Cinderella's Blue Sky Sewing

If I were Cinderella....
I'd be sewing this

I'm still spending  my allotted sewing time on my French Pattern Drafting Class tasks, but I got a little distracted going to see the new Disney Cinderella (twice now, and I'm tempted to go again soon).

This Luggage Tag prints up great
on postcard stock
I'll use it for my next
dress pattern tracing

Of course my favorite scene is the one when Ella sits down to stitch, converting her mother's old dress into her own ball gown. It inspired me to do a little blue sky sewing/virtual stitch up of my own, creating my own vision of Ella and her dress. I'm sharing the results here. You can print the luggage tag version (it works great on postcard stock) to use for your own labeling purposes. I'm planning to use it to tag the next dress pattern I trace. 

Blue Sky day dream sewing is pretty satisfying. Don't you wonder if I'll ever actually make a dress along these lines? 

Oh yes, in addition to the sewing scene, I love the Cinderella music (which comes mostly during the credits). Lily James sings the classic, "A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes..." with very resonating soprano sound. She has a gorgeous lyrical voice. And, Helena Bonham Careter is a scream in "Bibbidi Bobbidi Boo". Oh look, we can buy the Cinderella: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack !

  Not only did I love the costumes, the great British actors, and the highly fairy-taleish scene in this movie, I also thought the theme was fantastic - "Be kind and have courage". Doesn't that just say it all?

Good job to the Disney story tellers on reworking the Charles Perrault fairytale for this generation. Have you read his book The Glass Slipper? I bet your pubic library has it. Mine does. I always liked the way the animated movie focused on having faith and believing in your dreams - that Cinderella was very much of her times, a late 1950's girl. She believed in her fate coming along, sweeping her up, and carrying her along to a better life. Today's Cinders is more in charge of her own future- a good modern redo. She choses to stay in the house and deal with her stinky mother-in-law. And she's realistic about her other career options in her fairy tale world - non existent! Both ladies mirror fantasy romance novel heroines from the two different eras nicely. 

I can imagine people looking back on both young women in a distant future. I wonder how Ella will be reinvented then. Don't you?

Romancing My Machine: Dreaming

Lots More than Metal 

Inherently Creative

My Machine Sings

~ ~ ~
Yup, I'm still working away on my bustier! It's a very challenging job for me and I'm learning a lot.
Looking forward to sharing the results, and moving on with other projects.

Vintage Threads: 70's Leotard Can Be Modern Active Wear

From the style, and the wardrobe styling hints on the envelope, I would guess this is a mid-seventies pattern. My mother sewed several of this style of garment for me when I was in high school. I wore them with my hip-hugger pants and mini-wrap skirts that buttoned up the front.  They made my very short skirts a little more modest :-) BTW The body suits snapped at the crotch, to make dressing and undressing easy.

I'm thinking this would be a great pattern to try out for some modern active-wear. I'd like to experiment with fabrics I haven't tried before, and a simple leotard (would work well with simple shorts for the gym) would be a great pattern with which to try out that type of material. 

But, as I wrote in my last imaginary bathing suit journal entry..... no new projects until this bustier is done!

Resources

Enchanted By Sewing Podcast Show Notes (and iTunes link) http://enchantedbysewing.blogspot.com

Sewing My Bustier : http://www.meencantacoser.blogspot.com/2014/02/bustiers-excuse-me-arent-those-your.html

Vintage Threads: 60's Bathing Suit Plans, Don't Keep Me From Sticking to my Bustier Project

No reason a bathing suit like the one on the left
couldn't work as well today as in the early 60's!
Very flattering for many figure types too.

My best guess is that this vintage bathing suit pattern is early - mid sixties era, because you don't see this waistline much after that on a suit. The 25 cent price tag is another clue. By the late sixties, most patterns were, at least, 35 - 50 cents. The model's hairband is another clue. Those wide bands say 1963 and before to me!

As you can perhaps tell, from perusing this sewing journal, I'm hard at work on a class project sewing a bustier. It's a big project for me, and I really wanted to divert myself several times to some fun sample sewing. Before Valentine's Day hit I was sorely tempted to stop and experiment with a simple example of reverse appliqué. Wouldn't an appliquéd heart coming through a pocket square be perfect? I justified this mini-project by thinking that I could devote my February Enchanted by Sewing Audio Podcast (which I typically publish just before the end of each month) to talking about appliqué in general and then describe the reverse appliqué techniques that I would have slipped off to practice.

But I kept myself on track and continued steadily on with my bustier. I still have quite a lot of work to put into it. Stick-to-itness is one of those skills I've resolved to work on this year, whether it's sewing or regular work projects. I'm proud of myself for sticking to this and other projects.

I'm also proud of myself for not purchasing any of the potentially swim-able fabric I might use to create a similar combination for myself. Yes, I do have a fabric inventory. But adding to it when I'm in the middle of my currently challenging project wouldn't give me the confidence I need to keep at it.

That doesn't mean I can't do a little blue-sky sewing!

Blue-skying means.... I can journal about creating an imaginary bathing suit, as I'm doing now. I can imagine whether or not I would try to find a print or plain colored fabric. And question what kind of material would work best. I can also think about how best to create the pattern. The overskirt is a flared skirt. I know how to drape those now, and I have Conchita, my foam core dress form to help me. The tanks, as the bathing-suit bottoms liner is referred to on the pattern back, could be created from an underwear pattern I've previously created that I know fits well. I'd probably work on draping the bodice on my duct tape dummy, not my Uniquely You foam-core dress form, because the duct tape model is a more exact replica of my torso. I can simply have the fun of imaginary sewing, and the eventual project will be that much better.

BTW, I've also began work on my February Enchanted by Sewing podcast. That show will reflect the pleasures of a little imaginary fabric shopping without actually adding to my fabric inventory. I hope you come along for the trip :-) You can subscribe to the show notes if you want to be notified when podcast episodes are added.

Blue-Skying is just one more activity that keeps me.... 

Enchanted by Sewing!

~ ~ ~

Resources

Enchanted By Sewing Podcast Show Notes (and iTunes link) http://enchantedbysewing.blogspot.com

Sewing My Bustier : http://www.meencantacoser.blogspot.com/2014/02/bustiers-excuse-me-arent-those-your.html

Christmas Tutu 2 - Romantic (Blue Sky Fantasy Sewing)

This ballerina is wearing a classic Romantic Styled Tutu

As I found the last time I blogged, fantasy sewing is a nice release from challenging project like the one I'm working on for draping class. And tutus are perfect fantasy sewing for December, a month when I'll definitely be attending the ballet.  After all, it's Nutcracker month!

When it comes to actual sewing work, I'm still working on my final project for draping class. And I'm not yet ready to write about those experiences in this journal!  I don't feel negative about what I'm doing, in fact I love learning about draping. I just can't stand back from the work yet and see where I am. Also my concept for my final project keeps changing as I move through this first full scale draping project. The fabric is telling me a story, and I'm still learning how to listen. I'm looking forward to being able to tell that tale in this journal a little way down the road.

Fantasy sewing for this Christmas tutu- togged ballerina helps to remind me that, no matter what challenges I encounter,  I'm still....

Enchanted by Sewing

~ ~ ~

Resources

I love to pin tutus and other ballet related pages. Check out my virtual bulletin board at ... http://www.pinterest.com/lrshimer/tutus/

" The problem in modern ballet is the problem of the color line. Scan the rosters of the nation’s top companies and African American dancers are rare, while African American ballerinas are nearly nonexistent. " Read more at http://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/theater_dance/shannon-harkins-the-face-of-african-american-ballet-dancers-struggle/2013/11/26/06c28738-5083-11e3-a7f0-b790929232e1_story.html

Cracking Nuts at the Opera House: A Nutcracker Visit http://www.simpleromantic.blogspot.co.uk/2012/12/cracking-nuts-at-opera-house.html

Christmas Tutu 1 (Blue Sky Sewing)

A Christmas Tutu
Sewn in the Imagination of  LR Shimer

What I'm actually working on sewing 'wise, is my final Draping Class assignment. I'm at that hard point where I'm still creating a pattern and it looks nothing like what I originally planned to make. Funny how that is.

I'm under the pressure of a deadline to finish up that pattern and sew the garment it represents. It's just as well to have those deadlines from a class, of course, because it makes me quit changing my mind and focus on completion. Creating can be like that - Drape or cut bait* I guess.

A little fantasy sewing is definitely in order when I'm getting a little fussy about completing a project. I love daydreaming about all the other things I could be creating, but had better not be distracted by. The more impractical those projects are, the better they are for soothing any concerns over finishing up a challenging task.

Big on my fantasy sewing list this year, is a Christmas tutu. I actually do hope to learn to how to sew a tutu in the future, though probably not in 2014. One thing that inspires me to participate in this lush world of costuming is this youtube video from the costume shop at New York City Ballet.

My love of tutus is also inspired by daydreaming about the art of the ballet. When I was writing My Heart Beats Faster in Past Times, I was entranced by the scene where Larissa explores the beauties of the Lilac Fairy's classic romantic tutu, and helping the little ballerina prepare for that role in a performance of the Sleeping Beauty Ballet. It was one of those times when I didn't need to think about what to write, I just let the people in the story take it away, and the words came out.

One day I will sew a tutu. 
It will be worthy of dancing in the Sleeping Beauty. 
It's knowing that sewing fantasies can become real, that keep me...

Enchanted by Sewing

Resources

I love to pin tutus and other ballet related pages. Check out my virtual bulletin board at ... http://www.pinterest.com/lrshimer/tutus/

* If English isn't your first language, I'm referring to the idiomatic phrase "Fish or cut bait." It means stop daydreaming and finish the task you're working on.

Podcast Togetherness: Mother-Daughter Sewing ( Ench By Sew-008 )

Hey, the May 2013 "Enchanted By Sewing" Podcast is available in the pod-o-sphere!

Why so early this month?

We Want to be on Time for Mother's
- or is that Daughter's? -
 Day!

You can listen to the show right on the web by clicking on this link. Or, download this podcast free from iTunes, to play on your favorite mobile device/mp3 player (like an iPhone or an Android), by clicking on this link to iTunes.

~~~

• This podcast episode is dedicated to Lori Van Monan, a mother who has influenced my sewing, blogging and podcasting tremendously. Lori is the creator and producer of the long time Sew Forth Now Podcast, as well as the Girls in the Garden Blog, which she continues to host. Lori  (who recently became a grandmother !) continues to sew for her four daughters, who are now young women. She also often shares ways that her mother and grandmother influenced her sewing. Thanks again for sew much inspiration Lori!

Daughter Kristen and her mother Tammy
are sewing cohorts and classmates
in the Cañada Fashion Sewing Program

In celebration of Mother’s Day… Laurel reflects on her own experiences with mother-daughter sewing. She also finds out that this relationship doesn’t always fit into a traditional pattern. This conversation with sewing cohorts, who happen to be related, may surprise you as much as it did the show hostess.

   

• In this month's podcast I spoke with daughter Kristen, and her mother Tammy in the  Cañada Fashion Sewing Program lab. In the illustration on the left, Kristen is wearing the dress she sewed for class, that we talk about in the 'cast. Below you'll find the alteration Kristen made to the sleeves she wasn't happy with.

•  Kristen is a died-in-wool Romantic, like me. You'll hear us talking about this Romance of Hats book just before our official interview time began. Kristen and I both took the millinery class on campus through the Cañada Fashion Sewing Program

The romance of hats / the editors of Victoria magazine ; foreword by Nancy Lindemeyer. http://catalog.plsinfo.org/search~S1/?searchtype=Y&searcharg=millinery+victoria&searchscope=1&sortdropdown=-&SORT=DZ&extended=0&SUBMIT=Search&searchlimits=&searchorigarg=Ymillinery+hat%26SORT%3DDZ

–       

Updated sleeves Kristen created for
her purple dress

Stone Mountain and Daughter is a fabric store in Berkley,  is a favorite of many in the Cañada Fashion Sewing Program

o   Tammy is a fan of Katie R. who works there and has helped this new sewer feel confident about choosing fabrics

o   Kristen likes the cotton sateen sold at Stone Mountain and Daughter

-       Tammy is sewing Kwik Sew pattern, hoodie style 3693

o   http://sewing.patternreview.com/patterns/29811

o   “Easy and great for beginners”   http://sewing.patternreview.com/review/pattern/66379

Yes! I admit that I bought this pattern from Pattern Review, after hearing about Tammy's plans!!

-         Sewing Velvet

o   Woops, Laurel, when it comes to pressing velvet,  it's a nail BOARD not a nail brush!

• Tammy and Laurel are both into crinkly/ruffled knits

Laurel's Fashion Forward Mermaid Tee
This is the kind of fabric Tammy and I were talking about
sharing a liking for

* This "Bisou Stretch Mini Ruffle Knit" (the link below is for Fabric.Com) is one of the styles of ruffled fabric Tammy and I were talking about. I bought my mint-green version at Stone Mountain and Daughter, and made my "Fashion Forward Mermaid" tee shirt  (above) with it, using a deconstructed (non-finished edge) at the neckline and sleeve edges. (Sorry I can't find a link for this fabric there. If you can find it there- or at some other favorite source- feel free to post a link)

http://www.fabric.com/ProductDetail.aspx?ProductID=1958a8df-d243-4199-a706-f422e4357168

This Morton Salt Girl's dress, may well have been Mama's inspiration for my own butter yellow outfit as a kid.