Flypaper Saturday thoughts from the RV

First some pictures from the week.

My traveling companions, early to bed etc. Note this is the little dog who used to run out of the room when a man entered it. They sleep like that all night.

Yes you can cook in a tiny kitchen. Or at least my cook can. Here is made from scratch pizza, all I did was the eating.

Now onto what is sticking to my mind at the moment:

• Three more papers to mark and I am back into sewing.
• Have had my eye on Talia pants ever since I saw them.
• Cut out and ready to go.

Oh and here is my mobile sewing studio. Cup holders great for notions:

And here is where I go to plot projects:

Back to flypaper, see the brain gets a bit scattered:

• You know you are getting older when you send home a picture of the beach
• And three kids, two sons and your daughter-in-law, send back messages about remembering to wear sunscreen
• Also going to finish my Granville shirt
• No buttonhole on this machine
• Should I freehand the buttonholes or wait till I get home?
• It takes 10 times as long to mark a paper with issues than one that doesn't
• Excellent is easier to write than this is what you could have done
• Or should have
• Nothing you learn from is a mistake
• They should pad the corners on RV cupboards
• I figured out why older couples all have dogs
• They want to still refer to themselves as Mommy and Daddy
• If you have a quiet man and want him to talk
• Put him on a putting green and ask him for advice
• Even just once
• No silence for the next 17 holes
• Except your own
• It is amazing how in a small space without much gear  you miss nothing
• Owner before me was an excellent housekeeper
• Four feet of carpet and we have a central vac
• Note Vado flare jeans have knee and hem settings so they don't have to be flares
• Interesting
• I can't bring myself to make flares
• I know a bell bottom when I see one
• Makes me think of the King of Rock and Roll
• Not someone I ever had a lot in common with
• Almost certain that man never canned anything
• Ever
• Or anyone asked him to babysit
• Blue Christmas is pretty awesome however
• Excellent to sing when you are home alone
• Not that my own Christmas are blue
• Generally too oblivious for that
• When you are making a slim pant and your waist is larger than it should be
• Or your hips are smaller
• I like the sound of that better
• Which one do you go with if you are lazy?
• Or sewing in an RV which is the same thing
• Generally I make for the hip and add to the waist
• However 1" of hip ease in a pattern not enough 
• If you pick up dog poop during the day
• Or can
• We're going with pattern for the waist folks
• See how that goes
• BTW never worry about leaving negative comments about my projects here
• After all I sewed it, not gave birth to it
• Wonder if Winn Dixie has mangos at 10 for $10 yet?
• Better check
• Some of my students are smarter than I am
• Pretty sure that's the way it is supposed to be
• Which reminds me
• Got to finish that marking before I sew pants on my tiny table
• Off I go

I can't not share this:

http://www.metronews.ca/news/canada/2016/02/23/b-c-mayor-wears-same-suit-to-every-meeting-for-15-months-as-social-experiment.html

Thank you

I have recently learned that this was one of the blogs listed in Madalynne's Best blogs of 2016 in the funniest category.

I had no idea I had been nominated, so thanks to my friend Carolyn who justifiably won in both most inspirational and best basics categories, for bringing this to my attention.

Just for the record though. 

I don't think I am particularly funny, but I sure do think life is, particularly the view from the home sewing table.


Thanks for reading.

Easy, ageless and Cool

A while ago at a sewing group meeting one of the other women, whose cool style I admire, said she would most definitely make some wide Louise Cutting pants.

I have to admit something.

I have never made any Louise Cutting patterns. To be honest I thought they would swamp me, and they are just not my usual style.

That said, and thinking things over after the meeting, I decided it was time to see how I would look in something I never wear.

Also who can exclude themselves from categorization as Easy, Ageless and Cool?

O.K.

Here we are, in what my dad would have called Whoopee pants. In size small/medium in the RV setting where whoopee pants are more appropriate than they might be in other environments.

First the pattern:

 Then the me:

The back view because, well you are strong enough to take it, as I am about to fall off the RV. I also  thought you would find it interesting to see what happens when a girl decides to let her hair go grey and it turns out she has one white patch in the back. Now how's that for surprises?

More highway than runway and I think the Birks and socks set the look right off perfectly. Also I am pretty sure my eyes are closed here too. At one hand we have the food bloggers who take pictures that look like artwork and on the other hand we have me...

And now to the pattern itself.

I really regret not sewing any of Louise Cutting's designs before. Her instructions are the bomb. I mean they were more interesting than any book I have read this year, and I read a lot of books. I would sew any of her patterns again just for a chance to read her instructions, they are that good and that interesting.

It made me almost cry when I worked through her pattern to think of all the knowledge she has, the wealth of that handy hint stuff that any sewer knows makes or breaks the final product, and think what some of the Indie patterns would be if they had this kind of talent working for them at the teaching and word end.

Why have we let this gulf between a sewing generation who knows so much, and one that is trying to learn develop?

Back to the pattern.

Here are some detail shots.

The wide waistband with stitching lines, you would not believe how much that woman has to say about elastic waists:

And here is a shot of the big pockets on each leg:

I have to say I love the pockets. 

They are huge, really you could put a couple of overweight cats in each one and go for a walk. Or carry a small child on one leg and two weeks of library books on the other and still have room for Kleenex. 

I mean how handy is that?

But back to the main question Babs.

Do you like these pants and would you make them again?

Would you wear them 20 feet past the RV?

Well I think I would.

There is something bratty about a garment that is so comfortable and practical and everyday. You have to have a certain amount of confidence to wear these I think, you would probably have to be easy, ageless and cool.

I am considering making them in something flowly and white for when in the summer you want white pants that don't touch your body, rayon would be good, although I would make them for myself again in a small, which in fact I am not.

I also was expecting something a little shorter, more crop-esque, even though I am 5'9," these still are nearly pant length on me.

Final verdict. 

There is a place in every wardrobe for something so easy to wear for days when things aren't easy, or when you just want to mail in your performance, and be nice to yourself.

Make sense?

What is the part you like?

I admit it.

For the last few months I have been having problems with my sewing mojo.

There were moments, in fact, when it seemed almost like work, particularly when I was struggling to get a few things made before I went away.

I haven't felt like this in a very long time, and it worried me.

Then last weekend I had a conversation with my middle son, who is a lot like me, and the lightbulb went off.

The gist of our discussion was that we are both only really happy when we are learning something.

This, I realized, is exactly what I was feeling about my sewing and why, lately, I have been feeling there was less in the tank than there used to be.

I had got myself stuck in someone else's lane.

Let me explain.

Different lanes for different sewers.

I figure there are some sewers who are highly energized by fit.

Robin  seems to me to be a sewer like this. Her muslins and alterations produce beautiful results reflecting her wonderful mathematical/musical mind. 

I figure there are some sewers who are energized by fabric. 

Carolyn is a sewer like this in many ways. Her famous TNTs are a canvas for her wonderful fabric collection and her creative fabrications. Her inspiration seems to come from fabric and she does things with her fabric I wouldn't even see or think of.

I figure there are some sewers who are energized by technique.

Bunny seems to me to be in this category. Bunny to me is a classic sewer and exhibits a level of care and skill in her work the rest of us can only aspire to.

I figure there are some sewers who are energized by wardrobe planning.

Ruthie is a sewer like this and I would love any one of her many capsules wardrobes. Ruthie understands mix and match, do you know how hard that is?

I figure there are some sewers who are energized by fashion.

Erica Bunker is the queen here, her eye for fashion and her translation of the trends into clothes you can make yourself has given her a unique reputation in our world. Skip Style.com just read Erica.

And finally there are sewers like me.

I have a bit of all of the above, in varying degrees, but primarily what I like best are new patterns. What gets me up in the morning and rushing off to the sewing room is the element of surprise.

I love a new pattern.

I love learning how to do something I haven't done before.

I love pulling something new and probably half done over my head and not knowing until I open my eyes in the mirror if it is a disaster or a nice surprise.

I love good instructions and figuring out strange new pattern shapes.

I like every new project to be a new pattern.

Pretty nutty I know. Risky for someone who doesn't like to fool around with fit (which is why a well drafted pattern means so much to me) but perfect for someone who likes to be learning something, and is a total optimist. 

Now what about you?

What kind of a sewer are you?

Have I missed an approach?

Bootstrap Fashion's Boyfriend jeans mark one

There are a number of posts this project is kicking off in my head but it makes sense to start with the first edition of my jeans projects and work out from there.

I have been feeling the need to have jeans/pants that fit my real life as opposed to making me feel like a unit in a sausage factory. My real life, in addition to lovely unstructured time in the RV in Florida, involves teaching, by distance, dog walking, family entertaining and a whole lot of time with my grandchildren 6, 4 and 1.

Once I got this idea in my head I started looking for a pattern.

Enter Bootstrap Fashion's Boyfriend jeans.

Now despite the fact I am more mother of the boyfriend than anyone borrowing her boyfriend's jeans I liked the look of the leg in these and the laid back feel of this fit.

What is really cool about this pattern is that with only two basic measurements to input, jeans waist and hip, as well as height, the pattern is sent right to you to tape together (I love on demand sewing) and sew.

There is so much I want to say about this pattern I hardly know where to begin.

The fit is really amazing and the drafting first class and precise.

This is more than I can say for the measurer of her measurements, I got optimistic about my hip and under valued it by an inch due to some delusional idea that sitting in a car and crocheting caused me to lose weight (not true BTW and don't we wish it was). As soon as I finish this post I am going to order another pattern with 2" added to the hip (I figure I want a little extra ease for squatting in the sandpile) rather than trying to add it myself to the pattern I have.

What can I say?

Once a sewing princess always a sewing princess, and beside I have always been more interested in sewing than alternating patterns or making muslin multiples. 

I made this version below exactly as it came to me, I have found the hard way that to give a new pattern a chance that makes sense rather than starting to mess with changes in unknown territory.

It should also be noted that there aren't precise instructions for where to measure the jeans waist, I figured that boyfriends were unlikely to wear them hitched up so went with a below navel measurement. Since the top of the waistband completed sits exactly at the bottom of my navel this was perfect.

There are a few "boyfriend" details worth noting. The back pockets are man sized not woman sized and are set low on the back (but not as low as teenage in the mall droopy pant low). If you don't like how this looks then you can read a really interesting discussion on rear pocket placement here at Closet Case Files. (Ginger has some excellent jeans sewing instructions on this site too).

I am also not 100% happy with the fly. For a start I do not have a zipper foot with me, or a buttonholer, so part of the zipper, where I needed to get near the teeth, I did by hand backstitches.

In my next pair I will use these traditional instructions for a fly zipper that offsets the teeth from centre front.

And now the pictures:

The bum shot. This gives you an idea of the relaxed fit and the pocket size and placement

I got enormous pleasure from the top-stitching reminded me of how seeing that needle goes through fabric makes me happy

More bum shots in the interest of science. What can I say? The fabric was a little too light for all the details but all I could access locally for denim was Hobbylobby. Expecting a shipment in tomorrow ...

This shot shows where the waist sits and also why I have dropped sugar from my diet. I have blamed the belly on a C section but since that baby is now almost 30 that excuse is probably getting old

Just a shot revealing that this denim is maybe a little light, but comfortable

OK we took a lot of pictures. Nova Scotia does not look like this now you know

Side shot, because well it is a side shot

I am pretty pleased with myself and getting geared up for more jeans.

* Full transparency: I have just signed up for an affiliate relationship with Bootstrap, a start-up which is also crowdfunding. Being an affiliate means purchases of this pattern through the link on this site will make a small contribution to my own pattern buying habit. I feel a bit strange about doing this but I really am impressed by this pattern and would not do this if that was not the case.

Flypaper thoughts rv edition

• Only the waistband to go on the Vado boyfriend jeans
• Apart from the fact I lied to the program about my hip measurement
• They are awesome
• More later
• Sent the husband on the scooter across town to Walmart to buy interfacing
• Best I could do
• They tried to sell him Stitch Witchery
• He knew to call
• When I was 16 I worked for the Hudson Bay's Northern Stores in the warehouse in the summer
• We sent the Inuit paper thin pyjamas on the boats before the ice closed up the routes
• In return they sent us soapstone carvings
• My boss was an old guy who had been in U boats in the war
• When things got tense he would crouch down and run
• Too much time in the subs someone told me
• I have thought of him sewing in the RV
• My ironing board is set up on a shelf under some overhead cupboards
• You would think if someone stood up under a cupboard 47 times she would learn
• Apparently not
• There are a few old men in Nova Scotia who were in the U boats in the war
• They looked through the periscopes and thought "looks pretty nice"
• Came back later
• A half done roll of paper towels makes a good sleeve roll
• I read a resume this week
• Wouldn't it be cool if people wrote true things?
• How about "Worrying: 1962-present"
• Did you have a good Valentine's day?
• I did
• Sat across the table in a restaurant from the man who once met a 45 year old woman with three teenagers, a cranky dog and a semi-renovated house and proposed because "I figured if I didn't someone else would snap you up."
• All these years I have let him think that is true
• However Valentine's day meant I missed Downton Abbey
• Never even crossed my mind
• Besides they broadcast last week before this week every Sunday
• I could so live with a lady's maid
• Every time Lady Mary steps out of her clothes and leaves them on the floor
• I think I could do that
• Live like a teenager
• And how about having someone do your hair every morning and all you have to do is move aside the breakfast tray and stagger to the dressing table?
• I could do that too
• And anytime you were bored you just have to ask Anna What's up?
• Modern life you lie there and discuss whether or not the dog really does need to go out for a pee this early
• Just not the same
• Tomorrow waistband and button loops
• Brace yourselves