Saying Hello with Science

I've been trying to figure out how to say I'm still here, I'm still sewing, I just haven't felt like blogging.  Staging photos for the blog takes a surprising amount of energy, and daylight. Both of which are in short supply right now. I have so many makes I need to photograph and put up here. If I got them all photographed in one weekend I'd have weeks worth of blog posts. Though some of them I don't feel like its worth posting about because it's like "Here is yet another boring basic in black knit".

So, after all that I want to highlight something awesome.  Nobel Prize winner May-Britt Moser gets her very own designer gown inspired by the neuroscience breakthrough she made.

Please go read the article here. I agree with the designer, more scientists should be treated like rock stars.

'Real' Geek Girls Don't Like Fashion

I'm sitting at work in a recently make Kitschy Coo Camino cap maxi dress (real photos later) in many shades of bright pink, digital print roses and wondering how I got here.  And by 'here' I don't mean work, I mean wearing pink.

Since venturing into sewing for myself things other than costumes, I have also ventured into unfamiliar waters of wearing bright colors (ya know, OTHER than red) and shapes that I haven't previously been able to explore and I'm having a great deal of fun doing so. BUT, and this is where the title becomes relevant, I always have this small voice in the back of my head saying that I'm betraying my inner geek girl. 

It might be the same small voice that is in the back of many other minds, or the debate of what entails a REAL geek girl would not be a thing. Though I don't mean fandom specifically, I'm approaching this from a general experience of what it was like to be a nerd or geek or whatever-the-frak its called now, in high school. We weren't the cool kids with the in crowd keeping up with the latest fashions. At least I wasn't until I jumped head first into grunge, largely thanks to Nirvana, before everyone else caught on. Mom had, for a long time, tried to make me things that I saw in the magazines but the early 90's were total crap for people that sewed. When we moved to Georgia she basically stopped trying at all because I was making my own money and spending it on clothes for myself. It was a lot of the boho chick that I still love today but then I detoured and dove head first into Goth. OMG, I loved me some Goth but maybe because it just extended my ability to wear Ren Fair garb outside of that venue. 

So in retrospect, I was certainly into clothing and fashion but it was to the beat of my own drummer. That drummer never won me any popularity points, the biggest relief was moving to Georgia where the school was large and I mostly stayed off the bully radar. I hung out with the band nerds and what some considered "the bad kids" (usually male), but largely because they didn't scare me and they weren't so much as bad as they were acting out on crappy home lives. At some point I became their sounding board and therapist because I never jumped to conclusions and I called them on their bullshit. Two boys in particular told me after we graduated that I had saved their lives just by being there for them. I'm not sure how this tangential thought happened, so I'll digress.

What was I talking about? Oh, right, betraying my inner geek girl.

So, fast forward two decades where I'm now working in the IT industry with a very old, large corporation. Its not been around as long as its parent organization (over a century) and the technology portion of it has relaxed the dress code to Business Casual, unless the suits are popping over for a visit. But its the casual portion that I am stressing here. The GenXer's have had a great deal of influence over the years inserting a sort of disdain for the stuffy dress of our elders. The women of this very technical industry were, by and large, the awkward geek girls from high school and thanks to our Riot Grrl 90's we were now beyond fashion. We are better than that! We are all about what is INSIDE and how that counts (i still believe this) so much more than what we wear! Those fashionable girls are the enemy.

It didn't occur to me until much later that that attitude is ultimately the same thing as high school exclusionary tactics from the other side of the isle. And it hadn't occurred to me how much of this attitude and seeped into my unconscious until I caught myself thinking, and even voicing, my own disdain for the girly. Like full skirted dresses with lace, gingham maxi dresses, bright colors, and florals in general should be verbotten. Or something. I would say things on Facebook like "I'm going to lose my Goth Card for this" and even the most stoic of my friends said that was a silly thing to worry about.

I mean really, I'm a grown woman and what others think of me is none of my business. I'll wear whatever I damn well please.

The Linen Hawthorn

Hi there.

I made this one around the end of September, early October. I know it seems strange to for someone living in the Northern Hemisphere to make a linen dress in the fall but its really not. For instance, it was high in the 30's (F) last week, and its high in the 70's this week. And stupid humid.

Construction on this was pretty easy. This was my second Hawthorn, the first was a shirt, as yet unblogged. I added pockets but they are a little too low. I moved them up for my Red October one. I also used larger than called for buttons because this is such a large scale print. Its lovely though, very much lives up to the description of 'watercolor print'. I also did a blind hem, which I got my MIL to help with. I stood on her coffee table so she could pin while my husband, roommate, brother-in-law and uncle helped rearrange her new furniture (which is why the table was in the kitchen).  When they were done, I of course had an audience of snarky commentary. But they all thought the dress was pretty and I had an accurately pinned hem, so.. bonus?

Check out the sexy collar.

 The other thing I love about this fabric is how little it wrinkles for a linen, and even when it does it just kind of adds to the charm. I mean, come on. LINEN! This stuff is a dream to work with, it presses and shapes well, it behaves under the knife and needle, its breathable and I can wash it myself, though I only partially dry it and then iron while still moist. I got it from Fabric Mart on sale, of course.

OK, I know you are gonna ask about the shoes. I found them on Amazon a while back and bought them, gently used I later found, because they were similar to Jeffrey Campbell boots that sold out on ModCloth. But they were this hideous gray color and I hated them every time I put them on. So I had a brilliant idea, LEATHER DYE!  Made do and mend, right? I've worn them to work twice with this dress and both times people exclaimed about the shoes. Which is awesome but WHAT ABOUT THIS AWESOME DRESS I MADE YO!?

Pattern: Colette Hawthorn
Fabric: 2.5 yards of linen at $10yrd (half price)
Notions: 14 buttons x .75 each
Time Actively making it: 5 hours
Total Cost: 35.50

Happy Lady K

That's all folks! Have you made anything super awesome lately? Tell me about it.

This November

Hey y'all, what's going on in your world? We heading into what I call "The Holiday Season" where there's lost of present making, giving, receiving, food galore, and no small amount of stress that comes with it all. Which is why I'm here to let y'all know of some Goings Ons around Teh Interwebs while I procrastinate cleaning and cooking so you can be in the know too!

First and foremost, I would like to announce that the Sewcialist's Movement now has its very own blog! We hope to eventually embed it within sewcialists.org to compliment some other exciting developments in the works, but for now you can find it in the Firehose aggregater. Have you signed up to be added yet?

Also, as had been bantered around on social media, people seemed to like the idea of having a color theme every two months. Probably because its super laid back and also narrows down your choices of "What do I make now?". Well, if you want to participate and it is still a Red Themed Month (which goes through November, FYI), now you've got your stash narrowed down to a less overwhelming choice. Am I right? I know I am, because that's got to be why so many of you participated in #SewRedOctober! Keep 'em comin' folks! We're posting a second round up of separates and then try to do again at the end of November. Our next color theme is #SewGreenDecember and February is up for suggestions.

Up next is our Grunge Sew Along. Yours truly will be doing an inspiration post soon on the Sewcialists blog to help you get inspired. There was a lot more depth to this than most people think, and a lot of it was rooted in music. I'll save the rest for that post, but I created a pandora station which you can listen to here.

I think that's it for the community participation projects now. I'm finished with my big secret sewing project and can now move on to the holiday sewing. I also have a huge back log of projects to photograph. As I stated in my last post, my life has been a whirlwind of doctors and tests. I have a few more things to get checked but the treatments for my back has improved my pain by about 50%. It takes a bit more to trigger break-through pain but I find my strength and stamina has not caught up yet. I learned the hard way I couldn't dive in head first. Lesson learned, so I'm back to slow and steady.

So what is everyone working on now? Are you planning on making gifts for the holidays? Traveling? Hiding in your blanket fort? I'm thinking of constructing a blanket fort around my sewing area and hanging a "Do Not Disturb" sign. Or maybe just turn off every electronic thing I own and read all day in bed. I deserve some rest!

Check Out These Tags I'm Poppin'

I've got my own labels!

So I posted this to instagram and facebook a few days ago and got lots of positive feedback and questions. Which, AWESOME!! I love them too. I've started going back and sewing them into my clothes, but started with what I finished this weekend.

more selfies, ladyskater tshirt, hummingbird skirt

I keep promising actual real photos of what I've been making, haven't I? *sighs* I'll get to it, eventually. So lets talk about the labels, which is the main feature. The design itself was made by a friend of mine, Jason, who is a graphics designer. He's currently without steady work, picking up contracts here and there, so any business I can send his way would be awesome. as you can see, he does wonderful and subtle work. Email me ladykatza (at) gmail and I will introduce you.

The second bit is where I had them printed. I actually found this Etsy shop through another blogger whom I cannot remember at this moment  you can find here at The Seeds of 3.  http://www.etsy.com/shop/ananemone  is the shop storefront and you can use your own label (which you send via the Etsy message system after you agree to pay) or you can use her art. She has both iron-on and sew-in tags, and from personal experience the sewn in ones are not scratchy at all.

Love y'all, mean it! XOXO

Super Dress Kawaii!!

Hi!

Hi y'all. Miss me? I know, I've been absent from bloglandia of late but for good reason. I've been trying to get my health in order. If you follow me on the numerous social media sights you might have heard me complain a bit about it. So these photos are to make up for that. And because you knew this wig had to come out again eventually.

#bitchyrestingface

This is Simplicity 2369 and its the third one I've made. I put up a single photo of the first one last summer and never got around to taking more photos. Its view C but with B length dress.  This is the perfect pattern for hourglasses and insane prints. And as it turns out this dress is a serious conversation starter for geeks. If I wear it out for errands its like "OMG, she's one of US and I can talk to her and not sound crazy!".  Which happened to me after this photo session when I ran to the grocery store. Ten minutes after checking out I was still talking to the clerk about Dragon*Con.

somone's gonna get it

I totally used my daughter's room for these photos. I confess I cropped out part of a bed and some dirty clothes. 

This is my pimp hat.

Because everyone needs a purple velvet pimp hat with leopard trim.

More bitchy resting face. 

I'm totally going to use this as my profile picture now.

Stats:
Pattern: Simplicity 2369
Fabric: From fabric.com its an ITY knit I bought a couple years ago for about 2.99 a yard. I used about 2ish so four dollars.
Time: Oh, I dunno. I cut it out in an hour one day and then sewed it up in about three a week or so later. Ok, that's a lie. I spent about four hours one evening trying to get the cover stitch to work on this fabric. It wouldn't. And the next day I couldn't get a double needle to work. This fabric DOES NOT LIKE TOPSTITCHING. Which is also why I  didn't bother hemming it. Fortunately, it ain't raveling.

Who me?

Hope you love it as much as I do! XOXO

At the Challis Chalet, You Can Check Out, But You Don't Have to Leave

Hello you fabulous vacationing sewcialists! I hope you've had a lovely stay here. I know this was a loosely organized focus month that was mostly to put you at ease working with a different kind of fabric. I don't have too much to say today, other than I was happy to have as many of you as I did. I'm posting makes from the Flickr group and if I've missed you and you want to share, please add a link in the comments below!

Please don't feel like this is over. The Chalet is always here when you want to visit. I love this fabric and I hope you do too, now!

First up, the Fabulous Katie of Kadiddlehopper. That woman has some serious sewing stamina. I have no idea how she does it. Here she made a lovely bias cut top and a wrap skirt. Faboo!

Oh Carie, you were after my heart here. Of course you deserve a cocktail! A 90's slip dress? A fabulous print skirt, yes please! And check out here blog to see all her fabulous other makes.



Gillian of "Crafting a Rainbow", after my casual heart. This is the perfect little top for a hot summer day running errands or reading while surrounded by furry friends. Of course she's got plenty of other lovely makes on her blog, and she may even challenge you to a sewing dare!



Last but certainly not least, Miss Devyne. She refashioned an old skirt into a top. Its the perfect little bit of over the top to go with those purple jeans and her fabulous personality. I can't believe I went this long in the blogosphere of sewcialists without making her acquaintance.  This is a good top for the Arizona springtime, for sure.

Now, please don't forget to vote for your favorite #sewcialist emblem, and join in on Katie and Leila's Summer Swim-a-Long. I'll be guest posting!

Remember When?

So way back, like two years ago(eons in internet years), I was inspired by this duster in Ralph Lauren's Spring 2011 collection. I still want to make my own version of it (runway version was selling for $8k), I even bought a purple chambray and some macrame style lace at Mood the summer I went to NYC. I'm still wanting to make it, but since I plan on doing hand embroidery its something I consider a long-term project. But thinking about it is what got me started on my new pin board, and I found some lovely examples of embroidery embellished clothing that I wanted to share. Its the sort of details that we lack so much in our day to day world of RTW clothing. I mean yes, there is machine embroidered embellishments on mass produced garments, but it still lacks that certain je ne sais quoi.

Source: etsy.com via Lady on Pinterest

Source: etsy.com via Lady on Pinterest

Source: etsy.com via Lady on Pinterest

Source: etsy.com via Lady on Pinterest

Source: etsy.com via Lady on Pinterest

Source: blog.freepeople.com via Lady on Pinterest

Have a good day!

Velvety Cropped Goodness

This is totally an "in progress" post. I finished up my second New Look 6564 and this will probably be my last version. I'm ready to move on to slightly more involved jackets and tailoring. This time around I block fused the entire body and did some machine tailored shoulder pads. I wish I had block fused the entirety of the linen version but will probably change my mind come summer.

What I did was measure from the top of the front of my armpit, over the shoulder to the top of the back side of my armpit, then from the neckline to shoulder and created a crescent pattern from there. I used some scraps of horsehair canvas and two layers of thin cotton batting. 

I then did some machine stitching and steamed the mess out of it while shaping it around the top of the tailors ham. It looks kinda like a pilgrim hat here. 

I used waxed thread and tacked them into place in around the armscythe seam allowance and then the shoulder seam allowance. The end result feels like 80's landing pads but really looks more late 40's ish. It didn't really increase my shoulder size, I'm just build like a viking. Its cool though, cause I'll be killer with an axe and a baseball bat come the zombie apocalypse.

I also managed to set the lining and bag it out. I slip stitched the open part of the seam and the sleeves. Unfortunately I couldn't get piping in the sleeves to work and I have a few wrinkles that I'm not keen on but I think I'll be the only one that notices. 

Felicity decided to try on the jacket for herself. She's got a ways to go before she'll fit into my clothes.

In other news, my roommate's Grandmother passed away and the funeral is on Tuesday so I'm taking the day off so he can have my car since his Mom isn't up for driving.  I have to go to pick up some supplies for the CT scan I'm having later in the week for my mystery abdominal pains that are NOT my appendix. Oh joys of joys.  But in any case, that means I'll be home and able to take outfit photos with my dslr. WEEEE!

Next up, Felicity's groovy jacket, Lady Grey muslin, and starting on a few new TNT patterns. I need blouses and jeans.

The Power of Image

This talk by Cameron Russell has been making the rounds in my social media feed.  I've watched it numerous times and each time I think "This is so true".  She talks about how her life is made easier because she won a genetic lottery that plays into a legacy of "what is considered beautiful". It has very little to do with who she is,but how she looks. She expresses that she considers this unfair to many and that she is ultimately very insecure about how she looks.

I found her honesty to be not only refreshing, but it reaffirmed something I have already encountered my entire life.  Many women that fit into the model of current beauty standards are very insecure. In a way, I think this is part of that same legacy of the industry of beauty and fashion; women who are insecure in themselves are more likely to spend money on trying to make themselves "better".  Which is where I bring this back to sewing.

If you think of it in light of current social mores, sewing our own clothes is subversive. We take back  control of our own bodies by making things that fit us and fit our lifestyle. Or our fantasy world, which is the case for those of us that love cosplay and dress up.  But I digress.

When people say its not really cheaper to sew your own clothes I explain that its not exactly about the cost. I mean, it is, when you have expensive taste, but its when you think about how clothes fit and our relationship to our bodies, and in turn, ourselves, that the benefits really come to light. I believe this is why so many sewists will say "Ever since I started making my own clothes I find I'm more confident in my life and happier with my body".  We're breaking the cycle of a negative feedback loop that is advertisement, and that is a good thing.

The Candy Plaid Dress

The description on Fabric Mart's site used words like "blueberry" and "strawberry" to describe this plaid. Its colorful, its lovely, its almost impossible to be sad while wearing it. I've pretty much written everything I can about this dress, so here's photos!

Some stats:
Time to make: Oh, given fitting about 40 hours, but a second one with no pattern matching would probably take about 10 or so.
Cost: The fabric and lining together set me back about 24 dollars.  For a silk dupioni fashion fabric and rayon lining. Notions were from my stash.
Make Again? Yes!

Check out that pattern matching.  I totally rule!

What's that, its not lined up on the side skirt but still looks right? How does that even happen?

This dress would totally rock a crinoline, too, but since its for work, that'd be kinda obnoxious.

Check out my matching belt! I used fabric cut on the bias with Sunni's Stella Kit. These are totally awesome, go buy some!

I decided not to do a hidden zipper. This fabric is so loud, how'd you notice anyway? Also, I'm proud of my belt loops.

And with a twirl and clicking of heals I say have a good day! I hope this cheers you as much as it did me.

Simply Complex - A Process Post

As I was working on this obnoxious plaid confection, I applied all of the knowledge of bodice fitting I've gained so far. It was hard because its just me, and trying to explain how to properly pin out wrinkles, place darts, and so on and so forth, to either of the men living in my house is, well, akin to explaining where the g-spot is.  I used a combination of full length mirror and camera with tripod. But before that I did a great deal of measuring of the flat patterns and made the adjustments I thought were needed first. The big issues were:

1)Large Arms
2)Rounded Shoulders
3)Full Bust
4)Waist

Now, all of these adjustments I've done before on a basic style bodice and an armhole princess seam. I had not done it on a two-piece raglan sleeve and a bodice with neckline and waist darts.

Full Bust

The very first thing I did was trace off a size 20 minus the seam allowance and then do a three inch (total, 1.5 inch pictured here, since it would equal 3" with both sides there) Full Bust Adjustment*. There are many many tutorials out there on how to do a Y-shaped FBA, and in this case I used the principle of moving darts (Here's a good diagram that explains that) to make the change, then close up the side dart and split the difference between the top and bottom dart.

Here's the front sleeve and adjustments made.  The thing about raglan sleeves is they usually have a dart at the shoulder if they are one piece, or effectively with a two piece sleeve as there is a curve, much like with a princess seam. Trying to move the seam line forward for rounded shoulders proved to be challenging. It was a bit of trial and error.

I swear I had made one of these with notes on the photo, but I can't find it.  In fact, it looks like I lost half my  carefully done photos and now I'm sad.  I will share what I do have, however, and try to go from memory.

Obviously, I had to do a bit of dart adjustment.  The waistline darts in the front needed to be shortened and curved in a bit to match my natural shape. I also gave myself a 1/4 inch more roof all around after pinching a dead dart in the back. Upon looking at some of these photos I realize that my right shoulder and hip are slightly higher than my left. This must be from my back injury as that is the side I normally favor (due to the nerve damage from my spinal injury/surgery my right leg will give out on me or cramp up, usually when very tired and often without warning). When I can finally convince (read: enable) a couple friends to sew more and be my fitting buddy, I will probably have a right/left pattern pieces in the future. The wrinkles with the back-fat are not noticeable in the fashion fabric, lining, and skirt weight pulling down the bodice. This is a good thing. Ok, more photos.

Ah, ok, here is the notes on muslin number one.  I didn't note it on the photo how I moved the neckline darts, see the second photo down from here.  

You can also see I actually pinched out a bunch of width in the waistline.  I did this for the first muslin, but then added in a 1/8 inch for each side seam, for a total of 1/2 an inch all around. It ended up being the perfect amount.

Here I show how I ended up re-drawing the sleeve shoulder darts. This was also to keep the neckline from gaping and to prevent bra-strap showing. This is still a slight problem but fixable if I wear the right bra. In the next one I make I'm going to add a second neckline dart.   I kept the width for the bottom of the sleeves, which was lengthened 1 inch from the original to hide some of the jiggly.

Here is the aforementioned moving of neckline dart.  As I said, I'm going to add a second dart. Really, I'm going to add 1/4 inch to this one and then split it into two darts. That would give ma a total of another 1/2 inch taken in at the neckline and successfully give me regular bra strap coverage.

Though I don't have a photo of it, I did add an inch to the waistline of the skirt and to the length.  I marked the hem by measuring 24" from the waistline, then sewed lace hem tap to the bottom and trimmed. Also, I pinked the seam allowances. I did to a second row of stitching in the bodice seams for strength and then pinked.  This is a dry-clean only dress so I'm not terribly worried about fraying.  As for finishing the hem, I did a blind stitch by hand for the fashion fabric and a rolled hem on the serger for the lining.

That's all I can think of at the moment. Felicity is suppose to help me take photos in the morning, so hopefully I'll have those edited and up this week. Let me know if you have any questions! Hope your week is going well.