Ever Onward

...in the midst of everything, 

I've been tidying and/or escaping by reading novels.  

 

~ rare needlework instruction book, Dublin 1833 with samples of sewing, embroidery, knitting and miniature clothing ~

 

But I did finish going through all my clothes (which included tops, skirts, pants, dresses, jackets, coats, scarves, hats, gloves, socks, undies, pjs, shoes, boots and bags).  Oh my.

 

 

~ Guerra de la Paz ~

 

Let me give you the stats.  

I got rid of 32 big garbage bags (to Goodwill). It me took about 3 weeks to go through all the clothes, and then reorganize what I kept and put it in place.

 

I'll break it down by category: 

 

4 bags of tops to go, 4 big piles to stay, took 2 days  

3 bags of dresses/skirts to go, 3 big piles to stay, took 2 days 

6 bags of pants to go, 3 big piles to stay, took 1 days

3 bags of jackets/coats, 4 big piles to stay, took 2 days 

0 bags of hats/gloves/scarves to go, all stayed, took 1 day 

4 bags of socks/undies/pjs to go, 3 piles to stay, took 2 days 

8 bags of shoes/boots, ? to stay (just enough to fit in my available  space!), took 6 days 

4 bags of purses/totes, ? to stay (I stopped counting the keepers), took 2 days                                               

 

 

Then I went on to books...

                                            ...but that's another story.

    

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!

 

Happy New Year & Hence Forth...

~ Sewcialists Goals ~

Yes, on to 2020 and so on (in no particular order).  

I'm gonna:

• spend a minimum of 15 minutes a day in the sewing room.  I know it will all add up to something.  Even if it's sewing-related and not sewing itself.  Like organizing the space, or cutting out a pattern, or choosing the fabric for it, cleaning up, etc.

• I've resumed my intensive exercise and nutritional regime for the next 3 months (as I did in the beginning of last year).  So I need to...

• spend time reassessing what I've made and what I can/want to wear now that I've lost weight and inches over the last year and kept it off.  Since I'm continuing that program, I'll probably be losing more weight throughout this year, so I want to keep on top of things.

• spend time remodeling the clothes I want to keep so they fit the newer me.

• make some everyday, normal things I've always wanted.  Like stretch mesh t-shirts.

• use that amazing fabric, at least for one project.

• oh yeah, stop buying patterns and fabric, oh my.

• and here's a big one, be more creative in my sewing.  Actually this relates directly to stop buying more stuff.  I've always felt, less stuff = more creativity.   Remind myself to think of sewing as I thought of my art-making and the creative process.  

I do believe that should be enough already.

The only thing I'm already feeling some resistance toward is using the precious fabric.  Probably because it causes me to step back.  It doesn't free me up like all the other points do.  Think I'll just cross that one off the list for now.  Yep.



I'll leave you with this post I wrote for the New Year several years ago which sounds pretty familiar.

~ Buddha with mudra of greeting, prayer & respect ~

And we simply must bring in the New Year with Patti and the Visibles at Not Dead Yet Style.  Come on by.

Rocking Florals 3 Ways

With my Bright Red Floral Print Dress, that is.  Who knew you could take such a stand-out frock and rock it in 3 different ways?!

painting by Pat Otto.

Well, I did apparently.  Really it's just that I like the thing so much and wanted to wear it again and again.

Spring weather in Chicago has ranged from hot, to chilly, to cool and me and my flower dress went along for the ride.

Click on View the Clothes for Spring to see what I'm talking about.

More Shoe Re-Do's

sculpture by Gwen Murphy.

Aghh...not that extreme!  More of the wearable kind. Like a pair of heavy-duty brown suede sandals - nothing wrong with them except being boring as all get out.  I thought my iridescent acrylic copper paint might pull them out of the doldrums.  Rubbed it on with my finger to get a more antique look.  Yep, they remind

A Little Trim Will Do Ya

painting by Lori Field.

Dolled up a couple pair of too-short pants with some oddments I had laying around the studio.

The first pair was of a lovely deep blue brocade, store-bought ages ago.  I was able to take down the hem to get another inch-and-a-half in length.  Found just enough large navy ric-rac in my doo-dad stash to circumnavigate the hem of each pant leg.  Attached it so only half of the ric-rac shows (i.e., the top half was hidden on the inside of the pant). It's the only way I can abide using that trim. 

The second pair I had made long ago out of double gauze dark navy fabric.  Had some 3-inch wide dark

Sock it To Me!

painting by Taravat Talepasand.

I just can't believe it.  I made my own socks - sewed them, that is.  I'm so excited about it.  I mean, just think of the possibilities.  That was one thing I was wishing I could buy...some colored tights or thigh highs or knee sox - and now I learned how to make my own - and it was soooo easy!

I found a tutorial on Handmade by Carolyn about making your own tights. I didn't have enough 2-way stretch fabric in my stash for tights, so I went for over-the-knee-sox.

I followed her idea of pinning the fabric while on my foot creating a inner side seam, but deviated from her suggestion of making a right angle around the ankle.

Tools of the Trade

painting by Kelly Reemtsen.

As I was saying previously regarding those vests I've been working on...that tube turner.  (ha) I bought one the next day, a Dritz Loop Turner and spent hours trying to make it work.  Even looked at a video, no such luck.  Why in the world people say it's such a breeze I have no idea.  Was mine broken or what!?!  Took it back and found a brilliant tutorial on turning a tube with a bobby pin (yes, really).  The hardest part was

Process Pending

artwork by Cecilia Paredes.

Wow, what a whirlwind I'm in.  I rediscovered some pattern pieces I had cut out for a vest a long while ago and never sewed together - 3 of them actually.  It's a really cool kimono-type thing that is now a wee bit small but easily adjustable.  I decided to go ahead and put them together with minor additions.  I'm having fun exploring all the fabric mix and matching.

Once I got going I kept changing things up, what with the additions, and then deciding not to line it, but go reversible while I was at it.  Each piece is made up of a front, back, side panels and collar, plus tie fasteners.

Tunic Tune-Up

doll by Liat Yaniv.

Just like the other one. Only in red this time.  Seemed like too much red for my taste this time around - though maybe I could dye it at some point...

Meanwhile, it was an easy fix to fit.  Ripped open the side seams all the way into the sleeves about two inches.  Still had the same fabric stashed away too, so I inserted a long, narrow fabric wedge. I did learn to add the side seam pockets while working on the side seam addition though. (yea for the results of trial & error!)  Didn't have enough of the same fabric, so used solid red for the pocket insides.  I obsessively cleaned up all the seams I hadn't gotten to when I first sewed the top.  Then relocated all the buttons.  Was going to change them up, but in the end I liked the ones that were there the best.  Easy-peasy.

BTW, I wore it on Valentine's Day for a cafe date with my husband.

Come On, Everthin's Gonna Be Alright

fashion by Danny Mansmith

Remodeled an old Asian-esque Tunic I made a hundred years ago or so.  Looked in my stash for some purple and black print to add to it and  found I still had a bit of the same fabric in my leftover bin!  It never ceases to amaze me that I have held on to stuff for soooo loooonnnngggg.

And thank goodness for that I say, because it was exactly enough fabric to make side inserts that match perfectly and create side seam pockets.  Which is just what I did...along with resewing and relocating the buttons and making the hemline even.

It all seemed to go without a hitch, fits, looks good, and feels good on.  Celebrate good times...

My Madeline Dress

"Madeline" by Ludwig Bemelmans.

I've reworked an old hand-made little black dress that no longer had what it takes (ahem...it didn't fit).  It was made from black cotton embroidered eyelet.  woo-hoo!  First I looked for some black fabric for the side inserts, but nothing struck my fancy.  Then up jumped this remaining scrap of dove gray cotton embroidered eyelet.  Perfecto.

I basically ended up seam ripping the heck out of this dress.  Turns out I had originally put a fake button placket down the front of the dress to take up extra fabric - and added a center seam down the back for the same reason.  rip, rip, rip, and remove all those 9 white plastic heart buttons (yuck).

Over, Under, Sideways, Down

 Patti Smith & Robert Mapplethorpe c.1969,
Gerard Malanga, photographer.

That's the T-shirt skirt.  And it's reversible - in theory at least.  I think it turned out pretty neat.  Nice weight to it with that lining.  Anyway, I was given a men's dark gray T.  I thought I'd try my hand at making a skirt out of it...and then along the way decided to make it reversible using this light pink T I had.  Liked the combo.  I used the waistband of some old yoga pants that happened to be the same color as the gray shirt.  Lucky me.  Then I thought, why not use the T shirt sleeves for pockets.

Warning:  what follows is a blow-by-blow account of the making.

I Once Was Lost...

photo by Maggie Osterberg.

Found some old jeans (high-waisted with a pleated front, baggy but light-weight and very faded).  And they didn't fit.  So, I removed the front of the waistband that covered the pleats and unpleated them allowing the pants to hang lower on my hips.  Added another waistband to fit from scrap fabric in a similar light blue color.

2012 is The New Year

artwork by Anda Klancic.

But, remember your New Year begins on your birthday!  So says astrologers, and doesn't that make sense...after all?

Therefore my year-end challenge is still valid, which is good, since I'm still working on it.

I've been pinning and re-pinning a patchwork type tunic top made from 70's Indian print gauze fabric.  The material seems to stretch and warp, the bits and pieces of pattern I've cut out have trouble lining themselves up correctly, and then when they do, it just doesn't look right anyway.  So I've been playing with that puzzle for days on end.  At least I'm not sewing and un-sewing it... 

I've also been gluing stretch, fake alligator fabric to a pair of ruined sling back shoes.  Yea, imagine that.  Bit by bit.  A slow process since I don't know what I'm doing.  Stay tuned.

Pix coming when I'm done.

Get Over It

artwork by Elisabeth Lecourt

Continuing my year-end challenge, I certainly exhausted myself with this one.  A sheer blouse with attached sheer lining rehab.  No wonder it lay by the side of the road for so long.  It turned out wearable, but I'll win no prizes for it, let me tell ya.  Yikes, the sewing is Frankenstein-ian, although you can't fault me for trying...and trying...and trying.... 

Well.  The material was so fragile, it simply

End of Year Challenge?

photo by Ross Oscar Knight

Maybe...or at least a goal:  to tackle all those sewing Minima Projects I've started in the last 6 months but never quite finished.

Well, completed one of them today.  Yea, put a check on that list!  I think this was one of the first rehabs I attempted using several white cotton blouses to create a garment that works.  Sew, look and see the results.

Know when to Walk Away...

Germination by Gina Litherland

"You've got to know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em..."  I kept hearing that phrase humming in my ears as I was wrestling with this piece.  And believe me, I was ready to do both on any given day.  I guess the latest is holding on.

Anyway, I was reworking an old sheath I made long ago out of

Wine/ Burgundy Transformation

painting by Salvadore Dali

Found a boring old linen-esque, wine-colored jacket with a matching long skirt in my closet the other day and thought, what's to lose?  Well...it didn't fit anyway.

So first I worked with the skirt. It had a waistband, a zipper in the back and a kick slit on one side.  hmm.  I seam-ripped both side seams thinking I'd add inserts.  Found some fabric scrap that was similar in texture but a little silkier to the touch and a shade off from wine, maybe burgundy?  The piece already had really nice frayed edges so I decided to use them, I mean, why not?  It was a bit wider than I was planning on, but wotheheck.

An Accidental Turtle Neck

photo by Cubist Literature

Actually plenty of them and just in time for winter in Chicago.

Previously, I had cut many of my old tights into stockings (hence all the garter belts) since they no longer fit.  And I saved all the top portions (because that's what I do).

Then one cold day, I suddenly realized they