Great British Sewing Bee: Addicted

That does it. I'm hooked on the Great British Sewing Bee.

Before you say it, this isn't Project Runway. Project Runway is about design; this is about actual, in-real-life sewing. There are little how-tos in each episode, like how to sew curtains and pillows. There are neat diagrams and illustrations to teach you about French seams and other techniques as the sewers work their way through challenges. There's even history lessons about fashion!

And my goodness, everyone is so nice. It's almost unreal. You won't find any of the cattiness of Project Runway, and in between challenges, they all go to the local café and drink tea. Tea! I even spotted some of them drinking tea right by their sewing machines. Oh, how I love the British.

I was also thrilled to see Tilly from sewing blog Tilly and the Buttons as a contestant. It's funny how well some bloggers can translate their actual personalities onto their blog. That's certainly the case with Tilly. She's just as sweet and cute on the show as she is on her blog.

Watching the show really inspired me to get in my craft room and pick up a dress I've neglected for a few weeks. Watch Episode 1 on YouTube and just try to stop yourself from watching the other three. Do it!

And if you have watched the show, who was your favorite?

Knitting Posts on Craftsy

Remember how I told Martha Stewart to take my job and shove it a few months ago? (Just kidding. I didn't have the balls to do that. We're still friends. See? I linked to her website!) But I did leave the MS empire to be a full-time freelance craft writer/editor.

My lips are zipped regarding a lot of the projects I'm working on now. But one I can share is writing knitting posts over on Craftsy's blog. The latest one is about how to knit in seed stitch, and there are gonna be many others to follow.

Craftsy, if you don't know, is an educational craft site with amazing instructors. Courses and workshops are taught via video. You pay for the class and the videos are yours forever, plus you have access to the instructors so you can ask questions. It's a craft site I've always been a fan of, so it's really awesome to be working with them.

Have you ever taken a class online? Was it helpful?

Mohair Toddler Tutu

As an unmarried, non-preggers gal, I feel a little strange having a book called What to Knit When You're Expecting on my shelf. But man oh man, when I saw this mohair tutu, I knew I had to make one for my niece's 2nd birthday.

The patterns in the book are only sized up to 6 months, so I had to do some fancy math to make it the size I needed for my niece. (Don't you hate it when teachers are right and you actually have to use math for something you need? Bleh.)

I made a few changes to the pattern -- changes to suit my new I-don't-know-when-I'll-get-paid freelancer lifestyle. I only knit one layer instead of two, mostly because I really wanted to use the Debbie Bliss Angel yarn, but I couldn't afford to get enough balls to make two layers. I also pulled a plain cotton yarn from my stash instead of buying new yarn to make that teensy little waist.

The only problem: I'm not sure what my niece should wear this with. Should she go full-on ballerina and wear a white leotard? Or is there another option?