Fun, Pretty, Perky

It's Monday night. Some friends just phoned and they're coming to stay on their way to Vancouver. I'm not sure what time they'll be leaving so I thought I'd write this post tonight and schedule it for the morning. Otherwise, it could be late afternoon, after Arts & Crafts Club, before there's time to write. I promised a bit about the SWAP 2010. There isn't enough time to put that together before they get here so I'll talk about it tomorrow.

I finished the second bra. I wish I could say it was fun. Mostly, it felt like tough slugging. I just wanted to be done. A bra is an interesting project so I wish I hadn't felt that way. Thinking about why, I've decided that it's the color. I already have one RTW white bra and then the sample one and now the "real" one. That's way too many white bras for me. I don't want more boring white. I want fun, pretty, perky.

A few years ago, when my daughter moved into an apartment and was using a laundromat part of the time, she decided to only buy dark lingerie since she rarely wore light clothes and therefore rarely needed white bras or panties. Dark lingerie could go in the dark load and was less expensive and MUCH easier to keep fresh and clean. WHAT A SMART GIRL.

I copied her. Since then, my lingerie has been black or dark. I have one white bra, one white pair of panties, and a couple pairs of white socks for when and if I need them - which is rarely. I could probably count on one hand how many times they've been worn in the last few years because I only have one white shirt that I've worn twice, one pale blue t-shirt that I rarely wear, and no light colored pants. Everything else is a medium to dark color - mostly black.



Sewing a bra is not complicated. It is a bit fiddly and there are lots of opportunities to get off track and do a less than neat job, which means there's room for both fun and improvement. Maybe I'm being picky. When people see the bras I've sewn, they say that they look just like a real bra so the quality is good. BUT... me being me... I want to sew an even neater product only that won't be happening until I can get some patterns and colors into the mix. All of the lingerie supply sitess that I've been able to find in Canada have only white, black, pink, and cream colored materials. BORING!

I've ordered an out of print book called Sewing Lingerie That Fits. Hopefully, it will talk about suitable fabrics and maybe about dyeing. The two paints shown in the image above are suitable for synthetic fabrics only they are paints not dyes. I've read that Jacquard makes an acid wash dye for synthetics. That would be perfect. Then boring white could become bright and beautiful. I'm researching it.

On the weekend, I went down to the local sewing machine store and had a good talk with the owner. She does custom sewing as well as alterations. Although I said I didn't want to sew bras as a business, the idea kept tickling because I know there is a demand. At the head of the line would be my daughter.

We (the owner and I) talked about what if I opened a plus size, lingerie sewing, business, what would the demand be like, what structures could the business take, and what would the end result be on my creativity. That was the key question. I don't want another business in my home. I want to go somewhere, work, come home, go into the studio, and be creative for myself. When I asked her if she felt that could happen, she said no. Based on her experience, and on what she knows from other custom seamstresses, she said that she could almost guarantee that I would not feel like sewing once I got home.

I've heard that more than once from quite a few seamstresses. While I was in Nanaimo, I talked to one woman who was so burnt out from her custom sewing business that she never wants to sew again. I feel that way about traditional quilts. I can barely be polite around them. I don't want that to happen to my fashion sewing. So... NO plus size, lingerie sewing, business although my daughter still gets to be head of the line. It'll be fun to sew some bras for her and for me IF we can find some fun fabrics.




I thought that I was standing nice and straight in the picture above but that downhill slide on the shoulders obviously tells the truth. That's what I love about digital cameras. They're amazing for getting an unbiased impression and really seeing what's there. Either I need to straighten up or get my back adjusted.

The wrinkles you see are because of the way I'm standing. Otherwise, the t-shirt fits smoothly over the back as a result of the sway back adjustment. It made a world of difference. I took the side seam in at the hem 2 3/4" tapering from there to match the existing seamline at the waist. That's a huge difference. I need to figure out if it's the extra weight I've lost since I started this project or if it's in how I added back onto the side seam after the sway back adjustment.



What you are seeing from the side is how the fabric shows every lump and bump over my jeans. It feels wonderful on but I really don't want it to cling to me quite that much. I'll do some research into that too. Perhaps this isn't as wonderful a fabric as it feels.

AND... as you can see... I had my hair cut similar to the way it was at my daughter's wedding. This has been a tough year for haircuts. I can't seem to communicate exactly what it is that I want to the hairstylist. I'd hoped for a bit more texture and a more dramatic angle from front to back. Oh well.. maybe next time. Even as is, it feels a lot better.

Talk soon - Myrna

Grateful - visit with friends