When YouTube Fails (or, Life Before the Internet)

Trying to repair a store bought sweater with an intricate stitch, must figure it out without help of internet, oh my! How things used to be -- you used your noggin, your network, and trial and error.

Planning to Fail = Guaranteed Success!

I'm not sure this fabric and pattern are a good match, which means I can only be pleasantly surprised by whatever turns out (assuming I can wear it). The fabric is a two yard piece of rayon or cotton challis, about 54" wide. It's super drapety (yes, I made that up) and after washing and drying it's gotten a little wrinkly. It's a bit sheer and the scale of the floral print is quite big, with big spaces between motifs.

It's that last fact which makes this such a hard fabric to do anything with. Regardless of one's actual size, large motifs with lots of space in between make one look huge-normous. Sometimes this can work, but it's tricky business. However, sitting in my stash won't change the fabric into something more flattering, so I'm forging ahead by combining this fabric with a Suede Says pattern by Simplicity (2222).

I'm doing look A in size 20, minus the chest ruffles. I'm not sure I want chest ruffles, it's a little too uber-girly for me. I'm going to cut larger than the pattern is to allow for French seams and my ample hips, but I don't expect to make any other modifications. I've already read through the instructions -- love how the pictures are separate from the words, for those of us who know what we are doing -- and I think the pocket construction and waistline treatment are quite clever. So I'm looking forward to make a surprising success ... or something I can sell at my sample sale later this summer.

Oh yeah -- I'm having a sample sale later this summer. Or maybe later this month. Stay tuned and I'll keep you posted!

Standards, And How They Set Goals

I come from a larger family (four children), which meant that there was a lot more conforming to house standards and a lot less doing whatever the heck I felt like. One standard that was set was for cleanliness, and to a lesser degree, neatness. I bet you think those two are the same! But they're not. Cleanliness requires that you scrub ... and wash ... and wash, and scrub. Neatness requires that you put things away.

After many decades of fighting the yoke of cleanliness, I've finally succumbed to it -- after all, there's something to be said about living free of dust, mold, bugs, and sticky filth. But neatness? Well, that was never drummed into me. But I did have a special appreciation for arranging things nicely, and having a place for everything (and everything in a place).

Lately, life got me down and I let my room go to the wrong side of the neatness barometer. But somehow, today, I can see more of my floor than I have in a long time. And I feel inspired! Inspired to ... sew. Yep. See, most of the crap that's turned my room into a hoarder's fantasy is sewing stuff. Patterns, patterns, and more patterns; clothes waiting to be re-styled; sewing projects in progress; and new cuts of fabric. Oh, and shoes. Because I'm a woman and I can do that. But anyway!

The point is that I've somehow cleared a little space on my floor, and I want more. So I need to sew -- sew through each pattern to see how it fits, sew through the piles of fabric so that they are clothes and not piles. I can already foresee the strain this is going to put on my meager closet, but hey! I'm all about making sacrifices. If that means having more to wear than I ever have in my life, well -- what's a woman to do?

Long Time, No Sew

Well, not really -- I have been sewing, just slowly, for myself, and I haven't been documenting things. But all of that is changing now! Well, some of that is changing now. The documenting part.

A little personal back story on where I've been in my life: back in 2010, with the big 3-0 looming closer on the horizon than I would have liked, I decided to grab the reins on my life and pull it in line with my artist's spirit. So I quit a very cushy job just before there were no jobs to be had, with the intention of finding my creative niche and establishing myself in it. I settled on fashion design just after I ran out of savings, and thus began some very Hard Times.

But happily, through sheer will power and just the right lucky breaks, I actually found a job in my preferred industry, using the skills which I spent two intense years teaching myself! The reality is definitely quite different from the dream, but that's probably the nature of things when you actually get what you wish for. The best part is that I can finally ease up off myself, creatively speaking.

Doing so has been a hard decision for me; I definitely don't come from an environment which supports 'play' or 'recreation', much  less having hobbies for the sake of it. But I feel that it's best for me now to simply play at sewing and making, instead of forcing myself to build my fashion empire Right Now. In this case, there really is tomorrow. So I'm officially taking a break from being a fashion designer, in order to enjoy being a home sewer who makes her own clothes.

Stick around and talk sewing with me, or ogle my fancy new clothes -- whatever floats your train! I would love the company, and who knows what will come of our time together.

--Ebi P.

High-Low News

The high-low skirt is coming along nicely, and definitely busted my entire stash of this particular fabric! I made it a little small for me, so it’s going to be one of the first offerings in my Etsy store next month – yay for busting stash and making progress toward a personal goal!

Love!

Ahhhhh! The Colette event at Grey’s Fabric and Notions was so much fun! I loved the variety and diversity of the sewists who were there, the staff at Grey’s was friendly and helpful, and Sarai of Colette was super sweet and had a great sense of humor. It was a wonderful experience, and I am so glad I went.

I did a little shopping, but with fabric like this…

…who could resist? And, I am happy to say I brought home a Colette pattern: the Lady Grey, a trench-like coat with a huge lapel. Perfect for balancing out those with proportionally wider hips! I love Colette’s sizing system; somehow, I am only an 18, which means I can make a muslin from the pattern as-is. Yay! No pre-sewing pattern alterations. I look forward to sharing more about this pattern, as I am going to begin work on it right away. Baby needs a new coat!

Colette Patterns in Boston!

The Colette Patterns team will be in Boston today, as part of a live event/trunk show. I’ve never sewn any Colette patterns, for various reasons, but maybe I’ll be won over by what I see and hear at this event. At the very least, it will be my very first sewing event! So I’m pretty excited.

I’m also excited to check out the local fabric store hosting the event, Grey’s Fabric and Notions. I’ve never been there, but I’m looking to upgrade my Pfaff and the owner is a Pfaff dealer – perhaps I’ll get to test out some Pfaffs before the event. Two birds one stone!