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Monday 30 April 2012

Focus On Details

Less than two months ago, I got rid of a HUGE box of patterns and what am I doing? Buying more patterns in the latest BMV Club sale. Sigh.

In a recent posting, Carolyn said "In the middle of making this dress, I just got the feeling that I've made this dress before." She went on to conclude that there are only so many ways to interpret the same silhouette BUT - with a focus on details - each interpretation can be ever so slightly different with its own lessons to teach. I'm keeping that in mind as I buy and sew new variations on an old theme.

These patterns were chosen for their design lines, their ability to fit and flatter my figure, and for the custom fit cup sizing. Those have become my buying criteria and were the same criteria I used to weed my pattern stash so even if I am buying more patterns, I am at least being consistent - LOL - and there's room in the drawer.




Vogue 8814 struck me as a lovely Mother of the Groom dress. Not that any of my sons is getting married or even dating anyone but the pattern has potential so I'm buying it just in case. I especially like view A with the scoop neck, full back, and ability to add sleeves.



The pattern notes that there is no provision for above the waist adjustments except that my adjustment is to petite the pattern by taking an 1" out of the armhole and looking at the line drawing that still looks doable. With cup sizing the FBA is already taken care of.




Vogue 8817 is a Katharine Tilton design. What I liked about this particular pattern was the French seaming that allows for more shape. T-shirts that are loose through the waist do very little for my figure.




I'm not sure about the tunic length. Tights, tunics, and my hips are not the greatest combo HOWEVER... a little lengthening and this could make an easy wearing dress. The color blocking potential is there although I doubt I'll get it sewn before the color blocking trend is over BUT... I can certainly see mixing solids and patterns. If you click through to the website, one view uses lace inserts. I have some black spider lace that would be fun.




Vogue 1297 is one of Sandra Betzina's design. They are always a little wacky and a lot fun. I think view A with the gathers at the hip could make me look bottom heavy but view B with...



... the fold over flap has potential. I could try both - just to see - it'd be fun. I like the stripes and sleeves could be added for a friendly to flabby arms and/or wear in winter version.




The website describes Vogue 1307 as harem pants only they don't have the dropped crotch that I associate with harem pants.



These pants are another of Sandra's designs. Both views have potential. They remind me of my favourite Burda pants. Slightly different. Same idea.




A couple of years ago, I tried on a dress at a shop in Nanaimo that I really liked and bought a Kwik Sew pattern as a base to copy it from only Kwik Sew doesn't come with cup sizing like this Butterick 5745 pattern which has...




... both vertical and horizontal seaming making it even easier to fit. It brings me ever so slightly closer to copying the dress. Slightly.




From lots of details to almost none, McCalls 6571 is a Palmer Pletsch design and that's why I bought it. Patti's patterns are always well drafted with excellent instructions. The pants are elastic waist with no side seams. That style looks good on me without the side seam meandering around my curves. The t-shirt is very clean and simple. All fun.

Today is a magical day. Chris the floor man is coming to start laying the floor. He should be done tomorrow or Wednesday morning at the latest. I am SO EXCITED. We are getting very very close to getting all our stuff in a closet and settling into some sort of normalcy.

Talk soon - Myrna

Grateful - real floor

Thursday 26 April 2012

Impatiently Waiting

Mel wrote - You're back! Yah!!! I've been (impatiently) waiting to see how the new house is shaping up!!




LOL - me too! Yesterday they delivered the flooring for upstairs. It's acclimatizing and will be installed on Monday, Tuesday, and possibly Wednesday if it takes longer than anticipated. How lovely it will be to have real floor and to push the furniture around and arrange things and "move in". The finishing carpenter that I've worked with several times before is coming today to measure. Hopefully he can do the baseboards at the end of next week and then all the raw edges will be covered up.




The studio is a work in progress. This is the view looking toward the stairs (behind the green wall). Until I can get the light fixtures changed to full spectrum fluorescent tubes, there are extra lights all over the place. It's only this nice and bright first thing in the morning otherwise it has a weird glow that's difficult to see in. That will change. So will the blue wall. It will - eventually - be green like the rest of the room and I'm debating changing the island. Now that I've done a bit of sewing in here, I think it would be better in the other direction with the end against the window wall.




Looking the other way, my sewing desk is the far one. Barb is using the closer one during her visit. That means when I sit on the couch to knit we can still talk. It also means I'm always walking around the second desk to the work island. We'll see how I feel about that when I'm sewing alone. I'm debating painting the door a shade of fuchsia like the exterior doors at my previous house. LOVED that color.




This is the closet where all my stuff isn't. It needs primer and then two coats of paint as does Howard's closet and the storage closet and Howard's office and the hallway. I plan to paint those spaces on Friday because...




... this is the stuff that needs to be stored. There's more stuff than storage so I'm rethinking some of my systems. Besides the paint color, what bothered me on Saturday was that everything was the same. It was like I had picked my studio up, moved it, and plonked it down in a not quite as wonderful space. I have carpet. I prefer hardwood. I have openings. I prefer doors. I have a closet. I'd prefer a bigger closet. BUT... that said... I'm very happy with the move and just need to figure out how to make things work. The carpet now has chair mats. The curl-up chair became a curl-up couch. The trunk moved from an upstairs coffee table to a downstairs studio one. I gave away the fabric shelves and plan to replace them with a lower dresser so I can hang more artwork on the walls. Things like that.




This blue cabinet was in the kitchen before and held Tupperware. Now it's in the hallway between my studio and Howard's office and will hold games. The door beside it is to the laundry room.




Here's the long view of the hallway between our spaces. First on the right is my closet. Second on the right is the larger one currently holding all my boxes. At the end with the ladder is Howard's closet. The room back left with the opening is his office and will eventually have French doors. It's all good. Just needs painting and shelves and doors and arranging. Time.

Yesterday I worked on a purse for Lyn, my realtor. I used fabric left over from The Handbag Project last fall. I'm excited with how it's coming together. Pictures asap.

Talk soon - Myrna

Grateful
- stacks of laminate everywhere upstairs and imminent flooring

Wednesday 25 April 2012

Purple Couch Cushions

I sewed.
In my studio.
It was wonderful.
YEAH !



On Monday, the love seats came back from the re-upholster along with the left over fabric, a purple/brown tweed-ish look that changes colors depending on the light and the angle. The overexposed picture below shows you what I mean. After trying several different possibilities for couch cushions using the remnants seemed like the best possible choice - and it was - because - surprisingly - since I'd bought 18 meters - there were only two meters left and that was exactly the amount needed for six purple couch cushions.




I sewed four 20" squares and two 13" x 20" rectangles each with a zippered opening on the back. They used up all but a few scrap strips of the couch fabric and all of the pillow forms in my stash. I had to buy one more 20". It can't get more perfect than that. No closet space needed.




This is what's left. The pile on the left I threw in my thread basket. I'll pull it apart to include in some thread lace. The pile on the right is about eight 1 1/2" strips x 20" left from trimming the edges of the pillow backs to match the top. They'd work in a purse. I'm not sure I'm going to bother to keep them.




When I ordered the seat foam, I chose the highest density because the woman at the foam store told me that she'd bought the one down and a year later was unhappy. This is the firmest firm foam I've ever come across. It's like sitting on a piece of plywood but I know it'll soften up soon. I put the seat cushions on the floor and Kyle and I jumped on them to start the softening process. He'd be the only child of mine who has ever been allowed to jump on the furniture... and only the cushions... and only that once... just for fun.




On Saturday, when the furniture was moved into my studio, it didn't feel like me. Something was off - actually a few somethings but I'm making one change at a time. To start, the blue walls were too dark, swallowed the light, and hid the furniture. On Monday morning, I painted them my favourite lime - except for the one behind the work island which is too heavy to move without help. It feels much better. There are a few things left to do. I'll post pictures when everything is ready. At least it's sewable now. YES YES

My friend Barb is visiting for the week. We've been talking a lot about knowing ourselves. One thing I've learned over the years is to trust my intuition when I know something just isn't going to work for me. If it can be changed, I change it. One gallon of paint and a few hours of my time was worth feeling comfortable in my studio.

Talk soon - Myrna

Grateful
- a day of sewing

Thursday 19 April 2012

The End Is In Sight

It always intrigues me how one person's actions can affect so many people. While we are extremely grateful that our carpenter was available and willing to do the work on our house in the evenings after his regular job, he's the over promise and under deliver type which meant that last weekend our furniture moved into the garage and not the house. Delays with the framing delayed the gyproc which then delayed the flooring. That gets frustrating fast. I've been practicing biting my tongue and keeping my cool.




For a while it felt like everyone was standing on the frayed edges of my last nerve but things are improving the closer we get to moving into my studio - which should be this weekend for sure. YEAH!




We are prepping for carpet downstairs on Friday and taking out carpet upstairs for laminate in a few weeks. Go figure. We've been moving the same boxes around the house for days attempting to get them out of the way. The first two pictures were what my living and dining room looked like yesterday morning and the ones below were taken in the afternoon. As you can see, we've turned a corner.




I've found semi-permanent places for most of the boxes. Some will go downstairs into storage this weekend, when it's finished being gyproced. This is good even if I have to haul them out again to paint. It's a tough move when the major renovation you're making is the storage space. Everything is outside the closet instead of in.




Next week Kyle is working, Howard is on his way to Guatemala for two weeks, and my friend Barb is coming to stay. We'll sew - without workmen - I can hardly wait. A few area rugs will make the place more comfortable until the laminate goes in on the 3rd, 4th, and 5th or 7th. I really hope that contractor is willing to work on Saturday. Howard gets home on the 6th. Hopefully we are mostly together by then BUT... even with all that... we really like it here so far and it can only get better when our studio and study are ready. We can each go to our "corner" - LOL.

Hopefully next week I can show you my new studio and talk sewing. Wouldn't that be nice?

Talk soon - Myrna

Grateful
- the end is in sight

Thursday 12 April 2012

A Shot Of...

The image below is the only one in my April 2012 file. What a sad state of sewing that is - but yummy. It's a shot of Apple Crisp from Milestones. Just enough and not too much when you've already had a pasta lunch. And a nice break because renovations are...



... stalled right now. The boarding isn't finished. The mudding and taping can't start until it is. Hopefully that's Saturday. They want five days to finish which means putting of the carpet layers until next Friday. I really hope that a week from now I'm actually unpacking in my studio. The date keeps changing. For now, everything is in boxes in the corner.

Everything but the furniture is over at the new place. The movers come tomorrow to get the rest of our stuff and we'll sleep in the townhouse tomorrow night and living mid renovation until it's done. Luckily there isn't too much left to do upstairs - just tricky stuff - changing the flooring - and hopefully that's done in the next few weeks and we can feel more settled. I won't have Internet until sometime Monday. I'll let you know how it all went then.

Talk soon - Myrna

Grateful - nearing the end

Wednesday 11 April 2012

In The Middle Of The Mess

After thinking that everything was on track, the renovations have slowed down considerably with the gyproc stage. It's taking DAYS to board and the mudding and taping hasn't even started. The mess is overwhelming... to me... I'm not good with mess, with visible clutter, with men who take hours to do seemingly nothing BUT...



... I am experienced with moving and renovations and I know that after a good cry and a day on the couch, things improve. That was yesterday.




When I get to the house this morning everything is supposed to be out of my studio space so the carpet cleaners can come. THAT would be encouraging. Here's hoping.





In the middle of the mess, I received an email from Marcy and Diane about the Designing Outside the Lines retreat in June. Each teacher has a different focus. Marcy described hers as - to explore making functional, well designed and creative clothes for everyday life while stretching my own imagination and design boundaries. That certainly sums up what I'm interested in.

The supply list gives me something to think about. It's ...


- Surface design or hand sewing materials if you want to go in this direction
 

-
Small design file of ideas/images that are exciting and can influence a direction you would like your work to go 

-
Sewing Machine: for some this may be optional 

- A selection of patterns, fabrics, trims, ribbon. Be selective here, go with what you love; a color scheme, a new design direction....less is better than more
 

-
Sewing kit with your favorite tools for sewing & pattern adjusting etc.

-
Interfacings and a bit of fleece just in case 

-
For closures: cording, beads or other jewelry elements, buttons etc. 

-
Leave empty space so there is room for something magical to enter






On the 21st, my friend Barb is visiting for a few days. She's offered to clean or rip out or renovate or paint whatever needs to be cleaned, ripped, renovated, or painted. NOT happening. No matter what needs what, we'll be sewing although it appears it may be on the dining room table. Good enough - LOL.

... I need to sew and I need some creative everyday clothing. If you took a look inside my closet right now you'd see that the highest percentage is of skirts and after that t-shirts. Those and casual pants and a simple dress are what I'm thinking about. Patterns like Vogue 2064, 1292, 1296, and 8646 above. YEAH!

The neighbours across the street came over the welcome us last night while Howard was working at the townhouse. They brought a card and homemade buns and it turns out we know them. They went to the church I grew up in and that Howard and I attended for a few years after we married. I would guess they are in their mid to late seventies now. He's a metal artist and she's an amazing seamstress. I'm looking forward to those discussions. A unit higher there's a sewing machine sitting in the bedroom window. That looks hopeful too.

Blogger is being very weird with font and spacing and spell check today. Hopefully this publishes readable.

Talk soon - Myrna

Grateful - a good cry and welcoming neighbours

Monday 9 April 2012

Thirteen Hours

On Saturday, I spent over thirteen hours cleaning the three bathrooms and the inside of the windows in our room, Kyle's room, the kitchen, the dining room, and the living room. That time frame does include three short breaks and even so that's a long time for that amount of work. The master bath alone took three and a half hours and it's the smallest room in the house. That someone could be that dirty is beyond me. It took a small flick to clean off the paint from the previous paint job over two years ago which does make me wonder how often the bathtub was cleaned. I thought it was cream. It's white!




Work in the downstairs is making progress. I've painted the ceiling and three walls in my studio CC830 Strathmore Blue from Benjamin Moore. It's a denim-ish color. The image above shows the wall we're adding to shape my studio. When it's finished, I'll paint it my favourite lime and put my computer there.




This is the view looking back at the wall. The door on the right is to Kyle's room. The open door beside it is to the upstairs. Behind it along that beige but will be blue wall is a new hallway that leads to the laundry room, the storage closets, and Howard's office.




Looking down the room, the door at the end exits to the lower deck. I think my work island will be at that end of the room but I'm not sure yet. My sewing desks will be in front of the windows.




This is the view from the studio although it was clouded over when I took this picture. Straight ahead, below the trees, you can see the city and up the north valley. Way way back there is where we lived when I was in elementary and high school. In the extreme distance, more to the right, I can see mountain ranges with snow peaks. It's interesting to watch weather roll through the valley. I'll take another picture on a clear day.




Remember when I said this studio was slightly larger but the closet was considerably smaller. This is it. It's narrower, shorter, and not as deep. This is a problem because...




... this stack in the Master Bedroom is about 80% of my studio and even though some of it goes on the book shelves, under the sewing desks, and in the laundry (dye supplies) there is obviously more stuff than closet space. In the long run, this could help me to buy less. In the short run, I either need to sew like the wind or come up with some storage solutions. Right now, I'd really like to sew like the wind. It's been WAY too long.

Also on Saturday... the fridge, stove, washer, and dryer arrived. It's starting to look like home, which is good, because we move next Saturday.

Talk soon - Myrna

Grateful
- Garry the magic contractor

Monday 2 April 2012

Let Me Think About That

If I'd gone to Port Townsend as previously planned, I'd be driving back home today. I'm really glad I didn't go. Not only did I need to be here to make numerous decisions with the finishing downstairs BUT... I've painted over half the house. I was going to start on the studio today only there are piles of lumber and other supplies all over the room so I'll paint the downstairs bathroom and start on the doors and the rest will have to wait until next week when the renovations are done - hopefully. By Wednesday this week I should be cleaning and starting to move boxes. There's is still lots to be done but moving in is feeling quite doable.  We have two weeks.




When we woke up Sunday, it was snowing which seemed like a really bad April Fool's Day joke. Not. There was alternating snow and sunshine all day. Weird weather. Pretty trees. These are right across from our "new" front porch. When we left last night, there was a herd of deer meandering through the complex.




I painted the entry way yesterday. Above is how it looked before and below it has two coats of Pasture Green which has turned out to be a color that Howard really likes. It's not a Benjamin Moore color. They color matched it from another line. Howard has commented several times on how good he thinks it looks. YEAH. For us - not being beige people - this is a huge improvement and far more comfortable. The house is beginning to feel home-ish. When the walls left and right are done, it'll look fabulous.




If you had been over here listening last week, you'd have heard me say let me think about that frequently. I'm good at making quick decisions and in the past they've worked out well. This time, I'm taking more time - typically painting time - to work through dilemmas and often the answers are just as effective as the first thought but less expensive. This is good - especially as less debt and the ability to pay off our mortgage were major goals with this move.

Another goal was less work and less stress for Howard and that seems to be working out as well. He has made many - MANY - positive comments. At breakfast yesterday, I said you seem to be very happy about this move he said that he was really looking forward to it. Quite possibly - just maybe - the double garage and the bigger office with the couch and the ridiculously huge TV are motivating factors but - LOL - either way, good.

Talk soon - Myrna

Grateful - painting downstairs