The true cost

Finishing up watching the documentary The True Cost. I have watched other documentaries about clothing/sweatshops, etc. If it's not in your face everyday it is easy to sort of forget. Or see a country name on a label and be like "at least it's not China/whatever country". It is so complex because many of the women are able to better provide for their families by working at garment factories, but cannot have their children with them in the city. Not to mention all the health issues and dangerous situations and chemicals. In the past I was more strict about mostly buying thrifted stuff. The last several years it has been easy to go out and buy something at the mall or target or something. It's still a scavenger hunt but easier because they have the same garment in multiple sizes right there.

Anyway, just want to say this is back on my mind again. I know I want to learn to sew better and make my own clothes. I think it will be a long journey, but the least I can do is try. I can also buy vintage or thrifted or alter clothes I already have. I try to knit practical things for people. Clothing exchanges are fun too. And some things are made in the USA but i remember hearing about how that may mean it's actually one of the Pacific Islands which still have cheap labor etc. I think it's great that Portland clothing companies are starting up and that there is locally made clothing. I have yet to buy anything, but perhaps can save up for something cool someday. I also of course love Colette Patterns and how they are broadening their pattern company and really thinking about their customers. I just need time and space to sew and of course to find the right fabric. 

Shoes are another matter sort of. Slippers are common to knit or sew, but real shoes... I guess it's just good to buy the ones that are good quality and will last a while. 

Anyway. Just some thoughts. I have been focusing on knitting a lot this summer because of our move. Quilts are more straight forward than clothes. I think it is probably good measurements, and practice practice practice. It's so easy to dream of the perfect dress etc. But just like recording music, it takes time and editing and maybe doing something out of tune first. Worth the time to do a muslin of the patten first. I do have some gift card money that I was hoping to use it for curtains when we get a house. We'll see. Maybe I'll get something for clothes too! 

Okay time to keep working on the hat I am knitting!

Back in the studio!

Finally working in the studio again, despite the heat and craziness of the summer! Trying to make a wearable muslin of the Portrait Blouse by Gertie.

I need to hem the sleeves and bottom and also do the zipper. So far it seems that it will fit me. I had to remember a few things... like drawing my dart lines on the wrong side of the fabric... seems like I would remember that, but I guess it's been a while. I like learning construction details, and I think if I can force myself to pick simple enough patterns to start and make wearable muslins prior to using the perfect fabric, I think I will learn a lot from my mistakes.  

Colette's Sorbetto and Hazel

More Colette Patterns prep work. I cut out this light green and white floral fabric for the Sorbetto top a few weeks ago. My mom is borrowing my sewing machine right now so I have been doing just prep work for projects. Today I cut out pieces for the Hazel dress also by Colette. It's black and white gingham. The fabric is pretty lightweight, so I may need to line it or find the right slip. I know gingham is good when you need to find the grain of the fabric weave. This pattern has some pieces of the bodice that are sewn on the bias so I'm excited to see what difference it makes with the checks on the bias. I have never really sewn with stripes, but someday I plan to. I also downloaded the Sencha pattern to hopefully make it some day. I guess I figure if I can make several patterns by Colette Patterns sucessfully I will learn a lot and it will help me with other pattern brands later that I feel are generally too big when I sew my size.

An update: working on the jean quilt and I am inches away from finishing the hand stitched blanket-stitch binding. I am really excited to finish, photograph it, and give it to our friend.  Then I can move on to other projects!! Baby blanket, other quilts in the works, and actually sewing the above patterns. I feel like this is going to be a productive summer!

Swim Swim

A few years ago (was it last summer, or the summer before?) I started sewing a swimsuit.

It is a vintage sewing pattern: Simplicity 5696  Really it's a swim dress, and could easily be a tennis dress in different fabric. The suit is not super form fitting though it is fully lined. Fabric was found at Mill End in their flatfolds.

I got part way through, took a break and then this summer decided I needed to get it finished. What was left was shortening the shoulder straps, hemming it, and making the shorts. I bought a second pattern to make shorts that I thought I would like better. (See figure B). The shorts fit well with no alterations, I just added elastic at the waist and legs. I bought a strapless bra type of thing you can sew into a dress/swimsuit. This summer I decided instead to sew an old bra into the suit. I think it will work much better and be more comfortable.

Anyway, I'm very happy with the result, and I'm pretty sure I will be wearing the suit tomorrow on my vacation! I don't swim much, and I have not had a real swimsuit for like at least 6 years. (sad but true).

Overall, the fabric was not to hard to sew. The machine did not like it if I tried to use zigzag stitch, but straight stitch worked pretty well. It is sort of a heavy suit because it is fully lined and it is a dress, so there is a lot of fabric. Anyway, I am really pleased with it, and I would recommend these patterns to intermediate sewers who are interested in trying out something new.

I researched off and on for shapes I liked and I think that if I did another suit some day I might make the back not so high necked. Yes it does have a zipper. I know, right?!! Just makes me think of the vintage suits we tried on at my grandma's house when we were kids.

a few links:
Glamoursplash a cool blog about vintage swimwear, etc.
Popina buy vintage inspired swimwear in Portland.
Retronaut Vintage Jantzen ads  Jantzen is super cool, with its history in Portland, and there are lots of vintage suits for sale if you want to spend the money.
I also spent a while on Etsy looking at vintage suits, and also just looking at vintage photographs.
Etsy link 1, Etsy link 2, Etsy link 3

Pictures from the last few days

 Veggie Pad Thai - Friday

 Brownies! -Friday

 Estate sale games -Saturday

 I sewed PJ pants. Not super flattering on the hanger, but i think they are pretty cute. I love the stripes, and they are capris. - Monday

 Today I bought sock yarn. I'm hoping to use an afterthought heel pattern, i think i will have a higher finishing rate, if i do the heels last. I'm not sure which color i'll start with. I'm trying to finish the baby sweater and red slippers i am knitting first. (Which i still need to get pictures of!) - Wednesday

I am going on vacation on the weekend, so hopefully i will have lots of photos.

August.

I guess it is August.
I'm realizing that I just am not taking many pictures any more in life. So I will try to change that! After all, I have a decent camera, and I love documenting things.

I don't really know that I could commit to taking (and posting) 1 photo a day. But, I might be able to at least take a photo a day. (And post once a week, or a few times a week?)

Knitting. I have been listening a lot to the Knitmoregirls podcast. I love starting at the beginning of podcasts (like I started listening to the 2008 podcasts and am working my way to the future - currently in spring 2009.) Also with Knitting Pipeline, I started at the beginning and now have caught up (and now I have to wait for the new show to come out every other week).

I have been working on a baby sweater out of baby yarn. It's navy blue and after the 3rd time starting it I'm finally making progress!

Meanwhile. I took apart a ribbon "sweater set" that my grandma gave me. I love my grandma, but it is something i would never wear. It was made of white ribbon yarn, along with rainbowy novelty yarn that looks like this except imagine it in rainbow.

The sweater was knitted and put together in a way where the pieces were individual pieces sewn together. So, I was able to unravel it all, and get pretty big balls of wound up yarn. Then, I searched and searched on ravelry for the perfect shrug/cardigan pattern (I even considered some top patterns- though i don't wear too much white, so i figured white as a cardigan would be better). I finally today decided that maybe i should just go with the baby sweater pattern (the yarn is bigger, and so are the needles). The baby sweater design is just a top-down raglan, so I cast on with the ribbon yarn and I have done about 2 inches today. The unfortunate thing with ribbon yarn is that i'm not sure if i love the texture. It is cool, which is good for summer, as I'm trying to make a good summer cardigan. I have no idea if i will have enough yarn. so far I am using the yarn double stranded. I assume since the original sweater was a cardigan and a tank, that I will have enough to make a short-ish cardigan (that will go okay with dresses, etc) with possibly short or 3/4 sleeves or something.

I sort of doubt that I can make this cardigan in a little over a week. I'm going on vacation then, and I think it will be very hot, so it might be nice if it was done, we'll see. I'm not totally making up the pattern, but since i'm going off the baby pattern, i will have to try it on as i go, and make sure i know when to separate the sleeves, etc. we'll see. I may hate the texture, or it may just not work at all. But, I have to try, Right?

Sewing:


I had made a Sorbetto top (by Colette patterns) that was black and white gingham. I did bias tape binding on the neck, but hadn't done it on the sleeves. For some reason I just hemmed the sleeves without the binding. That was a few weeks ago. Last week I made another Sorbetto in a crazy yellow fabric that I'm not sure if i love (also it turned out a little big). While making that top, I learned how to sew the bias tape on better. So last night, I ripped out the hem on the sleeves of the black and white top, and finished the bias tape. It is an awesome hot pink.

Also, I bought a shirt a month or more ago. Shirts are all so long these days. I had tried to hem it by hand, but then the hem seemed heavy, and it was flipping up, so you could see the handsewing. Today I just zigzaged it, and then trimmed off the previous hem. So... The hem still rolls a little, but I think it will be okay. it is a raw edge beyond the zig zag, but I hope it won't fray/I can try to figure out what to do about it later.

Okay I guess that it is it for now. I suppose I should take my August 1st photo..! (the sweater photos up above!)

Dotted Sorbetto

 Finally I have finished a project! My first top project...yay! I guess these aren't the most flattering photos. oh well. The pattern is Sorbetto, a free download pattern from Colette Patterns. I got the fabric from (i think) a bunch of yard sale fabric from my boyfriend's mom. There were two matching fabrics, one with the polka-dots, one just plain teal. It seems a little bright to me, but I'm excited about embracing new colors and patterns. I had barely enough of the dots to cut the pattern out! I used the plain to make my very own bias tape following this awesome tutorial from Colette Patterns for the neck and armhole edges. The hardest part was trying to sew the bias tape on with a sort-of-straight line. I somehow chose to use pastel pink as my top stitching thread, which means it shows up a little more. But, this is my very first time, I'm sure the next time i'll be better at it.

My mom says when she was a (missionary) kid coming back to the USA from Africa with her sisters, they all had dresses made out of a similar color and print. I will try to find some photos. Apparently there may also be a matching purse at one of my aunt's houses?

I'm looking forward to cutting out a black and white small-ish gingham print for another sorbetto. I have some vintage bias tape in hot  pink that seems fun! I was so happy to learn how to make my own, I think it will be great for many future projects. The best part is using up scraps, and also being able to have stuff that matches perfectly rather than the 20+ colors at the store.

A project update.

I'm so close to being finished with a certain project that I'm excited about. I can't talk too much about it as it is a surprise. Let's just say that I'm learning more about altering clothes. It has been a fun project because I'm working on it with my friend, so we're trying to figure it out together. Anyway, I think I will be done soon. I spent a lot of today hand sewing on it.

I finally finished hemming and altering a shirt for Mike, which is great, but I have three more to work on. It is going sort of slowly, as I'm used to working on stuff for myself, and he is taller and bigger than me, and guys clothes definitely fit differently. The first shirt turned out pretty good, and I learned a lot, and I think the next ones will be better.

I started on a top project, but I'm already worried that it will look like a maternity top. ha. It's probably just not a good style for my body shape, and mainly, like most commercially made patterns, I'm making my size, but it's probably two sizes too big. here's some photos of other ones people have made. I think if I can just take it down several sizes it will look better, but right now I'm a little worried. Most of what I read about it is that other sewers altered it. Anyway, I am making a test one first to try to get the fit right, before I try different fabric.

Today I also printed out (Finally!) the Colette Sorbetto free pattern. I'm really excited about that one. It seems simple, but there are so many different options with fabric. I love seeing other people's designs, and I really really wish there was a ravelry-like site for sewing clothes.

So, I should get back to sewing... and when I finally finish something I will take some photos!

this week

My plan of finishing a garment in the last week of February did not happen. I managed to get sick, just when I thought I was getting better from my cold, I got a sinus infection with a horrible sore throat. I'm finally feeling better after a couple days, which is so awesome!  I will just have to work on sewing things soon when I have time. I'm also meeting with a friend next week, on an ongoing project. I honestly haven't worked on it much since our last fitting, so it's good to have a fitting scheduled to encourage me to work on it.
Yep. Not a whole lot has been happening, just resting. I confess that I found out that Youtube has whole episodes of What Not To Wear on it.I've watched a few episodes the last few days.  I don't think i dress that badly,  but I am hoping (as i feel like i mention every post) to find tops that aren't T-shirts that I will like, or just have more varied options than my high school T-shirts.

Survey time!!!

If you're interested in taking a survey about you and your clothes... that i just made up this morning sort of randomly... here it is..

I'm super excited some people have taken it already. i hope it wasn't too long winded or weird.
anyway... I will look at results later today i guess.


Right now i need to get back to a sewing project for work. Draft (you know, like wind) blockers for under our garage door. I made the first one a few months ago for a regular door. Today i'm making 3 to cover the length of our garage door. I have two done, except for handsewing some velcro, and then I just took a lunch break, and I have 1 left to make!!! Thank goodness for podcasts and that the sewing is going well!


I have photos to post about several projects, hopefully in the next few days I'll get something more fun up here!

Statistics

Wow. I once had a clothing excel spreadsheet. and I've just now found Dixie DIY's clothing spreadsheet. It is inspiring to see someone else working on the same thing. (Though my wardrobe organizing/reinventing has sort of been on the back burner.) I'm pretty sure my clothing spreadsheet went away when my computer died a while back. So, I will plan on making a new one! I also made a hand bound book cataloging my clothes in spring 2009- wow I guess I should finish it (I never quite finished the notes about the clothes) As I have had some turnover, perhaps I should make a new one, or give an update of some sort! Without counting, I know I need more skirts, since I only have a few (and fewer still that I wear), and I need more shirts that are not T-shirts. I also have several sweaters with boat-necks, which is great, except they're hard to layer... I guess I need boatneck tops to go along with them. Or just get better sweaters?

I will need to think more about this... :)

PS: I have been catching up on blog reading while I wait for my song tracks to upload to CD baby, which will then be available on iTunes, etc in the next few days. Hooray!

To do lists

I have decided the last few days I should plan my sewing projects a little more, and try to stay on task. Ha. But, like the Colette Patterns Palette Challenges (where sewists chose garments and colors they want to work with and decide how many pieces they're going to make in a certain amount of time), I think it would be good to try to have some focus, and try to make clothes that I might actually wear.

I really have not done much with sewing knits, and I don't have a serger, but I do find the few knit dresses I have to be the most comfortable to wear and I wish I had more of them! Maybe this will also help me to get to some mending projects, and finish up projects I have started (like the vintage-style swimsuit) - and to help me focus on what I want my future wardrobe to look like (more skirts, more kinds of shirts than just T-shirts).

One of the patterns I have on my list already is the Sorbetto top by Colette Patterns. I think it's also time to find patterns to go with some of the fabrics I have - especially when it's a big enough amount to make a dress or garment out of it.

In other news: I hemmed the PJ pants I made for my sister, and they will be finished tomorrow! Also, a post or so ago I had a picture of a pink/red knitted shrug I had started...I think I found a better pattern - easier to not lose track of where I am, and I think it will just look a lot better. I wasn't very happy with how the other one was turning out, so I ripped it out and restarted.

Also: Today I stopped by SCRAP - and I could have bought lots of things, but instead, I bought 3 pieces of fabric, some bias tape and hem binding, and about 6 colors of embroidery thread. Since I have been trying to limit my stash, I think I did pretty well in buying specific things and not getting too carried away.

PJs

I finished a pair of PJ pants for myself. the pattern was easy... but very wide legged, even after I took them in a little from what the pattern called for. The pattern is   Simplicity 4023 
Instead of making button holes on the waist band for a drawstring, I just used elastic, way easier! I'm really happy with how the pattern turned out, though I hemmed them more that 4 inches.  I'm hoping to make some flannel PJs sometime this winter.

Check out the contrast stitching I did on the hems. Fancy!

Tonight I worked a little more on altering the swimsuit/dress I started this summer. It was too big on me. It fits better now, but I need to shorten the straps, and hem it still. I love the fabric, and I'm excited to swim sometime!

Lala

Today I cut out fabric for some PJ pants. I'm excited to make them, I know pants can be hard, but they are PJs, so it's not like it really matters if they are perfect. I will sew them later this week or next week I hope.

Also... I'm finally much more excited about some socks i have been knitting.  I have been trying to make a pair of socks for my sister for, oh, a year. And somehow the first pattern I tried, i got so confused on it, it was hard to set down and pick it back up again. So, then I came up with another pattern, Twisted which is free on Knitty.com. So i have maybe 3/4 of an olive green sock in that pattern. A few days ago I found another pattern I really liked, Simple Striped Socks, a free pattern from Lion Brand Yarn. I started knitting them maybe 2-3 days ago, and they're going so fast. In addition to the olive green, I'm using (I think) Noro sock yarn. I bought the yarn last year, and tried to make socks while I was in Kenya. I finished a black pair for my boyfriend sucessfully, but never finished the first one for me. A few days ago, i took apart that first sock and meanwhile got inspired to put the two yarns together for the striped sock. The colors are a little off in this picture, but i'm finally more excited about the project. I think i will finish the Twisted sock, and either give her mis-matched socks, or make two striped ones if I have enough yarn.

Today I met with my friend Sarah for our first knitting group. It was really fun, I knit on my socks, and she started a turtle... Sheldon.
I look forward to knitting with her again soon!