Sew Distracted

Remembrances of sewing week part 1

Sewing week was different this year.  I spent most of my time actually in the sewing room sewing and hanging out with my sewing friends.  This is the first year I didn't have to work, and the lure of the computer was substantially reduced as there was no pressing need to turn it on.  I had a lot of fun and got a lot done, but already it is becoming a blur, a happy blur, but a blur nonetheless:

I began sewing week after a long absence from sewing and plagued by a bit of confusion over not only what I wanted to sew but what I wanted to wear.  Having spent the summer in my gardening clothes and not having spent much time visiting my closet since February, I felt disconnected and uncertain.  Although I had plans, I was plagued by indecision.

Following our introductory show-and-tell and personal makeovers, I was even more confused, probably amplified by the fact that I still had not settled into California time and was not sleeping well.  My plans went completely awry and I was not sure what I was sewing.

Rather than cut anything out on Monday, I started revising my plans and made an emergency run to Britex for a new lining for the eyelet and a complimentary fabric for the floral.  Back at the hotel, all the new fabrics had to go in the wash and only later did I realize that I purchased new fabrics without the requisite threads and a second trip to Britex was required.

Monday was plan revision and panic day, along with a little tipple of wardrobe-refashion.

Tuesday was devoted to the blue eyelet skirt, about which more will come later and buying antique buttons from "the button ladies".

Wednesday I made the black/lilac floral skirt shown to the left.  As you might recall (see below) I had originally planned on making this a short narrow skirt, but that idea did not seem to go over well on Monday and I threw that plan out the window. Not really sure what I wanted, and with encouragement to wear longer skirts

(and here I am trying to get out of longer skirts)

I decided to use Vogue 2969  using the floral print for the body of the skirt and black for the contrast inset and overlay.

As the pattern is designed for knits or wovens cut on the bias, I hoped it would work out with my black fabric and I went to Britex hoping to find a black contrast that looked good with the background of the black print.  That sounds a lot easier than it actually was, but in the end success was mine. 

You can see the finished skirt in the photo above.  I still have mixed feelings about this skirt.  It is the only project from sewing week about which I am at all ambivalent, and I still wonder if I should have just stuck to my original plan.  But it is a nice, wearable skirt and I shall just have to see how I feel about it over time. 

The skirt was easy to make and I had no problems with the pattern.  The instructions were clear and everything went together well.  I like the basic shape of the skirt and will probably make it again in a different fabric.  Bias polyester crepe de chine was not easy to work with and in the end I grew frustrated and just serged off the hem. I had thought of doing the band finish as show on the pattern, but decided that was just too fussy with the print.  If the skirt becomes a wardrobe basic, I will eventually finish it off with a narrow hem.

Wednesday night I cut out the orange cotton skirt.

Thursday we had Christine Johnson talking about sewing with knits accompanied by patterns and swatches of her wonderful fabrics.  I have used some of her patterns in the past and love them, and of course her fabrics are fabulous.  It was a great day, but a little slow on sewing progress. Of course, once again I sewed well into the night.

Thursday and Friday were also devoted to the orange cotton skirt, which was almost finished by the time we had to vacate the sewing room at 4 PM on Friday.  All that remains is the hem.  It would have been finished had I arranged my schedule differently, but I was working on some misinformation: namely that we would be able to sew until 6 PM.  When I returned to the room following a lunch and shopping break at 3 PM, Sandra had just learned that we had to close down by 4 and the remaining hour was spent packing everything up.

Saturday was fabric shopping day followed by dinner at Sandra's.  It was a fabulous day, and yes, I did buy fabric.

Here is a picture of me at Stone Mountain and Daughter, shopping up a storm.  The pile of fabric behind my right shoulder is also mine, waiting to be cut:

Decisions, Decisions

Here it is September once again, and I am packing up projects for sewing week.  Truthfully I am having a lot of trouble focusing my sewing thoughts and narrowing down the list of projects I want to make.  And even though fall is just around the corner, and I am staring wistfully at fall fashions, my sewing projects are not quite settling into a fall pattern yet.

Here is what has survived the first cut, although they aren't all in my suitcase yet:

Cotton eyelet from Kashi at Metro Textiles.  This fabric has moved on and off of my cutting table all summer and I really do want to make it.  The neutral color means I can wear it well into fall as there will be plenty of warm days ahead.

I meant to sew it up this week, but since I am still struggling with packing -- I have grown totally out of touch with my closet and it is a strange and foreign land -- it does not appear that the skirt will be finished before take-off on Saturday morning.  More likely I will have to stitch this garment up if I intend to wear it.  Luckily it is a TNT pattern I have made several times before, although I will have to make a Britex run first thing as I seem to be experiencing a severe shortage in the zipper supply.  Only today, as I was trying to gather supplies did I remember that I had not yet placed my semi-annual zipperstop order before life intervened in my plans last spring.

Aside from the blue eyelet, there are several other fabrics that have recently joined the skirt queue and it looks like my sewing week will primarily be skirt week.

I posted this fabric back in June when I met some sewing friends for a shopping spree and gabfest at Metro Textiles.  Although the fabric really screams summer, the deep oranges strike me as a possible transition for fall.  Although the fabric is quite light, making it perfect for the full circle skirt (I hope) the lining is heavier, and might make this a more transitional garment. 

When I started gathering together potential projects for this trip, this fabric also reminded me of some tangerine chenille that has been sitting in my yarn stash for some time.  I was about to add it to the E-bay pile, but now I am thinking of designing a sweater to wear with the skirt, perhaps extending its seasonal usefulness even further.

Then, in early August I picked up two beautiful polyester prints at JoAnn fabrics.  Since they are poly I can't imagine blouses or even dresses from them, but think they would make interesting and fun skirts:

I know that once again, they are prints that are more reminiscent of summer than fall, but I think they can be mixed in with many trans-seasonal pieces, and can also travel to more southern climes year-round.  Besides, what can I say, I am hemming white pants and knitting a white sweater as well.  Seasonality and the creative spirit have never quite meshed in my mind.

I also have fabric and plans for two jackets, although I might not get to either one of them.  If I get started I might only get as far as the muslins, but I am still considering these two pieces. They may  go in lieu of the skirts or in addition to the skirts.

  This is an interesting silk and polyamide (nylon) chenille-like fabric on a silk gauze backing.  It actually looks like individual strands of yarn that have been stitched and partially fused to the backing.  I think it would make a very interesting jacket but it has to be simple, as the fabric is the statement here.

I have had the Textile Studio Capri jacket pattern for some time but have never made it.  I am not sure if this fabric is appropriate but the style looks like the kind of thing I am looking for.  I will have to do a muslin first anyway.

Then an off-white and black wool with a coordinating piece of lace for a jacket inspired by something from Valentino Spring 2007.  Since it is wool, it is probably seasonless in this world of air-conditioning, heating, and automobiles.  More information whenever I get to this particular project. Again, I will have to make a muslin for this as it requires a bit of morphing between two patterns I haven't really used before.

So do I go for the quick thrills or the more complicated and interesting projects, or dabble in a little of both.  Fewer than 60 hours remain before some semblance of a decision must be made.

Sewing Week

Here I am at the Marines Memorial CLub in San Francisco for Sandra Betzina's Power Sewing Week. Just the name power sewing is encouraging and I am ready to jump right in and have a lot of fun.

Yesterday was the first day and Sandra had a lot of garments to show us, including her new patterns and some glimpses of things coming in the future. We got fitted and each got to work on our individual projects. I started with the blue linen pants which were giving me problems.  I had Sandra draw lines on the pants illustrating where the side seams should have been and I cut them apart and used the pant pieces to draft new pattern pieces for the right side.  I still used the same crotch and waist shaping  that had been previously perfected by Monica (the pattern drafting expert).  In that pant lesson she showed us where to place the grain line, 1/2 inch outside the center of the pant leg, and perpindicular to the crotch line. When I look at the new pants leg  they look normal,until I look at the grain line as compared to the waist and side seam shaping. Definitely some bias going on there.

I do hope to have pictures to show you all later.  The internet connection in my room is down and I cannot upload my photos through the internet  connection in the business center here. 

Today I will line the linen pants and then start something else.  The pants look really good and I can't wait to show them.