Design-It-Yourself Clothes

I am currently obsessing over this book. I saw it at Borders a couple of weeks ago and was intrigued. Then I remembered that my mother-in-law had given me an Amazon gift certificate for my birthday, and I miraculously had not spent it yet. A quick trip to Amazon for the book and Amy Karol's killer gift labels, and I'm in business. Maybe.

I've hated sewing clothes ever since I HAD to in high school home economics classes that resulted in several hideously ill-fitted items. I hated the fabric choices available. I hated the patterns. And I hated spending so much time on a project only to have it turn out so very, very wrong.

The last couple of years I've been slowly turning the corner. With Fabric Depot, Mill End, Bolt, and Cool Cottons all within easy driving distance, I have thousands of great fabric options at my disposal (Yes, thousands, it can be a bit overwhelming). And I've come to like great fabric made from natural fibers. Give me cotton, silk and wool any day over the synthetic fabrics used in the mass-produced clothes in my price range.

But I still have a hard time with patterns. I can go into the store with an idea in my head and end up completely frustrated that I can't find a pattern to match the idea. Or I can find a pattern but it seems exorbitantly expensive for tissue paper on which is printed a pattern that may or may not fit my body.

Enter Do-It-Yourself Clothes: Patternmaking Simplified by Cal Patch. I am so stoked about this book! If it works the way I think it will, I'll be able to think up a simple silhouette in my head, draft a pattern on my own, and sew a garment that is uniquely fitted to my body. So far, I read most of the book which was pleasant and easy-to-understand. I sweet-talked the Wise and Bearded One into measuring me 18 different ways, and I've drawn up my first simple skirt pattern.

I'd be in my studio sewing up my prototype skirt this very minute if it weren't next door to my lightly-sleeping daughter. Hopefully I'll get to tackle it tomorrow.

So if you're a latent fashionista, a Project Runway devotee, or simply tired of crappy cheap clothes, this might be the answer. I'll let you know how it works out for me. I have high hopes, friends. High hopes.

P.S. You can get a taste of the book over on this tutorial on Etsy.

Another Photo

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Originally uploaded by ndmiller

Another Lazy Day's Skirt

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Originally uploaded by ndmiller

I feel like I never have time to be creative anymore, but then, here and there, I find a minute or two and a bit of inspiration and something comes of it. The Sprout had a red onesy and some black leggings and it was just begging for a little skirt. So one night after she went to bed I cranked one out in less than an hour. No pattern. Just the memory of making a few Lazy Day's skirts. Little people clothes are so forgiving...especially those with elastic waists. I sure hope I have more to share here or I'm going to lose the loyal few "followers" that I have!

Here's hoping you're using YOUR creativity!

End of Summer

Summer has officially ended, so I thought I'd look back at my summer goals and see how I've done.

Here's what I'd LIKE to get done this summer:
--re-pot all the houseplants DONE
--paint the dining room back to a warm white DONE
--patch and paint the trim in the living room FAIL--fall project?
--make the obligatory doctor, dentist, vet appointments for all the members of the household DONE
--exercise every day--walk, bike, or yoga I'd give myself a 50% on this
--spend some time in meditation and prayer every day same as the exercise goal
--stay on top of the laundry EVERY day DONE, I did more loads of laundry this summer than I have over the total of my entire life up until now.
--relax for a weekend at the coast DONE---Well, actually a couple of day trips, not a whole weekend
--get to know the other mamas in my neighborhood so we can network about baby-friendly activities and hang out in general DONE
--sew.....skirts for me, clothes for the Sprout, "Maker" items for my facebook friends Not done--fall project
--finish Sprout's baby quilt Not done--fall project
--paint or draw...just get some marks on paper for once instead of thinking about it FAIL
--take a class: either photography/Photoshop, painting, or machine quilting FAIL, unrealistic goal
--visit the family in Indiana in August DONE
--repaint the lawn chairs FAIL
--gather and preserve some local food: blueberries, peaches (?), apples, etc. so the Sprout has food to eat this winter when she starts into the Real Food In progress, froze some blueberries and hope to make applesauce sometime in October
--spend some quality time with my female friends Not enough, must do more of this!

I'm fine with my progress, even though I wish I would have had more time and energy for art and craft. I have been working on enjoying my time being the Sprout's mama and reminding myself that I am pouring a lot of my creative energy into raising her as a strong, healthy, curious woman.

More Owl Fabric

Miss A. , the daughter of the lovely and talented Rachel Austin, had her first birthday party last month. I didn't have much time at my disposal but I knew I wanted a handmade gift for this special little girlie (and the Sprout's first party invitation, no less). So here's a quickie birthday gift--the Lazy Day's skirt in my favorite owl fabric with another little owl zigzagged onto a gently-used shirt.

My husband grimaced when he realized I'd repurposed a garage sale purchase as a birthday gift. Knowing Rachel's appreciation of thrift and craft, I feel pretty safe. What do you think? Is it tacky to give a recycled gift?

Photographing the Forest Floor

We went hiking last weekend on Bald Mountain. While the hubs is busy toting around the Sprout and admiring the trees and the views, I can hardly take my eyes off the forest floor. In part, this is because I'm a total clutz and I HAVE to watch the path or I'll trip and tumble off the mountain. But it also indicates my complete fascination with lichens, mosses and mushrooms. I shot a lot of terrible, blurry pictures but here's a few that aren't too bad. I really want a macro lens for my good camera....someday. In the meantime I need to learn the patience to hold still for the longer exposures necessary for low light situations in the woods. Patience....someday.

Gee's Bend Quilt Kits and Fabrics

Can I just say, "Yes, please."

I have blogged before of my love for the quilts of Gee's Bend and someday I will make one for myself. Someday.

Doll--Mimi Kirshner

Bloggety Bloggety Blog

Yes, we have returned from vacation with the family in the hometown, and we have returned with a vengeance. Since I have a quasi-administrative job in a nearby school district the two weeks leading up to the school year are very busy--fielding phone calls from anxious parents, hunting down materials and curriculum and files for anxious teachers, getting teachers up to speed on new software, holding a few emergency IEP meetings, and on and on.

So blogging, especially crafty blogging, is going to remain a little slim for the rest of August. In the meantime I'll post a few interesting and inspiring things I've seen around the internets lately.

Thanks for stopping by to see what I have to say and enjoy those last little bits of summer!

Wardrobe Refashioning

One thing I did get accomplished while home on leave with the Sprout was to clean through our clothes and coat closets and purge the stuff we're no longer wearing. Nice stuff got packed off to Goodwill. Stained, torn and otherwise battered stuff got ripped into cleaning rags. What was left was a box of miscellaneous t-shirts and stuff that has small flaws but interesting fabric. I'm thinking that some wardrobe refashioning might be coming my way. I've been seeing all these great posts about how to refashion t-shirts and dress shirts.

The first one I decided to tackle was this brown Old Navy shirt. I liked the light-weight fabric used for it, and thought it would be a great summer shirt. But I rarely wore it because the collar and three-quarter length sleeves made it feel a little more stuffy than my usual summer wear. So I decided to "refashion" it.

I carefully removed the collar and sewed the placket back together (placket? is that the right term? do you know what I mean?). I ripped out the sleeves and made little gathered things (now, what would you call THEM?). The armholes were much too big once the sleeves were gone so I sewed a few darts to try to gather them up and keep the arm hole from gaping too badly.

I'm not in love with the final product, but, heh, it was FREE. And I'll see if I get a little bit more use out of it now that is has been "refashioned".

Creative Baby Gifts, III

I just had to show off this tag blanket that my mother-in-law made for the Sprout. I didn't make it but can you tell that I helped pick out the fabric? Hah! It's my favorite Spotted Owl from Alexander Henry! The Sprout likes sucking on all the tags, and I like looking at the lovely owls.

Question of the day: Magazines

What magazines do you subscribe to?

I adore magazines, especially glossy make-me-wanna-buy-stuff, eye-candy magazines. But I got sick of having piles of magazines stacking up and felt that it was an area of my life that I could simplify. I let all of my subscriptions go, and chose to use design and craft blogs for my eye candy and inspiration. The only subscription I miss right now is the O magazine. It's the most literate of the women's magazines that I've found and I often read it cover-to-cover. Even the sections that I strongly disagree with.

Lately I've been experimenting with internet magazines. They're free, they're multi-media, and they're total eye-candy. I miss paper though. I really do. You won't find me shelling out big bucks for a Kindle anytime soon.

Here are a couple of e-magazines I've found:
-- Parasol--Artists and Designers
-- LMNOP--An Australian mag for "hip, stylish parents and their children"
-- Small--more gorgeous stuff for the wee ones

Do you know of others? What do you think about internet magazines? What paper magazines do you find it worthwhile to continue to subscribe to? When you're stuck in an airport between flights, what magazine do you buy to get you through?

Playing with 50 mm lens

One of my goals this summer was to work on my photography skills. I didn't find a class that worked with my schedule but I did do some reading and some trying-to-listen-to-my-husband-explain-technical-mumbo-jumbo. I've got a long way to go to learn how to use my camera to its full advantage, but here are some photos I took playing with my 50 mm lens and aperture priority settings. I have only the slightest understanding of what I'm doing, but it's a baby step in the right direction.

These were taken before the string of hot days that fried all living things to a crisp.

Made: Amy Butler's Comfy Jumper Dress

This is The Comfy Jumper Dress from Little Stitches for Little Ones. I am so in love with this "Spotted Owl" fabric from Alexander Henry that I bought it in several different colorways. You can be sure you'll see it again around her.

I used the pattern pieces from Amy Butler, but, as usual, I find her written directions a bit confusing. I skipped a whole section about a "front band" and a "back band" because I just didn't get it. I also finished it more carefully on the inside so there are no exposed seams against baby's skin. The directions left some of the seams exposed which doesn't make sense to me if you're going to fully line it anyway. It's not that much more work to finish it with the seam allowances to the inside (Does that make sense? I'm not used to writing much about HOW I sew.)

I made the 9-12 month size so it would be big enough to get plenty of wear out of it. I figure the Sprout can wear it over a long-sleeve t-shirt and leggings this winter.

I also made bloomers out of some tangerine colored Amy Butler fabric that goes great with the owls (see post above for photo). Too bad the dress is so long that you can't see the bloomers :)

Things I would do differently next time: The whole bodice is just odd with the buttons on the back side and the odd notch down the middle in the front. I think I might try to draft my own bodice and switch the buttons to the front, make the neck a tad deeper, and get rid of the "notch". I also realize that making a drooling baby's bodice out of linen is probably a mistake. Every little drop of spittle shows up instantly. Ah well, it's still pretty darn cute, if you ask me.

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We're leaving for vacation to visit our family in the Midwest. I had a bunch of half-finished "draft" posts sitting around so I'll be scheduling them to post while I'm gone. Happy August!

Go Local: Meal #4

The other day I made the most scrumptious blueberry-peach cobbler. The berries were from our very own yard and the peaches came in our Organics to You box the other week. The recipe was from my never-fails-me Cooks Illustrated cookbook. Yum!

One of the ways we've experimented with local food is by trying our hand at some edible landscaping. When we bought our current house, the previous owner had been a pretty serious gardener but more of the roses and pretty flower type. There were lots of pink and blue flowers in narrow flowerbeds on the perimeter of the property. There was a lot of lawn. Or at least more than the Wise and Bearded One and myself care to tend to. So we've been steadily tearing out lawn and adding beds the last four years. We figure that if we add a few more feet of beds every year, soon the lawn will just disappear.

On our side yard we've tried to plant native plants and/or edible plants. Blueberry bushes grow well here. Apparently they like our rainy winters and acidic soil. There are different varieties that make good landscape plants--some stay small and trim instead of getting all big and scraggly. The leaves turn a nice red in the fall. We also have strawberries for a ground cover. In our planting strip we have several herbs that love it hot and dry--lavendar, sage, rosemary,. oregano. In a new bed that we started this year we have a grape vine, a fig tree, rhubarb, and some black currants. In the back yard in pots we have several different kinds of mint. Next year I'd like to start an asparagus bed too. I don't feel the need to have to raise enough food on our property to sustain us, but I like the idea of having plants that do duel purpose--they look nice AND they give us good food right outside our door.