Low Productivity

At coffee yesterday, Francine made the most interesting comment. She said, you used to wear a lot of color. That made me think about how we evolve and why and in what directions. I still wear color only now I wear it in the form of jewelry and accessories paired with primarily black garments. At least 50% (if not more) of my clothing is black. How did that happen?

It's not that I don't like black - I do - a lot - so it's not an issue for me but it is a curious question. I think the reason is a combination of things. One was learning that black with color is a recognized clothing personality. I'm comfortable wearing a lot of black because it's part of my style.

Another reason was losing thirty pounds rather quickly without a lot of money to replace the garments I'd outgrown. I have very little clothing and wear what I have frequently, which ties into the third reason. Colorwise there's a real lack of choice. So many stores offer little to no variety in color. I'm not interested in orange, brown, beige, ivory or any of the fall shades or in pastels and I dislike the fussy, prissy and/or pregnant looking styles that have been around for the last few years. I like strong, vibrant, clear colors. Finding those combined with styles that fit and flatter me, details that interest me, and a price tag I can afford - almost impossible. Black is easy to buy.

I need more clothes - like yesterday. I'm trying to sew them which is probably why my lack of productivity has been bothering me lately. It's like I'm spinning my wheels getting nowhere, wasting time and opportunity. I don't like that feeling. I found it funny that on the news Wednesday night, they reported on the growing concern over Canada's low productivity rate. Apparently, I'm not alone - LOL.

I folded the jacket pattern back up and put it away. While I had lots of ideas for sewing a wonderfully creative look, I had no energy to even get started. That project - simple as it was - felt too big, too much. What I needed was something already fitted so I decided to make another version of the comfort waist skirt from a few months ago, this time with a back vent instead of a flounce.




Right after I started cutting out the fabric, this comment was posted. LOVE coincidences. Jodie K asked - I really like your skirt, what pattern is it? I have a basic straight skirt that is a TNT, but I'm looking for something different (and comfortable). The elastic waist sounds comfy.




The pattern is self drafted. It's based on the ready to wear skirt above from Reitman's. I changed a few things. Their version had narrow transparent elastic sewn into the seam allowance of the facing and no flounce at the back. I added the layered flounces and and a 1" elastic waistband. The flounce was based on McCall's 5523 which does not have an elastic waist.




This black and white stretch denim has been in my stash for YEARS. I wasn't willing to fuss with matching prints so I staggered the pieces hoping for a randomly nice dispersion. Wouldn't you know it but the only seam that didn't work out in a way that I like is center front. If I'd thought about it earlier, I could have cut a new panel and switched one of the pieces however, after all those rows of double top stitching, it isn't going to happen.

One thing that intrigues me about my return to fashion sewing is how much of my way of approaching art has come with me - in particular how much I would prefer to mix things up and how I approach of the process. No matter what I am working on - a garment or an art piece - quality workmanship is really important to me. Even so, I don't believe in making a lifetime commitment to the project. I never hand quilted a quilt and I'm not likely to bind every seam and match every print. My life is too short for that because it's not important to me. I've never been one for a lot of hand stitching and I'm more than happy with the clean, neat look of serged seam allowances. With prints, there are some things I can accept and some I can't.

Mismatched stripes and plaids drive me crazy. To me, straight lines need to line up. That comes from my early days of sewing fashions and traditional patchwork. However, my years as a textile artist led me to prefer a different mix of colors, textures, and patterns, one that I find far more interesting and that a lot of people might think is "off".

For the most part, floral patterns that don't match, don't bother me. I like the random flow that is created when the shape of the flowers is distorted and scattered by seam allowances. When using a floral fabric, I deliberately choose a pattern with multiple seam lines just to get that chopped and jagged look. That said, apparently floral motifs that are too close together and look like they're lining up in rows do bother me. The center front seam of this skirt bothers me but not enough to change that panel now or to trash the skirt. I tried it on. It is going to be REALLY comfortable to wear. For a summer skirt, it's okay. There's just the hem and the elastic waistband left to finish.

Thinking about productivity, about my lack of wardrobe, about summer pending, and about next week, I've decided to make next week the week of the outfit. Actually, I'm starting now. I'll finish the skirt and then make an upper garment to go with it and then a lower garment to go with that and then another upper garment. My goal is to focus on clean lines and easily constructed garments. That's not as easy as it sounds. I hate repeat garments. They typically bore me so I hope I can stick with it and get quite a few pieces finished, even a few not black ones.

Have a great weekend - Myrna

Grateful - using the black and white floral after so many years of looking at it. The piece was bought during the wishing years when I wanted to sew fashions but didn't have time.

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Personal Growth - My son worked until midnight last night. He works at McDonald's and is such a reliable worker that they often schedule him for opening and closing shifts. That means I'm either up early to take him to work or up late to pick him up from work because Howard is either in bed or at work. He leaves around 5:00.

All of our children have worked at a summer camp about 1 1/2 hours away. The way that the camp is structured, junior counsellors have to be picked up on Friday nights and dropped off on Sunday afternoons which means that every weekend, for the two months of summer, for most of the past eight years, I have driven back and forth to camp. I was really looking forward to NOT doing that this year. Apparently, instead I'll be doing a lot of late night and early morning sewing while waiting on my child in a different way.

I'm not sure how I feel about that. Part of me is rather grumpy and part of me is proud that my child is such a good worker, respected by his employer, and given lots of responsibilities. I believe that a key part of my parental role is to facilitate new experiences and opportunities to grow and learn, which include learning to work hard, build a solid reputation, and be responsible and reliable, and to manage money earned. Maybe next summer will be slow and easy with some sleeping in. LOL - we'll see.