Sewing Karma: the apocalypse, and the 2010 project phoenix

My intention to update sewing karma from every week to every month no longer exists. I am (not so) shamefully bailing on sewing karma for a few reasons. I can rack up points for myself fairly easily but it isn't putting money in my pocket to spend those points on. That is kinda depressing. I never found a really good way to keep track of points. I kept a jar of buttons on my desk. And calculated the points on the blog but I either had to count buttons or double check the previous post to know how many points I had. That was annoying. I have been doing really well staying motivated and getting things done. And that is really good. Because of this, I feel fairly confident in adopting a new 2010 project halfway through 2010.(I am naming it Project Phoenix, because it just has a nice ring to it!)

I have been doing a bit of pattern drafting lately and I have really enjoyed it. I pulled out my pattern drafting book from college to look something up and then spent some time just flipping through it. So, in the grand tradition of blogging about working your way through a book (Gertie's Blog for Better Sewing, Bridges on the Body, Peter's current travels through a patternmaking book) I am going to work my way through Designing Apparel Through the Flat Pattern. (hereafter referred to as "the flat pattern book" or "the pattern book")


I have standard sized slopers from when I originally took a flat pattern class in college but I also would like to draft custom slopers from my measurements. I found a copy of How to Draft Basic Patterns (hereafter referred to as "the sloper book") at the library by the same authors as my pattern book. This book deals only with drafting slopers or basic patterns from measurements either from a dress form or a person.


The rules: I have no completion date for this. I think the end of the year is not impossible but it is unlikely. The flat pattern book is a hefty enough tome. I will skip similar patterns as needed to avoid redundancy, tedium and boredom. I don't have to go through the book in order but can skip around and pick what looks interesting to me. I can use other books and switch around between books to learn different techniques. I would also like to make up some muslins so I know that the patterns work and so I can possibly make myself some clothes and reap a reward for all my drafting efforts. Questions, comments and suggestions are always welcome of readers.

Some patterns I am particularly looking forward to:

Interesting use of darts, especially at necklines, is a definite draw for me. I have bookmarked several vintage patterns simply because of their interesting use of darts at the neckline.

This reminds me of the bonus project Gertie made after her full gathered skirt, the halter sundress. It has that delicious open back. I will have to try out her skirt tutorial and then draft my own halter top.

I think this one has more to do with the stripes than anything else. With Tartan and Plaid being one of my favorite colors I will definitely need lots of practice working with and matching my checks and stripes.

This one is definitely more interesting. I love how the raglan sleeve goes into the chest band. I think this would be great as a lightweight spring/summer jacket/overblouse deal. Maybe in linen.

This just screams Erte to me. He is one of my favorite designer/illustrators. I feel like it evokes a handkerchief hem without the handkerchief hem. Something similar at the hipline of a pencil skirt could either be evocative of the 40's or become very futuristic. I'm game for both scenarios.

women's land army here I come. That's all.

Cindy-Lou

Sewing Karma: Weeks 3 & 4 April 19-25, 2010, April 26-May 2, 2010

Sewing Karma: Week 3 April 19-25, 2010
Total points earned this week: 0
Total points spent this week: 0
Total accumulation: 22

I spent my free time last week helping organize a eco weekend retreat during which I lead a session about green cleaning with vinegar and baking soda and co-lead a session about sourcing food locally in Chicago. I got to spend time with some friends as well as meet some new people. Ate a bunch of s'mores at the campfire and frolicked with some goats and chickens.


Sewing Karma: Week 4 April 26-May 2, 2010
Total points earned this week: 13pts
Total points spent this week: 0
Total accumulation: 35pts

Sink laundry. Normally I would not give myself points for this but I did 3 or 4 loads this week of stuff that has been waiting to be washed for almost a year. And I have made a resolution to stay on top of doing my sink laundry because 4 loads in a week is just too many.
+5

More darning. I don't think it is necessary for me to give myself points every week because I will be darning every week until I am not wearing tights to work anymore but... it helps to re-enforce the habit and I need to buy some denim so I can make a pair of jeans before the pair I have left busts. So yea.
A note on the darning. I have been asked by a few people, moms, if the darning irritates my feet. No, it doesn't. I have only worn darned tights and not my socks yet but I haven't had any problems. My toes usually get cranky at the toe seam ( why couldn't kitchener stitch be more popular in mass produced items??) but nothing with the darned patches. So go darn your socks for victory!!
+3

Most evenings this week I spent tailor tacking my fitting shell. I wanted to attempt tailor's tacks and since I choose to use gingham and a dark one using a tracing wheel and tracing paper was not visible at all. After tailor tacking everything, all markings as well as seam lines, I put it through the machine with a basting stitch to re-mark everything so that by the time I sew it all together I will still know what is what. dear lord help me.

+5

Sewing Karma: Week 2 April 12-18, 2010

April 12-18, 2010
Total points earned this week: 21
Total points spent this week: 5
Total accumulation: 22

Lint trap skirt – Sewing Projects | BurdaStyle.com
+5pts
(This should have been counted last week)

Darning my first sock

+3pts
Learning a new skill
+5
Blogging about it
+5

Darning the toes of 2 pairs of tights I wore this week
+3pts

I started a new job this week and my time management skills are a bit off while I get used to my new schedule. There was also some much needed socializing with some friends. Regardless, my free time was at a premium and mostly devoted to eating dinner and keeping up with my Google Reader and so very little got done in the way of sewing. I am designating Monday as my sewing day. Which is sort of failing as I have spent half of today blogging...

I had brunch with my mom yesterday at The Blind Faith Cafe. It is a fabulous vegetarian cafe and bakery that also has lots of vegan options as well (though I am a die hard meat eater). I had a Brie and Apple sandwich with cranberry chutney and Mom had peach crepes with corn, ricotta and a yummy maple rum sauce. We meant to go look in some of the cute shops in the area and wound up only going to Vogue Fabrics. Mom was laughing at me the whole time because I was a little kid in a candy store. "oh! Look at this!" " Oooo. Look at this one. This would be a great blouse!" Selfish Seamstress also paid a visit to Vogue on her recent trip to Chicago. I have always preferred the Evanston location because of the location and also because I felt like they had more stuff. It has been a while and I will have to re-check out the downtown location. She also does not share with you the amazing wool wall. It is my favorite. There is also an entire interior decorating room that I have found some awesomeness in. The remnant room is the crowing glory. I like it because the remnants are actually usable lengths and they have EVERYTHING there. Fancy silk to wool suiting to poly blends to interfacing and quilting cotton. Needless to say I lost some self control

Vogue Remnants

-5pts
I found four 1yd bundles of this nautical cotton print. It had my name written all over it. At first I thought a blouse but I also found a bundle of navy blue stretch silk that would be even better as a blouse with this as a skirt. Mom suggested a dress and I immediately thought of Sunni's naughty Secretary Dress. I think I like it as separates better because it will be more versatile. I am thinking a vintage pattern for the blouse and something simple and a-line for a skirt. But I am definitely open to ideas.

Mom also bought me a present of this fantastic cotton. I was obsessing and coveting it.

It is very light and drapes nicely but has a bit of body because of the weave. The triangle on the bottom corner is the wrong side of the fabric. It is actually a bit brighter in reality. The dots are yellow, orange, pink and olive green. I was thinking a cute sheath style dress with a wrap made with the wrong side out. The light neutral-ness is not usually something that looks good on me, it washes me out, but the dots are bright so Mom was thinking of using some of that on the neckline to bring more brightness near my face. They also have a dark medium blue version that was also great but I thought this was better. I am open to ideas for this as well.

Wow. I just got super excited just thinking about it. I am such a nerd.

And this perfectly describes what it felt like upon waking this AM.

see more Lolcats and funny pictures
I can't resist a good lolcat.

darn it

Ever since Susannah posted about her Speedweve Darner I had to have one.

This is the Canadian version, The Darn Easy.

It goes nicely with the mending wool I recently acquired. And darn easy it is. I was able to darn my sock in about 5 nanoseconds and that includes me having to look back at the directions the whole time. Way easier (and cheaper) than running to target to get a new pair.

And it looks super neat and tidy. I just need to figure out exactly how to tie off the ends so that they look just as neat.

And have I ever mentioned that darning is a good skill for me to have?

My toes eat hosiery for breakfast.
I think I am going to be getting a lot of use out of my new gizmo and doing a lot more darning. Why did we stop darning in the first place?

processing backlog...

I have started making a spreadsheet for all my patterns and I want to do all the fabric stash as well as one for projects I want to make. complete with images and sizes and fiber content and date. I am having a few glitches with excel, like how to you put an image IN a cell, on a mac? I love this project for times I need a break from creating and i think it will help with my 2010 project goals but it kinda feels like this sometimes (like when I spend an inordinate amount of time futzing with excel and still not getting what I want)


see more Lolcats and funny pictures

Sewing Karma: Week 1 April 5-11, 2010

April 5-11, 2010
Total points earned this week: 6
Total points spent this week: 0
Total accumulation: 6

Corduroy jumper into skirt finished April 7

Lint trap skirt – Sewing Projects | BurdaStyle.com
3pts
(Please excuse the ridiculously horrible picture of myself in which I have no waist and should have worn heels. I am experimenting with taking pictures of myself with a self timer and tripod and no assistant. As my current assistant is horrible at assisting. Gotta do everything myself. sheesh. And then my waist got camera shy for some reason and took a vacation. I had quite a difficult time fitting the waist of this skirt. I had a difficult time with the jumper as well. The pattern is for a waist 26 and I am a 28 so ok let out waist 2 inches. I did that with the jumper and then wound up taking it in again. Then I took in the waist on the skirt another 2 inches. The actual measurement of the skirt waist is now 28 which means it has no ease which make absolutely as much sense as ancient Greek to me. Needless to say I think my goal of learning how to fit is a worthy one. I just wish I had someone to help me pin.)

Sewing new buttons on Black Jacket finished April 8

3pts
(I 'heart' these buttons. They are this double layer thing that makes them look folded and flower like. This is the second time I replaced the buttons on this jacket. It originally had large self fabric covered flat buttons that were hideously ugly and cheap looking. I found these buttons a size smaller than the originals (and these) and had used those. Then I randomly found the larger ones when I hadn't been able to find them before and they have been waiting to be attached to the jacket. now they are.)

***Also, the beautiful and delightful Amanda Atkins is celebrating over at her blog and having a contest in which you can win one of her gorgeous prints. Just scope out her Etsy shop (and while you are there check out her and her mom's vintage shop, Stella by Star), pick your favorite, and comment on this post on her blog. Winners will be announced on Sunday April 17. My personal faves are Zelda, Remember when i loved you, A new beginning 1953 and I am saving up to buy all her paper dolls for my sewing room. ***

the 2010 project: Sewing Karma

So now that last year is behind me lets move on to this year (only 4 months late but that is ok). So far this year I have completely cleaned out my childhood bedroom (my mom has begged me to do this for years and I have avoided it because it was a HUGE undertaking), moved 3/4-7/8 of all of my stuff out of my apartment, prepared myself (mostly mentally) to live out of one just bigger than carry-on sized suitcase for an unspecified period of time, and then moved all my stuff back into my apartment 2 months later. And now I feel like I have too much stuff. We all probably live with more stuff than we realize and more than we most likely really need. We do this because the items that we own define us. They represent who we are and what our interests and hobbies are. We also define ourselves by what we own (or what we don't own). Our belongings act as a sort of character map for who we are both for ourselves and for others.

I enjoyed my 2 months of living with less. I liked the extra space in my closet. I liked the simplified choices (except when I didn't). My goal for 2010 is to use the supplies that I have before I bring in new. In sewing as well as in knitting I tend not to buy yardage or yarn without a specific project in mind and so my stash of those things is not very big. I have collected quite a bit of clothes to be repurposed or refashioned. I also have a stash of half finished projects or projects that have materials set aside but were never started. I want to continue pursuing projects that push me a bit, help me learn new skills and make me a better seamstress. The best way, I have decided, to keep me on my path as well as allow myself some rewards for good behavior is a Sewing Karma Point System. By using up some of the materials and supplies that I have as well as doing something new or challenging I earn points. I can use these points towards buying new material or a new pattern or for something I can't really make myself. It is not completely fleshed out yet but this is what I have so far:

2010 Sewing Karma Point System (I have based my points relative to what I have and what I think my weak(er)nesses are.)

+5, using a pattern I already own
+10 to 15, drafting my own pattern
+10, using fabric or clothing that I already own
+10, completing a 1/2 finished project
+5, completing a project and then blogging, ravelling, burdastyling about it
+5, completing a project with new skills building elements
+3, misc. darning, mending, altering
+5 to 15, misc. projects (for example, building myself a stand for my giant roll of brown paper for patterning)
+10 to 15 misc. book/research projects (because I want to get used to thinking critically and writing about it in prep for grad school)

-10 to 15, buying a new (to me) pattern
-5, buying new (to me) fabric from the remnant room
-10, buying new (to me) fabric from the bolt or yarn

I haven't figured out how I am going to keep track of my points. I am thinking a jar with buttons in it. As I am still working this out and I would love your input if you have any. Does this sound like an interesting idea or just silly? Are there projects or ideas that you would like to see me explore?