floating world

slow sewing (& a cambie dress)

For a long time I had this idea that sewing should be quick. I remember reading an interview with a fashion designer, I think when I was in high school, and when talking about how they started making clothes they said something along the lines of "I used to pick up fabric on the way home from work, whip up a dress, and wear it out dancing that night". 

"Yes," I thought. "That is what sewing is all about".

I kept this idea with me for a really long time. I made quick little A-line skirts and simple dresses and tops that could be whipped up in a day. But it wasn't all that satisfying, because I thought the things I was making looked homemade, so I didn't feel confident wearing them. Because I thought sewing should be quick, I would skip things that seemed tedious - like pattern markings and basting zippers - and then find that in the end this made things take longer, and get discouraged or put them aside.

It has taken me about 17 years of on-and-off sewing to work out that slow sewing is good. That it's okay to spend a few weeks working on a garment. That basting and pressing and transferring markings properly save time in the end. That it's worth taking the time to make something that I'm happy with and proud to wear. And that the steps in a pattern that seem complicated and tedious are the things that make a real difference to the finished garment (like pockets!) I'm not writing this to be all smug or evangelical, I'm just amazed that it's taken me so long to figure it out.

I've been thinking about this lately, because I've been sewing slowly but making things that I'm really happy to wear. The first was a Cambie dress. I took my time making this, and the finish is really good - it's lined, and I didn't skip any of the steps or interfacing or things like that. It was my first attempt at a Sewholic pattern - I've been interested in their pattern line because they are designed for pear-shaped body types, which is what I am. I cut out a size 6, and it fits well, although I think next time I'll pinch about a centimetre out from the side seam under the arms, but taper out to keep the waist size the same. This is meant to be a casual sundress, so a bit of ease is good, but if I was making a more formal dress I'd probably want it a bit more fitted. The instructions were logical, and it all came together without any grief. The pattern felt a bit more detailed and interesting to sew than the big pattern company offerings, and the sizing was definitely more accurate and better suited to my body shape.

I bought this cotton voile from The Fabric Store in Surry HIlls about eighteen months ago, and originally planned to make an unlined maxi dress, but then realised it was very sheer and would be too transparent. The Cambie dress is designed for lining, so it was perfect for that, and I bought some black cotton voile from Spotlight for the inside which makes it very soft and comfortable to wear. The print is a bit louder than I usually wear - I remember in the shop thinking that it was Gorman-esque - but I really like it. While I'm glad I didn't rush making this, I wish I'd sewn it a bit sooner because it would have been great to wear over summer. But there's always next year, and in the meantime I can layer it with tights and a cardigan. This is the first fitted dress pattern I've tried for a long time (usually I do looser, more smock-like things) and so now I know that it fits properly I'm keen to make another one - maybe with the fuller skirt next time.

week 2

A second week of wearing at least one me-made item every day. I think by the end of this I might actually be ready for a break from denim skirts and stripey t-shirts...

Things I have noticed from this project so far:

1) I seem to stand in exactly the same way when my photo is taken. Unless I am holding a cat.

2) My grey ankle boots look much better with shorter skirts. Useful to know.

I took one of the photos, last Friday, in my "sewing space" - this is a corner of the spare room, with a desk and bookcase where I keep my sewing stuff. There's also a chest of drawers of fabric elsewhere in the room, and a shelf of craft books on the book case.

This was the last room to get tied up after we moved house last year (there's always a "last room", right?) - it was where all the homeless things and furniture that we needed to sell ended up, and until we had houseguests coming at Christmas it was a total disaster. We've been slowly chipping away at it, and it's now - finally - a nice, useful space.

quick knitting

I haven't been knitting much lately. I blame all the Danish TV shows we've been watching, as I'm not a good enough knitter to be able to read subtitles at the same time. I also blame the Clara dress I started making nearly two years ago, which Milla has long outgrown, but which I'm determined to finish (I've finally finished the ginormous skirt and am now up to the bodice). It is not a particularly enjoyable knit, I find the alpaca hairy and uncooperative, and the pattern is fiddly to follow.

Anyway, I decided that since the alpaca dress will be too small for Milla and it will end up being a gift for a yet-to-be-determined girl baby (I will have to find parents who appreciate the years of my life that have been eaten up by this dress and who are willing to dress their child in hairy charcoal alpaca) I can put it aside, and knit Milla something that will fit her this winter. And I needed it to be quick, satisfying, a bit mindless and not at all hairy. So I'm making a Versa dress in Cascade 220 - some of the grey and orange left over from this cardigan, plus pink and yellow. It's going along at a cracking pace and making me remember why I like knitting. Hooray! The pattern is simple enough to do in front of the TV, but the stripes make it more interesting than a vast swathe of plain stocking stitch.

Other things:

I've been reading! I finished The Night Circus, The Snow Child & Gone Girl and they were all completely different but really enjoyable. They had just the right level of interesting-ness - perhaps the book equivalent of knitting a stripey Versa dress? - where they're not so challenging or grim that they're onerous to read (I'm looking at you, A Fine Balance), but not so vacuous that they feel like a waste of time. Now I'm engrossed in The Paris Wife which I really recommend, especially if you're at all in to Hemingway and have read A Moveable Feast.

We just finished watching Season 2 of Homeland, and saw Moonrise Kingdom and Argo recently. I'm looking forward to The Great Gatsby, if nothing else it should be a spectacle.

How about you? What are you knitting and reading and watching?

And thank you for all the blog reader ideas. At the moment I'm using Bloglovin on the phone and laptop, it seemed very slow at first but now seems to be running fine (or maybe I just got used to it).

week 1

I managed week 1 of "Me Made May" without too much trouble. Actually, the most trouble was managing to get a photograph every day. I am making friends with the timer function on the camera, and I have a whole new appreciation for people who regularly post outfit photos. As I expected there are lots of stripes and lots of denim. Details of the various me-made items are in the Flickr set here.

me made may

It's May! How can that be?

And this year I have decided to jump on the "Me Made May" bandwagon, and wear at least one handmade item each day for the month. I'll try and take photos too, but since my outfits definitely don't deserve their own daily posts I'm going to combine them in to weekly updates.

I do wear a lot of things I've made, especially the denim skirts, but I'm hoping this month will help me find the gaps in my wardrobe and work out what I need to make next. I'm also hoping that getting really sick of wearing the same things over and over will prod me in to sewing myself some new clothes from fabric and patterns in the stash.

Sometimes when things are busy and sewing takes time and effort it's so tempting just to dash in to a shop and pick up something cheap and adequate but, as lots of other people have said already, reading about the factory collapse in Bangladesh has been a timely reminder for me that these cheap clothes have to have a greater cost somewhere along the line, often human and environmental.

holidays + kcw

It's school holidays here - hard to believe that the boy child has already finished his first term at school. That wobbly tooth fell out on the last day of term, so the tooth fairy pillow got its first outing too.

I'm enjoying the change of pace, even if the tyranny of the lunch box and school run has been replaced by breaking up squabbles and lots of demands for food and entertainment. It's been good to potter, catch up with friends, visit the park, do some craft and cooking together and see a movie.

We just got back from a couple of nights in Canberra - it's a perfect place for small children, with lots of museums and activities. This time we visited the Deep Space Centre, War Memorial, Questacon and Parliament House. And stopped in Moss Vale on the way there and back to break up the journey and have a milkshake at Bernie"s and a peek in the wonderful Made By Others.

Now we're back, catching up on washing and I'm thinking about Kids Clothes Week sewing. I've missed the first couple of days, but I'm going to join in for the rest of the week because I really need to make some winter clothes for Milla. Ali is in uniform most of the time now, and isn't growing quite so fast, but Milla needs play trousers and some dresses and tops. So far I've been cutting out and tracing patterns - in an ideal world I'd make her a smock top, a couple of Geranium dresses (maybe one smock-length), and a couple of pairs of After School pants. I've got my eye on the Parsley Pants pattern too, but I don't think that will be released til after KCW. I'll see just how much I can fit in, in between washing-hanging, trampoline-jumping, food-prepping, lego-building and all the other school holiday stuff. And if I don't finish it all this week, there's always next week.

making a silk purse out of a sow's ear

I was very happy when Marina asked me to test her new Little Ellie Dress pattern a couple of weeks ago - her patterns are so sweet, and dresses for Milla are just about my favourite thing to sew. This has no closures, so is simple to put together, but the contrast collar and band and boat neckline make it look really smart.

To make it I reused some Liberty lawn from this skirt, which I only wore once all summer. I loved the fabric, but never felt comfortable in it - sadly that's the danger of deviating from the uniform. I might have worn it more if I had lined it, but because it was unlined and fairly light I was worried about having a Princess Diana style see-through skirt moment too. The collar and hem band for the dress are in a navy chambray I bought from Kelani ages ago.

I made this fairly roomy for Milla, so that it will fit next summer as a dress, and then hopefully the summer after that as a tunic top. I'm sure the fabric will get much more use this way than it would have if I left it as the skirt, which is great because it's too pretty to waste.

blog reader angst

I'm not a big fan of change, so I'm not happy about having to find a new blog reader when Google Reader shuts up shop. I used Bloglines diligently until it closed (except then it didn't) and then Google Reader. I'm not sure what I think about Bloglovin, I'm put off by the name, but if you would like to follow my blog using it then here is the link:

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

I'm not sure what I'll use as a reader, maybe feedly? Any suggestions?

I loved this post about Google Reader closing, my thoughts exactly.

rockets and robots quilt

This is my reward for putting a dent in the scrap basket with all those baby quilts and easter baskets and bunnies. New fabric! It's about three years since Ali moved in to a single bed and I've had vague plans for a quilt for him ever since. I was thinking about blue and orange, and rockets and robots since he likes that kind of thing at the moment.

I got planning seriously when I decided that this big piece of vintage fabric would be perfect for a quilt back... I've had it since we lived in Japan and nearly de-stashed it at the markets, but every time someone came to look at it I got all anxious, so decided I wasn't quite ready to give it up, but that if I kept it I should use it pronto. And then at the same market Marina gave me this very cute vintage handkerchief which, in a perfect coincidence, fits in with the whole blue / orange / rocket thing that I'd been contemplating.

What I'm thinking of is a nine patch type layout similar to this quilt I made for my nephew, and I will use the handkerchief (backed with cotton, because it's a fine lawn) as one of the blocks. The fabrics in the first picture are a mixture of collections (some Lizzie House Constellations, some Nancy Wolff for Kokka... love the lineny base fabric of those ones, some Rebekah Ginda Robotic for Birch, and a bit of Architextures), with a mixture of blues and orange.

happy easter

More patchwork scrap busting. I think this will be the last for a while - I've made a big dent in the scrap bag with the baby quilts, tooth pillow and these little baskets and bunnies. The bunnies are the Mini Moopy pattern from Nest Studio (not available at the moment, I think) which I've been wanting to make since about, um, 2006? And the baskets are based on a tutorial from Pink Penguin which is excellent.

Wishing you a happy and chocolate-filled weekend!

I'm planning to take a break from sewing, catch up with friends and family, and eat lots of hot cross buns.

(This recipe, again).