Me Encanta Coser/Enchanted by Sewing

Monday, June 22, 2015

Ench By Sew-33:Back in Town

Back in Town - A Summer State of Sewing


Victoria and Albert had their own ideas about what made for a happy couples vacation in the U.K., Just like we do

Listening Option 1: Download from iTunes
Click on this link to iTunes to download this and other Enchanted by Sewing shows to your mobile device (iPhone, Android, etc.) free from iTunes

Listening Option 2: Direct Download/Listen on the Web
LISTEN RIGHT ON THE WEB (while sewing perhaps?) http://traffic.libsyn.com/enchantedbysewing/CastFINALBackInTownSummerJune2015.mp3

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Hey! If you could sew only one garment this summer season, what would it be?

- Answer the Poll here

- Post your thoughts below

-Email me at EnchantedBySewing@Gmail.com

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After three weeks vacation in England and Scotland, I'm not yet caught up and engaged in my sewing projects. I am, however, reflecting on historical and travel sewing inspiration from my trip, putting some good hard thought into planning sewing projects, and continuing to learn about working on my sewing pattern skills, using my sloper and moulage patterns.

Quick Fashion: When it comes to a summer state of sewing sometimes I just want to zip zap up 3 tees in a tried and true pattern and never mind about careful seam finishes or hems – maybe a deconstructed neckline or too. Other times I want to focus on slow careful pattern work, practice my sewing techniques and create a garment that I expect to see me through a number of seasons.

Slow Fashion: I also like to put time into developing patterns with personally crafted fit, carefully finished seams and well-thought techniques.

Planned Sewing: Other times I need to step back from sewing and give my fabric and pattern inventory and choice of sewing projects a good solid overhaul.

This Month:
1) Field trip to England and Scotland
(7 days London, 5 days in Lake District (2 travel/3 self-guided walking holiday, 2+ days Edinburgh)

In and amongst our activities, I encountered textile and sewing information and inspiration.

For travel to use with audio books and in flight movies, and tired evenings, I took along hand embroidery, and practiced stitches on a piece of natural linen scrap. I took this lovely little book,
Embroidered & Embellished: 85 Stitches Using Thread, Floss, Ribbon, Beads & More • Step-by-Step Visual Guide along on my iPad.

Many Wonderful Large London Museums are free: Victoria and Albert (free) (Fee for special Alexander McQueen exhibit – Savage Beauty)

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Laurel Loves London (2013) http://enchantedbysewing.blogspot.com/2013/06/ench-by-sew-009-laurel-loves-london.html
A Tour of the Victoria and Albert Fashion Gallery with Laurel (2013) http://enchantedbysewing.blogspot.com/2013/07/ench-by-sew-010-v-fashion-gallery-tour.html

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Imperial War Museum (free) – Fashion on the Ration 1940s Street Style exhibit http://www.iwm.org.uk/exhibitions/iwm-london/fashion-on-the-ration

Museum of London (free)

The Queens Gallery (Moderate Cost - worth it) – painting paradise became scavenger hunt for pooches (get your ticket stamped for free return for a year)

Conversation Starters - Greeting friendly pooches and their people.
On our treks between museums and scenic places, we enjoyed greenery, statuary and ornamental waters, not to mention horses, dogs, people and kids, in the big parks Holland Park, Kensington Gardens, Regents Park, St James Park.

Mid Week break for More Green with Country Feel, easy access from London
Osterly Park (free estate/park area and/or paid access
to Neoclassical Robert Adam (Regency Era Architect/Designer) historic house and formal gardens) A good mid-week break - 30 minutes from Kensington by train -
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osterley_Park
Robert Adam ‘one of the most fashionable architects in Eng’ also designed furniture to match the rooms at Osterly, which they still have!

A Place Like Home - Agency we've used repeatedly to rent flats in London

Mickeldore - Self-guided walking holidays in England. They setup up the B&B, schlep your luggage and give you maps and directions. Well worth it. We have used for two or our three walking trips in the U.K. (They don't have a Cornwall trip or we would have used them for all 3!) http://www.mickledore.co.uk/

Wool - Lake District - We stayed at Askhill Farm B&B (http://www.loweswatercam.co.uk/Askhill_Farm_Stay.htm ) There, I learned a little something about current challenges in English wool market chatting with my hosts

Tartan Weaving Mill: Edinburgh On the Royal Mile, just down from The Castle Tartans /Plaids Weaving ( http://www.royal-mile.com/interest/tartanweavingmill.html) Sure, it's primarily a gift store, but there are tidbits for the fabric savy on more than one floor. Working looms.

Jaquard Loom and other Looms are on Display - National Museum of Scotland (Wonderful Museum) Extensive Exhibit area on textiles

2) Technicos: Fitted Tee Shirt – Sloper/Moulage to Pattern, Nibbled that Tee

Damson Plumm Private Eye Tee Shirt - Creating Pattern from Moulage
http://meencantacoser.blogspot.com/2015/04/damson-plumm-private-eye-nibbled-that.html

3) Purging – Pains and Pleasures - Please post your own thoughts

Is it worth it? You tell me
http://meencantacoser.blogspot.com/2015/06/purging-fabricpatternssewing-books.html

Purging - Fabric/Patterns/Sewing Books - Worth It?

You tell me. Is it worth it?

EnchantedBySewing@gmail.com

I've been purging my wardrobe, fabric inventory, pattern collection, and book shelves (including my sewing books). Is it worth it?
Email me and give me your opinion EnchantedBySewing@gmail.com

The Pains

1)    I have a tendency to land on a piece of fabric and feel I should come up with a creative way to use it up, even if it’s not a garment or accessory I will get a lot of use or pleasure out of. Even more so when it takes more storage room!
2)    But I’ve hung onto this for so long, and I might use it soon!
3)    I hold onto things for sentimental reasons or associations with an occasion I made the item for
4)    I hold onto fabric I meant to make up for my daughter when she was little. She’s 25 now. And she’s not planning to have children herself in the near future!
5)    It’s really a lot of work! I’m using my sewing recreation time, and probably will be at it for a couple of months over the summer

The Pleasures

1)    More room for my fabric I want to keep, so I can find what I want from what I already have
2)    More room for fabric I buy – even though I’m trying hard to limit buying right now!
3)    More chance to find patterns I use regularly when I get rid of those I don’t use and/or better organize my patterns
4)    Less clothes in the closet helps me find the elusive garment I want, and enjoy my successful sewing projects more
5)    Act of purging from my wardrobe, reminds me of what I really wear, and helps me best decide where to allocate my recreational sewing time

Saturday, June 13, 2015

Lucky Locket's Mobile Device Pocket Bag

Lucy Locket lost her pocket,

Kitty Fisher found it.

Nothing in it, nothing in it,

But a ribbon round it.

traditional Nursery Rhyme

I'm right up there with Lucy Locket when it comes to the value of a portable pocket.

I don't sew as many pockets in my clothes anymore, now that I've gotten in the habit of wearing cross-body bags. I need to have my iPod and iPhone handy, especially since my phone has an app that tracks my exercise. I also listen to audio books a lot on my iPod, so I pretty much always have this kind of bag on me. Mobile devices are pretty hard on clothing pockets, and there's always the chance they'll slip out too.

Here's a new portable pocket bag I just finished. It has a very sturdy zipper across the top and the strap is made from a recycled leather strap on a 1930's binocular bag - the binocs are still good but the strap was coming off. I punched two holes in each end of the straps, then fixed it inside the corners with a button on each end to keep things secure.

No pattern, just lots of folding and thinking and working with the scrap I had leftover from the tapestry cap I posted about last time. Thanks again to Susan for the fabric. I used just about every inch of a 25x25 home dec square for these two items - both of which, I know from experience, I will use until they wear out.

Wednesday, June 3, 2015

Replacing my Tapestry Cap

I lost that lovely tapestry cap that I first began beading in Vancouver! Oh, grrrr. After looking everywhere, I made a new one using fabric, with which, my buddy Susan gifted me.

Thanks Pal! I spend too much time out of doors not to have a couple of caps handy.

Sunday, May 24, 2015

Ench By Sew-32: Parlez Vous French Pattern Drafting?

The May Enchanted By Sewing, Episode 32 Audio Show is Up !

http://traffic.libsyn.com/enchantedbysewing/CastFINALParlezVousFrenchPatternDrafting.mp3

I first signed up for Lynda Maynards' French Pattern Drafting Class to help me improve my fit and alteration of commercial patterns and was surprised to find that Lynda's class opened my eyes to the idea of drafting my own patterns - an aspect of sewing I’d never expected I’d get involved with, and frankly considered beyond my skills.

Studying with a teacher like Lynda and being inspired to try new things – that’s the kind of thing that keeps me, enchanted by sewing!

1) Pensamientos Primeros – The Art of French Pattern Drafting

My Pattern Work Postings

Early Days in Pattern Drafting Class - Includes Kenneth King Link http://meencantacoser.blogspot.com/2015/02/drafting-my-back-block-learning-pattern.html

Using My Sloper and Moulage to Draft Patterns

http://meencantacoser.blogspot.com/2015/04/pattern-workparlez-vous-tee-shirt.html

http://meencantacoser.blogspot.com/2015/04/damson-plumm-private-eye-nibbled-that.html

Parlez Vous Flared Skirt? http://meencantacoser.blogspot.com/2015/04/pattern-work-parlez-vous-flared-skirt.html

Pattern Work on Pinterest:Links to many pattern drafting and design resources https://www.pinterest.com/lrshimer/0-sewing-pattern-work/

2) Technicos - On Wearing Ease Going from a Moulage to a Sloper and Back Again

http://meencantacoser.blogspot.com/2015/05/parlez-vous-wearing-ease-moulage-to.html

3) Pensamientos Finales – My sloper...A garment for any occasion?

Monday, May 11, 2015

Blue Sky/Blue Check Inspiration Shirt - Anthropologie

Blue Sky Sewing is soooo much easier than the embellished denim skirt I've been working on!

My daughter and I were no-spend shopping at Anthropologie over the weekend. This shirt caught my eye. Wouldn't it be great to create a garment along these lines?

Yes, I think I would button at least a few of the buttons!

Sunday, May 3, 2015

Antique-Retro Threads: Plum-Purple Pocket Dress - Mid Twentieth Century

I have been thinking about adding embellishments to basic patterns lately, as I've been working on creating a rather

challenging embellishment on the straight skirt I've been sewing, using a pattern I created from my sloper. I haven't blogged about that project yet, other than a posting describing how I created the pattern.

My own embellishment work got me thinking about this plum-purple frock, that caught my eye at the exhibit From Rationing to Rationing at the Museum of Vancouver. I saw it on our visit to Vancouver Canada in the fall of 2014. Yup, that's the visit, for which, I created my audio show Embellishment Via Vancouver B.C.

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Pensamientos/Thoughts for this plum-purple pocket dress...

Fashion doesn't necessarily move as fast in real life as it does on the pages of a magazine. I recall dresses from my own childhood, in the 1960's, that harked back to many of the design elements in this dress, which is probably an end-of-the war, or just post-war creation.
* The fitted bodice is very mid-twentieth century
* Dainty collars added a popular innocent look
* No-button buttons were a simple embellishment many home sewers added. Buttons were often recycled from worn-out garments, so sewists had them around
* Short puffed sleeves stayed in style for several decades, certainly through the seventies
* Yokes also stayed popular through the late seventies
* Lots of pretty edging and trims like these, served up on plain fabric backgrounds, are really reminiscent of the mid-century, before the mid-sixties, when dresses got much shorter and styles became all about crazy prints. Sewing up prints was in vogue, because printed fabrics were suddenly much more affordable and available.

And what about that pocket!

I created a similar pocket on my favorite black velvet bath robe, a few years back, by angling out the sides of a rounded pocket pattern. This one looks even more full. I must try fooling around with a pocket pattern to get a similar effect.

The pocket also dips down in a heart shape in the center. And what about that beautiful embroidered velvet trim! It really tops off the pocket nicely.

* Lots of detail on the yoke was again very popular. It works because of the plain-colored background, even this peach colored lace can be over-embellished. I think that trim worked with ribbon is called insertion.
* Dark colored velvet bows at the neckline have a very mid-twentieth-century look as well. Doris Day often wore bows like this in her movies, especially black ones. Velvet bows were also popular as hair adornments. That was a signature style for Rosemarie in the Dick Van Dyke show, of course. Well into the sixties we could buy velvet bows on hair clips at the 5 and 10 cent store. I guess that would be the 5 and 10 dollar store now!

Reflecting on styles that affected fashions from my childhood, and considering embellishment elements that still work today - That's the kind of thing that keeps me ...

Enchanted By Sewing!