Blogtoberfest and On My Table

Today is the first week of October, and I'm participating in Blogtoberfest again. Yay! This year, I won't be posting every day. I'm a graduate student, and I really won't have time for that. :) I will, however, be posting three times a week (Monday, Wednesday, and Friday), and on the last week of October, I'll be hosting a giveaway. I'll announce the giveaway on Friday, October 26, and I'll announce the winner on Halloween.

I've missed my blog. I've been trying to keep up with all the blogs of the people I follow, but my comments have been waning lately. I have a finished dress to show you all, but it'll have to wait until I have a little time to make myself presentable for photos. Don't worry, though, it'll be soon. I have some questions for you about darts!

But in the meantime, I'm working on a new project. 

Yup, that's Vogue 8648, the dress from Susan Khalje's Craftsy course The Couture Dress. I've traced the pattern (although I think this is the last time I'm going to do that...from now on, I'll just be drawing in stitching lines to avoid cutting into the pattern), pinned it onto muslin, and cut out the muslin pieces with lots of room to spare for the inevitable FBA. And that's my grandma's yellow-handled tracing wheel. I love using her things. :)

The fabric is a navy and white linen blend from JoAnn. It's mostly linen with a little...lycra? spandex?...in there for a tiny bit of stretch.

I'll be doing View A, and I think I'm going to lay it out exactly like they did, with the side panels on the bias to provide some extra ease of movement.

Everyone has to get their inspiration from somewhere, and this dress from JCrew has been on my inspiration board for a long time.

Are any of you participating in Blogtoberfest this year? What's on your sewing table right now?

Wardrobe Planning, Color, and New School Year Goals

I've started school! Two years ago, I decided I wanted to return to school to get my Master's degree and become a librarian. I applied to the iSchool at the University of Michigan, but after I was accepted, my partner was offered a post-doctoral position at the University of Illinois. By then, it was too late for me to apply to UofI's library program, so I waited until the next year rolled around. I not only got in; I also got one of the coveted graduate assistantship positions, which is really what enables me to afford out-of-state tuition.

The week before classes started, our house was completely divided. On my side, it was "I'm so excited for classes to start!" and on my partner's side it was pure dread (she's teaching a 750-student class that's half online and half in person, and the amount of work she's putting into it is the equivalent of two or three normal classes).

At any rate, all of this is to say that I've been incredibly busy. Just taking the time to type this out is... well... not exactly the best use of my time. But I miss blogging! And I really miss sewing! I haven't sewn anything since August 28.

In spite of my lack of time right now, I wanted to share some of my thoughts about wardrobe planning with you. Have any of you been following StephC's Conversant in Color series? If you haven't been, you really should. It's inspiring, and it contains a lot of really useful information. My favorite post so far was about buying fabric. Her comments about buying prints are a little controversial, but I have to say that I agree 100%. I've been having the same thoughts about my own wardrobe. When I used to buy RTW clothing, I always purchased solids, but when I buy fabric to make my own clothes, I buy prints. Why?! The items I've made often match nothing else in my closet, or they only match one thing, or I thank God that I made it into a dress so it doesn't have to match much else. Either way, I stand in front of my closet every morning wondering how in the world I'm going to piece together an outfit from what I own.

my scarf collection, around which I intend to base my sewing color palette

I decided to take a page out of Cindy's (from Cation Designs) book and write up a list of goals for the school year, although I'm a little late. Lucky this isn't getting graded!

• Create a cohesive wardrobe of at least 9 interchangeable items (which can include items that already exist in my closet).
• Edit my wardrobe and repair/alter anything that's not working.
• Make a rain jacket - before the spring rains hit!
• Make a blazer or similar jacket (I'm loving the Burdastyle Crossover Blazer).
• Make at least three items from fabric in my stash.
• Make at least three items from patterns in my stash (these can double count with fabric).
• Sew something with a knit.
• Make curtains for the living room.
• Purchase or make jewelery/accessories that accent my wardrobe.
• Invest in a good quality pair of shoes.
• Try sewing bras & undies.

It's a short list, but it kind of has to be. I am a crazy stresscase of a student again, after all!

The Boho-Chic Ann Arbor Sun Dress - Completed!

The little taste of a photo I gave you back in April was a tiny piece of this gorgeous dress. I was happy with this dress every step of the way. It's a total Frankenstein of a dress. I used the bodice from Version C of New Look 6557, the midriff band from Simplicity 2886, and a skirt I cobbled together on my own.

So, in the style of Sew Weekly, the facts:
Fabric:   upcycled polyester from a maxi dress, underlined with white cotton batiste
Pattern:   New Look 6557, Simplicity 2886, self-drafted
Year:   Modern
Notions:   32" petersham ribbon from A Fashionable Stitch (it says charcoal, but to my eye, it looks more dark lavender... maybe I'm a bit colorblind?), 12" purple zipper
Time to complete: 15 1/2 hours
First worn:   June
Wear again?   Yes, at least once a week since I finished it!
Total cost:   ~$21

The fabric came from a dress I bought at a little store downtown Ann Arbor called Orchid Lane (the warehouse, where everything is $15 or less), on one of the two or three days last summer when the heat was so oppressive I wanted to dive into a pool of ice. The fabric was so light and airy, and even though the dress itself was hideous, I bought it anyway with the intention of tearing it apart and upcycling the fabric. I wish I had a before photo for you. It was a maxi tube dress, with a widely-shirred cheap shiny black polyester bodice and this lovely fabric attached. I cut away that cheap black poly as soon as I got the dress home, and then the rest of the fabric sat in my stash until last week.

A couple of months ago, my sister gave me a bunch of her old clothes. She's purging her rather immense closet, and I'm the lucky beneficiary of said purge. Except that many (read "almost all") of those clothes weren't made to fit my body. My favorite dress in the pile I brought home was an adorable black and white dress. Minor problem: the dress was made for a girl with a B-cup, not my rather ample bosom (I don't know why, but I love finding opportunities to say "ample bosom." Maybe it has something to do with those romance novels my friends and I used to giggle over back in 10th-grade chemistry class).

Refusing to accept the inevitability of not owning said dress, I turned to my pattern stash and discovered that one of the bodice options for New Look 6557 (my blue daisy sheet dress) is almost an exact duplicate of my sister's dress's bodice. I thought it would be perfect for the summer and pulled out the pretty purple fabric I ripped off that ugly Orchid Lane dress last year.

As soon as I pulled it out, I remembered that that fabric is super flimsy and tears/pulls really easily. This was the first opportunity I've had to use Sullivan's fabric stabilizer, and I have to say, I'm totally addicted. I'm going to use it liberally every time I stitch up anything even remotely slippery. :) I also underlined all the dress pieces with white cotton batiste for extra strength.

I purchased Susan Kalje's The Couture Dress course from Craftsy last month, and I was watching it while I worked on this dress. It had more than a small influence on me. I hand-basted all of the underlining and stitched the seam allowances down by hand. "Control" became my watchword for this dress.

I loved the border print, and I wanted to use it in more places than just the hem, so I cut pieces from the top border for the midriff and the straps. The pattern calls for narrow ribbon for the straps, but I wanted more coverage, and I also didn't want it to look cheap, which I think ribbon would have done. After I cut, stitched, and pressed the straps, I found the stitches pulling on that stupid, flimsy fabric, the fabric wouldn't press properly, and I realized that I hadn't even considered underlining the straps. Silly.

My solution: dig through my stash in search of the 3/4" petersham ribbon I bought from A Fashionable Stitch. It matched perfectly, and I hand-stitched it to the backs of the straps. It makes the straps themselves a little more substantial, too. I didn't machine stitch them because I wanted the stitching to be invisible on the front (can you see it? I can, but only from about 12" away!), and I didn't want to put any more stress on the fabric than I already had. Now the straps are super strong, and will definitely last. And they're pretty on both sides as well. :) See the difference in how it lays? So much more body and less puckering!

I love this dress. It only has one problem, and it's one that I kind of knew about from the beginning. That flimsy fabric isn't going to last very long, even with meticulous hand-stitching and cotton batiste underlining and petersham ribbon stabilizing the straps. It's already starting to fray at the waist gathers, but I intend to wear this dress until I completely wear it out, I love it so much.

Rather than wait for my new sun dress to wear out, I am actually working on my next project. We're pretty much fully moved into the house, and I have another new dress on my sewing table. All it needs is neckline and armhole finishing and a hem, and it'll be set to wear (and post)! Knowing me, that'll take more than just one day, but I apologize for my long internet absence, and promise some more frequent posting in the months to come.

Musings About the Reasons Behind Personal Style

I just read a post by Casey over at Casey's Elegant Musings, and when I started writing a comment, I realized that I had so much to say that my comment was going to end up being longer than her post. Casey, that is the sign of an excellent post; when what you write is so thought-provoking that some readers turn around and write their own posts about the topic.

Casey's question was "If you find yourself drawn to vintage style... why have you chosen (or not!) to dress this way?" This question can obviously be applied to why we choose to dress in any particular way, not just vintage.

I'm strongly drawn to vintage styles. I think they're lovely, flattering, and attractive, but I don't actually wear any vintage clothing. There's something about me (my personality? the way I carry myself? the shape of my face? the style of my hair? the fact that I look best in muted colors?) that seems to scream "I'm sweet and innocent and ripe to be preyed upon!" This attribute, whatever it is, is only exaggerated by vintage clothing, so while I like vintage, it makes me incredibly uncomfortable. I like my clothing to make me feel powerful, sexy, attractive, and comfortable, so the vulnerability that I feel when trying on a sweet floral 50s dress means that that dress is not something that comes home with me, no matter how beautiful it is or how perfectly it fits. I'm so envious of the women who can pull of the edgy vintage look. I'm definitely missing whatever it is that would enable me to do that without looking either childishly sweet or scandalously tarty. :)

I do own one vintage dress, which I love, but I have yet to wear it. It's a solid sea green tea-length sun dress with a triangle lace bib at the neckline and more lace at the pockets. It's been in my closet for over nine months while I've tried to figure out how to style it or alter it so that I can still feel like a powerful woman while wearing it. The solution I've come up with is to remove the lace, raise the hemline, and find a leather jacket that will cut the sweetness of the dress. Hopefully I'll have time to do all three of those things some time in the near future!

I need a leather jacket in my life. I also feel like I would be more comfortable in my clothing (and feel like it's more representative of who I am) if I could combine more articles that are hard or edgy with the sweet, feminine things I already own. My style is in a bit of a flux right now, and I'm currently looking for a way to do that combination of edgy and feminine without too much leather (leather is just too hot for me in the middle of summer, and I don't want to wear the same thing every day) and without much - if any - black (black just really isn't my color, and I'm trying to phase it out).

So what's your style right now? Why do you wear what you wear? Are there particular aesthetics that just aren't you, or that you would feel uncomfortable in, and what about them keeps them from your closet? Or are you - like me - still figuring out where you want your style to go? If you are, where do you think your style is headed, and what about that attracts you?

Vacation and Pattern Swap Patterns

I don't think I mentioned that I was going on vacation with my sister. We went to Key West, and it was so much fun. We went on a tour of the Everglades, where it poured on us the whole time, but I got to hold a baby alligator (those things are heavier than they look!).

I only wore one me-made item on the trip, and it was my blue daisy dress. We rented bikes, and I biked in this dress with no problem. My crazy more-than-full-circle skirt, not so much. :) Anyway, here's the dress in action (sorry there's not much to see, but you can see the bright yellow wristlet I carried with it). Also, does anyone else feel like mojitos are the epitomy of summer?



While in Key West, I had the bad luck to lose my clutch (not the yellow one...that was the replacement), which had my camera in it. Sadly, this means no photos for the blog until I can afford to get a new one. :( Well, except for photos like the ones above, taken on my sister's camera, and photos like those below, gleaned from the generous interwebs.

On the bright side, when I got back, I had a lovely little package in the mail. I participated in the latest Sew Weekly swap, organized by Tina Crossgrove, and the talented and generous Seeks had sent me two different patterns! I also sent my partner two patterns, but I wasn't expecting to receive two! Anyway, check out these lovelies:

First up, this elegant 60s wrap dress. It's a bust 32 (who knows how the photo I managed to find just happens to be bust 32 as well, but I'm not questioning!), and I'm loving the short-sleeved version.

(because I borrowed this photo, I'm going to link to the Etsy seller it belongs to, in case any of you would also like to own this lovely pattern)

Second was this stunning 70s gown. So... I love the 50s and 60s, and so many of the 70s fashions are just so.... tacky. But this gown? A-mazing. Maybe not so much all the ruffles (although, possibly some of them?), but I love the smooth lines, the flowing skirt, the fitted silhouette through the bodice and waist... I'm in love with this dress, and all the variations that don't really look all that different on the envelope. :) I even love the little jacket (especially the lace version, and even the ruffles at the wrists. It's bust 38, but I'm willing to try my hand at pattern grading because I love it so much.

(again, a borrowed photo warrants a link to the owner's Etsy shop. This particular pattern is no longer for sale, but the shop has a huge collection of awesome 70s patterns and a smaller collection of other vintage patterns.)

Thank you, Seeks! I'm so excited about these patterns!

Spring Craziness and a Sneak Peek

I haven't posted to my blog in over a month, and according to the posts that have been showing up in my feed, it looks like other bloggers have been away from their computers as well. It's been a wild month.

We're selling the house, and I'm joining my partner in Illinois in August, where I'll be starting grad school (library science!). We're leaving Ann Arbor and our first home and our wonderful neighbors behind, and I'm really hoping that where ever we end up (Illinois is just a brief stop on the road) is just as great as this place has been. Also, I can't even express how much work it is to prep a house for sale. Unless you've sold a house, you have no concept of all the work that goes into it. I'm super grateful for my parents and friends who have helped me out. I wouldn't have been able to do it on my own!

I wiped out on my morning bike commute a few weeks ago (hit a patch of gravel going way too fast for that particular ripped-up stretch of road), got a concussion, sprained my wrist, tore my blouse, and scraped up the right side of my body. I was wearing my helmet (as always) and am sending good gratitude vibes to the inventor of the helmet, because that person may have saved my life.

One of my dogs (Onyx, the almost-three-year-old black male) had a bad reaction to his flea and tick medication, and we had a fun vet visit and five days after that. By "fun," I mean, he hated every minute of it, he tried cowering behind me at the vet, he wouldn't let me spray the medication on the sore without squirming like crazy to get away from me, and he now has a bald patch in between his shoulders (I'm really, really hoping the fur grows back. If it doesn't, that company is going to hear from me).
As I said: wild. But Onyx and I are both still alive and healing, our prospects for selling the house are looking really good, and I got to spend two weeks of March with my partner (one of which was unexpected). My sister started to tell me that I was so spoiled for being able to spend an entire week with my spouse at the beginning of the month and another whole week in the middle, then she stopped herself and instead commented on how absurd it is that she'd even think I might be spoiled by seeing my spouse for two weeks out of a whole month. Really, though, I am so grateful for all that time. And I'm so looking forward to August, when we'll all be living under one roof again!

At any rate, because of the recent craziness and my own plodding slowness, it's been a while since I've finished sewing anything. Or really, since I've even spent any amount of time in my sewing room at all. Over the weekend, I finally got a chance to really sit down with some fabric and my machine, and even though I'm not quite finished yet, here's a little sneak peek of what I've been working on. After all, no post is complete without a photo!

Perfectionism

One of my biggest problems is perfectionism. I want something to be perfect before I show it to anyone (or even before I allow myself to finish it), which is a problem as a beginning sewer because it means I often don't finish anything. I honestly couldn't tell you how many UFOs I have in my sewing space right now. I've spent around 12 hours on the Colette Jasmine blouse. It's a simple design and should go together beautifully, but my perfectionism means that I was so dissatisfied with the wonky seams on my collar that I ripped the whole thing off and decided to cut new pieces for it and start the collar over again. Erm... Let's be honest here. SWAP is so not happening this year. :) I think it's time for some more modest goals, and possibly time for me to put some effort into letting go of perfect a little bit. Because really. No one would have noticed that collar but me. I'm going to really focus on just finishing the blouse this week, and after it's done, I'm going to go through my UFOS and make them into FOs.

Are there any other procrastinators out there? UFO hoarders? Do you have the same problem I do, with wanting it to be perfect and knowing it won't be, or do you have another problem altogether? Those of you who manage to finish multitudes of garments every year, how do you do it?! Are you speedy sewers? Fearless in the face of failure? Do you have mad time management skills? Please, spill your deepest sewing secrets!