why yes, Bob, I believe you are right. A totally open channel, poor Bob can’t shut the stuff out. But he is very excited about it and carries his star and magic information in a collaged pink binder. Go Bob.
Grasshoppers: The Ex, my love, brought home a lovely bronze grasshopper pin for me from the SCA event he attended this past weekend. It’s beautiful.
Click to enlarge any image:
Gaia’s Temple donations: Made wonderful progress on both my wheel of the year project and the Gaia’s Temple donations. Have some pictures of the items. Three checkbook covers that are done and four pouches which have the embroidery done but are not put together yet. I have a few weeks to get that together. And an eyepillow. I seem to have forgotton to take a picture of the triple moon pouch.
This is black velvet with a copper silk spiral (the leftovers from a snake) with a gold silk backing. This will be filled with lavender and buckwheat hulls.
Mr. Stag tarot bag: brown velveteen, tan velveteen, red silk lining, glass beads
Labrys: maroon velveteen, black velveteen, glass beads, gold silk lining
And my favorite. The picture just doesn’t even come close to doing this justice.
Pentagram in a sun wheel: moss green velveteen, cream wool, glass beads
Stitch Witch Cottage 
Lovely, lovely things 😀
Are you up to fielding a question on hose?
Sure!
So there I was, making up a pair of nice linen stockings for a friend using the great instructions you wrote.
I “hosed” something up though. There is the critical part of drafting the loop that covers the top of foot on the upper part of the hose. I got the loop to fit just fine, but what remained did not meet at the back of the heel. Somewhere I got the measurement wrong.
I made three tries, and eventually just slashed up the body of the hose where the M-N loop should be, which works, but… I am totally messing up steps 12-13 somehow. Help, please?
I will do my best. I think I get it. And btw, they did all kinds of strange things to hose that I never even talk about but I digress.
Since what remained of the heel tabs after you put in the “Loop” (what I call the instep rise) did not meet at the back of the heel you need to measure o -> m and n -> p and make sure that those equal the tabs that make the heel. If they are bigger, that is where you need to enlarge. That is my fix.
Where it might have become confusing was that M-N is the line that runs across the foot in this image
O-P is the line that runs from the line M around the back of the heel to the line N
Perhaps I need to make the line M –> N longer and in another color.
Let me know if you think this is the solution.
My dimensions:
M-N – 3.75″
O-P – 10.5″
Q-R – 7″
I think that perhaps the O-P line drafted on the bottom shouldn’t be 10.5″, but rather 13.75″ (M-N + O-P) to account for the curved cutout for the front?
Nope. M-N have nothing to do with O-P
M-N tells you how wide to make the loop at its open end. Period. It has no other function except to tell you where to measure O-P.
O-P are where the heel portions begin wrapping behind the heel.
So I drew the o-p line of 10.5 inches. I used the 3.75″ as the open end measurement of the loop. When I sewed it together, each edge of the open loop ended up at the o-p points on the pattern- perfect! But, what was left over was 10.5 – 3.75 inches that were used up on the front foot part. That meant my pieces to wrap around the foot were a total of 3.75″ too short, which is why just the slit finally worked.
I notice that your photograph of the real hose look different in proportion to your diagram somewhat, but I wondered if that was just due to your particular foot size?
I’m not getting this part, at least I can’t visualize it.
“But, what was left over was 10.5 – 3.75 inches that were used up on the front foot part. ”
What do you mean “what was left over”
It’s kind of hard to explain in words.
We agree that O-P should be drafted as the actual measurement, which is just around the back of the heel to where it meets the drafted toe piece right?
So let’s take for example, 10″ for the o-p as example since that is a nice round number. I draw 5″ from the center line in both directions. Let’s say the foot measurement was 4″. I mark out 2″ on either side of the center line and then cut out my loop of for example 8″ which corresponds to the edge of the foot piece that is sewn into the loop we’ve cut out. When I sew the loop to the front piece the corners of the loop and the front foot piece and sole meet at point o on one side, and point p on the other, unless I am sewing this wrong. Now because I both marked and cut out 2″ on each side of the center line which were incorporated into sewing on the footpiece, I am only left with 3″ on the both sides (total 6″), which doesn’t reach around to the back because the o-p measurement is 10″. Maybe I am sewing it together wrong…
Silly you, you didn’t do a mock up, you are doing this straight from scratch on your final fabric? Brave soul. *wink*
You are sewing it correctly but measuring and
marking incorrectly.
O-P come AFTER you had drawn and cut your open loop completely. And should be ignored until your have your instep determined.
So… using PAPER and then crap fabric
Mark out your 2″ on either side of the front center line
Draw your loop/instep and shade it out so you don’t ever work in that area again.
Once you know what your loop looks like and it is shaded
Mark 5″ (10 divided by 2) on each side of M and N
NOT 5 minus 2
5 PLUS 2 for a total of 7″ on either side of the center line. The 5″ starts, NOT at the center line but where the loop ends on either side.
I think that is the problem and it accounts for 4″ (3.75)
Does that help? It’s hard to see in my mind but I think that’s it
Did mock up thrice 😀
So, if I follow correctly you cut the loop out before you add the instep measurement. Is this the same as drawing 0-P + M-N as the length of the pattern line as I first thought? (In fake example case 10″ + 4″ = 14″ or 7″ from the center line, or as you say “5 PLUS 2 for a total of 7″ on either side of the center line”?
Please put away the scissors and stop cutting out loops for the time being. I have not said to cut out the loop that I recall. K?
So…
ah ha!!!
I see it and no one else have ever seen this but you. It has worked for everyone else.
Step 12. (which I will fix asap but right now I am too busy to work on this anymore until after Sept 26th)
Measure around your heel from O –> P
and transfer this measurment to the leg pattern
That should say FOOT pattern, my bad
And I think I left out this:
Take half of your O–P and add on either side of M–N for a total of M–P
I hope that works but I can’t answer any more, way too busy. Sorry bout that. Amazed no one said anything before. Will fix when I can
“Please put away the scissors and stop cutting out loops for the time being. I have not said to cut out the loop that I recall. K?”
This prolly means I’m loopy!
Thanks for all your help. It is a great demo and I am pleased and grateful that you took your time to share it with the world. I almost have a lovely set of red linen hose finished and ready to present to someone – they are coolness. I see many more in my future as I really like this method. Thanks again 😀
So did that last comment fix the problem do you think?
And usually any time, really. I’m just in the last week before a big website launch and just insane. Had to read that website demo page at least 6 times before I figured it out. *laugh*
I think it did. I’ll try it on the next pair for me and let you know.
You’re a saint trying to dig through the fiddly detail part on your webpage when you have insanity at work. *Beams thanks*
Bucking for saint hoood har!
Not me, nope. Just so crazy right now it never occurred to me to do anything else
Going home now