Life's busy

I will be posting a proper pattern review soon of Stylearc's Brooklyn pants, but in the meantime, here's a quick podcast on creativity.

When I have a moment I promise to get these on iTunes,

Enjoy the weekend.

A podcast test experiment

Hi folks let's test out a new and easier way for me to podcast. Let me know if this works for you and if you think some of these informal while I sew podcasts might be of any interest.


Here we go

Sewing on the edge's May 1 podcast 

Thanks.

Rethinking clothes

Hi folks. 

Thanks so much for your responses to the Violet knit jacket. And my apologies to a few people who left wonderful comments that got spam filed and deleted after I read them because I clicked the wrong button by mistake.

You all gave me so much to think about. I am pretty sure I just write this blog just so I can have the pleasure of communicating with you and for the chance to read your interesting comments.

I am going to make another version of that jacket, starting with using a lighter fabric, a ponte, and raising the pockets 1 1/2". Either I have short arms or they have really long ones at Stylearc.

As you all know I have been deep in sewing garments for my book, quirky little units, that you will see when the book is released May 2018. Yes it take time.

But enough of that.

Doing the sewing I am supposed to do as opposed to randomly as I usually operate created a back log in me. So yesterday I went into obsessive mode, something my family specializes in, and cut all day.

I am going to put all these pieces in a laundry basket, set up my machines, and do drive by sewing during the week to see what comes out of this pile:

Some of this stuff is continuing experiments, some stuff I need:

• one Violet jacket 2.0
• Two cardigans, both different Jalies
• Two pairs of Margaret narrow pants from Stylearc
• Two pairs of Brooklyn knit pants Stylearc and a new pattern/experiment
• Six Jalie T shirts
• Two dresses, both Adeles from Stylearc, one knit one woven ( a cocoon shape and again an out there experiment)

This is of course entirely delusional as an intention but what else is new? I am going to Winnipeg on May 21, start teaching an online creative non-fiction course on May 9th, probably have some book edits coming my way. I also have a ton of appointments, meetings, some political commentary on the radio to do because we should be starting a provincial election today, and much babysitting - including three days with the three kids while my SIL and daughter stage a well-deserved break.

Oh and yesterday my youngest son asked me to make him a dress shirt with windmill patterned fabric on it (found some at Spoonflower) before he goes to a wind conference in a few weeks.

I am pretty sure that the fact I have so much coming up is exactly why I took the time to cut yesterday.

In one sentence : I sew to feel like myself.

And the busier life gets the more I need that.

On another random note I have long held a theory no one has asked to hear, that fashion has often diverted us to "classics" that are in reality men type clothes. You know button up shirts, blazers, tailored pants.

This forgets, I think, dresses. These women devised to suit us, clothes of our culture. I am picking up, and have written before, about a less tight and revealing backlash in clothing coming from younger women (my daughter like the Violet jacket) and this is redefining the dress.

On that note I was interested to read this morning about sport dresses from this company

I am struck that this look would have been completely absent in the sportswear scene a few years ago.   

I would be interested in what you think of this trend, which seems to me to be very wide range of body type approach.