Archive for March 2008
happy birthday Zella + congratulations Bill
Zella 2 years ago…
Zella yesterday…
I’m truly excited for him even if it does mean a lot of time away or more double the work hours. Maybe I’ll be able to get some fabric dyeing done while he’s out of the house since he loathes our noisy washing machine.
i like me better headless
I posted this blue tunic dress a while ago but never posted pictures of me IN the dress – mainly because the lighting was terrible for the photos that were taken, and my hair was wild (as you can sort of see by the shadow.)
But when I was out the other day without the girls – a rare situation – I had a woman ask me where I got the dress and I was all excited to be able to tell her I made it myself. And that’s the extent of my chatter about this blue dress – it’s obviously nothing amazing, but it’s still fun to have people notice and comment on something you’ve made yourself.
Onto headless pants. I made these for myself a few weeks ago and I wear them quite often. They have a simple elastic waistband and are super comfy, but I don’t feel like I look like a lazy mom when I wear them out (which is how I feel when I wear some of my other elastic-waisted pants.) Even just typing the words “elastic waist”gives me the willies.
Again, wild hair. If you click on the first picture you can see the wildness of my head for a good laugh. You’ve been warned!
The front needs work because it appears to present a wong. In my defense, the original pants were WAY too big so I had to shave an inch off of each seam (4 inches total!) to get them to fit. Obviously that’s no good. But then I wasn’t about to spend a few hours fixing a pair of “elastic-waisted” pants. Ew.
squishy
Smack me back into reality, people!
store stocking tomorrow!
Stockings always cause me to have panic attacks, but I have so much finished stuff here at this point I really have no choice. My sewing room is filled to the brim with odds and ends. Oh, the first picture is for a collaboration to be stocked at a later date – the coordinating dress is adorable (sewn by Christina)
You can check more inventory out at my Hyena Cart. Wish me luck!
a book and a scarf
I stumbled upon a great book during my latest outing to Half Price Books (which is an awesome discount bookstore that has a little bit of everything but usually NO interesting books on sewing.) This time I lucked out, though! The Unit Method of Clothing Construction contains 280 pages of diagrams and text for the home sewer.
I love how straightforward this book is, maybe it’s a textbook? There are no photographs at all, just page after page of text intermingled with very clear and easy-to-read graphics. The book is laid out in very specific sections… you can check out the table of contents at Amazon.com. A few of the 22 different sections include:
-Sewing and Patternwork Equipment
-Altering Patterns
-Working with Knitted Patterns
-Exposed Seams and Edge Finishes
-Bands, Plackets, Casings, and Yokes
There are nearly 20 pages of info and instructions on all types of zippers – lapped, centered, fly front, invisible, and exposed. I know many of us are afraid of zippers (we diaper-makers all snap happy, right?) so I thought this was a useful section.
One of my favorite sections is the one called Components of Fit. It shows common fit problems when working with different garment types and also demonstrates how to fix them. I have actually been looking for information on this, especially for pants.
I think I paid a little under $20 for my copy, but you can find them for slightly more at amazon.com or at this store – Waveland Press?
Finally, a huge thank you to the lovely Florence for this sweet scarf she sent me recently. It’s got a bit of furry stuff at one end, some wool, some plaid… it’s like a collage scarf, which I love!
random sewing
Size 2/3 custom play dress to match a Fussybutt AIO diaper….
Zella kept trying to steal that diaper AND dress because she adores “fishies,” so I made her her own dress with plenty of growing room.
Custom ordered size 2 dress with organic wool leggings that just happened to coordinate.
Custom sea life set for a wonderful, patient overseas customer. 
New style – Fussybutt organic wool capri pants in a super cute length, and an old school serged fitted diaper.
