Slow Sewing: Jasper Helps Out (Dog Fun!)

I managed to get in some pattern work over the last couple of days, but when it comes to machine work, Jasper-The-New-Pooch has other plans for my time!

Maybe he just wants to learn how to baste. No - my foot was not on the pedal, and yes - he does climb up on my lap to help out.

The Woodland Fairy Queen's Bifurcated Dress Form - Even Titania...

While hiking Windy Hill this past weekend, I was amazed to see that the Woodland Fairy Queen had gone off leaving her bifurcated dress form behind.

It seems, even Titania wears trousers these days.

(co-published in Postcard From California, and  Me Encanta Coser/Encanted By Sewing)

Damson Plumm Private Eye - Nibbled That Tee

Damson Plumm Private Eye is, as you might imagine, inspired by bounty hunter Stephanie Plum

Remember when I blogged about Lynda Maynard's French Pattern Drafting class starting to pay off? Yes, I am indeed mighty happy with this plum purple tee shirt I created from a pattern I drafted myself. It was based on nibbling away at  the moulage fitting pattern that came out of Lynda's class. I also really like the royal plum-purple rib knit that I used to make the tee. Can you believe I found this material in my fabric inventory? ( Fabric inventory sounds so much better than fabric stash.)

What did I learn while creating this tee? 1) Don't fit the front and back first and then add the sleeve. I thought this top fit so perfectly, after mocking up just the front and back, that I sewed over the basting stitches in the side seams and then went on to
a) Redraft the sleeve pattern- making it much narrower
b) Cut out the reduced size sleeve
c) Sew those nice narrow sleeves in.

Uh oh....Taking in those side seams would have been fine, if I'd wanted a sleeveless tee, but I didn't.

Hardy har har - you should have seen my arms looking like sausages, unable to move. And we all know how fun it is to pick stitches out of knit fabric!
2) So, good thing, I had already learned to  ... cut super wide seam allowances when I'm playing with new patterns I draft myself. Thank goodness I had made my seam allowances 1 and 1/4 inches wide. I wouldn't have had enough fabric to rework the underarm seams on my sleeves otherwise- because of course I'd redrafted the sleeve to be so much narrower, after I'd fitted the front and back together, taking in the side seam allowances by quite a lot (smaller than the original moulage indicated).
3) Even though I wasn't in the mood, I measured all the changes I made on this tee and prepped a complete new pattern, all ready to try out on another tee project. Because another thing I've learned is that I don't always remember what changes I made, and I can't always find the last garment I made from a pattern when I go to use it.

  ~ ~ ~

Damson Plum is, as you might imagine, inspired by bounty hunter Stephanie Plum. Stephanie is younger than me, even funnier than me and has a grandmother who drives a hard-working gal crazy, but I still identify with her.

Damson Plumm Private Eye is inspired by bounty hunter Stephanie Plum.

Way back when, I created a Damson Plumm Private Eye label for my home made plum jam (using my home grown damson plums). And now, thanks to my new pattern drafting skills, I've drafted the pattern for, and sewn, my own Damson Plum Private Eye tee shirt. I'm sure it's the plum-purple that Damson always wears, that helps her crack those tough cases.

Mrs. Obama's Arms Inspire Shirt Dress Sewing and More (Romancing the Dress, Ivy)

Mrs. Obama is an inspiration to me professionally and politically.
Also she inspires me to want to improve my muscles - using sewing as my exercise willpower gimmick!

I've been working on adding weight lifting into my health routine. I'm a regular exerciser, but weights have been a challenge for me to add. They just doesn't interest me like walking, hiking, biking or swimming do. I know, however, that weight lifting is linked to a decrease in health problems that affect ladies of a certain age (osteoporosis). I think it may help with my posture improvement program. I know that it improves lean muscle mass, which increases my metabolism rate (never a bad idea). It's clear from her toned physique and excellent posture, that Mrs. Obama has mastered this exercise skill. Isn't it nice when our leaders and their spouses are not only professional and citizen role models, but health models as well? Images of our president's beautiful wife  have reinforced my desire to improve my own biceps, triceps, and .... you know all that other arm area stuff.

Oh yes, this is my sewing journal!

I don't know 'bout you, but I sometimes have to fool myself into liking a new exercise. I think I may have found the secret for making weight lifting more fun for me. 

You probably guessed that has something to do with sewing...

Here's how I do it... 

Over the last week, I've been working on a new dress, I call Ivy. I had the piece of forest green, raw silk (silk noil) you see below, in my fabric inventory, just waiting for more meaning in it's life, then could be found in my armoire. I bought the material at Thai Silks/Exotic Silks in Los Altos a year ago, planing to create a shirt dress for last fall's Draping class. Part way through the semester, I realized, that I wasn't quite ready to drape something with that much detail, so I made a simpler linen dress with a front zip instead. Since then I've altered a commercial shirt dress pattern to create just the  type of dress I wanted. (More about my pattern work and sewing experiences in my recent Shirt Dressing audio podcast. You can also read blog postings I wrote about my first shirt dress "Peaches and Cream".)

A little pinning, a little cutting - it all fits great in between
ten curls, rows or other weight bearing exercise moves.
Don't you love this deep forest green silk noil/raw silk?
I bet Mrs. Obama would approve!

I'd like to wear Ivy to several events over the holiday and winter season. I've also got a personal deadline for finishing her. There's a supper party coming up midway through this month. Though these events inspire me to complete Ivy, life gets in the way a bit. Believe it or not, I have a few things to do other than sew :-) ! Of course in addition to fitting sewing in and around those things, I need to schedule in my exercise as well.   New activities like weight lifting might just get overlooked. 

So I setup a multi-tasking project session, alternating between weight lifting and sewing.

My weight lifting program is three sets of six exercises. That's 18 different spots of work. So first I do my first ten bicep/tricep thingies. (Yeah, I forget what each exercise is called, but I know what to do each time, and that's what counts.)  Then, while I'm taking my quick break between exercises, I unfold Ivy and do a little bit - maybe I plug in the iron and set up the board - maybe I pin a seam. Next, as you guessed, I do another batch of ten exercises for the next part of my program (that extended flying arm thing maybe - do you like the professional way I describe my exercises?)  after which I sew that freshly pinned seam or perhaps press what I sewed last time.

Well, you get the idea. I do a little bit of each, sandwiching my sewing and weight lifting tasks together. It also really helps me to get through some of the aspects of creating Ivy that I don't like as much. My least favorite parts of creating a shirt dress are the work on the front facing and collar, with all the interfacing, pinning, pressing and basting, working to get a clean, precise, finished edge. 

Collar and Front Facing
I'm not as partial to doing the work involved in getting the
interfaced pieces working, as I am to other
aspects of sewing a garment.

Fitting the steps involved in these less desirable activities around weight lifting, gets me through more easily. It also encourages me to stop regularly and stand back from the task, which helps me to accomplish the task more neatly and thoughtfully. It actually makes me less likely to buzz through too quickly (in an attempt to

Anything that helps me avoid those
 painful personal sessions with
Auntie Seama Rippah is to be encouraged!

finish what I don't like to do), which can typically result in a painful session with Auntie Seama Rippah. I know that never happens to you, of course.

When we elect Mrs. Obama as president a few years down the road, I'm going to write her a fan letter. Of course I'll tell her I respect her stand on important issues. And then I'll let her know that she's been an inspiration to me for quite some time...

~ ~ ~

Web Resources

Let's Not Invite Auntie Seama Rippah for the Holidays! http://meencantacoser.blogspot.com/2012/11/avoiding-auntie-seama-rippah-for.html

I recommend Exotic Silks (formerly Thai Silks) highly for both price and quality. They are a local business, but you can buy their products on-line. http://www.exoticsilks.com

My Enchanted by Sewing Shirt Dressing Audio Podcast (listen on-web or download to your mobile device) http://www.enchantedbysewing.blogspot.com/2014/09/ench-by-sew-024-shirtdressing-and-fall.html

A wrap-up posting about my first shirt dress project, "Peaches and Cream" http://www.meencantacoser.blogspot.com/2014/09/terminado-completing-peaches-and.html

Mrs. Obama's Exercise Program http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/michelle-obama/6156655/Michelle-Obamas-arms-the-nine-minute-secret.html

More Sewing Inspiraton from Mrs. Obama - A blog kept for five and a half years that records many aspects of the first lady's wardrobe http://mrs-o.com

Bustier: Help the Pattern Fairies Have Ahold of Me and Won't Let Go!

Inspired by the musings of facebook buddy Melody Kerr Gardner

Getting up earlier to work on my bustier pattern - version four that is - in drill. That's the one where I cleanup the pattern, place all the matching notches, locate the waistline, and true up the hemline. It's the one before version five. That's the one where I cut through a quarter inch above the waistline then..... 

Hunh? What did you say? Yes, I did consider getting up in the middle of the night to work on it. What is it about sewing that grabs and holds onto us and won't let us go? It's not actually the need for more garments!

You know what I mean. It's because we're simply Enchanted By Sewing!

Technicos: Show it Off and Be Proud!

Sometimes I'm really tempted to note in this journal all the stuff I'm not happy with in my sewing projects like.....
- The quality or composition of the photo (or both)
- How I stood or where I was, when wearing it for the photo!
- The fit of the garment - It's never perfect!
- My sewing technique
- The color just isn't me
- The fabric is cheesy, or not right for the style
- The style is not flattering for me, or maybe for anyone
- the list could go on and on

But I don't! The art of presentation is just one more technique I've picked up from sewing class.

In class we always have a presentation day at the end and/or middle of the semester. On that great day, we stand up in front of everybody and show off our creations. And of course, quite often, half or more of the class tells you everything that's wrong with their work ...
This makes me look fat! I should have increased the seam allowance by 1/4 inch.
Usually these $30 Vogue pattern ensembles are perfect for me, but I wish I'd chosen another pattern. 
This expensive, silk charmeuse fabric was really hard to sew with, and so I made a lot of mistakes. I mean look at this hem! Look at these seams! 
I spent so long on the pattern and it fit fine in the muslin, but when I cut it out in my fabric, it looks awful. And I didn't have time to do anything else but make this thing I'm never going to wear.

Then it's my turn to stand up. I think to myself .. Gee their fabric is much more luxurious than the budget stuff I used. They finished every seam on the inside and pick-stitched their zipper. Their figure is model-perfect and they can wear styles that fits like a glove! If they think that about their garment, they're just going to laugh at mine.

Then I remember what I practiced saying to myself, stand up straight and tall. No matter what I think of the garment at this point - and I'm often pretty sick of it (!) - I say something like this...

I bet we've all sewn the
Bee-Bop dress at one
time or another!

Wow, I just love this Bee-Bop dress. I thought the pattern looked great when I saw it on the freebie counter, and  knew it would be perfect for this yellow and virulent green polyester caterpillar print I've had in my fabric inventory since somebody gave it to me back in 1972! It's got such a vintage look and I'm really looking forward to wearing it to my next college reunion. 

And the funny thing is, that suddenly the Bee-Bop dress starts to look kind of cute and people are complimenting me on it.

Sometimes, it's putting on the right attitude that keeps me....

Enchanted by Sewing 

Aprons: The Red Headed Chicken Apron

I sewed my chicken apron up using a basic
butchers/chefs apron style.

It's not all sunshine and light when it comes to the wearing and production of aprons in my family.

This month the Enchanted by Sewing Podcast will be about sewing aprons, and my mother's attitudes towards them. 

I sewed my now well-worn chicken apron, in celebration of my neighbors flock. One of the chickens, who her young son named "Laurel Chicken" because we both had red hair (!),

used to make it through the fence between our houses and come to mine to spend the day and lay eggs. I once found a nest under a redwood tree in the back with ten eggs, eight of which were still in good shape and made a very nice pear soufflé.

Laurel Chicken has been gathered to her fore-mothers now, but the apron lives on. Every time I tie on my chicken apron, I think I can see a little flick of red tail feathers beneath the farthest back redwood tree. I wonder how a soufflé would go over on the Thanksgiving table :-)

Sewing garments that reflect on my life and my friends is the kind of thing that keeps me....

Enchanted by Sewing!

~ ~ ~

Check out the Enchanted by Sewing Podcast 

The apron episode will be published on November 26'th. You can signup for a reminder email when new monthly episodes are released, by visiting the show notes at http://enchantedbysewingpodcast.blogspot.com

Sewing or Crafty? Do I Want to be a Part of That Movement?

Is draping a skirt pattern
a crafty activity?

Wow, you are just so crafty!

A Facebook friend recently commented that she disliked the word crafty, being applied to the complex design and construction skills she, and others, have developed to complete well-fitting, masterfully sewn garments and precisely detailed quilt projects.

For many of us,
Crafty-ness evokes images of
toilet paper tube creations
more so than sewing garments.

It seemed to my buddy, that a crafty project is one that she might indulge in for a little fun on a rainy afternoon - something like the DIY projects we like to imagine completing on a rainy Crafternoon with a much-loved child, or a dear friend. Toilet paper tube art, is the premiere example of this kind of craftiness, though crepe-paper covered juice cans might run second place.

I knew what my buddy was talking about. I've had my own share of fussiness when non-sewing cohorts responses to my work seemed to imply there was probably no big difference between whipping up a pair of well-fitting trousers and a two-egg cake from a boxed mix.

But if I take the y off the word, I end up with craft. And craft has a significant sense of history. Craftspeople worked as apprentices to crafts masters to develop their own expertise and mastery. All over the world, and to this very day, craftsmen and craftswomen work leather, weave fabric, paint, tile,  print books,  and create intricate designs. 

Craftspeople learn the ins and outs of working with specialized materials, designing intricate goods, and know the secrets of operating complex machinery to produce their craft. 

If you're a sewist, that last bit might sound a little familiar.


And one more thought. Crafty can mean sly, but it can also mean somebody who comes up with a clever solution to a problem that has challenged other people. A good detective can be thought of as being crafty. And how many times have you had to come up with a clever solution to a sewing challenge? Sure you did. Remember that dress that was too short, and how you added the alternately colored band to the hem, to make it look like a design feature? Or that time you cut the buttonhole too long, and so you added a decorative corner over one end? That absolutely made the garment, and people always commented on the look!

A couple of craftsmen at work
Bet they had to come up with the
occasional crafty solution to a problem.

Not only am I proud to be a modern day craftswoman, I like to think I'm a crafty one.

After all, I think that craftiness is one of the things that keeps me...
Enchanted by Sewing!

BTW...

Who says there's something wrong with a little crafternoon'ing?

Not me!

 

Halloween - What Would Marie Antoinette Wear? (Costume)

Am I the only sewist who's ever been tempted by the thought,
 that  she could pull together an historic ensemble, like this, in no time flat?
Golly with modern sewing methods,
and inexpensive luxury-look fabrics, what's to stop us?
Yeah, right!

Am I the only sewist out there who suddenly starts dreaming about the perfect Halloween costume less than a week before the big celebration? 

Wouldn't I just look ravishing, while passing out chocolates and other sweeties, in the fashions I associate with Marie Antoinette's times?

And really, how hard could it be to whip a gown like this up in no time flat?

Hummmm. Yes, it will be the witches hat, and orange tee shirt from the craft store for me again this year. Maybe 2014 will be the year I start getting serious in early September.....

~ ~ ~

Resources*

I highly recommend the lovely, and informative, book, Queen of Fashion: What Marie Antoinette Wore to the Revolution. It's a lovely read about what Marie Antoinette actually did wear to masquerades (like our modern day Halloween), grand balls, or just toddling around Le Petit Trianon with the dear little daughter, she nicknamed Mousseline, a fun allusion to the fashions that Marie herself made popular at the time. 

Since I like to keep my iPad happy, I bought the Kindle version of Queen of Fashion: What Marie Antoinette Wore to the Revolution.

 ~ ~ ~ 

* Thanks Sponsors! *

* Thanks so much, to readers who sponsor the work of this blog and the Enchanted by Sewing Podcast, by purchasing books, ebooks and other products through links in this blog.

Gypsy Skirt is Also NOT the Assignment - More Historic Draping

Instead of thinking - work with the circle-
I was thinking...
"A gypsy's life is gay and free not cares have we!*"

Remember my other two in-class draping projects that focused on draping a full fabric circle? 

The jacket one was the right way - The Gallant** way. (OK, I journaled about that project first, but it was actually my last creation. The one where I finally figured out what was being asked for). The first two were my Regency Romance bodice novel cover inspiration and this gal. 

Both were Goofus style, and oh so fun! 

The jacket was fun too, but controlled fun.

Yes, this skirt  was another one that my teacher indicated was not at all what she was looking for!

The problem? I just loved it. I loved it as much as the Regency Romance novel cover bodice.

Once more, I incorporate a little twisted rose at the side. I love those. 

Clumps, my teacher said. "You really like those clumps. Work with the circle. Let it flow."

Flow? The gypsy needs her skirt out of the way.

She studied the tiers I'd pinned so carefully into asymmetric lines. "Don't fight the circle."

I'm not fighting it. I'm giving it character! No self respecting gypsy wants her skirt to just fall from her hips. She wants style. 

Yup, I finally figured it out and got on with my jacket. It helped a lot when I remembered how inspired I'd been,  sitting and listening to Sandy Ericson talk about Madeline Vionnet's work as a fabric technician. (See  "Vionnet and Ericson Inspired my Circular Work (Draping)"  

And along the way.... I had an awfully good time!

Not taking my sewing designs too seriously is the kind of thing that keeps me..

Enchanted by Sewing!

~ ~ ~

Inspired by the work of Madeline Vionnet, Sandy Ericson creates beautiful fashions 

http://meencantacoser.blogspot.com/2013/10/to-drape-or-not-to-drape-no-question.html

* Do you know the "Gypsy's Life" song?

It's a jolly little tune I learned as a kid

“A gypsy’s life is gay and free, no cares have we.

 No taxes need a gypsy pay, no wealth has he. 

What care we for castles high, o’er our heads is the bright blue sky. 

Never a hurry and never a worry, a life that’s free.” 

** Remember Gallant in  Highlights magazine ? That's right the magazine you read in the dentists office as a kid. He's the little boy who always pays attention and does things 

right the first time. Goofus was the sluff off kid who didn't do things right and always suffered the consequences.

Hint - We are supposed to want to be Gallant. But sometimes he is just a bit much.

Avoiding Auntie Seama Rippah for the Holidays

Auntie Seama Rippah  

Let's just forget to invite Auntie Seama Rippah to the holiday table this year, OK?

She's so durned irritating. Remember what it was like last year? We spent all that time at the embroidery machine creating those turkey napkins, and then she sat there picking over every one, and looking for all the spots where I didn't clip the threads perfectly.

And of course she found the spot where I had to reposition the hoop, and couldn't get the needle to startup in the right place. I mean, who cares if one turkey has less feathers and a rather suggestive spot on his anatomy?

It's as though she thinks it's her mission in life to point out everybody's errors.