100% Proof

This here is a small-scale book-checking procrastination attempt. I'm only on page 84 of 304, so it is going to be a long night (now 6.30pm). And I'm sulking that there is no Dr Who to distract me this evening. I'm determined to do the first read through and add all the easy stuff like pages refs and get the wonky sentences straight. There do seem to be about a gazillion pages refs in this book. Who's stupid idea was that?



Yesterday evening I celebrated the completion of a small freelance writing project. For 5 minutes. Then I realised I had forgotten to write the introduction. Ho hum. It's a teachers resource about contemporary fashion which I thoroughly enjoyed writing - more of which when its online in June. I'm also just coming the end of teaching a 6-week taster course on fashion and textile history, so I've been thoroughly absorbed in reading lots about fashion, which has been a great treat. Its almost like my old job without the boring bits.

Ok, ok, I'll stop now and get on with it. Then I can get on with writing new bits to fill gaps, doing my accounts and preparing my last fashion history class for Tuesday. Another wild bank holiday weekend for me!

edit: 11pm. I'm up to page 226 and my eyes hurt. I think I'll stop for now. Only 78 pages to go.

Wishful thinking

Occasionally I manage to kid myself that I have some time to do something other than work myself into the ground. Mostly this involves planning things I don't have time to actually do. A few weeks ago there was a sale at the sewing shop in town and having gone in to buy thread, I came out with several patterns. I don't buy many sewing patterns (except vintage ones) in the theory that I can design clothes myself and make my own patterns. Yeah right! Well, in theory I can draft simple patterns with weird *intentional* quirks (which is how I like my clothes). Actually I'm woefully out of practice and am better at adapting existing patterns which is waaaay faster and usually easier. Having said all that, I've had time to make ONE garment for myself in about the last 12 months, the blurry dress (the dress isn't blurry, just the pic). One of the only pleasures in this current cold snap following on from the heatwave a couple of weeks ago is that I can wear the blurry dress again, as mid-weight wool and tights is just what I want at the moment. I do need to make a spring- summer version of this dress soon though.

I also prefer to wear things I have designed myself or that are vintage. If I wear anything else, people ask me if I've made it myself and when I say no, they are disappointed in me. And I like to be a walking advert for my work. So I tend to avoid ready-made clothes and making clothes from standard patterns. But time is of the essence and to avoid looking like a rag bag this summer, new clothes are necessary. Last summer I didn't need new clothes as I was wearing wellies and waterproofs most of the time. It is traditional for me to start a summer dress about this time of year and complete it just in time for autumn. I didn't even start one last year.
I'm also somewhat obsessed with interesting jackets at the moment, and although I have had reasonable success in the vintage and second-hand shops recently, I always want more.


So in my fit of hopefulness I bought these:

For the cropped jacket which I plan to make in red cotton, with some kind of detailing on the cuffs, pleating maybe?

This is an autumn-winter project (about 2014 at my current rate) which I'm planning in red jumbo corduroy (which I have tonnes of in stock) with the back panel cut on the bias so it forms a V-shape.

Not sure I will really make this one, I just like the lime green. If anything I'll do the lower version with poofy elbow-length sleeves. It will be in something from my stash, probably a washed silk dupion.



I bought this in the idea that it was a quicker and simpler summer sack-shaped dress as an alternative to the blurry dress (less pleats). And that lime green got me. Again, I think it's a suitable candidate for some embellishment, on both the yoke (instead of horrid plastic beads) and maybe something around the side or hem area. That will depend on what fabric I use.

This one wasn't in the sale, but I used a John Lewis voucher for most of it. I usually use my vouchers (from my credit card spending) for buying food in Waitrose, but sometimes a Vogue pattern is what is required. (not so tasty, I don't advocate clothes (or even patterns) instead of food). I thought I could make this in some left-over silk charmeuse from previous product ranges, but none of the pieces is quite big enough, so I'm still not sure what I can do with this. I might try it in washed dupion as well, seeing as I have loads of it. I love this pattern and am really excited about making it - its an advanced pattern but has none of my pet-hates like collars and... well, just collars. Hate 'em.

I'm nowhere near making any of these, though I do shuffle them around on my sewing table from time to time. I'm actually half way (or more) through my Clothkits skirt, and have been working on a tutorial about it. I tried it on and something was badly wrong, so it's hibernating until I get another hour or so to launch at it again. But deadlines are pressing this week (yes, you, helen...) so maybe next week. Don't hold your breath, though, will you?

Direct from the coalface

Things are a little quiet at Made In Clerkenwell just now, so I'm catching up with a post I started a couple of weeks ago, thanks to some kind folks who let me play with their wifi.

I've spent a lot of time chained to the computer finishing off the apparently endless museum-teaching-resources-project recently. But hey! It's done! At last. It's been hanging over me for months and now, at long last, it's complete. One of the resources I wrote was about lino printing, so I had to make a sample to show the types of texture used in one of the artworks I was writing about. I haven't made lino cuts for years but was thoroughly inspired. I've actually booked to do a workshop in a few weeks so i can re-learn properly. My sample-making for the project wasn't a huge success, but I'm sharing it anyway, so you can see that my skills lie in sewing, not lino printing.

The full set of pics are here on Flickr.

There are some good instructions for beginners here.

I haven't evaporated really. Just got my head down and charging along through the deadlines.

I'll be at Made In Clerkenwell from tomorrow until Sunday evening. Do drop in if you can. I'm looking forward to just sitting there for a few days, hopefully with plenty of people passing by to chat to (and sell things to!) I've completed several new pieces for this show and will be test-driving a new set of greetings cards.







I've so much to blog about, I will try and be back next week.

Reading

What I want to be reading:


What I have been reading:



This is of course the book. These are the first draft of the text and images laid out. As I predicted, it was exciting for 10 minutes, then was stressful and time consuming. Still, it's looking pretty good and will be fabulous when the designer has had another stab at it. Things are getting really tight deadline-wise so my list of things to do over the bank holiday weekend has just got longer. I've got patterns to draw out, diagrams to make up and samples to send off for more photography, and I need to write all the remaining text. Not the most exciting bits of the process, but the end is in sight, which is just fabulous.

The books and magazines in the beside-the-bed-in-a-hopeful-way stash have been building up for several weeks. On the other side of the bed there is a stash waiting since Christmas and my birthday (early Feb) to be read. I added a small pile of travel books and other random bits at charity super-cheap book sale at the weekend. And my new Selvedge arrived this morning. And I've just subscribed to Craftzine (which is rather different to my long-standing subscription to Crafts. There is quite a backlog for catching up with these too).
I got a free copy of Craftzine when my apron won a prize and have finally got around to subscribing. Such a lot of entertaining stuff in it. And thanks to the weedy dollar, quite a cheap subscription despite the airmail. Lots of nice things to look forward to when I magically have more time. I'm on the case of more time. I turned down quite a lot of paid work this week, in order to have more time to make stuff and some time for myself. Poor but less stressed, that's the resolution for this year!

I had a weekend off!

Went here:
Saw this lot - not part of the plan but quite fun anyway. It's odd for me to be on the audience side for a living history event. I was rather inspired, though this lot are 17th century & I do 15th century, in theory, though not at all at the moment.



Really nice spinning wheel. Really nice. I have always rather fancied a great wheel like this, but alas it has never been feasible. However, I have got a compact modern (traditional-style) one in my mum's loft, where it has been for about 10 years, since being rescued from a skip by my dad (the original junk-acquirer, it's genetic, I tell you...). The wheel needs to come out to play soon.

Went to the opening of this with friends and family:

That's me and two of my pieces in the show.


Rachael (her on the right above) is a perfect weekend companion; she likes medieval buildings, sewing, drinking wine in galleries, hanging out in the garden with cats and eating south Indian food. And she's lovely - it was a fantastic weekend.




Today I had another new work experience student start. She cut circles and stuck on bondaweb, and cut more circles, and sewed little fabric petals. All excellent!

Just before hometime, I quickly whipped up an offering for the Pincushion Challenge Sea theme. It's months, probably years, since I last managed to do something for an online sewing challenge, so it was nice to do something at last.



I'm lecturing about 17th century embroidery tomorrow, and have had lots of fun reading up and looking for nice pictures. Once upon a time, textile history was one of my hobbies and I did lots of it. I'm working on ways of finding space for doing more of that.

More book details

Here are some more tasters of the book (Sew It Up). These are two details of projects from the book; an apron made from recycled shirts and a cushion made from recycled wool felt. There isn't such a strong pink theme in the rest of the book, by the way!





There are 18 other projects including a skirt, a pincushion, a needle case, a blouse, placemats, curtains, a cuff, a blanket, a hand puppet, a scarf, a customised t-shirt, a pillowcase, another cushion, a hanging garland, a corsage and two bags! Now all the photography has been done, I'm very happily making use of several of the finished projects and particularly enjoying the finished handbag I waited very impatiently to be returned from the photographer!

There are loads and loads of techniques in the book, over 100 I think, from putting in zips (7 different ways!) to American smocking. The stuff I've enjoyed writing most are sections about designing your own sewing projects (building up your confidence and pushing boundaries), about buying fabric (how to get a feel for cloth and learn to understand it) and about getting into dressmaking - choosing patterns that suit you, making facings that don't annoy you - all the stuff I didn't know when I started sewing.
Writing it all has filled me with ideas of more books I want to write - about re-furbishing and repairing clothes, a whole book on fabric manipulation, one on cushions, one on designing handbags, one on textile jewellery.... I have endless designs for projects.... But I need to do other things as well (like sleep, play, walk, rest, sew (for myself), read, watch films, exercise, socialise, tidy up, and sleep a whole lot more) so a 3rd book will have to wait a while. But yes, there is book 2 in the pipeline. But first, some of that sleep.