Little by little

Well, Friday night turned out to be not at all what I had expected.  DH pulled a muscle in his back at the gym, so I offered to make him a rice-filled heating pad.  Then I ended up dipping about five dozen potato candy balls in chocolate and prepping an apple pie for our church's holiday fair, which was held today.  I thought I might squeeze in a bit more sewing after I got home from my morning shift at the fair's bake table, but DD asked for a heating pad for *herself* and, since she was such a big helper at the fair, I acquiesced. She went bike riding with her daddy after lunch, and while they were gone, I took a nap.  So much for my Friday Night Sew In.

Year end review (just for laughs)

OK, time to review all my (cough, cough) lofty sewing goals for the year and see what (if anything) I actually accomplished.  Here they are:

•  Organize my sewing space - and keep it that way!

I reconfigured my bedroom storage closet so I have a lot more shelving, and that helps.  But my sewing table is a continual struggle to keep neat and tidy.

• Sew every day, even if it's only for a few minutes

Nope.  But I look at my sewing stuff every day...

• Make muslins more often

I'm definitely doing this, with mixed results.  I expect that now that I have slopers that fit me, I'll have a lot more success in the future.

• Finish at least one garment per month 

How about every other month?

• Finish my daughter's Halloween costume by mid-October

This one doesn't count, because I couldn't get her to decide what she wanted to be until we were on vacation to Seattle in late October.  She went as a bunny rabbit, wearing a costume made from a large bath sheet with a bunny hood on it (gift from her great Aunt Sally, not sewn by me).

• Spend less time READING/BLOGGING about sewing/knitting, and more time sewing/knitting 

Um....yeah...about that one...

• Figure out some way to make money sewing, or teaching sewing - and DO IT!

I *did* this - I've talked with the director of my daughter's school, and if I can get my stuff together, I may be teaching some afterschool kids' classes, or even some evening classes for adults in 2011.

• Sew more clothes for my daughter 

I'm definitely sewing more for her, probably 2/3 of my finished items were for her.

• Stop buying mass-produced crap clothing (including thrift store stuff that doesn't fit well); buy local/handmade products whenever possible 

I'm still shopping at Goodwill, but for things I can refashion.  Mostly for my daughter, though.

• Make myself a great fitting:
• woven blouse
• winter coat
• pair of jeans
• bra

The blouse and coat are now within striking distance.  The jeans and bra will have to wait until 2011, I think.

• Work on improving my skills and learn how to:
• insert an invisible zipper
• sew on Slinky knit so it doesn't look like crap
• use some of the tools/notions I haven't used much (or at all)
• make great buttonholes 

I've given up on the Slinky knit sewing, mostly because I don't really love the fabric.  But I've practiced quite a few zippers and buttonholes this year, and I think I have greatly improved my skill in those areas.

Though it wasn't on my list, my big achievement was taking the moulage workshop with Kenneth King this year.  I am really looking forward to working with my slopers to create the best fitting clothes I've ever made. (Stay tuned for my 2011 sewing goals...)

"Express Checkout" Experiment

I'm going to take a shot at Duchesse's "Express Checkout" experiment beginning this Saturday.  Basically, I'm going to see if I can limit myself to 12 items of clothing for an entire month.  (There is no limit on accessories, such as scarves, shoes, jewelry, etc.)  Since I will be traveling a good chunk of the time the experiment is running, I'm starting with my travel wardrobe and adding a few items. 

My 12 items include:

Pants:
1. Black DKNY Soho jeans 
2. Indigo Slouch brand linen/cotton jeans  Michael Kors indigo jeans (The Slouch jeans split down the front four hours after I posted this!  Seriously, I just heard/felt a little rrrrrip! and looked down to see a two-inch tear a couple inches beside the button fly.  WTF? I really liked these $4.49 Goodwill jeans, too...)
3. Brown rayon/poly/lycra blend pants (I reserve the option to swap these out for another pair of pants if I finish them before Nov. 14.

Tops:
4. Long sleeve cotton t-shirt
5. Black tank top
6. Nylon mesh print long sleeve top
7. Brown/gray print 3/4 sleeve top (which is not yet finished!!!!)
8. Pucci print top


Sweaters:
9. Brown rayon cardiwrap
10. Green fleece pullover
11. Royal blue fleece jacket

Dresses:
12. Sleeveless brown & off-white Lily dress

I'm not going to count outerwear in my 12 items as Duchesse is; if I did, there would be 14 items (a plum wool car coat from LL Bean and a North Face rain jacket).  I may not even take all of it on my trip (11 days), since I will have access to a washer and dryer most of the time we are away. It will be interesting to me to see if/how the same 12 items work in the Pacific Northwest and northern New England at this time of year.


My plan is to take pictures each day (I'll probably post a bunch when I get back, so you'll have to wait until the end of this month to see them). I don't think limiting my wardrobe this way is going to be particularly difficult, since I am one of those people who wears 20% of their wardrobe 80% (or probably closer to 90%) of the time.

But wish me luck, anyway!

Spring 2011 RTW Trends

Inspiration for Spring/Summer 2011 sewing from the recent Fashion Week shows:

• Wide leg trousers - I'm lucky, my short-waisted H-shape body can wear many different pant leg widths, as long as the waistline is lowered, or combined with a blouse-y tucked in shirt or (better) a longer top.

Spring 2011 Ready-to-Wear
Elie Tahari

Spring 2011 Ready-to-Wear
Elie Tahari



Bright colors with whites and khakis, as well as white + neutrals (see above) are big for S/S 2011.

Spring 2011 Ready-to-Wear
Oscar de la Renta - Runway

Spring 2011 Ready-to-Wear
Jonathan Saunders - Runway

Full skirts/longer lengths - for me, "full skirt" translates to fullness *below* the hip; again, dropped waist styles and no gathers/pleats/fullness at the waist.

Neutrals - grays, taupes, beiges, khakis, etc.

Spring 2011 Ready-to-Wear
Elie Tahari - Runway

 

Bermuda length shorts

 

Crochet/macrame/lace/eyelet fabrics

Spring 2011 Ready-to-Wear
Luisa Beccaria - Runway

 

Updated shirtdress

White - dresses w/ khaki/brown jacket/vest over, or head-to-toe white.

Dolman sleeves - not overly exagerrated, combined with v-neckline and/or empire waist.  This Ports 1961 look is a little too boxy for me, but I could see this with a bit more waist shaping over wide-leg pants.

Statement necklace - back again this season, great for busty H-shapes like me.

Drapey vests and sheer fabrics in layers

Spring 2011 Ready-to-Wear
Charlotte Ronson - Runway

Updated trench

Florals

Spring 2011 Ready-to-Wear
Barbara Tfank - Runway

Spring 2011 Ready-to-Wear
Barbara Tfank - Runway

Other trends I like:

• Mint, sage, and leaf greens are making more of a mark than usual.
• Chunky summer sweaters over those long, flowy sheer skirts.
• Platform shoes were everywhere

 All I need to do now is figure out which one to make first!

GAP-inspired shirtdress (AKA M5847)

I came across a piece of sandy-khaki colored fabric while sorting out YABFF (Yet Another Box Full o' Fabric) in the basement yesterday.  It's sort of a brushed cotton-y, rather drape-y piece, about 3 yds of 60" which I am thinking about using to make my own version of the GAP khaki shirtdress, seeing how military-inspired clothing is hot for Spring 2010:

What I like about this dress:

• Drawstring tie belt at waist
• Buttons/tabs at shoulders and hem
• 3/4 length sleeves
• Shirttail hem

What I want to change:

• Patch pockets over my boobs (not sure exactly how I'll change these); may add/substitute gunflaps at shoulder instead
• Princess seaming (a la M5847) with pockets in the princess seams, rather than the side seams
• Maybe add back yoke detail
• The rolled up sleeves...not a fan

I'll need to draft the pattern for it from my Unique Boutique dress pattern, though, as the M5847 I have in my stash has sizes 14-22, and I need a 10 or 12.  This will be an interesting experiment, morphing the two patterns together and then adding all the details.  I have an old Burda WOF with several dress/shirt designs incorporating tabs/epaulettes, so I'll probably lift a few of them from there.

What I'm loving...

This dress:

Milly Cascade Sheath Dress: Chestnut. Asymmetric V neckline. Sleeveless. Cascading ruffle down front side. Front slit detail at hem. Asymmetric V'd back. Polyester/viscose/wool/elastane. Made in Italy of domestic material.  Original price: $360. (Neiman Marcus, Bloomie's, etc.)  I really like the way it is styled in the second photo - it looks like it would make a great transitional garment for summer/fall & winter/spring.)

I have a piece of fairly drape-y light brown poly/rayon plaid (no lycra/elastane, though) I bought at Fabric Place in Framingham, MA that I'm planning to use.  I'm not sure about the full-length ruffle, though - on the one hand, it creates a slimming vertical line (good) but adds bulk over one side of my already-bulky boobs (not so good).  I'm thinking of just having the ruffle go from my waist to the hemline instead, sort of like the Anthropologie-inspired skirt, but in a sheath dress version. 

I'm going to use my Unique Patterns dress pattern (9023U0) as a starting point, changing the center front from two pieces (with a waistline seam) to one, rotating the bust dart into a princess seamline, putting in a side seam (invisible!) zipper, and, of course, changing the front and back necklines and adding the flounce cascade. I should probably line it, too, so I could wear it over a brown turtleneck top as a jumper.

Easy-peasey, right?  I'm going to work on drafting the pattern tomorrow, cut out a muslin Thursday and sew that up on Friday afternoon.  With any luck, I can get started on cutting out the real fabric early next week.

WAS: Curses! Foiled again! NOW: Well, that resolution didn't last long, did it?

I almost bought fabric tonight.  My swatches from Emma One Sock arrived while we were away last week, and I decided to purchase this floral cotton voile (which had the perfect shades of gray and tobacco to go with two pairs of pants I have almost NOTHING to wear with):

only to find out that it was SOLD OUT.  Arghhhhh!!!  My only hope is that someone bought some, doesn't like it, and returns it.

Edited to add:

Guess what?  I sent an email to Linda at EOS, and it turns out there were two 2.25 roll end pieces left after all!  So I bought it, but I found a bunch of other things I want to get swatches of first, before she ships it. 

(BTW, the colors in the swatch above are not very accurate, at least on my monitor.  The "rosey pink" flowers are a deep pink, close to fuschia, and the whole thing looks much more blue than it is IRL.)

January 1 - Organize!

I want need to get my sewing and craft space(s) organized and inventoried.

The impetus for this (aside from the fact that I'm months overdue for it) is that we are nearly finished remodeling our basement, adding about 500 square feet of comfortable, attractive living space to our 1200 sq. ft. home. Included in the new space is a nook approximately 8' wide and 6' deep, where my IKEA craft table will go. This table consists of an 8' counter atop a 5' VÄRDE freestanding kitchen unit and a couple of table legs, forming a desk of sorts on one end. It's where I have done my polymer clay art in the past, and it will probably continue to serve that purpose, as well as be the place where I hang out with my daughter once we start homeschooling (more or less officially) in the fall.

In addition to the basement workspace, I have a sewing table (it's actually my husband's grandfather's cherry exam table from his Boston medical office) in our master bedroom. DH put up several long shelves on one wall of the room for me to store my sewing projects and supplies, and the smaller bedroom closet is filled to almost overflowing with fabric and notions in Rubbermaid and other containers. He has no problem with my having sewing stuff in the bedroom - what a guy! - as long as it's reasonably well contained. (His actual quote: "Just leave me a clear path from the door so I can get to my side of the bed..."). Problem is, I have more fabric and yarn than I can store in the closet up there, so I'm trying to decide if I should store ALL of it in one location (probably the basement), or split it up between the bedroom and basement.

Besides my fabric and yarn, I have about 100 patterns (I know, because I put them all in my pattern library on PR), and numerous UFOs and thrifted-garments-to-be-recycled-some-day. I think I need to let go of quite a lot of stuff that I'm no longer feeling any love for. (Corollary Resolution #1: No more fabric/yarn/pattern buying in 2010 unless it's something I need to finish a project. Or something really, really cool.)

I would like to keep my stash(es) organized online. I already have most of my yarn stash on Ravelry.com, and I'm thinking about using Google Docs for the fabric. If I'm feeling REALLY inspired, I may complete my wardrobe inventory (as outlined by The Very Small Closet's Jennifer Skinner) on Google Docs as well.

I'd also like my ongoing projects to be more organized as well. I plan to do that by staying on top of my pattern reviews on PR and Ravelry, and utilizing resources such as Style.com and Polyvore.com for lookbooks and ideas. (And, of course, keeping you all updated with my progress right here on my blog.) When choosing sewing projects for myself, I'm going to try to SWAP (Sewing With a Plan) to avoid ending up with "singletons" that don't coordinate with existing items in my wardrobe.

That's the plan, anyway.  We're supposed to be getting a foot or more of snow this weekend, so I should have plenty of time to work on organizing things in the bedroom, and will start in earnest on the basement next weekend.

Sewing goals for 2010

OK, I've been following the annual sewing goals posts on the Pattern Review website, and I've been stealing inspired by many of my fellow sewists' resolutions for 2010 to come up with my own insanely overreaching list:

• Organize my sewing space - and keep it that way!
• Sew every day, even if it's only for a few minutes
• Make muslins more often
• Finish at least one garment per month
• Finish my daughter's Halloween costume by mid-October
• Spend less time READING/BLOGGING about sewing/knitting, and more time sewing/knitting
• Figure out some way to make money sewing, or teaching sewing - and DO IT!
• Sew more clothes for my daughter
• Stop buying mass-produced crap clothing (including thrift store stuff that doesn't fit well); buy local/handmade products whenever possible
• Make myself a great fitting:
• woven blouse
• winter coat
• pair of jeans
• bra
• Work on improving my skills and learn how to:
• insert an invisible zipper
• sew on Slinky knit so it doesn't look like crap
• use some of the tools/notions I haven't used much (or at all)
• make great buttonholes

So - stay tuned in 2010 to see how it goes!

Third time's the...third time, I guess

Well, I haven't actually started cutting out a third muslin yet.  I'm hoping to work on this some more tomorrow afternoon (maybe I should make that this afternoon, as it's almost midnight here).  I think I'm going to go back to the original pattern and draft from that one, making the changes that I know are working (moving the shoulder seam back, raising the fisheye darts, petite-ing the upper bodice, lengthening the sleeve), and re-doing the ones I'm not so sure about (splitting the fisheye dart into two darts on each front piece rather than one huge one, scooping out the back armhole, not to mention the bust dart - not only does it need to be shortened, I think it still needs an FBA...arghh!). 

I do know that I am going back to a MUSLIN, rather than sacrificing any more fabric I might actually want to have as a shirt someday.  The busy print of the fabric I was using for attempt #2 made it really difficult to see what was fitting and what wasn't.

And I know I said I was going to post pictures.  I did take them, but haven't downloaded them to my computer yet.  Tomorrow.  I promise.