Monday, June 21, 2010

Penguin in Pink.......maybe

Well for the fun of it (read work avoidance) I took this test. I find most of these types of test funny and hold little truth to the person. Interestingly enough though this test picked picked my favorite bird as being my match. Hum some interesting stuff there. And it certainly explains why my sloppy Copy 2 of m5977 is still laying in a bright pink heep on my sewing table. Time to get serious and get working instead of reading every blog know to man (work avoidance). So my current goal finish m5977 this week get it photoed and published.
Time to get back to work. I thought you might want to read about the Penguin.
Now you see it, now you don't. Aggressive yet gentle, outgoing but shy, stable yet flighty - everyone sees the penguin in a different way. It's that black and white thing: the penguin only reveals the side that it wants to you to see. So whether you like this darling-devil or not, you have to concede that it's a fascinating and enigmatic individual.




Penguins are birds condemned to live out their days on the ground. Unable to fly, their excess energy has no outlet save their creative talents and emotional outbursts. Penguins are poetic, artistic, and intellectually gifted, and as writers penguins have no equal.



But, if unable to channel their impulses in a positive way, the resulting turmoil proves damaging to their relationships and careers.



Penguins are deceptively intelligent and are particularly animated when intellectually challenged. They excel at word games and puzzles but are modest about their abilities and are generally underestimated by others.



With their misunderstood personality, penguins find writing an ideal tool for expressing their true feelings. They have a natural aptitude for languages and penguin personalities dominate the world of publishing as writers, editors, and journalists.



With a natural aptitude for languages, penguin personalities dominate the world of publishing as writers, editors and journalists. A strong sense of drama draws them to the theater and cinema, although unlike typical bird personalities they avoid the spotlight unless they're able to hide behind the characters they play. Once on stage however, they prove to be excellent performers with their multifaceted personalities conveying the full gamut of emotions.



However, a lack of confidence affects their work. Penguins tend to give up on tasks they were otherwise capable of and are often disappointed with their performance. Still, work never dominates their life and they always put their family first.


Happy sewing!!

Wednesday, June 16, 2010

I Page From My Journal (sewing related)

A few nights ago I was reading Ten Thousand Hours of Sewing blog spot. I was very interested in the theory that if you spend 10,000 hours truly learning and working hard at anything you will become a master at it. I decide I was up for the challenge at trying this with my sewing and seeing if I improve of sit quietly at a plateau. So Victoria thank you for laying out a great plan. I hope you don't mind I'm borrowing from your idea.

Tonight I find myself doing sewing related activities not sewing. Yeah it's because I finished sloppy copy 1 of M5977. I found myself revisiting the idea that the pleated bib is not the best look for my big 40F size boobs. ( Picture posted later.) What is a girl to do because I intend to get this pattern fitting correctly maybe san the bib. So sloppy copy #2 fabric and a few other floating pieces of fabric are in the washer and dryer and I’m pouring over books relooking at the issue at hand so what can a H or slightly O shaped person wear? Too often I feel my style and choices are so simple with no edge. The books out in front of me are. Fashion for Dummies, InStyle Secrets of Style, Nothing to Wear, Easy Guide to Sewing and The Vogue Sewing Book (1975 copyright) I have also visited a great website Inside Out Style.

So what do you think? Does a large busted H (rectangular) or O have the right to wear pleating on the bust.


Friday, May 21, 2010

Sewing and Books

For a long time I could not figure out how to combined my two passions. I'm in love with collecting good books just about as much as I enjoy playing with fabric and creating a new garment. I girl needs insperation. Why not take it from a book.

Several years ago I sold most of my sewing books. In the last 12 months I started to slowly rebuilding that collection. I'm going to try to review the books I most enjoy or use one at a time. You will also see me note the books I used as a reference when I sew.

First up is the Weekend Sewer's Guide to Pants and Skirts. I love this book. It was a wonderful trip down memory lane and was packed full of time saving ideas. The garments are dated but there are a few gems to grab on to and try. The invisable tummy slimmer is one of those great ideas that a home sewist can use. Totally takes the mystery out of all the RTW secret slimmers in pants. Any way her is my review of the book.

Book Index/Chapter headings
Introduction
GET READY...With a Perfect Fit for You, and Your Lifestyle
GET SET...With Some Creative Inspiration
GET READY...GET SET...SEW!
THE PANTS AND SKIRTS
About the designers
Acknowledgments
Glossary
Index

Paper Back or Hard Bound?
Hard Bound I have the 1998 edition
Does this book have clear illustrations or photographs?
Yes both. It’s a very nice trip down memory lane.

Would you recommend this book as a MUST HAVE?

It would depend. If you’re looking for a book with tons of update fitting and design ideas. This is not the book for you. If you’re looking for a book with ideas on how to plan your sewing, a little history about clothing, like where did blue jeans come from, and some older ideas that work today for example adding a tummy slimmer. Than this is a great book for you. Personally I read this book much like I would a novel. Had a lot of trips down memory lane and some real neat light bulb moments. Will be incorporating a few ideas into my own sewing.

Just about done with a white denim version on my TNT crop pant pattern Burda Plus Spring/Summer 2009-411. These crops are piece 3 in my intial 4 piece spring/summer collection in orange and white.

Up next might be McCall's M5977 view A in orange interlock. Will have to wait and see.

Happy sewing!!

Tuesday, April 27, 2010

First Outfit of Spring


Well here it is the first outfit of my spring sew season. I started these two peices to be part of Pattern Review Mini Wardrobe competiton. All though I did not complete the 4 pieces of the competiton I did get a good start on my spring summer wardrobe with these 2 pieces.
The first piece is Burda Plus Fashion 02-2010-410. This tunic hip length tunic can be made in a woven or in a knit. I chose to make mine in a stretch jersey knit with orange and teal dots on it from http://www.fabric.com/. I'm loving how carefree it is but I'm not liking the fact that it makes me look pregnant which I am not. you can read my review of the pattern here on PR. I used some new idea/techniques on this top that I learned from some books in my sewing library. The titles of the two books are The Stretch and Sew Guide to Sewing Knits by Ann Parson and Easy Guide to Sewing by Lynn MacIntyre and Marcy Tilton. I will most like make this top again in a solid color because I really would like to try to create a casing that would make the drawstring go completely around you body instead of resting on your back and gathering all in the front.
The second piece is Burda Style 03-2010-136. This is a wonderful lined pencil skirt with real neat front darts that come off the side seam. Just what my belly needed. Ah! I can not tell you how comfortable this skirt is. This was the first time I lined a skirt. Let me just say every skirt I make will have a lining. Being a rectangle type of body I just want to say pencil skirts look so great on us. I believe O shapes/apples would look great in a pencill skirt too. It's all about the legs baby. I made this skirt out of some 100 % cotton white denim from Hancock Fabrics. Just can't tell you how great this denim was to sew. And did I mention the china silk polyester lining from Fabric.com. Yeally enjoyed this project it went together so well. I did have to shorten this skirt about 4 inches and add about 2 inches to each seam to the waist make it work. Resources I used to help make this skirt; for the kick pleat I consulted Easy Guide to Sewing by Lynn MacIntyre and Marcy Tilton. For the waist I used Nancy Zieman's Pattern Fitting with Confidence. Did I mention that I put 1/4 inch elastic in the seam of the waist band so it could expand and shrink with me a little. You can read the review here on PR.
My hope is to complete the 4 pieces I had planned for the PR mini wardrobe compatition and ad two more pieces to it so it is more like a Stitcher's Guide Summer six pack (six piece summer sew-along). My theme colors are still orange and white for this collection. Next up is a pair of white denim crops from my tnt pattern, Burda Plus Fashion 02-2009-411. Happy sewing.

Saturday, April 17, 2010

How Do You Plan

Well mini wardrobe competition is done on PR. Like usual I ran out of time. Good thing I got two items complete and did not lose my sewing mojo. My completed items are Burda Plus Fashion spring/summer 2010- 410, which is a tunic, and Burda Style 3-10-136, a pencil skirt. I love both pieces and will photo and review them soon.

Today's temperature is not going to be above 60. I was perplexed at how hard it is to figure out what to wear for days like this. I'm sick of sweater, pants and many other RTW clothing hanging in my closet. I realized the majority of the clothes I have made are for summer and I have very few items that are for spring. So out came two of my favorite pieces (see picture). They are my favorite Khaliah Ali drawstring pants, S5074 and my favorite t-shirt B5398. Some how the two worked for my casual look of the day and I'm content and comfortable with my choice.

Back to the question how do you plan your wardrobe, SWAP or mini wardrobe? With two jobs at what seems like opposite ends of the trend pool answering this question can be difficult for me. With a degree in fashion merchandising and many years of retail behind me I'm ashamed to admit every year I buy new books on wardrobe planning. Currently on my shelf I have Nothing to Wear, Instyles Secrets of Style and Fashion for Dummies just to name a few. But it seems some how I still lack the skills needed to build a wardrobe that is functional and comfortable all year around. So I've decide that my sewing and fabric buying needs to take a more planned approach. Instead of just plopping out individual items I will be creating mini collections of 4 to 6 pieces that all relate and work together. Instead of trying to make all the items fit both jobs I will try to center each collection on one job. A few pieces might be able to cross over and that's great. Most of all I'm not going to get mad because I have to add a few RTW pieces. I know I don't have the time to create everything. Instead of worrying if I'm in trend or on point with the outfit I'm going to work on comfort and fit. Not sure if I'll every break the addiction to new fabric but hopefully holding onto some type of plan will help.

So what is your plan? How do you decide what to sew or buy?

Sunday, March 7, 2010

Spring is in the air and so is.....




Spring is in the air and so is PR's Mini Wardrobe Contest. This years contest runs 3-16-10 to 4-15-10. The goal is to create 4 pieces that can create 4 distinct outfits. Every year I look forward to these competitions and every year I seem to lose my sewing mojo once I enter them. This year I'm hoping to trick my mind and not enter until I have at least 3 of the 4 required pieces finished. All week I searched my Burdas and switched my fabric stash baskets from fall/winter fabric and colors to spring/summer fabric and colors. Did not have quite all I wanted so fabric.com and my local Hancock have been searched for white denim and a fun colorful print. Today I spent the day playing with my Burda line drawings. It was fun playing paper dolls. I have more than 4 patterns I'm playing with so I will need to narrow it down. The goal was to create some funny and some serious looks. Below and above are a few combinations I created and laughed about. This weeks goal is to pick my 4 patterns, trace and paper fit them, and prepare my fabrics for the contest. So excited.

Friday, February 12, 2010

M5881 Has hit the .....

Well it's official I have tossed my daughters Spree dance dress. M5881. It was not a difficult project just not very motivating. Daughter didn't even take the time to try on the dress well I was working on it. Tonight, the day before the big dance, I finished it up and she tried it on. To say it was a little disappointing and didn't quite fit correctly would fit the bill. Promised Daughter we will try the dress again hopefully for prom of this year. On to the next project. Not sure what it is yet.