I've returned....Dress Update.

I had an awesome little "staycation" (vacation but didn't go anywhere) something I have really been needing. The past few weeks at work I have been pretty unproductive and just generally over it. My day job is high stress and high pressure and I was burned out big time from working so much, I work as the Production Manager for an Industrial Engineering and Manufacturing company. I took the Friday after Thanksgiving off and I took yesterday off and it was glorious, GLORIOUS!

Instead of dragging my butt out of bed at 6:30 to get into work at 7:15 I stayed in bed until 9:30. I started my day by practicing the Christmas music I need to learn and then after a couple hours of that I started on my sewing. I got so much done and am jealous of people who make their living creatively, oh you lucky people!

I think my creative apathy and dissatisfaction was directly linked to my being generally burnt out and run down by too much work and not enough creative expression. I woke up this morning ready to go to work and kick ass at it and I am feeling very creatively satisfied.  

I did not work non stop on my "Fall Silk Dress" but I did get a lot done and I am happy with it so far. This pattern is super easy and has instructions on how to alter it for different body shapes and types. Once I got the fabric cut out it was a breeze. I underlined it so I had to cut out two dresses and then sew them together but it gives the silk a lot of stability and will make it warmer I think. I used a cotton by George Kauffman called Savannah, it's has a very nice feel and is light weight.

It was super simple to put together since there are only 4 major seams and 6 darts (Bust and Front & Back Waist). I basted it together at the sides, tried it one and was unhappy with the fit so I deepened the side seams at the waist and was very happy with the result of this. Because the side seams are so deep at the waist compared to the bust and hip area I had to clip the curves drastically to get it to lie flat and to stop pulling, especially on the zipper side. I used strips of fusible stabilizer for the zipper...I am getting pretty good at invisible zippers. I got this one on the first go.

Clip, Clip, Clip....

I am finishing the seams Hong Kong style. I  used this fusible bias tape by Clover at the curve clips to make the little triangles. This has been extremely time consuming but I like how it looks. I am going to slipstitch the finished seams to the interlining to complete the whole thing.

I have not mounted the sleeves yet. I had this brilliant idea to finish the seams, that the sleeves would intersect, before setting the sleeve in since it such a pain when the sleeve is on to try and finish under the arms and at the shoulders. I hope to achieve a more polished look this way....I was only going to do some of the seams but I got on a roll and just kept going. I kind of like doing it this way, all I'll need to do once the sleeves are on is hem it up and it will be done! But I'm not there yet...anyway so that's about all on my progress so far. I hope to finish it by the end of this coming weekend so I can wear it. I also sort of want to make another one it has been so easy and fun.

Voila!

 Cheers!

Amelia 

Musings and a Quickie Dress Update

I just have to get through this last day at the office and then I am on a mini break from work, 5 whole days of work free time! I plan on getting creative with it, for sure...after I eat too much.

Last evening, after I finally cut out my Quickie Dress (I'm already 3 days behind schedule not so quickie, ehh?), while catching up on the 4th season of Mad Men and cursing Betty Drapers' hellish attitude, I had fun taking stock of some of the vintage things I have acquired as of late, well some of the things I've had for awhile but I had squirreled them away so it was a reintroduction....and I thought I might share them....after this update.

Quickie Dress, Quickie Dress why did I name you this? It's like I cursed you, it has taken me way to long to cut this thing out, there are 4 pattern pieces for goodness sakes! I think I need to settle on an actual name....the fabric reminds me of puddles, Mr. SewlyaHarpist says ponds but I think I am just going to call it the "Fall Silk Dress"

100% Vintage Silk from Germany (ca. 1980s)

I was supposed to whip it up over the weekend if you recall but Saturday I was in Santa Barbara all day rehearsing with my ensemble. Sunday was spent tracing out the pattern, since I didn't want to cut out my size (I like how vintage patterns only come in one size instead of like 5 and have all the lines for each size overlapping each other and getting all confused). I also steamed the silk, using my new handy dandy Shark Steamer Sunday evening and before I knew it it was 10PM and I hadn't really begun, just prepped (I take forever to prep).

Press & Refresh

I had to work pretty late on Monday so I was only able to cut out the front that night but last night I got home at 5 (awesome!) and I was able to finish cutting out the back, sleeves & neck binding.

If this fabric was anything but silk or was silk and did not have diagonal lines to attempt to match I think it would have taken me a lot less time...I love working with silk but I hate it. I guess I should say I love the results but laying it out and cutting it out is a chore I don't relish, it just doesn't want to stay in place. I was getting pissed last night since I was trying to match the diagonal lines and stay on grain and it kept sliding around, fortunately I had a little over three yards to work with. I am really liking this fabric more and more, Mr. SAH advised against buying it, on Etsy, but I went ahead because I thought it was so interesting visually and I liked that it came from Germany!

 I'll have more updates after the Holiday on the progress of this dress. So these are my little odds & ends....

Zig Zag

Blind Stitch

I bought these at an Antique Mall in downtown Ventura, I saw the boxes from across the room and I made a mad dash over to them. The Zig Zagger & Blind Stitch attachments were $10.00  I bought them both got them home and was somewhat disappointed, you get what you pay for and maybe I shouldn't have bought them so impulsively and it's sort of my fault! So The Blind Stitch Hemmer is for a Singer 301 NOT a Featherweight, sad times since I was super excited about that and the Zig Zagger needs a clamp thing replaced or tightened because it keeps slipping and won't work properly. All is not totally lost I suppose, I can always try and resell the blind hemmer (I saw them going on eBay for between $50.00-$75.00!) and I work with engineers and fabricators and I am sure I can get that Zig Zagger up and running with some modifications.

Anybody?

Because one hideous clown costume isn't enough, you need to dress your child in one as well....talk about developing a complex. My mom sent me a bunch of vintage patterns she found, there were some good ones but like any lot of patterns there are always a couple duds....I don't want to throw these away but I don't want them either, anybody interested. I would totally send them to someone who will use them. 

Vintage Dritz Hem Marker

I found this hem marker in another vintage store in downtown Ventura and I bought it because I like vintage sewing ephemera and thought it was cool but it has just been collecting dust in shoved in a corner for a few months now. I don't need it but I don't want to get rid of it either, it still has its original vial of chalk dust! How cool is that? 

George Halley for Saks Fifth Ave. (ca. 1960s)

I have been thinking on this dress, I bought it on eBay awhile back because I think it is awesome but it is just a little too big. It should cling and fit snuggly so it looks sleek instead it looks like I'm wearing a sack. I want to take it in at the side seams but I am scared of messing it up. It is from the 1960s and is from George Halley's designer collection for Saks Fifth Avenue, it is in great condition and I want to wear it but I won't until it fits. I think I just need to suck it up and attempt it or I'll never wear it and what a waste of a cool vintage dress. 

So that's all I got just some ramblings for today. 

Cheers!

Amelia

The Online Sewing Communtiy & Blogoshpere....A Personal Observation

Over on one of the blogs I follow I read a post concerning "blogs." The author was discussing which blogs she chose to read and what type of criteria she found her self using as there are so many blogs out there. This got me thinking about my very small niche within the larger online sewing community and the blogoshpere as a whole.

I started blogging in May of this year and I started it mainly as an outlet for my creative pursuits.  I didn't know the first thing about sewing blogs or the online sewing community until I started one and as I began following blogs and reading what other people had to say my feelings toward blogging and my own blog began to evolve as the enormity of the online sewing community unfolded before me. Though this community is based online there are still very real societal constructs at play.

The social hierarchy and nuance being played out in this microcosm is fascinating. Everybody has a role and there seems to be a representative for every standard societal archetype, arguably stereotype....There are the "popular" lot, they even clique together at times, there are the "henchmen", those who hang at the periphery of the popular in an attempt to be recognized as popular as well, there are the "individuals", those who are "different" by choice and pride themselves on their "against the grain outlook" even though they are as plugged in as the popular since they continue to subscribe to the societal norms we have constructed as an online community and there is the mass multitude of nameless, faceless "operators." People who are part of the community, operating within it, but have either failed to distinguish themselves or are as yet unrecognized as part of a large subset. These people may be completely satisfied to observe from the fringe or maybe they are completely unsatisfied with this placement and so they scramble for recognition by the rest of the community.....and here I am.

I began viewing my blogging differently once I began to really pick up on this complex environment I stumbled upon. I no longer placed the value of my position in the community on my accomplishments in sewing or even music, the entire point of my blog mind you. I instead started basing my value within the community on my place in it or how I viewed my place in it. And I viewed my place in it as miniscule and insignificant having measured this by how many followers I had and how much traffic I generated and if anybody left me a comment. I wanted to be recognized and appreciated like some popularity obsessed teenager, so what did I do? I did what has been done countless times before since the beginning of time when attempting to obtain recognition within the dog eat dog world of "society." I networked, I advertised myself, I put myself out there. I held a giveaway, I posted on a couple of the well know online sewing-centric networking sites, I commented on a multitude of blogs (the "popular" ones particularly) and I checked my followers and "stats" constantly, fanatically. I felt like I had entered myself into a self sponsored rat race and there was no satisfaction to be had since the limits of success were unstructured and I could not stop expanding them...and having completely exhausted myself I decided I had to put a stop to this insanity.

Upon reflection I realize now that I felt compelled to act in this manner not because I am a fame hungry, recognition obsessed luney but due to a more complex and innate instict, something borne out of being a social creature by nature. I want the society and community I value and am operating in to accept me and want me as much as I want it. As humans we feel validated by the acceptance of our peers and the recognition of those we respect. It is also a survival mechanism, we want the pack to protect us and feel we are worth protecting. How awful to feel dispensable, useless and what an untenable situation to find yourself in. I believe these feelings and instincts are left over from our days living not at the top of the food chain and  our only protection came from the small community we lived in and our very survival depended on our being recognized as an indispensable part of it. So valued by the community that our lose would be detrimental to the society at large and worth protecting at all costs. For these very nuanced reasons I feel that at times I place too much value on my "status" within the online sewing community and I invest too much energy in elevating my standing within it. 

I have felt it necessary to reevaluate what is important to me and why I began my blog in the first place. The point of which was to document my creative journey for personal validation and as my own personal yardstick to measure the progress I make. I have had to consider what is actually valuable to me within this community so I don't lose sight of what I am attempting to accomplish, a community I feel very fortunate to be a part of even if only on the fringes. This community has a plethora of knowledge and experience to gain an education from, though I knew nothing of this before I started my journey it has truly become a valuable aspect of my online presence. Since my goal is to continue to learn new techniques and to apply them in the garments I make the fact that all this knowledge and experience is out there to be had, free for the taking, benefits me innumerably and I am truly grateful for it. My sewing has improved measurably due to the stuff I have been exposed to through this community. Isn't that what a community should be? A mutually beneficial construct where the members are able to freely exchange necessary commodities, in this case all types of sewing related information. The point of any community, at least in my opinion though I am by no means an expert, is to serve as an environment to nurture the members in some way not as a platform for vanity. Vanity being something I have all too often fallen victim.  Here in lies the basis of this whole post, my finding it necessary to shift back to the nurturing aspects found within this community and a retraction from it as a means to fanning the flames of my misplaced vanity.

The point of this blog, for me, is to document my growth and progress. If others find that interesting or inspiring and would like to follow me on that journey than I am truly grateful that I have been able to contribute even a small bit to the community. For my own sanity I am no longer going to measure my own self worth upon things which are completely out of my control, like whether or not people find my journey intriguing or worth following. I will continue to produce garments at my own slow & steady pace, continue to blog about it and I will cease measuring myself against the success of others. I will be satisfied with merely operating within the community so that I can continue to learn from it and not feel inadequate if I am not considered a taste maker or a tone setter by others since all I can control is my own taste & my own tone.

Jeez....that was an epic discourse, maybe diatribe if you are so inclined, but I guess that other post really got me thinking and I am grateful for it. 

Cheers!

Amelia 

Sewing Chores, Fabric Stash and a Quickie Dress Project.

My Stash of Fabric...Sexy, No?

 I am sort of in sewing limbo or maybe I am just feeling uninspired and not creative, the weather has gotten freezing for me and it gets so dark so early now I feel more like hibernating and less like creating, even my music has sort of suffered from  my creative apathy.

I feel very much like I am not producing anything and I haven't for some weeks. This is due in large part to the fact that I am starting a very big, complicated project The "Glad To Be Plaid" Sport Coat and the last week has been consumed by the dread sewing chores....cutting out the muslin and marking all the pieces, talk about un-stimulating!

I know that this project will be extremely time consuming, I also know that it will be sometime before I even begin constructing the actual garment and since I do not work on more than one project at a time (this is due to lack of actual space and an attempt to ensure that I complete the things I start)  I feel that I won't be producing anything to actually wear for some months. This knowledge in no way helps spur me out of my creative coma, in fact it sort of depresses me more.

So....I have all these beautiful fabrics in my stash and while musing upon my lack of creative motivation I thought maybe I should whip up a simple dress in a week or two before I really dig in my heels and start my sport coat. The benefits of this would be many....I could use up a beautiful fabric in my stash that I have had for awhile, a gorgeous Wool Challis that I bought on Gorgeous Fabrics, starting & finishing something in a relatively short time span would make me feel more productive and therefore more creative hopefully fueling my creative fire and I would have a pretty Fall appropriate dress that I could wear with stockings, boots, coat & scarf, Perfecto! My mind was made up and off I went to find the perfect pattern.

Wool Challis

I actually knew what pattern I wanted to use, a McCall's pattern that had a very simple, side zip dress (view D) and when it went on sale for $1.00 at Joann's I bought it and very excitedly whisked it home to begin my Fall dress....

McCall's #M6355

Of course there was a hitch...there is always a hitch. I lay it out to check to ensure there is enough yardage and of course there is not and it occurs to me the reason I have not used this fabric yet is because there is just never quire enough of it for anything I want to make; two yards but it isn't a terribly wide textile.

Ugh! I tried every which way to make it work using all manner of cutting layouts and the only way it will work is if I cut the sleeves off grain....I am not keen on doing this. It makes me afraid that it will turn out draping unattractively on the body plus if the fabric shrinks during the treating process I am screwed anyway. Let's just say my creative juices that had just started flowing again through the cobwebbed recesses of my heart came to a screeching halt!

I was sad for a couple reason...1) maybe I am never going to find a nice pattern to use this fabric for and it will languish unloved on my stash shelf for eternity and 2) I am back to square one with nothing before me except the yawning chasm of sewing chores that are the necessary starting place of such a daunting project like my sport coat...I hemmed and hawed for a few days about how the sewing gods were against me and my fall sewing season was going to produce very little and that all I had to look forward to for sometime were those hideously tedious sewing chores: fabric marking, fabric prep, muslin making, pattern altering, etc.

Then it struck me...I had just ordered 3yd of a really cool vintage silk off Etsy from a really nice lady in Germany and it would be perfect. I just received it a couple days ago and it is perfect! The seller stated that it is from the 80's and the selvages are marked 100% silk in English and in German.

100% "German" Silk

So...I am going to start this project very soon, hopefully by Sunday and hopefully it will only take a little bit of time. I plan to underline it for warmth, stability and modesty or maybe I could make it reversible? The directions do talk about how to do this...creative juices are now pulsing through my veins, yay! I forsee myself wearing it with tights, boots, a scarf and a coat!

I am feeling more inspired already and less oppressed by a list of chores a mountain high that has to be clambered over to reach the fun stuff.

Anyway, what's in your stash and do sewing chores ever kill you creative mojo? Where do you look for inspiration?

I'd love to hear from you.

Cheers!

Amelia

Fall/Thanksgiving 2011 Giveaway/Shareway Winner!

Thank you all for coming to my blog and entering a message to win the McCall's pattern that was up for grabs. It has been lovely seeing so many new faces, hearing about what fabric types you enjoy working with and what a treat it was to open my computer and find I had comments! Ahhh, the simple joys of life.

So without further ado the winner is...drum roll please.... comment # 2, Ewa!

Ewa said...

That really is a super cute dress! I must be a bit dull and admit to preferring cottons as well. I really wish I could say silk, because I absolutely adore the garments I've managed to finish using it, but silk is pure horror to work with... No, I love getting my hands on a very old vintage set of cotton sheets or something of that sort, when the cotton is all soft and a bit flowy, but still strong. It makes such beautiful dresses.

November 10, 2011 1:05 PM 

Ewa will be receiving a beautiful, original vintage 1963 McCall's pattern:

McCall's #7101, ca. 1963

I used the random number generator, at Random.org to get a number, because I am extremely inept with webpage design I can't figure out how to get my widget to show the result. I don't know maybe it will show up when I publish the post I have spent the last 30 minutes getting frustrated about it. If it doesn't show the result when I publish it then I will edit this post by pasting the copied text since I figured out how to save the "frame" onto my computer.

Again, thank you all for reading I truly value your interest in my little blog and this Giveaway/Shareaway was so much fun to host.

Cheers!

Amelia

True Random Number Generator Min: Max: Result: 2  

file:///C:/Users/Amelia/Pictures/SEWLY%20A%20HARPIST/iframe.php.htm

Jackets, Coats & Outwear....Oh My!

I just love outerwear, I love everything about it. I enjoy wearing it, I enjoy shopping for and buying it and I especially like making it! I think this natural attraction toward coats and jackets and other outerwear is that I am cold about 95% of the time. I am cold in my house, I am cold at work, I am cold ALL the time and I have always been this way. I am a cold blooded creature who is uncomfortable unless I am being blasted with hot air while wearing a down jacket.

Sewaholic #1103 (2011)

 I have just bought the Minoru Jacket Pattern from Sewaholic today, I just started my "Glad to be Plaid" Sport Coat on Monday and this past weekend I purchased some fabric, completely by accident, to make the awesome vintage coat pattern that I have. I say by accident because I was going to use that fabric to make a toile for the Sport Coat but when I got it home I realized that, one the fabric is far to heavy weight to work for my vision of the sport coat and is entirely different than the camel hair I will actually be using and two it is actually pretty nice and is perfect for a cozy winter coat....so I went back to Joann's and bought another yard and a half to make the coat. The fabric is a 60" wide wool, coating blend. It is the nicest fabric I have ever seen at Joann's and while it is a blend which I usually don't care for I really like it.
 
I must be absolutely mad, I have plans for a coat and a jacket already so how can I be preparing to add another jacket into the mix? Well I don't have anything in my wardrobe quite like it, and since I am reptilian and require large amounts of jackets, I need to fill this gaping hole. The jacket is a little more of a casual style and I plan to make it Spring appropriate by using a nice canvas, light in color fabric. The Spring is the hardest time for me to stay warm, the So. Cal beaches are still freezing but the clothes are all skimpy and not cold resistant. Tasia of Sewaholic will be hosting a Sew Along and I am eager to take part.....

My plan is to work on my "Glad to Be Plaid" Sport Coat for the next 6-8 weeks and then join in on the Sew Along which will begin in about January.

I have some serious work to do.....

Cheers!