What's missing?

You might notice that something is gone from this blog.


No more You Can Never Have Too Many White Shirts icon.


Why?


Well you can, I decided.


Have too many white shirts I mean.


Now you know.


It seemed like a good idea at the time, but I decided after three that I had never been so bored out of my mind with any of my ideas like this one.


This dumb idea turned my sewing into a chore.


Every time I went into my sewing room I saw this huge pile of white fabric and this heap of shirt patterns and they both seemed to say to me "Well Babs, you better get to work or you are going to look like a fool."


Well, so what?


I don't need my sewing to nag me.


Truth is there are other areas of my life I take pretty seriously.


Yesterday I more or less finished up on a really hard distance course I have been working on. It may not be perfect but it really is the best I can do at this stage. In fact, funnily enough, I feel right now I am doing the best work of my life - just when I thought I was going to downshift.


I also put everything I can into my relationships with my family. The best this particular person's got. 


Mind you, as my kids will be the first to tell you, it's not always great - like giving my son's beautiful and profoundly polite girlfriend a complete summary of all his childhood illnesses over dinner at a chic restaurant in NYC. She probably didn't need to know what the pediatrician said every visit. But now she does.


I mean I can, and often am, deeply clueless but I give it all I've got when I am.


I try to be a good dog mother. 


I even searched the house at 3:00 a.m. two nights ago to try and find Mr. Rascal because his soft complaining woke me up. Turns out he was sitting in the dark in the bathtub waiting for me to turn on the taps so he could have a little drink - he doesn't like the dog bowl water when it has been sitting there, like overnight.


So I can't let my sewing be another thing I have to try so hard at. There simply can't be any duty in it for me.


Sewing is what I want to do when it's time for a break. Sewing can't ever be something that I need a break from.


I have to admit that this morning I am putting the Wild Ginger fitting in that box right now too. 


This is just me but as a sewer I work in fabric and in front of a mirror and in front of a sewing machine. The idea of going back into that software and fiddling with the numbers and printing off a pattern and sewing up another muslin and then going back into the software to transfer in and back and forth so I can get out say a camp shirt to spit out just feels like something that is too much work for me right now. That sort of describes what I have already done working all week on my distance course in fact.


So Wild Ginger is going back into the box for a while, at least until it seems to me that will be a fun thing to do.


As to my wonderful friends who signed up to sew white shirts I am transferring you to my blog roll this weekend, which is where you belong.


More later.

Flypaper thoughts, some from the road

• New York city is not in Tennessee.
• In TN that middle-aged woman likely has her hair coloured and that baby is her third grandchild.
• In Manhattan that middle-aged woman is letting her hair go grey and that's her first child in her stroller.
• In Tennessee they have big trucks.
• In NYC they have big sidewalks.
• Knees are to bodies what zippers are to garments.
• Not the same warranty.
• In Tennessee they say to me "don't get in a rush."
• In NYC I walk faster to keep up.
• Why did I forget to buy buttons?
• My daughter hired a doula for help with her breastfeeding.
• The baby now nurses standing up.
• Looks odd works great.
• New York is about a lot of small. Small spaces, small shops, small room between people.
• It's not anonymous, it's close.
• They don't tell you that. 
• It's sort of comforting.
• I heard frogs outside my window in Tennessee. 
• I swear.
• On the phone Miss Scarlett said to me "Babs I am going to go to your house as soon as I can."
• That's why I came home.
• I love New York.
• I love Tennessee.
• I live in Nova Scotia.
• This is my home.
• I was born on the prairies.
• You never know.
• You just never know.
• Anytime I walk into a fabric store I am no longer a traveller.
• These are my people.
• This is the home I carry with me.

Back home

Well I did NYC and Tennessee and am back home.


There is a lot in my mind I want to share and I don't know where to begin. 


Maybe I should do a series of short posts on specific subjects to share my thoughts. 


That is what this blog is to me, a place to unload the things that are occupying my mental space but may not be highly interesting to the general public - you know those people who don't wake up in the middle of the night trying to decide if that sleeve should really get ripped out and put in again, or if remembering to keep my arm at my side when I wear it will be enough. (Decided I can't always carry a purse or wear a newspaper under my arm - so have gotten up at 3:00 a.m. and just ripped it out so I would have no choice in the morning.)


OK


So let's start with packing.


I was very successful packing lighter than usual. For once I didn't have to pay any extra for weight and have them put those "Heavy" tags on my suitcase. I had room to spare and could bring my fabric purchases back no problem in the one same case.


I achieved this by:


1. Forgetting to pack my pajamas. A friend of mine who was once evacuated in a hotel fire alarm told me to always travel with good pjs - he said you wouldn't believe what some people wear to bed. Mr. Walmart took care of this on the way back from the airport.


2. Not bringing a rain coat or rain hat (another friend told me a rain hat is a more practical accessory than an umbrella, leaves your hands free, and she travels around the world but I forgot this advice. Also I actually don't own a rain hat and my black collapsable umbrella got taken home by mistake by the undertaker at my father-in-law's funeral because they thought it was theirs, but that's another story).


Of course it rained immediately and for two days as soon as I got to New York but one of the things you learn about the place is that once the first raindrop falls every little shop immediately sets out baskets of umbrellas for sale on the sidewalk. Not many tricks missed in that place.

3. I thought about only one venue when I packed. In the interests of smart packing I packed only one theme - black and grey and my Nova Scotian idea of what to wear in the big city.


Of course as soon as I got to Tennessee my husband's work had a team building thing to which I was invited that involved beer and bowling. 


What you think you should wear to a bar in Manhattan and what you should wear in the next alley to a guy named Ace who is bowling 739 are different. 


You can trust me on this.


More later.

Packing for trips

In morning I fly out. First to Orlando where I am overnighting at an airport hotel, and then on to Tennessee to see the spouse. Thursday morning we go to NYC, and Sunday I fly home.


In between making 18 quarts of homemade dog food for the boys (I have a friend from work staying here and a dog walker coming by in the days) I am trying to pack.


I am the World's Worst Packer.


I wish I was more like my grandmother who was a Great Packer. The mistress of the rolled garment, underwear in shoes, and things packed in plastic. She traveled a lot. She and my grandfather had an arrangement that involved him staying at The Store and her going to Switzerland to buy cuckoo clocks (OK she did this only once) or freeloading on relatives who she claimed where "desperate to see me" (she did this a lot, although usually only once per venue).


She was such a great packer she even wore three dresses on top of each other when going through customs after shopping in the States.


But that's another story entirely.


Thing is I too have traveled  a lot, used to do it for work, and I should have learned something by now. 


I can say with confidence that I haven't learned a thing and am not one bit improved.


This is a nuisance.


My specialty is packing way too much and all of it being the wrong thing. I have a hard time transitioning my head for a different climate then the one I am in. I once went to a convention in Las Vegas in March with a suitcase full of wool leotards and wool suits and big boots. I had sweat flattening my hair the whole time, not really a glam look.


Then there was the time we drove to Montreal for my son's graduation and I packed all our tops in one bag and all our bottoms in the other.


And left the bottom's bag at home.


Good for 200 miles of "I saw it but thought you were going to bring it."


I also am a victim of the "what if, just in case" scenario. I usually pack about five pairs of shoes (rainboots in case in rains, heels in case it's a nice restaurant, running shoes in case I work out in the hotel gym, (I never do), walking shoes for shopping, slippers for the room, other shoes that aren't real heels in case the restaurant is one that I have to walk to.)


You get my drift.


This is why my preferred mode of transport is by car. 


With a van, car top carrier, and trailer my husband has to haul to accommodate my stuff when I am gone more than a week and Need Projects, I do fine. On these stupid airlines where they weigh bags and charge you extra for extra pounds and for each bag even things are more stressful.


The big change in my view of this whole issue has resulted from watching my son's NYC girlfriend come for visits.


This kid always looks totally appropriate and chic and, get this, she doesn't check any luggage, she only travels with a tiny carry-on. My first words when I pick her up are always "That's it?"


So this trip I am trying to emulate her Babs style. For me this means only one large suitcase and one normal purse.


And I am only wearing short boots on my feet and only two more pairs of shoes packed. Black, white and grey clothes (remind me to finish those two pairs of StyleArc Linda pants). We will see how this goes.


What are your packing tips? What are your best travel garments?

Vogue 1128 finished

Last night I went to a sewing group meeting (a member is married to a local pastor so we meet in the church basement, hence the drums in the background - and mainstream churches are wondering why they are losing congregations). While we talked I finished sewing on my giant snaps and snagged one of my cohorts to take a picture. 

So this is the unfinal pressed version but you get the idea:

Side view showing how the pleats out of the yoke and at the hem work. You can see I lightly pressed these to reduce the bulge factor, not sure if I will leave this the way it is or steam the pressing out.

The effect of the pleats on the profile of the coat. Actually fairly practical as this would reduce the draft up the backside factor that is particularly relevant to dressing for my climate. Not sure if the sleeves are as wide as this looks or if it was our camera angle - very clear view of how dropped the shoulders are and how wide the sleeves are when you lengthen them. Personally, since I am anything but and inverted triangle, I have no problem with garments that make me look like one.

Of course it isn't too useful that I have my hands in the pockets, but this is one of those cozy sort of comfy coats that you would do that in. I see this coat and this pose and reflective of how I will really wear this - in front of the diary counter at the Superstore talking to someone I haven't seen in a long time.

In the end I went with just the giant snaps and no buttons. 

This fabric is loosely woven (I fused light weight interfacing to the whole thing - now that was a fascinating exercise - think that's why they invented TV), soft and heavy and I think the big snaps, which I feel have been too heavy and a disaster on everything else I have tried to use them on, are perfect here.

I am going away for 10 days to the US in a few days and have a lot to do before I leave town. I will post later about the challenges of packing for travel if you are me and will try to do a proper Pattern Review of this pattern before too long.

Now to answer some commenters.

Calypso a TNT is a Tried and True pattern. This means if you kill yourself making something fit you should use that pattern again to try and recoup some of that investment and to avoid wasting good sewing time fooling around on the unfun part.

Petunia re this coat and adjusting it. These pictures will probably answer your fit questions. My general sense of it is that because this shape is so distinctive and oversized it is best just accepted as is. Fitting changes would IMO be lost in the volume. Shoulder pads for example would not be helpful given how undefined the shoulder line is, and actually looking at the side view here, the bubble factor is lower hem more than over my rear end so maybe pressing the pleats down was not necessary.

What do you think?

As promised, sort of

Consistent with a life time of over promising and under-delivering to myself as a sewer here is my status report on Vogue 1128.


Hem pinned up but not done, snaps and faux buttons still on the table and not on the coat, but otherwise finished.


I really like it in a costume character way. Due to operator precision this is hanging crooked on the hanger and so the welt pockets in real life are in fact more level, no small surprise to me.


I was totally taken back to see that I executed these two vertical welt pockets very well. The secret is the fabric of course. Choose something with the texture of a living room rug and no one, including yourself, will be able to see any mistakes. Put that one away for future reference.

I would have liked to have finished this today, but sometimes life, just like some of the people in it, doesn't seem to be listening.


Not to worry, a new week ahead.

Progress report Vogue 1128

You might want to book off tomorrow night.


If all goes well I will be posting pictures of my rendition of Vogue 1128.


I will be for ever grateful to Erica Bunker for testing the waters on this one.


Much to discuss. First of all if there was an Olympics for "Pattern photos that provide none of the information a sewer really needs" there would definitely be a gold medal for the folks at Vogue for this one as pretty as it is.

This coat has three really notable features:

1.  It is really wide. I am making a 14 and I'm not really. I wanted a coat I can layer to wear while traveling and if I am cold I can layer my spring coat, old winter coat, and bathrobe under this, and could probably also fit in my suitcase - although of course I will never get that through airport security. Oh the old days.


Hell I could even fit Mr. Rascal under there but he would never have the sense to be quiet.


I am perfectly fine with the wideness I should add. I am getting pretty fed up with slick looking coats that fit more or less like the notorious sloper.


I mean who needs a coat that you have to suck your stomach in when you wear it ?


A person wears coats when it is cold, grey, and you more or less wish you were somewhere where you didn't have to wear a coat. To my mind a winter coat has to be comforting, morale supporting, and reliable.

A winter coat has to be On Your Side.


I feel this coat is going to do that for me.


What's working up is what I would call a Dad's Coat. I think you know exactly what I mean.


2. It has really short sleeves, much disguised by the pose. I have to say 3/4 coat sleeves are a dumb idea. They might work with a outfit you would wear to a Royal Wedding, if your forearms are you best feature, but for the kind of weather you need a coat for they suck. I mean you can wear those long gloves, which I own because they were on sale, but those only really work if your garment underneath is sleeveless, well and I am not Kim Novak (please see previous post and pictures.)

And the sleeves of a work blouse and a cardi don't look the best as an alternative - hanging out at the end of a 3/4 sleeve, and only confirm for anyone left wondering that you are not Kim Novak.


All of this is to say I added 6" to the bottom of the sleeve pattern.


3. There is a tuck at the yoke and again at the hem on each side of the back which makes the back of the coat a little like a cocoon coat. 


Or it can make you look like you have the world's most giant bubble butt.


I have sort of pressed these into flatter tucks and we will see what I think of this in the light of day.


That would be tomorrow.

I have to say that despite all of this I love what I am seeing so far.