UFO #2

Last night I did step up to work on my second UFO.  I used Butterick 5147, I can't remember which dress view, I think the one with the wider skirt.  I have successfully done the top twice, tweaked it a bit as it gapes across the chest.  I figured I could do the dress.

My mom has been passing a lot of fashion fabric to me.  She hasn't sewn clothing for ages, most of this is from between 1970-1984.  Past that she was sewing as a business (occasionally for the three of us) instead of herself and it gradually was easier for her to buy clothing for us than make.  She gave me 4 pieces of somewhat sheer fabric a few months ago and this boarder print was my favourite.

I am honestly not sure what I was thinking when I decided to pair this pattern with this print.  The dress is lined and being sheer, that works well.  I have some stretchy beige fabric that will work well as lining.  But it has a back zip, it's too long, I was so worried about centering the fabric, I didn't think about where the flowers were going.  I was trying to puzzle this out last night and in following the directions, managed to create a Chinese finger puzzle by sewing the neck closed and the arms and trying to turn it out like the directions.  In the directions, there is a back zipper, so the back pulls through in two halves, not so with my version. 


Such a pretty boarder.

 I can fix this, I will fix this.  I will figure out how to put in a side zipper.  But not yesterday.  Not today.  I am realizing this became a UFO because I needed distraction and steps to follow, and this requires creative thinking.  That's just not me today.

I was at my parents house for a family dinner two weeks ago and I was given more of Mom's stash.  It's woolly and scratchy, definitely needs a lining.  The colour is a little more orange than I typically wear but I could work with that I think.  There isn't much, about a metre, I think it's going to have to be a skirt when motivation hits.

I am having a real Jamiroquai week.  I don't listen to a whole lot of truly current pop/dance/whatever, but I have a huge love for Jamiroquai.  I first heard Emergency on Planet Earth on my first day moving into residence at university, thought it sounded like Stevie Wonder on acid (and I loves me Stevie Wonder).  So, I end this post with a video.  I love the funky dance stuff, but some of the slower songs don't get the attention they deserve.  So Butterfly it is, it's a long version, but oh so pretty.

I'm melting... and stress

It's hot again here.  I wore my rayon Sencha blouse and it was a good choice, but my fingers are still sweating because the computer is warm on top of the overly warm room.

Tonight, Mr. Lina is having a friend over to play guitar with.  Ever have your husband "steal" your friends?  I worked with him at my favourite client office, he was kind of my work husband, we went for coffee/tea every morning, talked about all the same gaming/fantasy/sci-fi stuff Mr Lina was exposing me to...  Then he resigned from my client.  Mr Lina was happy, it meant he didn't have to watch his behaviour because he went into friend category, not client.  He's part of our D&D group and comes over to jam more weeks than not.

Net-net to me is time in my sewing room tonight while I stay out of their way.  I'm hoping to tackle the two UFO dresses. 

In other life news, we're off to see my specialist this weekend for our review appointment (seriously, 3:45 on a Saturday, when does this man not work?).  We should cover if they learned anything with the "natural" attempts to get me pregnant and hopefully he will have some ideas from the US about what to do with my last 4 frozen embryos.  To me, there isn't much to stress about yet.  There are three ways this goes (although he's surprised me many times before):

A.  He has a plan.  Different medications, a different strategy.  I like A.  Let's get this show on the road.
B.  There is no point in me doing this, it will always end in miscarriage.  Surrogate mother is the best way.  Right now, I am not interested, although I have been offered the use of someones uterus (you want to talk about awkward wedding conversations...).  He mentioned this option in February, but when we said no, he was very supportive and felt it was a good choice but he needed to present the option.
C.  More freaking testing.  I'm not a fan of this anymore, he's had nearly 6 years, if they don't know now, then I don't know what's left. 

Mr Lina, however, is worried.  I'm getting daily baby pictures from him, kitten videos, kitten and baby videos, videos of kittens walking over pregnant bellies, descriptions of babies he sees out for lunch...  It's like the only words he has we have both heard before so everything comes out in pictures.  I am okay with that, it's some form of communication and I oddly understand it.  It is far better than pretending that nothing is going on, which may be what I'm doing.

One of the reasons I sew is stress.  When my brain gets wrapped up in being sad, circling negative thoughts and obsessing over past/current loss, sewing stops it.  All I have to focus on is the next seam, the next instruction, the next stitch.  Starting projects can be hard, but I can't think about the rest of it when I get going.  I come out of my sewing room with something finished so I feel accomplishment. 

Initially, I made yeast breads coming out of failure - soft pretzels, cinnamon buns, pizza dough (had to start somewhere), focaccia (side note, spell check thinks this should be cowcatcher or quackish, um, no), etc.  I think some of these very homemaker type activities fill a gap of failure.  It is subconsciously like I feel failure as a woman that I can't get and stay pregnant, but I can do these other "womanly" things like sewing and baking bread (sadly this did not extend into house cleaning).  I would go crazy to do things from absolute scratch.  I have had multiple cake disasters because I felt compelled to not just buy a cake for a family event, or maybe do something from a box and buy icing.  No... it needs to be non-chocolate for Dad, halal for my brother, green because my mom likes green or whatever million constraints - add something complicated like a chocolate collar and three tiers... and wonder why I'm a freaking basket case before we are out the door.  Now I try to recognize this behaviour for the craziness that is and redirect it into something that won't set me up for tears.

The good thing about the appointment on Saturday is two fold.  We will have some sort of plan which is always a good thing, and I always feel better after seeing my specialist.  Somehow we talk about very sad events, and I leave his office feeling better.  He is a miracle worker just for that. 

Sewing Guide

It's Tuesday and that means bowling night.  Hopefully we'll have the teams set this week and I bowl better than last week.  Oh it was a rough night last Tuesday.  I must really like this sport when I go back year after year and still suck.

I came across a new to me blogger, Living in Red and in my usual fashion, started reading every entry.  She has this little tutorial for a simple pressing guide that I am going to have to make at first opportunity.  Sadly, today is garbage day so my recycling bin is empty, but the next time I have cardboard available I'm making one of these (maybe I'll have cereal for dinner to hurry this along, Mr Lina is curling so it's just me on Tuesdays).  How has this never crossed my mind?

I can't wait to leave work today.  It is a sauna in here.  I'm seriously going to need a shower before leaving the house again.  It is often hot here and last week was brutal, their A/C is broken, again.  Apparently it's so old they don't make parts for it so they are waiting for a refurbished part to arrive.  None of the windows open so they set up 6' fans.  There is a constant humming from the fans like a propeller plane.  I figured I would plan ahead and wear my rayon polka dot dress that I said I thought was too summery a few weeks ago.  Not too summery at all today.  I'll probably need my sweater when I leave.

Okay, 4:35.  Good enough.  I'm done here.

And the stash continues to grow

I really have to get sewing.  It's much faster to buy than to sew, but what's a girl to do when Fabricland has a 50% off sale and I have time to kill before a party?  The party Friday was around the corner from my clients office.  Given that Mr. Lina didn't want to come, I figured I'd stay at work a bit late, kill some time at Fabricland, add a stop to the liquor store for a house warming gift and I'd be on time. 

I was good, at least, by my standards.  I only bought 3 pieces of fabric.  First, plum stretch satin.  I have wide stretch elastic that will match this perfectly for a bra.  I bought 1m, it's enough for some pretties.  This picture has a bra I made (and loved until the front clasp broke) and you can see how much better this satin will match the lace than what I used before.

Second, soft grey corduroy.  It has a little stretch and it's oh so soft to touch.  I bought 2m.  I blame Lazy Subcultural Girl for this purchase because of her lovely skirt.  I showed my husband and he said pants and I thought Clover... so we'll see, there is a pant buzz starting to work at the back of my head.

Third, a knit.  Look at this, this is a Seraphinalina fabric.  All purple and print-like.  It has nice drape and feel to it.  2m again.

So end of shopping trip.  All told, the bill was $45 for the fabric and fray check (also 50% off).  Not too shabby.

This is the fabric for my unloved dress that will likely be a tunic.  Nice, I'm not saying I don't like it, but I don't feel the excitement that I do about my purple fabric.

And this is a fabric I bought a while ago and didn't post.  It has pin tucks running through it.  It's cotton, a nice shade of burgundy (another favourite colour of mine) and it's a little narrow.  I'll have to measure it when it's out of the wash.  I dunno what I'm going to do with it, but it was on super clearance so I wasn't turning it down.  I'll find the right project one of these days.  That spool of thread is actually red red, the fabric is darker than the picture shows.

Joy Division

It's been a busy weekend here in Lina-ville.  We took advantage of the beautiful weather and went hiking both Saturday and Sunday.  Friday night I was reminded that I'm not 25 and under any more at a coworkers house warming.  I had a good time, but beer pong and flip cup are not common occurances at my house parties these days.  Although I know there are still some people who over indulge at our house, they generally don't leave proof of this at the end of the driveway.

Mr Lina likes a lot of influencial music that is just noise to me, typically, he knows where that line is and goes to those shows on his own.  He was a rather angry person in his high school/university days, so a lot of angry music takes him to his "roots".  I like Culture Club and Corey Hart for the same nostalgic reasons as he likes Ministry (or their side project Revolting Cocks) or KMFDM.  So I was a bit surprised when there was an "OMG PETER HOOK IS COMING TO TORONTO!!!!" email (I may be exaggerating) and he bought tickets for us, my manager (who shares taste in music with Mr Lina) and a friend of his from high school (there are many Manitobans among us).  I had no clue who Peter Hook was, but I trust him.

Peter Hook was a guitarist in Joy Division.  Joy Division had a couple of albums under their belt, a big following in the UK, success in Europe and about to go to the US.  They would have broken big.  But, their lead singer commited suicide the night before their plane was to take off for the North American tour.  This was his second attempt at suicide.  He was struggling with his mental health, epilepsy, felt the pressure of the band, his failing marriage...  lots of factors.  The remaining members felt they couldn't record as Joy Division any more and became New Order.

The concert was awesome.  Truly.  Opening acts were okay, well themed to the music we would be hearing.  When Peter Hook hit the stage, my feet already hurt from standing (another reminder I'm not 25 anymore).  The music was good, I start moving along to it.  I don't know any of the music, but it was good.  Then he left, we cheer, he comes back for encore.  The music gets more dancable, I'm totally grooving along now, again, still don't know anything.  Then he leaves, I figure well, that was good.  But no house lights.  He came back AGAIN.  Now everyone is dancing, crowd is happy and friendly and dancing up a storm.  And then he closed with a song I do know. 

Mr Lina was right in his excitement and taking me along.  I was so hyper from dancing and moving, driving home at 2am, I felt 25 for a little while.

Friday rambling

Oh it's going to be a long day here.  So far it's off to a good start with a decent commute, but the to-do list is long and it needs to be done today.  I'm going to ramble a bit to clear out the cobwebs before I focus on work.

In cleaning up my sewing room, I found two UFO's.  One is from Stretch & Sew 1595.  It's a pattern I have inherited from my mom.  The pictures on my pattern are a bit different, but it's the same pattern as this:

Courtesy of http://vintagepatterns.wikia.com/wiki/Stretch_%26_Sew_1595

I made View C without the shoulder ties in early 2010.  I get a lot of compliments on this dress at work.  The neck as drafted is really high and the facing huge, I cut it lower.  I made a belt from 5" elastic that I put over the elastic waist.  Here is my first version of it with a tie belt from another top.  The other change is that I cut it too short forgetting it would drape, there is a 2" tube to make a bubble hem at the bottom.  It's a bit lost in the print but it moves nicely.  Sorry the picture is so small. 

I cut out another version, a geometric print in blue, brown, white and black.  The issue is the neckline.  I guess I tried cutting it lower, then it kept going off centre.  I remember putting it to the side a few months ago, I haven't quite got back to it.  The back of the neck wasn't sitting right, it's still not quite centred, the facing was driving me crazy.  Well, I futzed around with it last night, cut off the annoying facing, it's going to take some creative work to make this right.  I did not find the solution last night.

I guess part of the issue is that I don't love the fabric.  It's nice, but brown/blue just isn't that exciting the way purple is so putting it to the side was easy.  I'm also debating about making it more tunic length and making it a casual top rather than a dress for work.  The lower neckline would be okay if I do that.  I was talked into buying tights when shopping with a friend in March.  I have yet to find a way to style them that I like.  My tops just aren't quite low enough for me to feel comfortable in the outside world. 

The other UFO I'll talk about separately, but the issue here is the opposite.  I love the fabric, it's from my mom's stash from the 70's I guess and I'm afraid of screwing it up further. 

Well, that's enough stalling, time to get stuff done.

Kwik Sew, what were you thinking?

Any one else fans of Pattern Junkie?  I find her writing style hilarious.  I've had tears streaming down my cheeks from some of her entries.  I have sent links to Mr. Lina because I couldn't keep it to myself.  I bow to her on what to say about this pattern.

I know Rooibos is the next project on my mind, but I am tired tonight, not up to working on the muslin etc.  I figured I'd go through my fabric and maybe sort it into some order rather than just which box had the most space when I bought it.  I also looked through my patterns, there are a few gaps in my closet, I thought a flip through would be helpful.

Two years ago I bought a cute little top/dress pattern and made it up for a couple of close friends when they had babies.  Based on that, Mom figured she could download a lot of her patterns for kids on me.  I hate saying no, but I try to pretend these aren't in my collection most of the time, I don't really want to sew for other peoples kids.  Which would be why I never noticed this:

Who on earth thought it was appropriate to pose a little girl in her slip like a playboy centre fold?!?  I get that you end up with some weird poses to hide their chest with the half slips (although how tiny is that kitten?  is it a toy? and where did everyones feet go?), but then you drape the little girl with that creepy pose.  Kwik Sew must have been the pedophile equivalent of the lingerie section of Sears catalogue for pre-teen boys.  I looked to see if Pattern Junkie already had this and I don't see 238, but I do see Kwik Sew Shenanigans. 

I can't believe I have had this pattern for 2 years and only noticed it now. 

How bowling shaped my life

There isn't going to be any sewing going on tonight or any Tuesday night until May.  My bowling league has started up again and I'm happy for it.  I am in a 5 pin bowling league, it's a Canadian version of bowling.  Scores are higher (perfect game is 450 vs 300 for 10 pin), the pins have different values (5+3+3+2+2), the balls are smaller but it also means that you need to be more precise on where the ball goes to take them all out without punching the headpin.  Wikipedia has a good entry, although there are one or two terms I don't use (clean game, full set, and I'd be more likely to say a 5 bagger for 5 strikes than a 5 pack, could be regional differences).

I grew up bowling, Dad registered my brother S and I when he was old enough, so I was maybe 8 and he was 5.  Bowling and swimming were the two things I was fairly good at, and my dad took us for public swims but he couldn't really coach me on flip turns and butterfly.  Bowling is really our bonding sport.  As a teen, I wanted my dad with me at tournaments, it was almost weird when my mom came for provincials.  This was a Dad-Daughter thing in my mind.  I am just 5' and a half inch, I've always been one of the shortest in the class and easily intimidated.  Dad would shake me out of my nerves quietly making fun of other people so I didn't see them as threatening.  Tall girls became "Amazon Woman" and I'd end up giggling instead of feeling scared at the approach.  It's maybe not great to teach your kids it's okay to make fun of people, but it sure worked for me and I felt powerful when I could get over my nerves and bowl better than them.

Dad stopped bowling at one point, I think it's mostly because of money.  Single income and 3 kids resulted in a lot of compromise in my house growing up.  It worked out to being more time with him for me because my brothers were in scouting that night, so it was just he and I to hang out.  Dad went back to bowling while I was in university, it was an easy way to start a conversation before he would assume I wanted to talk to mom (and why do fathers do that?  yes, I want to talk to her, but you can chat with me before passing the phone in 2.3 seconds).  As soon as I knew I'd be living in the same place and have enough income (it's a long season) to do it, I went back.  He got into the habit of phoning me on Wednesdays at work to see how I did. 

My parents actually met because of bowling.  I love this story so I will share.  My mom was going on a date with Warren.  She wasn't keen on him, conversation was mostly about work (teachers) and he didn't seem to appreciate her.  Still, she went out with him Dec 6, 1970.  It was busy and they were seated at a table by the exit.  My mom was struggling off and on with tonsillitis, she had them removed that January, and asked if they could be seated where it wasn't so drafty (this is Toronto in December).  They said they had no empty tables, but a gentleman was planning on leaving soon and was willing to share his table, if that was okay with them.  Mom said sure, it's not drafty, and there was my Dad.  He was stopping in for a drink prior to his bowling league Christmas party (he didn't make it).  My mom bowled, different league, but it was something to talk about other than teaching.  Get this, my mom won a tournament the year before, the prize being a trip to Montreal on the train, tickets to a Habs game, for a nominal fee you could go again the year after you won and she was planning on doing that.  Dad won the tournament that year, but the only reason he wanted to go was for the hockey game.  He grew up south of Montreal, the city wasn't that exciting to him.  Mom  danced with both men, Dad was sneaky and wrote his number in her matchbook and made sure her cab got her home safe.  She woke up to flowers and a proposal when she had her tonsils removed in January.  They got married that July.  My dad still has the ticket to the Christmas party he never attended and he brings her flowers every December 6th.  He's such a romantic who is still completely in love with my mom. 

Bowling also caused me to grow my hair. 

One December after the "Family Twosome" (kids bowl with parents, me with Dad, S with Mom, A was too little that year) we went out for dinner.  The washrooms were in the basement (really, this will tie into hair cuts).  We get there and S goes to the bathroom.  Then my youngest brother needs to go, Mom sends S down with A because he knows the way.  Then after all the drink refills (Chinese multicourse meal, time has passed), S goes back down to the bathroom.  Finally, my parents are settling the bill and I go downstairs, looking for the ladies room.  There was a hall in the basement and someone sweeping up.  He says "Wow, you go to the bathroom a lot" and I think, I haven't even made it there.. my eyes widen as I realize, he thinks I'm S...  Then he asks if I have a twin...  Sigh.  I was so crushed.  He thinks I looks 8 instead of 11, he thinks I'm a boy, he thinks I'm my brother, eeeewwww...  In his defence, we were both wearing the same orange shirt from bowling.  S and I got opposite genes so he's tall and I'm short.  This was his full height of 6' in Grade 8 where I topped out at 5' and a half inch.  At the time, he was probably the same height as me or just surpassing me.  Here is a picture of us from last year and our brothers wedding, I've got 2" heels on here.

Back to 1986, S had that 80's rat tail/near mullet look and I had short hair 'cuz I still went to Savvy's barber shop with Dad for hair cuts and Dad liked it short (still does).  It was the day, the specific moment, I decided to grow my hair.  It was a long time before I went downtown with Dad because that usually meant a visit to Savvy's and I didn't want to risk a boy hair cut ever again.

Who knew bowling could have so many life altering events associated with it?

Shame works

It appears that shame really does work.  You may have noticed my last post was proof of sewing going on, I did a little tidying.  I can't say I went through everything, but I did find a garbage bag of stuff to pitch and put away a few things to their proper homes.  Doesn't this look better?

It's not fantastic, but you can see my cutting table, the sewing machine table.  It's managable.  I don't mind a little clutter.

Cheeky panties

I won't be modelling these for you, but trust me, they are aptly named as cheeky panties.  I like this style because they are sexy, comfortable (when the lace is right) and with only 2 seams dead easy to sew.

I stole the pattern from a RTW pair I bought.  They were okay, but the lace isn't all that stretchy or soft, so honestly, mine are better.  Looking them over, I realized that if you folded them in quarters, the two pieces were identical.  Ideally you want stretch lace elastic, at least 5" wide.  If you are smaller, the proportions may work out okay for 4.5", but I like even a little over 5".  The top part needs to be able to stretch enough to reach your hip measurement. 

The white pair are one of the original 3 pack of RTW, the purple is what I was making for myself.  The bride got a pair like this last week (and a black pair) but I didn't get pictures at the time. 

As mentioned, there are really only two seams, the front/back and then across at the crotch.  You need to cut two pieces of lace so they look like this.  One is folded in half and how I cut it, the other shows it opened up.  The third rectangle is for the crotch.  The RTW do it in a diamond tacked down, but I like the rectangle myself. 



It is important to look at where the pattern is ending on the lace when cutting, it's nice to have the flowers or whatever look symmetrical.

I've mentioned I don't have a serger, I use the overlock stick and foot.  The stitch on my machine is 19 and I've put a picture of my overlock foot.  It makes a huge difference in getting the fabric to line up right and not roll.  Because I am using a sewing machine, there really isn't a seam allowance to these, just the width of the stitching.  If you are using a serger and will be cutting as you go, you would need to add that on.

This is what it looks like with the front to back seam sewn, now there is just the little seam at the crotch left to sew. 

Fortunately I did a good job in matching the pattern.  This is going to be the front.  Sorry it's upside down, it's rotated in photobucket.

Now that the front is determined, it's time to add the cotton crotch.  I've used tshirts, but now I have a bit of ribbing I bought in black, white and pink to chose from.  It doesn't take much.  I have put the RTW and my version over my ham.  The RTW uses a diamond and tacks it down at the corners.  I like a larger rectangle and sew it all around.  Although it won't fray, I sew around the edges of the rectangle, I like the look and it keeps it from stretching out too much.  This something I do differently than RTW, they centre it on the crotch, but honestly, that's puts it further back than I think is ideal.  I put it 2/3rds to the front.  I folded mine over so you can see where the crotch seam is.

And the inside, all sewn down.

Once that is sewn down, the last thing to add is a little bow to the front and you are done.  Ta da!