tmi maybe?

Okay, so maybe this is weird, but today I made some underwear. Small photo to the left, because posting a photo of my underwear is weird enough. Normally this is not something I would post (didn't tell you about the yellow and black pair I made in the spring, did I?), but is that not the best fabric that has ever existed, ever? EVER? It's t-shirt fabric (is that a thing? It has a weird sort of texture, not jersey or anything else I've really seen) purchased at Hancock last spring, around the time I bought my serger. I think it was $1.50 a yard; I bought two yards but wanted to buy 10. I don't know what the hell I'm going to do with it; maybe just make more underwear?

I made them from a pattern I drafted myself, based on the instructions at So, Zo, which turned out fairly well. I did not adjust for the fact that you have to fold the elastic over, so they ended up a tad short but otherwise super comfortable. I think the materials were probably under $1. I bought the elastic at SR Harris in Brooklyn Center, MN; I want to say it was $.15 a yard (before their normal 50% discount on everything). Once I adjust the pattern a bit, I will likely be able to crank out at least 4 or 5 pairs this week, which will make my Self-Sewn-September thing much more realistic. And while making my own underwear is admittedly something I feel a bit weird about (I am turning into such a dirty hippie, for real), it also sort of gets directly to the point of why I want to focus on either sewing or thrifting all of my clothes. During college (and after...) I definitely got into the habit of just buying more socks and underwear when I didn't have time to do laundry (I'm sorry, that's gross, I don't do that anymore), so I now have roughly fifty or sixty pairs of boring underwear that was probably mass-produced in factories with awful labor practices. I like the idea of getting out of that cycle of unthinking consumption and making my own underwear, preferably out of fabrics with awesome star-burst patterns. Or polka dots? Or maybe dinosaurs? Someone must make knit fabric with dinosaur prints. Whatever, I like the idea of having my entire wardrobe, underwear and everything else, made up of a few things that I really, really love and have a direct connection to, rather than having so much boring crap that I wear because I'm too broke or busy or whatever to find anything else.

Does that make sense? I've been alone in the apartment all day, working and sewing, so I'm starting to feel a bit stir-crazy. It was worth it though, not only did I make a new pair of underwear, but I finished two weeks of prep for teaching, and I'm nearly finished with my thesis reading list for the semester. Exciting stuff!

i can do it all

It's been awhile! Sorry, I have been stupid busy. My sister and her boyfriend moved to Milwaukee a few days after my last post (I didn't post during August at all?), and I spent most of August helping them move and settle in. I also had to finish one of my summer classes, and I had hockey games every week. (I also tried out for the fall league and made the 2nd team at my club. Still got it!) Oh, and I did a craft show in the middle of the month. Holy hell, it was a shitshow. Not the show as a whole, just my entire participation in it. I was completely unprepared, and the audience at the show was not the audience who will buy what I make. The less said the better, but I am definitely going to refocus on other things for awhile.

Okay, but hey, that is not why I'm posting. I'm doing this thing, Self Stitched September. Basically people commit to wearing either entirely handmade clothing, or perhaps some compromise amount of handmade/refashioned clothing, every day for the month. For me, this is more about having a reason to make more handmade and refashioned clothing (since I have almost none), so I am actually going to throw in thrifted clothing too, otherwise I don't think I could commit to it. I really want to start making more of my own clothes. I already have thrifting down--I can't remember the last time I bought new clothing--but there are so many things I've been thinking about making, I'm hoping this will be the push I need to actually finish some pieces of clothing. So, my pledge--

'I, Marina, sign up as a participant of Self-Stitched-September. I endeavour to wear two  handmade, refashioned, or thrifted  item(s) of clothing, accessories, or jewelry every day for the duration of September 2010'.

So yeah, this will be interesting. Hopefully by the end of the month, I can do two pieces of handmade clothing with relative ease. I've been working on some tank tops recently, so that should help. Of course, in addition to this sewing thing I've committed to, school starts this week. I also have a whole lot to do to prepare for going to Laos in January, there's a hockey clinic this month that I said I'd go to, and practices for fall league start at the end of the month. I'm double-rostered on the 1st team as a backup, so I'll have two sets of practices to go to. Okay, actually that doesn't sound so bad, does it? I'll totally have time to do all of those things. It's too humid to sew today, so I think I'll go do some schoolwork.

(Oh, and I think part of the point of doing this whole Self-Stitched-September thing is that you take photos of your outfits every few days. That seems horrifying, and I sort of want to back out of the whole thing now that I realize that's the case, but I will try to soldier on. Maybe I'll just post photos of the really good outfits? Ugh.)

thesis party

No photos, but I've been doing a whole lot of sewing this week. I'm slowly, slowly working my way through the entire ridiculous mountain of fabric that I've accumulated over the past year. I've been on a self-imposed thrifting moratorium (partly because I really do have a mountain of fabric cluttering my sewing room and partly because I am so, so broke), and I'm getting tired of it! I want to go dig through some bins of clothing and maybe find some new glassware. I am dying to start a vintage/thrifting resale shop, but I need far more merchandise, but I can't buy anything new until I reuse and/or sell what I have.

So! In order to make some space and also some money, I have been making so many things. Craftacular is in about two weeks, and I am actually on track to have quite a bit of things to sell. I've been cutting and sewing assembly-line style, so I don't actually have many completed items, but I will soon. Working this way is ultimately going to be good, as it saves time and allows me to keep my prices low, but it's a tiny bit of a downer to sew for six hours and not actually 'finish' anything. Of course, the feeling of finishing 20 bags in one day will likely outweigh that, so that's something to look forward to.

Okay, actually, I should go do schoolwork. Realized this week that the final project for my summer class is due the same day as Craftacular. Awesome!

suddenly i am very busy and productive

I would like to talk about how productive I've been the past week or so, but I've learned that is a very good way to completely jinx myself and get nothing done for a week, so instead, here is a photo of something I made.



It has a polka-dot lining, which is pretty much my favorite kind of lining.



It is also one of a few zip pouches I made using a new construction method. I have been trying to figure out the perfect zip pouch for ages, and after going through at least four different methods, I think this is it. It's lined with twill, which is both sturdy and non-bulky and allows me to use lightweight and quilting fabric that would otherwise be unsuitable. Awesome! Now I just need to make 30 or 40 more for Craftacular next month.

stripes

Nathan gets back from a week-long tour today! Exciting. Aside from the first day or so, when I was feeling a bit lonely, this week has been ridiculously productive, both with sewing and with school stuff. This is one of the things I made; it might be the best bag I've ever made. I love it so much, SO MUCH. The exterior was originally two pairs of overalls (there's still a bit of denim left, enough for some zip pouches or maybe striped accents on other bags), and the interior is a white-on-yellow polka dot that used to be a sheet. I attempted top-stitching on the outside of the bag at least four times with two different machines; apparently top-stitching through four layers of denim is not actually a thing that can happen, at least not with my current machines & needles. (Maybe if I had a denim needle? I could swear I bought some the last time notions were on sale at Hancock. I should really organize my sewing room.) I eventually gave up on top-stitching, but I think it looks okay without it. I will likely list it on Etsy on Monday, though I am sort of hoping no one buys it so I can keep it.

Oh, and this is one of the machines I used during my top-stitching attempts.



It's a Singer 239. I bought it last summer for $25 at a thrift store up north, but this was the first time I actually used it. Winding the bobbin was ridiculous--I ended up winding it on my Janome. Threading took forever, but once I figured that out, the machine ran fairly well, though it smelled a little funny. I can't tell if there's something wrong with the engine or if the smell is just from using the machine for the first time in probably twenty or thirty years. I'll probably take it in to be serviced whenever I can afford it. I think it might be good to use for quilting, if I can find a vintage walking foot that isn't too expensive.

purple + blue

I'm working on a new quilt! Exciting stuff. It's made entirely from thrifted fabrics so far, though I'm still not sure what I'm going to use for the backing + binding. Planning ahead is for suckers.

Seriously, I haven't even figured out what the layout of this soon-to-be quilt will be. I'm pretty sure I want to do half-triangles, though I have no idea which design I'll use. Two options are pictured, and I also have been wanting to do a pinwheel quilt for awhile now, though I may give up on the triangles entirely and just stick with squares. (But that's boring, right?) The blue flower fabric is vintage quilting fabric, I think, and the purple fabric is probably garment fabric. I only have two rather oddly-shaped remnants of the purple, so in order to get the most use out of it, I'm cutting mostly 6" squares, but also some 4" squares. Originally I intended to just cut everything out, make a bunch of half-triangle squares (there has to be a better name for that), put it all together, and hope it was at least baby-quilt sized. However, after seeing this post on 36 Shea, I'm thinking maybe I should add some white? I have a few different pieces of white fabric that I could recycle--backing for a set of drapes and fabric from a bedskirt--and it would be nice if I had the option of making this lap-quilt sized. I obviously won't be copying the design in the post exactly, as that would be so disrespectful to the anonymous woman who made it, but I'm glad I saw that post this week. When I'm designing quilts, I tend to forget that adding solid color blocks or sashing is an option. We'll see; probably I'll finish cutting out the purple + blue flower fabrics and then see how I feel.

Of course, just like I do every time I make a quilt (because I have thus far been unable to ever plan ahead, ever), I am second-guessing every decision and permanently convinced I'm going to waste all this fabric and end up with something awful. Because I'm a crazy person! Actually, no, that's not fair, I am doing far less worrying on this project, mostly because I know what to expect by now. I have pretty much decided that I really need to start choosing a design first and then choosing fabric, but I am also okay with the fact that when you're recycling thrifted fabric rather than buying it new, you have to be flexible and figure out what's possible with what you have.

hello i love you

Look, it's a squirrel! He was hanging outside our bedroom window a few days ago. I have absolutely no crafting or cooking or traveling or outside-my-house photos to share, but hey, isn't that squirrel adorable?

I've actually been doing some sewing lately (as the stupid weather is not so stupidly hot lately) but it hasn't been going very well. I've been learning a lot of things that will serve me well in the future but are really frustrating in the present. For example, deciding "f--k* it, I'll just wing it!" when you're altering a men's button down shirt for the first time and have zero idea what you're doing is actually, surprisingly, not a good idea! Especially when the men's shirt is not quite big enough to do what you want to do with it, and you end up taking apart almost the entire thing, and you decide "hmm perhaps I will turn it around, shirts that button up the back are adorable!" and then you make eight other stupid decisions to try to make it work, and also fitting shirts is hard and sooo depressing when you are perhaps frustrated by the size and shape of your, you know, self, and also sewing darts is so hard and why can I not properly draft a bodice sloper with an accurate bust point and on and on an on. Basically, learning things is hard sometimes! I do not like to be reminded that I am not actually that good at sewing clothing. (Yet!) For now, I have decided that I am going to not work on that stupid men's shirt refashion for at least a week, and in the meantime, I will sew some easier clothing (tank tops and shift dresses, I think) and also sew some quilts and bags and things I'm actually really good at sewing. I just found out I'll be able to participate in Craftacular in August, so I have approximately 500 things that I'd like to sew before then. So I will sew things I'm good at (or things that are easy) for awhile and then maybe eventually I will finish that stupid shirt.

And also, I will continue to enjoy my summer! It has actually been pretty great so far. Kira visited, which basically made my entire summer, and my sister is visiting this weekend to look at apartments (because she and her boyfriend are moving here, which made my entire year!!!), and Nathan somehow continues to get more awesome, and summer classes have actually been pretty okay (I'm learning how to create book indexes, which is seriously really nerdy fun), and yeah, things are sort of great. Awesome!

* (a) I think it's so dumb when people censor curse words on their blogs but (b) I realize that not everyone loves cursing as much as me, so maybe I'll do this for awhile? We'll see.

things are happening

Today has been super awesome. I woke up early, made coffee, and dealt with some emails and other things. Nathan and I went out for breakfast at Cafe Hollander (meh) and then went to Goodwill. I found 3 cardigans (!!!) plus a bunch of t-shirts that will be good for refashioning. Possibly they will turn out awful, but possibly not!

 I made a bandanna for Nathan, which took roughly 334 hours. Well, the bandanna took about 2 minutes to make, but it was preceded by at least 579 hours of messing with my serger (threading/rethreading/messing with settings/changing needle plates/etc) before it would do a rolled hem. But I figured it out! And made a bandanna! No photo though, the hem was sort of wavy; possibly a tension issue? Whatever, it is a bandanna and Nathan is wearing it at work RIGHT NOW.

I also finished binding the armholes of a red tank top I started sometime last year. Slow-going, and sort of frustrating as the tank top is too big and will probably not be worn outside the house. It's really not worth ripping out a bunch of seams to resize it, as the fabric is just awful, but it's lightweight, so it'll be fine to wear around the house on stupid gross humid days like today. I still need to hem it; I'm thinking this would be a good time to practice doing a blind hem.

Exciting! Seriously, I am excited about sewing. This summer is shaping up to be amazing. I've got a bunch of organizing to do over the next few days, and then I can start working on some sweet projects I've got planned. More on that soon.

momentary break from the mountain of work

So, I have another 560 words to write for one paper and then 100 pages to read and 1000 or so words to write for the second paper, but I needed to take a small break to share two things.

First, I had this conversation with my mom about how the last week or so has been ridiculously busy but also shockingly low on stress. I wake up, work all day with a minimum of procrastination/panicking, then I go to sleep and do it again the next day. It took me a lot longer to say that on the phone (have I mentioned how patient my mom is when I call her and go on long, rambling, highly caffeinated rants about whatever is bothering me?), but I ended by asking her "is this how normal people feel all the time?" And that's kind of how I feel, like things have gotten easier lately, or at least easier to deal with. I don't know why that seems so significant I guess, that's just exciting to me.

Second, I had my last sewing class yesterday, and it was AMAZING. I missed two of five sessions due to funeral & family obligations, so I was way behind everyone else, but I spent yesterday making a bodice pattern block. I still need to make one adjustment, but after cutting & adjusting 4 versions, I have a bodice pattern block that actually fits me! For those of you who don't sew, that means I have a properly fitted pattern that I can now adjust to make any style of shirt or dress that I want, while still knowing that it will fit me properly. Awesome! I have a bunch of ideas for summer dresses that will now be closer to becoming reality.

Of course, none of that will happen until I get caught up on work, so probably I should get back to it.

spring cleaning

I'm a little in love with my serger. And with sewing. And knitting. I'm half done with 2 scarves; I got a bit stalled on both because I don't actually know how to switch to a new skein of yarn. I mean, you basically just tie a knot, but there seem to be several ways to do this, some better than others I think? I don't know, it's all very confusing. But fun! And my serger, oh my serger--so far, I've only modified a tank top (somewhat successfully) and made myself a pair of underwear (new favorite thing to do, though I still need to perfect my pattern), but I cannot get over how magical it is. It's so fast! And it cuts off the seam allowance and makes this perfect seam! And I really cannot believe how many different stitches my machine has. It's an Elna Pro 5DC (photo from yesterday!) that originally retailed for about $1100, sold between 1992-1997. I bought mine for much much less than that at Milwaukee Sewing Machine (which is an awesome store, by the way). It does everything but a cover stitch; even a chain stitch, which will come in handy when I make jeans, which will happen soon. And oh, I bought some amazing cotton jersey knit for t-shirts at Vogue Fabrics today, and some great sale t-shirt knits at Hancock last week. I have a truly ridiculous amount of fabric right now, and there are so many things I want to sew. I haven't felt this excited about sewing in a long time, and I am more determined than ever to find time to sew everyday. Which seems like a pipe dream, as I've been completely unsuccessful so far, but I need to make it happen. I feel a bit ridiculous about this, but I've been thinking so much this week about what I want my life to look like and where I want to be in five years, and I am less and less convinced that history and library science is where I want to be, at least in the near future. I want to get my PhD someday, I want to be a librarian someday, but I don't know anymore if those are things that I want to do immediately when I complete my MA/MLIS coursework.

Yikes, heavy! I cannot believe I have to go back to school tomorrow. Literally--I cannot quite imagine myself as a grad student right now. I'll have to figure that out within the next 12 hours or so, I guess. I'm sure I'll feel differently when I'm back at school tomorrow, but right now, I just want to quit school and make my living as a seamstress. Or something. Maybe I should just win the lottery, that would be lovely.

things that are awesome

1. Coming home to this:



2. While waiting for the delicious baked pasta to finish baking, I decided to do a tiny bit of sewing. Weird! I experimented with some scrap knit fabric using my old machine, and it went well, so I sewed the seams of a knit tank top I cut out two months ago.* It went pretty well, I think! No puckering, seemingly strong seams; I am completely unsure how to judge whether I sewed it correctly because knit fabric is stretchy and weird and everyone else is so nervous about knits that I am too, kind of? But I think maybe it's going to be okay? Also, the fit is pretty good, though I need to finish the seams and then hem the bottom & armholes** which will hopefully take care of the weird puckering at the bust. I could probably have also cut a size smaller,*** and I hope I'm not tempting fate by getting excited before it's completely done, but yeah, positive sewing energy!


*holy shit, winter break was two months ago?!
**Do you hem an armhole? Is armhole the right word? What's an "armscye"? Any sewers out there?
***WHAT?! Smaller size? Weird.

SEWINGSEWINGSEWINGCLASS

I signed up for a sewing class! It's six weeks long and focuses on garment sewing. I've sewn clothes before, mostly through figuring things out as I go along, and I'm super super psyched to have someone show me the right way to do things.

Of course, the first week of the sewing class had to be the same week that I took my new machine in to get serviced. (BTW, I highly recommend buying a machine at Milwaukee Sewing Machine, or probably any local store. One year warranty, including a free tuneup, and they extend the warranty another year if you take a class about how to use your machine. I put that off forever, so I'm taking it next Friday when I pick up my machine, which happens to be a day before my original warranty would've expired.) So, this week I'll be sewing on Grandma's machine! Little bit nervous, as it was starting to act up and skip stitches right before I bought my new machine. Probably it needs to be serviced, but somehow I've never been able to justify spending $80 to get my second sewing machine serviced. I'm sure it'll be fine for this week though; I think we'll just be going over basics, which will possibly be boring but hopefully will teach me some new things. I'm just excited that I'll have an excuse to sew at least once a week for the next month and a half.

barcelona skirt

Also, I worked on a second Barcelona Skirt today. It took me forever to get the zipper installed & the skirt assembled, partially because I haven't sewn any garments for months and partially because the zipper instructions are bananas. I still need to add a lining, which will be interesting as I changed the seam allowance on the outer seams of the skirt to correct for a cutting mistake. I like how the first skirt turned out, and I think this one will be okay, but I think it's time to find a more structured A-line skirt pattern. I want something with waistband and darts. I really want to draft something myself, but probably I'm not actually at that point yet. I really need to find a class or a local expert, because I am tired of making things up as I go along.

[In the future, I will try to include pretty pictures in my sewing posts. If it helps, the skirt I'm working on is a cotton twill in a lovely shade of blue.]

one step closer to awesome

So I went to Hancock Fabrics yesterday. I haven't bought any fabric for months and months and months, but I finally have a tiny bit of spending money, and also Hancock had this sale where (a) Kona cotton was $2 off and also (b) you got $10 off a $50+ purchase and $20 off a $100+ purchase. (Guess which discount I took advantage of?!)

Anyway! Huge sale, I bought a lot of Kona cotton for some quilts and/or purses, but more importantly, I bought a t-shirt pattern. Actually, a t-shirt + tank top pattern, and a yard of yellow cotton knit fabric. If this goes well, I am soon going to be able to make my own t-shirts & tank tops, which is awesome because (a) no more guilt over the conditions at whichever factory supplies Target and (b) I'll finally have shirts that aren't crew neck but also aren't v-necks that are so low cut as to be, um, distracting/inappropriate for teaching. For some reason, that second thing has thus far been almost impossible for me to find. I'm obviously quite nervous about sewing with knits, though, really, why? I have several different stretch stitches* on my machine, I bought needles made specifically for knits, the fabric cost maybe $10, what's the worst that could happen? If I screw up this first t-shirt, then I will probably not screw up the second one. So yeah, t-shirts!

Except I can't sew it yet because I have to read a book and two or three articles and also maybe start on a response paper. But if I get all that done, I will definitely have time for sewing either tonight or all day on Tuesday! Looking on the bright side, that is what 2010 is all about, dammit!

*Took me roughly 5 tries to spell that right, and it still looks weird to me.

pride goeth before the fall

Oh, you guys, I was so excited to make my new red dress that I decided to cut it out yesterday, even though I didn't have all the notions necessary to actually sew it here. What the hell, I thought, I'll cut it out here and then be ready to sew it as soon as I get back to Milwaukee.

Here's the thing--you know how they have those cutting layouts on the pattern instructions? And also, the note on the pattern about whether you should cut it on the fold or on the selvedge? Okay, maybe you don't, but both of those things exist, and it is really really important to actually pay attention to them. Which I knew! I know that! Normally I am super crazy nervous about cutting out pattern pieces and check the layout 300 times before I cut. But yeah, I cut out the front of the dress on the selvedge, because I was not paying enough attention! Also, I was a little too proud of myself for properly trueing the fabric. UGH. There is not any way to really salvage it at this point, as I am about a quarter yard short from cutting everything out from the fabric I have left, and there is really no way that dress would work with a seam down the front. I don't know, maybe I could possibly use the fabric for a dress with princess seams? Maybe it would work for Vogue 8408, which I would really like to make soon. Or maybe I'll give up and make a bunch of bags out of it.

Seriously though, I was feeling so good about sewing until I realized I screwed up that dress. I guess I still do feel pretty good about sewing, which is exciting. I had so little time to do anything last semester, but I'm quite excited to make a few dresses and sew some new clothes for myself. I also found a few pairs of pants in my closet at my parents house--I think I found them at thrift stores one of the last times I was here--and I cut pieces for 16 zip purses from 1 pair of pants. 16!! I cut out some cat toys as well, and I want to maybe do some handwork when I get back. Something like this; make something is such an awesome blog, and Karyn's shop The Workroom makes me want to move to Toronto just to take classes there. I have another two weeks (or so? don't want to think about the exact time) before school starts; I just want to sew as much as possible and get myself organized so I'll be able to make time for sewing once school starts again.

patterned

Things are moving quickly around here. I traced out a pattern Saturday, Vogue V8552--I believe I've mentioned it before. The tracing went very well; I only had to alter it a bit, based on the finished garment dimensions, though I guess we'll see how the fit turns out in the end. I'm doing the version with side seam pockets, which should be pretty fun. All told, it's 4 pattern pieces, which is super exciting. Very possible that I'll actually finish this soon. Maybe today? I'm not going home until tomorrow, so I have all day today to sew. Though, shoot--I think I need seam binding and maybe tape. Maybe I'll cut it out here and sew & finish it when I'm home.

So, exciting times! I'm glad I came up for this visit; it's been quite relaxing. I'm really excited to get home, though, and do some sewing. And prepare for the semester, I guess. I generally prefer to pretend I don't have to go back to school until the night before the semester starts, but that generally leads to high levels of stress, so maybe I should change tactics. Do some reading, maybe some research for my thesis... sometimes I get the feeling that I might be a bit of a slacker, when it comes to grad school at least. Other people write articles, do fancy internships, and just seem so driven; meanwhile, I'm thinking that maybe I should do some reading or something. Sometimes I think I'd rather just sew all day, but maybe I'd just get tired of that too? Ugh, being an adult is hard.

Sunday Stash!

Seriously, really know, I am going to do this Sunday Stash thing! Pictured here are recent finds at one of my favorite thrift stores. Roughly 20 yards of fabric, purchased for $40 or so. Excellent! If you click through, you can read notes on what I'm planning for each piece. You know you want to know.

addendum to previous

I went to Treadle Yard Goods yesterday, a belated Christmas present from my mom. Did I mention I'm up north, visiting my parents? I am, for a few days. Anyway, definitely my favorite Christmas present. Except for the pasta roller attachment for my mixer. And the vintage fabric Nathan gave me. And the bees from Heifer International. Okay, this was a good year for presents.

Anyway, re: previous. I bought Vogue V8552, but I completely forgot to buy the Liverpool shirt pattern. I also found this pattern, which I am stupid excited to sew:




Vogue V8408. I bought an awesome grey ponte de roma double knit, which I think is going to look awesome. Somewhat nervous about the stretch factor, but it's such a heavy knit that I think maybe I'll be okay. I also bought some black cotton sateen, in case the double knit doesn't work out right. Wait, no, it's the other way around--black sateen for this dress, ponte de roma for a yet-to-be-found awesome dress with a cowl or something similar.


(While looking for previous photo, I found another dress I must have/sew:





Vogue 8511. Actually, nevermind, the skirt section is pleated, basically. Yuck. Must find a similar dress without pleats, I think.






Okay, awesome! Treadle Yard Goods is full of wonder and inspiration; I am feeling quite optimistic that I'll make V8408, and I really think V8552 could become a wardrobe staple. And really, I cannot emphasize enough, Treadle Yard Goods is awesome. Great selection of fabric, classes that make me want to move back home just to take them, and the absolute nicest, most helpful staff that I have ever encountered. You should go there and buy a lot of stuff.

things i will sew

In the alternate universe in which I actually sew clothes, instead of just half-starting projects and then either running out of time (e.g. Maxi dress I still need to finish for the Presserfoot Sewalong from September. September!!!) or energy or motivation or just generally running out of the ability to sew clothing I can wear outside the house. The point I'm getting at here is that sewing clothes is hard! Anyway. Here are the things that I will somehow, someday make.








New dress (the 'liverpool') from Amy Butler. Her Barcelona skirt is the only pattern I've successfully made and worn outside the house, so this could be something I actually make.











Super basic but possibly adorable dress from Vogue. V8552.









[stupid text link because Simplicity has a stupid website that won't allow me to show a photo of the pattern they're trying to sell to people UGH]














Kristen dress from BurdaStyle. I've been wanting to do this forever. Do you think it would be a proper dress for a wedding? I have a family wedding to attend in May, and I really want to make a dress to wear.









Oooh pretty. Need to get better at sewing and make myself some pretty dresses.

Look what I got for Christmas!

I wanted to include a photo of some of what I made today, but I couldn't manage to take a good photo of anything. Things I made: egg bake (delicious!), red beans (delicious?), 2 potholders, 2 zip purses, and... that's all! But it was a good day, really. Sewing and cooking and staying warm, mostly. Apparently I can't have my computer, sewing machine, iron, and space heater plugged in at the same time. But hey, on the plus side, my surge protector shuts off automatically when it's overloaded!

Anyway, I'm driving up north tomorrow, and Nathan is staying here, so we're going to go out for drinks or something, I think. But first, red beans and rice! I love winter break.