A Whole New Year

Hi. How are you?  It's been awhile, hasn't it? Almost a full 365 days, in fact, since my last blog post. Oh, I've been around on facebook, instagram, and twitter (albeit less often), and I've tried keeping up with peeps on blogs, but man there's an acre of sewing folk now!  The Sewcialists' Firehose now has an impressive list of people, new ones joining often. Despite being one of the founders I've neglected our movement completely for some time now. I have to give mad props to Gillian of Crafting a Rainbow for tending the fires and keeping them going.

So why have I been not blogging? There are many reasons, the biggest being my mental and physical health. I know I have talked about chronic pain, depression, and anxiety a good bit on this blog. What I didn't want to blog about was how much time and money I've spent on specialist after specialist. I didn't want to fall into the "I'm sorry for being a bad blogger, I'll try to blog more" trap. I didn't want to whine publicly about how crappy I felt. To be honest, most of the time I tell people I'm fine when I'm not because I just want to be normal.  (I don't do this with people close to me though, they can see through the lie)

Now, however, I finally have a solid diagnosis, fibromyalgia (details here if you want to know more).  It's a contentious condition with many doctors still not believing it real, and then there's whole "It's all in your head" spiel we get, especially as a woman. The ironic part is that it IS a great deal all in my head, because that's how these illnesses work, it's the brain and nervous system malfunctioning and firing off constantly.  Sometimes it will subside for months at a time, though not for me as of yet.  It comes with a host of sub-illnesses, and it is usually set off by traumatic events, and there's been no shortage of those in my life. In short, I spent much of 2015 re-evaluating my limitations and finding my center.

I think I'm close to finding my center, or as close as i'm going to get for now.  I found that I do miss writing and sharing my creations and creative process. I like sharing the weird bits of my life, too. I think this year I am finally ready to come out of the cocoon, and spread my wings and understand it's OK if they can't range as far as they used to. I want to enjoy the now and look forward to new things in 2016. This should be an adventure.

Agent Carter

Whoever did this was thinking 'COSPLAYER'S DREAM'

OH EM GEE Y'ALL!!  If you are not watching this show you are missing out. Not only is the good writing and the story of how S.H.I.E.L.D. came to be,it is a vintage costume dream land!  Lets just take a look at her outfit for Opening Act.  This blue suit with the red hat gives us her in Captain America colors but she's owning it.  She is her own woman and she will kick ass and take names.  Let's look at it in less dramatic lighting. 

Flawless entrance!

You know I was totally taking notes with this scene.  This is a typical post war suit, with the a-line knee length skirt and the tailored jacket WITH BONING.  She's wearing some serious armor under all that. The shoes are pretty spot on too.  Which leads me to one of the opening lines I loved when her roommate says, "You know Peg, there's a big difference between an independent woman and a spinster."

The ever sassy Peggy comes back with "Is it the shoes?".

Well, yes, totally. And this is totally a show to watch with your daughters because it not only gives us a smart, competent, and fashionable woman to look up to it shows how long we've come since then, but I digress. I was cooing over the fashion. Specifically, this dress below:

Spoiler alert, that's not a ring. Also, click to embiggen.

 This is, hands down, one of the most 40's dresses I've seen on this show. I can't tell if it was made or if its real vintage though my money is on the latter. At first glance, or to an untrained eye, this dress looks fairly simple. Keyhole neck detail, puffy sleeves, a-line skirt and so on.  The keyhole was a very popular detail with the mid-40's dresses but its the execution here that drew my attention. The detail is created by having a front seam in the bodice, its then gathered into the collar and a center piece that draws it up into an almost bow like detail.  And the sleeve caps are pleated and pressed.  I'm fairly sure this dress is made from a wool flannel or crepe.  The reason I think its vintage is because of the front seam because most lengths of wool were 35-39" and its post war so a lot of piecing was necessary.

I know for a fact I'm going to be trying to recreate this dress, I already have some very similar fabric in my stash.  What about you? Have you watched this show yet? What's your favorite outfit?  Are you inspired to make some 40's fashion?

The Mighty Moto

What's up y'all?  Hey, can you believe that its 2015 already?  Where did 2014 year go? The thing about time feeling faster as you get older is so true. This is part of why I've been neglecting this little blog of mine, life is happening and I should probably pay attention. Anyway.

I think this is just resting bitch face.

 I want to share a recent obsession, the motorcycle jacket. I've always loved them but was never able to own one because they were either too expensive or the cheap fashion ones made for models. Models whose thighs are smaller than my biceps because this viking grew up doing heavy labor (rowing, archery, wood chopping, tilling; these things make for lots of upper body mass). So getting my arms into one was basically a NOPE.

DEFINITELY INTENTIONAL. Rock that bitch face.

Right now motorcycle jackets seem to be everywhere on women, particularly in television. I think it has to do with the uptick in female heroes in the DC and Marvel adaptations to the serial screen. As a geek and a feminist this makes my heart happy, but as someone who loves history it also makes me curious. Like many of the articles of clothing eventually labelled as classic, it had its origins in the military.  I decided to do a wee bit of digging to find out more about its origins.

As it turns out the moto is an evolution of the bomber jackets used during WWI.  Originally they were brown horse or cow hide which had a thickness that helped protect the wearer from the elements.  Here's an excerpt from a great BBC article.

 In 1928, Irving Schott, co-founder of the New York City-based outerwear company the Schott Bros, designed and produced the first leather motorcycle jacket with a zipper. He named it the Perfecto, after his favourite cigar. A shield against the elements (replacing the less efficient button-down motorcycle jackets of the time), this important new silver feature, with its asymmetric positioning, also allowed motorcyclists to lean over their bikes without cutting into the body. The original jacket featured a cropped, snug fit, with a D-pocket and lapels designed to snap down or fold over each other and zip all the way up

FINALLY!  That asymmetrical zipper is explained!  I'd been wondering for years the point knowing it had to root in functionality.  Not getting poked and chaffed by a zipper is definitely a plus for me.

Surprise face.

 Of course, when fashion appropriates things they like to add a bit of pretty or fluff. On the runway there are motos in every color for Spring and even pre-Fall (prefall? Like why do we need pre fall and resort? WHY?  Its dumb.). I love the one above that Felicity Smoak is wearing from Arrow. As a matter of fact, all the Arrow ladies rock them at one time or another. This floral moto shows up in another super hero show but I forget which one.

"You should see the other guy" bitchface

I should point out that Marlon Brando made the moto jacket in black a popular element among the young and rebellious crowd with the movie "The Wild One" and the James Dean in "Rebel Without a Cause".  I don't think this association will ever go away, either.  And while right now its "anything but black" among the fashion crowd, having a black one in your closet will be a classic, always.

I have two of them planned for in non-black to take me through the year. The way our weather has been lately I only need a really warm coat a couple months.  Sort of related I've been craving jackets and blazers to help mix and match outfits for work. I think the non-leather jackets well certainly help with that, especially on days I need to bring the bitchface.  Leather biker jackets certainly help set the mood.

For a bit more history reading, Fit NYC has an article here,  and another somewhat less reliable source here.

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.

T.A.R.D.I.S. Armoire!

"T.A.R.D.I.S = Time and Relative Dimension in Space" And it comes from the series Dr. Who, just in case you weren't aware of this internationally loved series from the U.K. Ringing in at 50 years old it is the longest running fiction series in the world and has seeped in to many aspects of popular culture.  So it should be no surprise that there is a definite sub-section of Sewcialists that geek out over Dr. Who.  I'm no exception.

But really, it was Mrs. Tempest that sparked this want that turned into a NEED.  I wanted my very own TARDIS to store my fabric. (And full disclosure; this is meant to get the idea across, NOT as an exact replica. So if you feel the need to nitpick, move along because ain't nobody got time for that). For her version she used an armoire from Ikea and painted it. However, I could not find the same version online or at the Atlanta store. So this is where I asked my Dad if he'd be willing to make one and that I'd totally help! This was about a year ago. Weather, work, and health meant we got a little done at a time.

Without further ado, here's the reason I've spent less time in the sewing room and more time with Dad in the wood shop;

Had to use flash bounced off the ceiling, hence the weird lighting.

TADA!

I had very specific ideas about what I wanted it to have on the inside.  First, I knew I wanted to hang a mirror on the door. The shelves had to be adjustable AND lined with cedar shelf lining.

Mirror

For the body of construction we used a 3/4 inch pine faced plywood, the quality stuff that sands down very easily.  The back is made in particle board you find on the back of most of the pre-fab shelving. The shelves were the same plywood and sanded down by yours truly. The drawer is made from some scrap furniture quality lumber left over from the sewing table shelves.  All the hardware was standard stuff from Home Depot, but with the drawers we went with best possible quality so it wouldn't get stuck. The facings on the doors were made from 1"x2" lumber, I'm not sure what kind.

Please note that actual lumber size is smaller than what it says for some sort of industry money saving. It's a headache.

Of course, graffiti from the 9th doctor's story line. The doors were so heavy they had to be mounted with piano hinges. Would have preferred them on the inside with just the spine showing, but eh. 

closed

I also knew that I wanted a drawer for my patterns. These are all my patterns except for Simplicity and the vintage collection.

open

One more drawer and ALL my patterns would be in here. However, storing fabric was more important. The cedar discourages moths and silver fish, and being able to close them behind the doors keeps the fabric safe from sunlight fading and dust. And cats, for that matter.

But I can open both doors all the way to allow me to see all the fabric and use the mirror for fitting instead of having to carry my pins and things into the bedroom when trying to fit myself.

And as you can see here, my sewing space is shared by a library (all paperback shelves have double rows) and both mine and my husband's desks. All in all I really am happy about this new addition to my sewing room. Thanks so much to my Father for making this a real thing. I had fun working on it with you!

Cheers to all my readers. 

Paisley

Wiki on Paisley

I'm gonna start this off by saying that I DO like paisley, especially when done up in vibrant bohemian colours. But there's something else that has always kept me from wearing it. It reminds me of something. 

Let me set this up for you first. Do you remember that show from the late 70's and early 80's called "Connections"? It ran on PBS forever and you can get them on DVD from Netflix.  I got the first few episodes back when Simon was 9ish with the hope he would love the history of science and technology that went with it. But I was a few years early. In any case, there was one episode that really stuck out in my mind.  It was about the print known as paisley and where it came from. 

Now, there is a somewhat decent wiki page about paisley you can find here. It matches up with what James Burke said, that the name comes from the town of Paisley in Scotland that was the first industrial manufacturer of the print. The print itself was actually a copy of the prints found in old Middle East and Western Asia, places now called Iran, Uzbekistan, and Northern India, many of which were tribes of nomads.  Now what the wiki article doesn't say and was actually covered in Connections was that Paisley rugs were often woven for newlywed couples as a fertility charm of sorts.

Which, for me, tells me that ancient cultures were a bit more in-tune than we give them credit for because I cannot look at paisley without thinking they look like sperm. 

You're welcome.

Are You Going to Dragon*Con?

*edited*  It totally didn't occur to me to link to the Dragon*Con website.


Hey there!  Normally I'm all revved up and ready to go for Dragon*Con but this year we're not really attending outside of helping some friends to setup and breakdown. I am, however, totally available Thursday or Friday night to meet any blog readers and sewcialists that will be in town. There's a tavern and a 24 hour restaurant within walking distance, and also the food court*. You can comment here, or send me a message via Twitter. Its best to setup a time/place before hand because 30,000 people in the two square miles all trying to talk and text at once makes cell phones not work reliably.

Anyway, all that said, I would LOVE to meet up.

*Newbie Tip: They run out of the good stuff the second day and if you are REALLY broke there's the Con Suite one floor up from the main lobby in the Hyatt (it will be mapped in your handbook), they have free drinks and chips, they do breakfast/lunch/dinner/midnight meal but it might look like something that would crawl off Calvin's plate.

Attack of the Twee

Ye-haw 

Well, I finally did it. I succumbed to my inner twee urges. To be fair, I live in The South, so this really isn't all that out of place. Still, I'm not in love with this on me. I LOVE this dress, I'm just... it needs something else. Maybe red boots.

If I stand here too long I'll be covered in kudzu.

Ya know, I should probably back up a bit here. If you've followed for any amount of time you will know our very good friends (of the Wedding Cruise fame) live in THE COUNTRY. We went up to visit this weekend and the kids helped break in their new pool, and of course this is the best place to take photos of this dress. It had been hanging in my sewing room for weeks just needed a hem, and so I did a rolled hem about an hour before we left. I didn't iron it so this denim looking knit tends to roll up a bit.

I borrowed the boots from Dreama's father. He was working on the hay barn when I asked, "Hey (uh, no pun intended), so I am taking some photos for my sewing blog and I was wondering if you have any cowboy boots I could borrow?"

Completely nonplussed by this he said "SURE!". In fact he may have been a bit tickled I even asked. They are too big for my feet so merely a prop for this shoot. I now want to own some cowboy boots though.

Fun Fact: Kudzu flowers smell like grape koolaid.

Back view. If you haven't already noticed this is the Camino Cap with the Lady Skater skirt. Are y'all sick of Kitschy Coo yet? I hope not because at this rate my closet won't have anything else. I've been stuck on knits for a while because my weight is still in flux but I THINK I'm back on the downward swing. I've been working out on a regular schedule keeping what I learned in physical therapy in mind.

wiggle dance

The skirt has swish. I think a nice red petticoat might help me like this more. The blue denim is a cotton interlock knit that I picked up for some ridiculously cheap price at Fabric Mart (all gone). The gingham knit you can get here. I did have to stretch the LS skirt out to get it to attach to the bodice. I managed to keep the resulting gathers to the sides to keep it balanced out, though once I put it on you can barely notice.

This is my derp face

Obviously a country outfit in the country requires a pickup truck and tools, right? Now excuse me while go stick this dress in the magic closet.

Roses for Oonapalooza!

This is my Katie Kadiddlehopper pose.

Check out my make for this month's Sewcialists theme!  I know, I'm totally squeaking in just before the deadline. Obviously, this is the dress that sparked my last blog post thought train. If it was TL;DR the gist of it was "I'm too nerdy for this kind of dress and PINK". But then there are so many other brilliant women that do. It was a silly notion, and while Oona approves of silly, I don't think she goes for THAT kind of silly.

Speaking of silly, while taking these photos I was like "I feel ridiculous". Luckily our lush vegetation gives us a good bit of privacy from snoopy neighbors. Oh, and I took these the same day I took my kitschy coo hack pictures. Isn't amazing how much a wardrobe change can make you look different? I mean, I'm wearing the same makeup!

So this is the Camino Cap from Kitschy Coo just like my other one only I made the skirt down to the floor this time. Its pretty much a straight size 8 though I did curve in for the underbust. I didn't want contrasting bands on the sleeves but I did on the neckline just to break up the pink. Both fabrics are an ITY from Fabric Mart, which I got on sale. I did a rolled hem on the serger, easy peasy. Its gotten to the point I can whip up a knit dress in two hours. TWO HOURS. Its no wonder knits are so popular with this kind of production speed.

Unlike the other dress this one gets compliments everywhere I go. With such a vibrant print I'm keeping the accessories to a minimum. Its all about the dress you see.

This is me laughing at myself for ridiculous posing.

Obligatory mouth open Oona pose, except somehow she does it without looking like she's getting tested for Strep throat. This is one of the things that makes her so awesome and vibrant even on screen, she has that light and presence that makes it work. Love you Oona, you totally deserve the spotlight this month.

I can't wait for all the roundups at the end! What I've seen so far has been fantastic.

'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.

Kitschy Coo Hacks: The Cowl Neck Maxi in Blue

Hello Sailor.

 y'all. Y'ALL. This is like, my favorite knit garment I've ever made, FOR SERIOUS. Its a combination of Kitschy Coo patterns that have been modified from the original. The bodice is from the Lady Skater but I used a Threads tutorial to create a cowl neck.

The skirt is the maxi version of the Camino Cap, but this time I had enough to go all the way to the floor.  The fabric is a navy blue bamboo rayon from Fabric.com, its one of their reorderable medium weights that aren't quite so clingy as other rayons. Still, if I'm going to wear it out and about it needs proper foundation garments for a smooth silhouette.  And I have, in fact, already worn this to work.  It was a bit bizarre because if ever staring was audible, it was that day. No one actually complimented the dress, but one lady on the elevator had her mouth open. When she realized I was looking at her she said 'Your hair is... amazing".

I was like "Um, thanks! Oh hey look this is my floor".  Cause I suck at taking compliments, its taken years to learn to just say thank you.

This fabric drapes beautifully,  I might add. LOVE IT. Let's see what else? Ah yes, I used clear elastic at the shoulders and the waist for stability. I did cut the bodice two inches shorter to have it hit at the right place with the weight of the full skirt. I just did a rolled hem on the serger because this is a knit and well, I was feeling lazy. Wanted to WEAR IT NOW!

This is the "Would you please do something about your dog barking all fucking day" face. Seriously people, if you are going to have a pet, don't neglect them!!

I want like, a closet full of these! I'm wearing it around the house right now and I can be active and do things in it without worrying. If I'm cooking there are aprons for a reason!  I also know that y'all are going to ask me about a tutorial, I've already mentioned to Amanda (Of Kitschy Coo) that I'm game. The kids are away with their Grandma this week going road tripping, so its been quiet and I've been concentrating on the six things already cut out. Yes, SIX. Crazy, I know. I have another hand full of things I've not yet blogged and need to share!  I've started working out again now that my pain management doctor has agreed that it will take more pain meds in the short term but be beneficial in the long term. I'm pretty determined to make that uphill journey for a second time (the first was before Mom went into hospice).

So tell me, have you ever hacked a pattern until is was barely recognizable from the original? Did you like it afterward?

Stay tuned, later this week I have photos for Oonapalooza!

Are You Ready for Some OONAPALOOZA!?

Twitter and myself have struck again. Gillian of Crafting a Rainbow and caretaker of our Sewcialist blog footed the question "What should our next color theme be?" and when there was some back and forth I tweeted:

What about #OONAPALOOZA?

And everyone, including the Diva Herself said HECK YEAH OONAPALOOZA!!  So this month of July up to August 1rst, Oona is your inspiration. Post your makes in the Sewcialists Flickr Group. Challenge yourself to sew with bright colors and wild prints, make it in something that you've always wanted to try but were afraid of what people might think. And if you find yourself dizzy from the choices, do what Oona does and grab a cocktail and tackle that apprehension with boozy glee.

 If you don't know who Oona is, then you are missing out! Head over to her blog here and lurk her closet here. Here are a few of my favorites.

That's a BHL Victoria Blazer with the most awesome of maxi dresses.

Feather skirt. NEED I SAY MORE?

I've got a few ideas brewing in my head, please tell me yours!

New Toys and Past Lessons Remembered

I bought a new sewing machine!  Or rather, I financed a new sewing machine. I'm excited either way because I looked at my numbers before taking the plunge. This ain't my first rodeo going down this road, you see.

Let me back up a second though and give you some photos. I finally decided to go with this one after pondering it for some time because of Caroline's one year review. Its a Janome 8900 that I bought from Ashby Sewing during their annual Sewing Expo sale. If you live in the Atlanta area I HIGHLY recommend them, especially for getting your machines serviced. The guy that does the work is recognized nationally for his expertise.

At this time I don't have a special table that the machine sets into, this is one that husband and brother in law built for me. Its very sturdy, just like this machine. Full speed and everything in the sun room vibrates, but you can barely hear it, which means I can sew when my husband works from home. SCORE! I decided to not install the knee lever because I'm more likely to injure myself on it than find it useful. For whatever reason my hips are always larger than I think they are, come to think of it so are my bewbs. I run both into door frames ALL THE TIME.

Stop laughing.

So as you can see this thing is huge. Lots of stitches, lots of carriage space, and I even got the extra spool holder for my larger thread spools.

One of my more favorite features, slots for the most used feet! The tension is automatic but has an override button and there's a walking foot in the storage container at the bottom (not pictured) along with bobbin storage and even more feet. When I was checking out they asked if I needed more bobbins.

"How many are in a package" I asked.
"Ten" she said.
"I'll need two then" I said
"What in the world are you sewing!!" she exclaimed.

Apparently quilters don't switch bobbins out that often. I know I need a black, red, and blue wound at all times, and really several other colors. Or two of one color if I'm working on something with lots of stitching. I don't know about you but I hate stopping to wind a bobbin, so lots of bobbins it is! Oh, and it takes standard needles so I didn't have to rush out to buy more. In any case, I love this machine to bits.

But lets go back to about this not being my first rodeo when it comes to financing. We bought our house back in 2002 before the prices skyrocketed but the regulations for financing had begun to loosen up. This was also before the bottom dropped out of the tech industry when outsourcing became the norm. I had done a lot of research and when we chose the house we chose one that we could pay on one salary, despite it being a tiny house. This turned out to be a decision that saved our asses. Even so, what happened to many in 2008 happened to us in 2004. One or both of us were out of a job at any given time for several years.  During that time I was staring down the long road of possible foreclosure and lots and lots of credit debt. We did the credit consolidation, we liquidated all our retirement funds (what little there was), we had to turn to friends and family. This was a time of hardship for us but we made it through. A decade later we both have steady jobs (queue superstitious knocking on wood) and our credit has been repaired. We have, on several occasions, used the X number of months no interest financing. These are great deals, and how I financed my new sewing machine. THE TRICK, however, is to be absolutely certain you are never late on your payment, because then they charge you an obscene amount of interest. And the laws being what they are, they will then share that information with all the other credit companies and they will jack your interest based on that one card. And if you overpay it goes toward principle, not the next month's payment.

Its a racket.  Its a racket I would not gamble with unless very certain I could do the monthly payment on time. When I financed this through Ashby they made sure to tell me this all up front before I sign the documents, which I thought was amazing. Most places don't, but I already knew because, well.. been there, done that.

I know that was long winded and maybe a bit off topic but I believe in sharing knowledge, be it how to do an FBA or how to keep from getting scheistered by credit companies. Got any nuggets of wisdom to share?

10,000 Hours

Another pair of Simplicity pants and a modded Lady Skater t-shirt.

I've had this thought in my head for some time now, the idea of becoming a master at something by spending thousands of hours doing it. Ten thousand hours, give or take a few. It was an amalgam of different thought threads, one was of a conversation I had with a dear friend about how, as we approach our fourth decade of life, things keep getting easier. Like, we really have a handle on it. Things like cooking or driving, writing, reading, running a household, games, and our chosen professions.

And those thoughts led to a phrase I hear all the time. You might have heard it yourself "Gosh, I wish I could sew like you do, I'm just no good at it". And I always want to tell these people that I didn't start off being good at it, I worked my way toward it. In fact, I'm still learning more as I go. Lately, however, I've found myself coasting just a bit by making more knit clothing than anything else. Granted I've hacked and slashed any number of patterns without much anxiety because hey, knits are very forgiving. But then I found myself putting off things I NEED because I didn't want to challenge myself anymore. So, I pushed myself by taking my serger in for badly needed repairs and facing the wedding sewing head on (which is not a complaint about sewing for a wedding).

I had forgotten how much I liked the challenge.It also made me realize just how much I have learned about fitting a garment to myself in the last year. The non-euclidean topography that is our bodies is making more sense to me. I think I even have started wrapping my brain around fitting trousers. And here's the funny thing, its not all from doing, a lot of it is from actively working the problems in my head. I suspect I am not the only one that uses idle brain capacity for solving the complex geometry problems that making a garment can create. In fact, I think it is a trait found in most creative people that gets applied to computer programming, science, math, engineering, and domesticity.

Which leads me back to the hours I've spent in my head thinking of creating. For a while now it feels like there was some sort of block between ideas and action upon those ideas. I want these things to materialize out of thin air but it doesn't work that way. Finding a way to make myself visit challenges head on and start DOING again has felt like a huge hurdle. I'd like to say that kids, husband, job are keeping me from doing it, but really its my own anxiety of feeling like I'm shirking everything else.

Which is totally crap because when I create I feel better. That's the whole reason my tagline is "Sewing to Stay Sane". I really should learn to take my own advise. I'm halfway to 10k, I just gotta keep going, learn to take the time for myself.

Because if Mama ain't happy, Ain't nobody happy.

Fancy School Pants

So my children have hit that time in their life when they're likely to grow an inch in a month or two, then not grow for for months, then SPROING! Up they go again. This means that, not only are they eating me out of house and home, all their pants are too short.  I've been wanting to make jeans for a while but still feel intimidated, mostly because of the thickness of denim and top stitching. I decided I would start with something a bit easier, such as a pair of side zipped pants with cuffs. What I didn't do is re-measure Felicity because I thought 6 weeks couldn't be THAT much of a difference. I was wrong.

The pattern in question is an OOP Simplicity 4518 (side note, these are easy to find second hand)

Just about everything in this envelope has Felicity's name on it. She really like the pants, which I made from some remnant cotton/rayon blend suiting. Problem was I didn't give myself extra seam allowance for the hips and waist, because she's inherited my build. We vikings have ample muscle mass and lots of booty. I ended up having to take the center front and center back seems how and was unable to flat fell the crotch seam. This turned out to be its demise.

But let me go back a bit first. I should probably add that I somehow forgot to sew when making these. They were doomed to begin with. WORST waistband and zipper insertion I've ever done. It took me no less than three tries, and due to needing to take out the seams I had to do some weird darning stitches  to add to the SA. It looked horrible.

Bad zipper, no cookie.

See, it sucks. But I had to finish these things out of sheer stubbornness.

Fancy School Pants  (and my Green December UFO)

I also finished at the beginning of my bout of the flu, which for means a week of sick and two days of fibromyalgia flare up. Poop. BUT, she loved them and put them on before going over to her Grandmother's for a few days. I told her not to get them dirty. Not that that would do much good, because this is how they came back to me.

Ripped seat and Georgia red clay stains

Yup. Not only not enough booty room, but she was playing outdoors in the mud with her cousins. And if you didn't know, we don't have dirt, we have clay. RED CLAY. That shit doesn't come out of anything. Because what you see is basically no seam allowance left, I had to throw these in file thirteen. Fudge.

However, the punchline to all this is we now have a new thing in my house. Because what I said was "What did I tell you about playing outside in your fancy school pants in the first place!!". This made both my children start doing a sing song and a dance.

FANCY SCHOOOL PANTS, FANCY SCHOOL PANTS!! *kermit flail with butt wiggle*

*sighs*

She now wants a pair out of stretch satin leopard print.

Rules, Sew-a-Longs, and Pledges

Hello all you lovely people in the Sewcialist Land, I've had this thing on my mind lately. Its a thing about sew-a-longs, themes, and pledges that have proliferated of late. I mean, I'm totally happy that they do, and I'm fully aware that I'm an enabler and instigator.But for myself personally I feel like I can't keep up with the pace of sew-a-longs, et al. I'm totally a rules breaker and usually a non-conformist. Which is a polite way of saying I'm contrary. Sorry, not contrite at all.

To be honest, I love making plans but rarely follow them. Its kind of like that saying "Life is what happens while your busy making other plans", except I do it to myself.

SQUIRREL!

What was I saying? Oh right, inability to keep up with the pace. You know, I figure I'm probably not the only person that feels that way, and I thought I would share. Because seriously, don't let yourself be distracted. Or go along with things as you like, its all good.

And something else, too. I discovered I sew the way I think. To use crankysysadmin terminology, I've got a quad core brain and its multi-threading processes (projects) all the time. I like to cut a lot of things out at once, then sew them up as I like. I'm not very "one project at a time". Sometimes a process gets stuck and I have to reboot, or sometimes the file gets corrupted and we got to scrap it and re-install. And sometimes I just need to power down and chill out.

Can you believe its taking me over a week to write this much? I've been overcome with a great amount of lethargy and I'm going to blame it on the weather. In the 22 years of living in Atlanta I have NEVER experienced such a cold, wet, and miserable winter. Ok, its not totally miserable, there was some beautiful moments. But the problem with climate change is we don't know what to expect anymore, ya know, other than volatility. But any way, its been a major contributor to my lethargy. There's promise of high 60's low 70's next week, and that's good.

Also I can finally share another bit of great news because its official. We are going on an 8 day Caribbean cruise with our dear friend Dreama and her family, which includes me being her Matron of Honor. I have to make something to wear for that and will do double duty as a dress for the formal dinners. Along with some sun dresses and other cruising attire. This will be happening in May and the kids are beside themselves with anticipation.

And last but not least, February is BLUE! I will say I love the color themed months the best because it leaves style and pattern up to the person.

Stash Busting and TNT's (Tried and Trues)

I have spent the first two weeks of 2014 contemplating my very large stash of fabric. I can't even remember how I acquired all of it, well mostly I can. Its called working graveyard shift and being the first to receive sales flyers in my inbox. For the record, buying fabric does not replace talk therapy and anti-depressants, just so you know.

Though, I can't deny the tactile pleasures that come with a new box of fabrics. I'm sure if I did some digging there's be research on a small endorphin rush that temporarily satisfies the mind and body. But I'm totally feeling lazy so lets just pretend I might know what I'm talking about, k? 

But what I wanted to talk about is actually sewing up all this fabric using Tried and True patterns (TNT - patterns that have already been fitted and can be made up again and again. The Hawthorn being one of my example). It was after reading Cation Design's post about continuing the stash busting into 2014 that I sat down and made a list of all the patterns I've done the work for and will probably make again. I was kind of surprised at the list. Here they are in no particular order.

Current TNT Patterns:

Simplicity 2369 Wrap Dress

Lady Skater (and a million variations)

Penny Pinafore

Colette Hawthorn

Vogue 8747 Princess Seam Blouse

New Look 6564 cropped jacket/bolero

Vogue 8701 raglan sleeve dress 

Vogue 8679 raglan sleeve knit sheath dress and a-line skirt

Colette Clovers

Cake Patterns Hummingbird Skirt

Gertie's Pencil Skirt from the book

Sewaholic Renfrew

Sewaholic Tofinos

Wow, that's actually a lot now that I think about it. I mean, that's what I thought to myself after writing it all down. But I also decided there were several gaps to fill in and made another list of patterns I WANT to become TNT's. 

TNT's To Be:

Colette Beinget

Colette Jasmine

Colette Laurel

By Hand London's Victoria Blazer

Sugar Plum by Lolita Patterns

Jalie Jeans

Sewaholic Cambie

Sewaholic Thurlows

Butterick 5859

Simplicity 1882

Vogue 8766

Which, looking at it on screen instead of my Sewisit's Notebook (Thank you Dad!) its seems like a way bigger list to tackle. I think I'm going to focus on separate for a bit. Those being Jasmine and Thurlows first. 

And here's the thing, the majority of my stash was bought with one of the above patterns in mind already, with several one off statement pieces on the back burner. Some of them have been on this back burner for years, waiting for me to level up my skills, I may not have been prolific but I certainly had a lot of DING! moments (gamer humor, i can never escape it).

I, ladykatza, in an effort to be frugal with my purchases pledge to sew with stash fabrics at least 85% of the time. I shall continue to expand my TNT pattern selection as well as use existing ones thoughtfully to make a more cohesive and functional wardrobe. 

I also want to get back to writing process posts on my works in progress so as to help other sewists along in their journey to a self-made custom wardrobe that will make them happy.  Oh, and be better about replying to comments. I LOVE COMMENTS. Seriously, I read all of them. I want to get better at keeping up with other sewcialists as well.

So, what patterns do you have that you want to make into TNT's or are already TNT's. I'd love to hear your thoughts. Take care and have a wonderful day!

2013 - A Review

I've been meaning to write a year-end post for weeks now but I never had both time and energy at the same time. And since I tend to be contrary I'm only going to kinda follow the format for this. There's been a lot of things on my mind, things I haven't quite figured out how to share. I lost my stride in blogging this year because I found I didn't have the energy for the type of photography I felt I needed to keep up, which made Carolyn of "Diary of a Sewing Fanatic" post so very timely. Most of the time all I have of my makes are selfies on instagram. Speaking of, she follows me on Instagram and I'm always psyched when she comments. I love her corporate style of sewing, I tend to lean that way too but I have more artistic leeway being in the IT world. So put her on my Inspiration list.

Another of my early inspirations rose from the ashes like a phoenix and gave us this post. I can't tell you how much I've missed Miss Snug Bug and her ingenious writing. Even now while she goes through one of life's tougher lemons. This gives me one more person to visit in Nashville which I hope to do this year.

And there are so many more that have become special to me. Oona and Tanit-Isis have been there since the beginning cheering me on. The last year I started Twitter and Instagram and the sewcialists were born and through that endeavor I now have Leila, Katie, Gillian, Heather B, and Joost, just to name a few. Much like the friends I made years ago through the Neil Gaiman fans I found another wonderful little corner of the Internet that is full of beautiful people in thoughts and actions.

Speaking of tough lemons (I know, bad segue here, just go with my stream of thought, k?), 2013 was all about getting myself back together. I know I did a video blog about chronic pain and depression and your response was so unexpected and supportive. These things are slowly getting better and more manageable,
setting hard boundaries of what I can and cannot do and expectations has helped a lot. I've had to learn to say no even when its someone I love to bits. I've lost friends, reconnected with lost ones, and made new ones, and have the sort of steadfast understanding relationships that weather all storms. I'm watching in amazement as my children grow into adults, I cringe as they make mistakes, I get angry, I laugh, I cry, I sigh in exasperation, but most of all I just love them.

And my husband, who is always there, I love you.

When it comes to sewing this year I didn't have a very high output but just about everything I made and loved was something that was a challenge. I made a button down blouse, a cropped jacket, a shirt waist, plackets, hacked patterns into something I want, and a coat!  And lots of other quick projects that I never got around to officially blogging, so for the interlude of this post I will deluge you with selfies.

Wow, that was a lot. 12 months worth of photos, and not all of them the most flattering. I can see where I started to lose weight when I had to take gluten out of my diet and then gain it back after a series of steroid injections into my spine, that was kind of a blow to my confidence. But, its still forward. I started walking again, and yoga and my basic core strengthening exercises. The key is to not give up.

And you can see the evolution of my hair color.

In this coming year I want to sew more from my stash. I want to make jeans, a trench coat, twin set suit, a ball gown, and a pants suit (lightly tailored). I'm sure there will be easy projects in between, and of course, sewing for the kids.

I also want to work on more resources for the sewcialists.org website. And meet some in real life. I have a cruise in May for a close friend's wedding. We're all looking forward to it.

And I'm looking forward to getting to know you better and I have so many thoughts and ideas to share with you. Life is rarely predictable or easy but at least its never boring. All of time and space is just behind this door, who wants to come along for the ride?