Quarantining and KonMari-ing

 

The perfect match.

 

 

~ Quarantine Collection, Fedora and Florals, Han Cao ~ 

 

 

 

Yes, I was feeling swallowed up by all my things after being sheltered-in-place for the last 5 (or was it 6?) months now.  

~ "Paisajes" series, Cecilia Paredes, multi-media artist ~

Especially by my hand-made clothes and that unrelenting fabric stash.  Oh, my.

 ~ Phyllis Galembo, Fine Art Photographer ~

 

 

 So, after reading Marie Kondo's Spark Joy and starting with her first step of tidying,

I pulled out all my clothes in one place...

  

~ Song Dong, installation artist ~

No, I didn't make an art installation out of it (darn!), it was more like a mountain overflowing the bed.  I did, however, manage it somewhat by excavating one sub-category of clothes at a time.  That would be "tops."  I did want to be able to sleep on the bed every night after all.  And I have a lot of clothes. 

No, I don't have any pictures of the process.  I was too involved in it.  You're supposed to gather all the clothes from wherever they might be in the house.  (Excluding those of my spouse.  He has the bare minimum anyway.)  

 

I did include my mother's stuff that had been left untouched in the so-called guest room since she passed away 6 years ago.  And the enclosed back porch off my sewing room which contained all the clothes I was going to recycled.  aiyiyi.  You can't imagine.

 

 I actually ended up trying on everything to see if I liked it, if it fit, if I would wear it, and most importantly if it "sparked joy."  If it did, it went into another pile in the adjoining room for saved "tops."  The discarded items went into a black garbage bag for Goodwill.  My husband put them in the car right away so I wouldn't be tempted to go through them again.  They went to Goodwill at regular intervals.

I kept track of how many bags went out and how many piles stayed in.  Tops: 4 out, 4 in.  Of the 4 to keep: 2 summer, 1 winter & 1 to mend.  The whole process for tops took 2 days.

 

Stay tuned for the next update.

p.s.  I started tidying on Wednesday, July 8, 2020!

 

MMM'20: For Art's Sake!

~ You may be wondering what's up with this ~

But hold on, it's a good story...

~ about Damien Hirst's famous dotted painting in a Bristol Museum ~

That was painted over by street artist, Banksy


You can read about it and my response here

~ here's my rendition ~

~ painted on pieces of canvas, sewn together to make a top ~

~ as worn by me in 2012 ~

~ and now in 2020 ~

~ titled with homage to Magritte, if you get my drift ~

Happy trails...

MMM'20: Tina Givens Velvets

on a Winter's Day

~ or at least it feels like it ~

~ I actually bought the velvet from Tina way back when ~

I was making her Bethany dress pattern at the time, last seen on me here in 2015.  As you can see, I later changed things up by removing the bodice from the skirt.  I just never wore it as it was.  And do as it is now.   (I have yet to decide what to do with the skirt part...)

Since I still had leftover velvet, I also made TG's Phoebe pants shown above, using other scraps of velvet for the cuff and side inserts.  I've made at least half a dozen of these pants.

The stretch mesh shirt I wear a lot too.  It's made from Vogue 8450 with slight modifications.

 And it all goes deliciously with my Doc Marten's from ebay

~ yesssss ~

~ and the Masked Mug Shot of Yours Truly ~

'til later,

MMM'20: Whatever...

Do I have On?

~ Yes, that is the question. ~

It's a hodgepodge of all sorts of things I just kept piling on.   An old chiffon dress that I attempted to retro-fit and never finished.  A chiffon shirt I retro-fitted that's now too big (so is the dress, by the way).    A refashioned pair of gauze shorts extended into chiffon bloomers.  Complete with a recycled necklace made by a friend.

~ I was shocked at how big everything had become.  ~

~ hmmm ~

~ I also found out there's still pins in this thing. ~

Tell me, do you think it's actually wearable?  Does it need to go back into time out for another several years?  Maybe some re-layering would help a bit? 

~ rain boots from the neighborhood thrift store ~

Attempting to show off my camouflaged necklace here:

~ with the masked mug shot of the day ~

And that's a wrap.

MMM'20: Made In Quarantine

or Now What?!

~ breath in, breath out ~

Just as I was putting this together, each of my blog posts for the past upteen years turned to zero views.  Great.  Of course, there's no way of getting in contact with anyone from blogpostland, believe me, I've tried.

You know how things go when under quarantine, it's one messed up thing after another.  Am I right? The car battery dies, gets jumped and then needs a new one after all; the cat catches a mouse in the house; we find the old box of dominos, but the dominos themselves are nowhere to be found; Pinterest stops letting me edit my pins.  I did contact Pinterest.  A robot emailed back and said a human would follow-up.  yeah, we'll see.  I could go on and on, but I'll just stop here. 

  Okay (with a deep breath)

~ Here I am again ~

Well, I made this, I don't particular like it, but it's wearable and I do wear it, so there's that.  I mean, it's okay.  The print is just not my style (maybe.)  Although it certainly does catch your eye.  Made from a jersey knit I had in stash for a long time.  I used the Sandra Betzina Vogue pattern I mentioned yesterday for the pants.  I think I made up the top.  It's no big deal.  Just folded the fabric in quarters and then cut it out so there would be no shoulder seams.

  

~ worn with sneakers from ebay ~

 And my Mask Mug Shot

Happy Mother's Day, whether you are or not, do it or don't.

MMM'20: Another Shelter-In-Place Ensemble

~ relaxed and oh so comfy ~

And may I say, pretty, too?

~ well okay, you can say unusual ~

The fabric is a soft, thin sweater knit.  

I made the top awhile ago using Tina Givens Olivia pattern, 

last seen on me, here during MMM'19.

~ do you think the matching mask tips it over the edge? ~

The pants were made during lockdown using the leftover fabric and

 a favorite pants pattern of mine by Sandra Betzina, Vogue 1355. 

~ worn with my lovely and ancient Doc Marten's ~

Now here's a look to behold:

~ Boo! ! ~

Catch you tomorrow...if you don't watch out!

MMM'20: The Lumberjack Look

on a bright and sunny, cold day in May.

~ Yep, that's me, by the tree ~

Wearing a woven double knit using Vogue 9330, which I modified by adding long cuffs to match the large cowl neck.  I used the back of the fabric (gray) for those pieces.

Oh, and I changed the length, having the side insert shorter than the front and back.  Why not?  One reason is I was short of fabric and had to cut the sides on the diagonal.  And then the plaids kinda matched up.  Hey, cool.



The pants were made of leftover jersey knit from the the dress I wore on the first day of MeMadeMay'18!   New Look 6533 is the pattern used for the pants.

~ worn with lumberjack-type boots from ebay ~

And back to the mask,

with shades to match!

See you later...

MMM'20: Lockdown Loungewear

~ yes, here I am in my jersey knit ensemble ~

Made decades ago from who knows what pattern.  But the top was recently scaled up to size by adding two triangular scraps of similar fabric into the side seams.  

~ ooo, it's still cold out ~

Now, of course, everything is a bit baggy due to the weight loss from this and last year's exercise/nutrition regime I've been on.  And that is okay by me.

~ ahh, that's better ~

The red canvas coat is made from the Tina Givens Elena pattern, last seen here.

Here's the obligatory shoe shot:

~ clogs from ebay ~

And the Lockdown Look must-have:

~ a me made mask ~

Hope to see you tomorrow...

MeMadeMay Returns

and so do I!

~  in the Lock-Down version ~

~ May 5 and it's still cold out, brrrrr! ~

What am I wearing, you ask?  Other than comfy-wear, it's a cowl neck sweater top from Simplicity 9014.  I made it in a sweater knit from stash.  With enough left over to create some baggy pants based on some pattern or other.  Probably New Look 6533.

As you can see, I just left it with raw edges that automatically turn and roll up to reveal the gray underside.  I sort of liked that.

Speaking of raw edges...

~ here's some silly satin sneakers from ebay ~

~ and yes, I made this too ~

~ Yeah! ~

Even though I'm showing up late for the game, I'm gonna give it my all to make it through the rest of May wearing my handmade clothes...and photo documenting the process.  

Ready, Set, Go!

Navy and Stripes

~ No doubt about it ~

That's my old pea coat from high school.  Ok, maybe it was college?  ahhh, I luved that thing...which is why I still had it in the ole archives.

~ And here's another thing ~

This jacket was made much later, say only 25 to 30 years ago.  Also lodged in the archives.  I can wear this stuff now!

~ Yikes Stripes ~

The top is highly modified from a free Tessuti turtleneck pattern which contains nothing from the original except for the body, kinda.  Thank goodness it was free because while the body is extra long and boxy, the sleeves and turtleneck are inhumanly tight.  

Details are:  

• On the body, I shortened the front more than the back and allowed for slits on each side just to make it more interesting. 
• I used the turtleneck piece to wrap around the upper arms in lieu of the pattern's sleeves; cut the "hump" off the top of the sleeves and added them on below giving myself extended looong sleeves with a thumb cut-out. 
• I used the strip of fabric cut off the bottom front and used it for a very modified T-neck band.

The pants from Sandra Betzina's Vogue 1355, however, fit amazingly perfect right out of the box at a size C.  The fabric for both is a slinky knit.   The pants only take a few hours to make at most with 2 pattern pieces, one for the pants, one for a waist band and take much less fabric than the pattern suggests. 

The top doesn't take much fabric either, but I did have to figure out how to rescue it.  I do like it in the end.  And I know I wouldn't have created what I have now if I hadn't been forced to come up with ways to resolve the pattern inaccuracies.

~ worn with Mary Jane Docs from ebay ~

By the way, I've been working on those 2020 goals.  All of them moving right along...ahem...except for the stop buying patterns one.  (did I say that?)  Well, I haven't.  Stopped buying them, that is.  But everything else is as smooth as silk.  I've even been making what I call everyday, normal things, like what's above.  You know, pants and tops that you can wear around the house, outside, exercising.  Even sleep in if you want to...



Meanwhile, I'll be joining up with Patti and the Visibles at Not Dead Yet Style and Catherine's I Will Wear What I Like when they go live.  Hope to see you there!