No Grand Adventures

Apparently, I'm not doing too well with communicating lately. My thoughts yesterday had nothing to do with the quantity of comments or any upset over people not commenting. They were simply to say that I love what the comments add to the discussion and that I miss those people who used to be more visible years ago and no longer read or no longer comment for whatever reason. I certainly don't comment on every posting I read.

THANKS Bev for letting me know about the verification issue. I thought I'd taken that off months ago. It should be gone now.

Since there weren't two old t-shirt parts big enough for the side fronts, I cut two pieces and joined them with a seam at roughly waist height. After I'd stitched the wrong bottoms to the wrong tops and had to remove three rows of stitching from each knit seam, I got the message that this was not the day for grand adventures in the studio and put it aside.

Without trying, the original stamped label on one of the t-shirts was repositioned upside down, bottom back. How fun. I added the 100% cotton exclusive of trims laundry label but cut off the company's identification number just in case since it's no longer valid and I'd hate for them to somehow be held responsible for something.

Above is the middle front piece. In the original pattern, there's a seam at center front. I cut the piece on fold with the neckline of the original garment about 6" from the new bottom. Here's how it looks...

... in fabric next to the two side pieces. The middle piece has more bleach dots. That's good. I'm trying to decide if I want a fluffy or a fringe-like bottom or if I want to piece in some scraps like the back. Most likely the latter because the other ideas are not getting a big yes. I like flounces and small tiny ruffles but I'm not much for fringes or big on what I call prairie ruffles. Still thinking.

I had a job interview yesterday. Too bad it wasn't after Saturday when I'm getting my it badly needs it hair cut. BUT... I managed to look okay and once I was all dressed to go - minus shoes - I thought I'd try taking a picture in the studio.  I'm wearing the turquoise Marcy pants with a black t-shirt and a purple cardigan that has a ribbed flounce from just under the bust and around the back along with a HUGE sparkly broach at bust level, the necklace my daughter made me for Christmas, and a purple watch. You can't see any of that. All you can tell is that my body seems to be going in too many directions at once. I'm not sure if it's the light or the distance or the day. I'll figure that out later.

The job interview was interesting. They called me and what we discussed pre-interview seemed darn near perfect. Set hours. No evenings. No Sundays. No holidays. Time off whenever I wanted it. On a topic that would take learning but one that I could enjoy. And even so, I kept trying to talk myself into taking the job but for whatever reason, it just didn't seem right. Top of the list is that it's not a super busy business which is why they were interested in me. I've run a sole proprietorship before and I'm trustworthy, reliable, and can be counted on only, as complementary as that is, if I'm giving up studio time for minimum wage my number one goal is be around people, lots of people.

It's the last day of the month. Some bloggers judge their monthly productivity by how many projects they've sewn or by the amount of stash used up. I judge mine by how many pictures I took. My pictures are - inefficiently - sorted by the month. Each year has twelve folders and each folder contains the projects I worked on during that time frame. August's is very full. That's good.

Talk soon - Myrna

Grateful - the ability to pay attention to my intuition and turn down what seems to be a perfect opportunity while trusting that what I need will come my way.

Shapes And Shades

One of the things I love about the comments section is what each opinion adds to the ongoing narrative. While I don't appreciate harsh or negative comments, I do appreciate hearing other perspectives. It's like sitting down for coffee with a friend and having her say yes, but what about this...? and the conversation evolves and flows.

Yesterday, I read through some of the comments in my older postings and it was interesting how many of those names that commented frequently have now disappeared. I know it is - in part - because my work has moved away from textile art into clothing and - in part - because of the way I approach clothing and - in part - because when you've blogged for years you start to repeat yourself and - in part - that lives move in different directions BUT... it made me a bit sad to have lost those connections. I truly appreciate the people I meet and the conversations continued in the comments.

When I pieced the back and side back together on my latest t-shirt, the angle of the curve didn't look quite right. I doubt that's a thought that would occur to most people, that they might not even recognize the curve, but when I laid the pattern over top it was indeed too wide and was sloping too far downward. You could say it's a minor adjustment. It's actually 5/8" of an inch too low and 3/8" of an inch too wide. That's significant in terms of good fit.

I'm the kind of person who finds it a challenge to get that curve just right. When I sewed in my twenties, I would make a skirt or a pair of pants and they either fit or they didn't and that was it. I'm not twenty anymore. If I were to do that now, I may as well give up sewing. I'd be bored out of my mind. It's far too paint-by-numberish for me and my mind is too active to make it through that. I know it's not how everyone thinks. It's how I think.

The purpose of the last black t-shirt was to test out the coverstitch machine. I bought it in June as part of my 50th birthday present and hadn't had time to decide what I thought yet. I stitched the hems. I stitched the neckband. I decorated the seams. I'm returning it. Yes, it does a better job of hems than a twin needle but a twin needle does a good enough job for me and my studio is too small and the storage and counter space is too limited to own what - for me - would basically be a one purpose machine. I just know if there was clutter everywhere or if I was in any kind of hurry to be done that I wouldn't get it out of the cupboard. I'd pull out a twin needle, do the job, and move on. So there's no point keeping it.

When I called yesterday to find out what my options were, they said typically people trade it in for something else. Having recently survived a weekend without my sewing machine, I've decided to look at buying a spare which would also be available for studio visitors. That would be helpful to two friends in particular who travel long distances.

The black t-shirt is in the wadder pile. It's the second one recently which is a little frustrating but the reason is almost identical which gives me something to work with. For this latest one, I used the coverstitch machine to stitch the neckband - as topstitching - not sewn on with the binder - and it put a different kind of pressure on the trim at the V that caused distortion. I imagine that would have disappeared with more experience.

For the armholes, I serged and they stretched out so I basted first and then serged and they stretched out. I sent an email to Carolyn with my thoughts and we agreed that the solution was lightweight interfacing around the armhole to stabilize the knit only by that time I had tried the t-shirt on and the back did indeed have the lovely graceful curve I'd hoped to transfer from Katherine's V8691 pattern only the fabric was the kind that clings to every lump and bump and it wasn't doing me any favours in the front. Moving on now.

Instead, I started piecing together the bleached bits from July. They started with a pile of faded black t-shirts that I sprayed and blotted with a bleach and water combination and then rinsed and washed and left in waiting. Bleach on black can pull any number of colors so it was a lucky coincidence that all but one of the t-shirts pulled a beautiful raspberry color.

I started piecing together the back sections yesterday afternoon and the project kept pulling me back into the studio. That's when I know that I'm working on a project that challenges and engages me - when sewing is the only thing I want to do. With this project, I'm curious whether I can make something out of nothing - as in a wearable t-shirt from unwearable t-shirts - and I'm curious about the design aspect of fitting all the shapes and shades together and I'm testing the armhole and interfacing thought and I'll need to come up with some kind of solution for the bottom of the center front piece, the neckline, and the hem. My mind is engaged.

Talk soon - Myrna

Grateful - options for returning the coverstitch

Ziggy Stitching

I sewed the three pieces of the back together and then pulled out my coverstitch machine and ...

... used a two needle row of stitching plain side up on the center back seam and...



... a two needle row of stitching ziggy side up on the two princess seams - whatever the correct term for ziggy stitching may be. Not too exciting. My friend Wendy is coming over to sew today. Hopefully there's something more interesting to talk about tomorrow.

Talk soon - Myrna

Grateful - perspective

The Black T-Shirt Project

To follow up on a comment Elle made yesterday - this makes me think that pondering "what is success" would be at least as interesting as pondering "what is creativity"? - my answer is yes. I've been around and around on that topic as well. It's interesting in an annoying way that money is involved in both equations. Because in the end, no matter how successful we are in different avenues of our life, we do need to pay the rent, clothe our bodies, and eat. Somehow. Someway.

Obviously Malcolm Gladwell didn't tell the entire story of Chris Langan in his book. He's making a specific point and supporting it with gathered evidence. He describes Chris as married in a loving relationship, working with animals and a garden on a ranch he owns, and writing daily on a labour intensive project that most likely no one else will ever see and will never be published. I had a lot of questions about how is he managing to do that because a man as intelligent as Malcolm's describing knows he's walking out of sync with the rest of the world. That's an incredibly difficult place to always be. That Chris found a way of moving through the world that gives him joy and peace, and that he can work on a project without going crazy wondering what the point is, is to me success.

Slubby V Neck T - $38.00 - Yesterday, I started a discussion on a chat group about how do we combine creativity with wearability with challenge. I've been buying every year's collection of black t-shirts for years. Typically, they come from Costco and are purchased for $9.99. Up until this year, they were of good quality, the color lasted, they held their shape, and were darn near perfect except that they weren't petite sized so there was extra fabric through the armhole and every single one had the same look.

Button Pouch T - $78.00 - It occurred to me that if I'm making a collection of black t-shirts, they don't need to look exactly the same and the differences can be significantly more than neckline shape and sleeve length. The pictures in this posting are from Anthropologie.com. I did some research. An off topic thought but isn't it interesting that their prices are getting more reasonable?

Draped Peplum V Neck - $58.00 - On Friday, in my posting Answering The Questions, I talked about the things that support and the things that don't support my creativity. I doubt I'll sew a dozen black t-shirts but I'll most likely make a half dozen and perhaps I'd be inspired to make more if there was a challenge involved in stitching and drafting them. I could evolve my T & T from basic shapes to more complex ones. I could Frankenpattern. I could drape. I could paint and stencil and stitch. I could embellish. I could.... 

Pin Tucked Button Down Top - 78.00 - There's an endless list of things I could do to create a t-shirt but the big question for me is where's the line between keeping a sewing project interesting and challenging and sewing a project that's over the top and unwearable? The answer depends on where you live and on your personality. I live in a town where women wear jeans to the Christmas party. I'm the type of woman who sews a new outfit for the Christmas party and buys new jewelry and new shoes and gets her hair done and... and... and...

Side Scrunched Top - $68.00 - One of the things that really inspired me at the Design Outside The Lines workshop this past June was how Marcy combined stripes and dots and other prints only that's not me. I can do it in textile art pieces. I can do it in my purses. I can even do it in my clothing but in the end those will be clothes I don't wear. I need clothes to wear. Combining texture as in this Side Scrunched top is one way to accomplish that goal as is....

Asymmetric Pleats Tank - 78.00 - ... creating texture with pleats and pintucks and other details. Knowing me, I could probably get so labour intensively involved in the black t-shirt project that I didn't finish the half dozen before winter was over - LOL.

Many of the ingredients needed to challenge me are here. I know what the point is. I know what the goal is. The t-shirt form is a blank canvas to work within. It's defined enough to give direction and open enough to add challenge. From here, I could make a list of techniques to incorporate and of shapes to explore and then I could specifically or even randomly mix those lists to put together t-shirts that are challenging to draft, creative to sew, and completely wearable. And then to actually wear them, I'll need to push myself because anything other than basic is over the top here but then again if that's all you have to wear, there's a good chance you're not going to run around n-k-d!

Thoughts?

Talk soon - Myrna

Grateful - a quiet day to myself

P.S. - I was disappointed that no one posted a link to their own answers to the questions. Hopefully some will still. I think it's encouraging and inspiring to all of us to learn about how others live out their creativity and maybe it's just me but I don't think so.

Batch Of Black

Over the weekend, I reread Malcolm Gladwell's book The Outliers: The Story of Success. This is an eye opening book. It'll make you view how people achieve success - including your own success - in significantly different ways. The first time through, the big take away for me was that no matter how hard you worked, or how good you were, success was not an automatic guarantee. That was counter culture to the talk I grew up with.

The second time through, I was impacted by how often Malcolm talked about you can't do "it" alone, that behind every successful person is not only a string of lucky coincidences but an incredible support group. At the end of a discussion about Chris Langan, a man with an unbelievably high IQ who by many standards wouldn't be considered a success, is the sentence: He'd had to make his way alone, and no one - not rock stars, not professional athletes, not software billionaires, and not even geniuses, ever make it alone.

In June, while I was waiting in the Portland airport between dropping my friend off at her flight and picking my husband up, I talked to one of the sales clerks at The Real Mother Goose, a store that sells fine American crafts. In particular, we talked about some beautifully made garments and scarves for sale between $500 and $1,000 and discussed the artists, the price range, and how often one of those pieces sold. One every couple of months. That's good information considering that a lot of rich, bored, and shopping people go through an airport.

I've been getting a lot of pressure from numerous people to have my purses in New York or in Carmel or in Vancouver or in Toronto or in _______. Fill in the blank. It's a long list. I've had to debate am I being realistic or am I overlooking what would be my string of lucky breaks but the difference between what Malcolm describes in the book and what I'm experiencing is an idea versus an affirmative action. I've experienced affirmative action.

Several years ago, I received a call from one of the galleries that carries my work. When the caller identified herself as a gallery owner and said that my photographer had called her and shown her my work and that it was amazing and she would like carry it in her gallery, I darn near fell off the couch. It's SO RARE. What I know for sure is that that gallery owner loves my work and supports me and the sale of my work in numerous ways and that at a lower price, there isn't enough money in making purses to make a living and at a higher price, there aren't enough buyers buying often enough to make a living but if I put all my eggs in the purse making basket, that's the only thing I'd be doing - making purses - which is why I have made a decision to let making purses be a fun activity and let selling them through the two galleries that want to carry them be a way of moving them along. Good and enough.

While the price may go up as a result of numerous things, my expectations can remain focused on having fun, on exploring the concept of zero waste, and on creative expression. All the way through reading The Outliers I wondered if I had a silver ball and was looking at my life would I see that here is where I zigged when I should have zagged. Possibly. But we can only make the decision we can make with the information we have when it's in front of us and I'm very tired of the struggle for financial success via creativity.

Creativity equals money is a question I want to put down to keep creativity fun. That is something I need more than money. I don't want to spend all of the time in my studio making the same thing for the purposes of selling it. I've done that before and I refer to it as my prostitution phase. What I want is to explore other creative directions and answer numerous creative questions.

The fabric I made this second version of V8691 with is wonderfully drapey and a nightmare to stitch through. Any top stitching creates a white jagged looking line where the needle and thread split the fabric - no matter what thread you use - no matter what needle you use. I ended up wrapping the neckline and sleeve hems in an alternative black. I tried that for the hem as well except it then stood away from the body and made me look pregnant instead of slim and shapely. Since I prefer slim and shapely, I cut the binding off and went with a raw edge.

The black t-shirts I bought earlier this year have not lasted like they normally do. The fabrics have faded and stretched and the neckbands are pulling out of shape. Since I have a lot of black fabric in stash, I've decided to sew my own batch of black t-shirts this fall. The back of V8691 has princess seams that are incredibly flattering. After I'd cut out the back piece of my T & T, the thought occurred that I should have morphed those lines and experimented with more shaping so I lay the V8691 back pattern piece over the T & T shape, and cut off the exposed black bit and then cut the side back pattern piece out of the fabric remnant. We'll see how that goes.

Talk soon - Myrna

Grateful - eventual sunshine

Answering The Questions

As part of preparing for the Design Outside The Lines workshop in Taos, New Mexico, Shams of Communing with Fabric interviewed both Marcy Tilton and Diane Ericson. Their answers are well worth reading and the questions are - IMHO - great for all of us to answer.  So I did. My answers are below. I'd love to read yours. If you post them, please put a link in the comments so we can follow up. Thanks. 

Marcy & Diane at Five Pines Lodge in Sisters, Oregon

How do you define creativity?

Creativity isn't a segment; it's a thread that weaves through every aspect of my experience. It involves making things and is most fully realized as a process of evolution that turns some thing into something else. I think that's why I've always enjoyed make-over type careers like hairstyling, interior design, or renovating old houses and projects like the handbags just finished. I am the most fully immersed when moving something forward to its best especially if I am learning new skills at the same time. There's always an element of risk and of not knowing.

 Creativity is in everything - even flower arranging - when
you're not a flower arranger!

Describe an early experience, when you connected to your creative self or realized that you were creative? Do you have an early creative memory that is noteworthy?

When I started highschool, part of the grade eight curriculum was sewing. In that first short term - that was shared with cooking - which was something I did not fall in love with - we made a stuffed frog and an apron. Up until that point, I'd enjoyed textile crafts like crochet, knitting, and rug hooking and I knew I liked to make things but I didn't know anything about the sewing machine other than that it was a practical tool for mending that seemed to frustrate the women in my family and couldn't be used for fear of breaking. Apparently, my frog was amazing, even my hand stitches - LOL. It was love at first sight and I've breathed in fabric ever since. After that first term, I took four more years of sewing and was awarded a sewing machine as the most promising home-ec student at the end of my grade twelve year. I've always been thankful for that machine and especially for the woman who donated it. She started me on an amazing path.

 Learning to paint on fabric.

Creativity is fed by play. What is your favorite form of play these days (Or: "How do you play?")

Playing is something I learned later in life, most specifically in the past decade. Before that, everything was highly work oriented and product driven. Play for me now doesn't have expectations. It's a journey of discovery and - like creativity - it's a process of evolution where I am learning a new skill or technique or attempting to birth something. I was playing when I cut up old t-shirts and spritzed them with bleach. I was playing when I turned garbage into purses. Play was very hard at first. There's not a lot of control in play and it's taken a long time to get past the belief that there is only one right answer. I'm (mostly) there. Failure is no longer devastating. Rather it gives me either an opportunity to learn something new or an opportunity to evolve that project into something else - to play. When I start to have expectations of the project, I've stopped playing.

 Trying clothes on at Crazy River Clothing in Salmon Arm, BC

When the mojo is wilting, how do you jump start it?

• I will most often read a book, usually a romance which is my version of a sitcom since I don't watch TV. In the background, my mind might be resolving the issue but in the foreground, I'm amused by the familiar format.
• Often, I'll write about what's bothering me in my journal and that will evolve the problem into a solution. When I'm stalling, there's usually a fear of something involved.
• If I'm procrastinating because the project is going in weird directions, I'll make a decision to either be finished or to push through and then I'll force myself to do the work because once I've started again things tend to turn around. I've learned that not every project needs to be finished.
• Quite often, what I need is interaction outside the studio so I'll either go out for breakfast by myself or for coffee with a friend or travel out of town for a play day. Looking at details in dress shops makes me want to go home and try them. I love to design.
• Taking a workshop is one of my favourite mojo jumpers. I try to do that at least once a year on a topic that I want to know more about like sewing jeans or bras or at a level of higher creative learning. The energy from a workshop can last quite a while.
• I'm hugely goal oriented so any kind of goal that gives direction, provides learning, and stretches what I know will typically work well... if I know what the point is.

So much muslin testing that I forgot what changes
I'd made in what order and the results became invalid!

What is a mojo killer for you? Is there anything you avoid because it negatively affects your creativity?

• Wondering what the point is.
• Mass production, repetition, and anything that feels like paint-by-numbers.
• Not attaining the goal.
• People who only want to know what you know - usually for free - but don't really want to know you. I'm careful about who is invited into the studio.
• When I change too many variables or go too deep into a topic that the project becomes overwhelming to the point that there is no learning, no fun, and no end product. I do need clothes to wear! When that happens, I remind myself to move one step at a time and then I sew something simple to cleanse my palette.

Before

After

Do you ever have wadders? As in projects that are irredeemable? How do you handle this?

Yes. All the time. At one time, an irredeemable project would have been incredibly depressing. Not so much anymore. Now I welcome the opportunities for refashioning that they represent which may be why I have so many - LOL. In the past, I would have been upset about the waste of time, the waste of fabric, and the waste of money. Now the time was learning, the fabric is ready to evolve into something else, and the money spent is still wisely invested in my creativity. Nothing was wasted. It's a wonderful change of perspective.

Millicent's little black dress.

What is your current favorite thing in your studio?

My dressform - Millicent. With my developing love of refashioning and draping, she's invaluable and the closest I'll come to seeing myself objectively. Recently, I've realized that she needs a new cover, one that's not black because so many of the clothes I sew are darker and the details don't show up against Millicent's little black dress. Since I love writing almost as much as I love sewing, I want the details to show up in pictures for the blog.

My previous closet in November 2009. Not much has changed
except that my current closet is bigger.

If I were to walk into your clothing closet, what would I notice?

Minimalism. I'm constantly purging my closet. I'd like more clothing but I never seem to accumulate a lot so it's virtually empty and what's there is mostly black or shades of grey. You'd see a love of tone on tone texture. A lot of skirts. Very few dresses. Mostly t-shirts and cardigans. Mostly solids. Very few prints or bright colors. Not a lot of contrast in the prints that are there. With so few clothes, it's surprising how many don't get worn. My "uniform" is a black t-shirt and jeans. I have more black t-shirts than anything else. Most of the clothing is multi-seasonal and can be worn in layers rather than being put away. You'd also see a lot of colorful, abstract, contemporary styled jewelry. I prefer understated clothing and overstated accessories.

The path outside my friend Barb's previous studio - leading somewhere.

I believe that personal growth happens when you step outside your comfort zone. Has this been relevant to you? If so, how?

With personal growth and creative growth being different or intertwined?

I believe that creative growth requires care, nurturing, and balance. There's leaping and then there's jumping out of an airplane without a parachute. When I take on too much - most commonly by trying to be someone other than myself - then creativity fails. It's similar to trying to read a book that someone gave me as opposed to one I chose. It never works. My goals are set just beyond the edge not way over the edge. A current example is stamping and silk screening. It's an idea that's tickling. When I get to it, I'll stamp yardage and sew something from it and then stamp parts and sew them together. In both cases, since stamping and silk screening are the new skills, I'll work with T & T patterns to avoid changing too many variables and overwhelming myself.

I approach personal growth from a similar perspective. I would rather be in the studio than any other place but I need more physical activity and more personal interaction. In the past, with wider pendulum swings, I'd have signed up to run a marathon. I don't do that anymore. Instead, my goal is to walk around the complex once a day. It takes twenty minutes unless you stop to chat - and that's good for me too. I enjoy people and can talk to just about anyone although I'm not good in groups. I prefer one-on-one. Workshops are group activities. That's a step outside.

Transference - 3' x 4' - one of the last textile art pieces I sold

Growth is changing directions away from the thing that you're really good at and embracing what you're not so good at yet.

Talk soon - Myrna  

Grateful - to Shams for developing these questions. It's been fun thinking about the answers and sharing them. 

The Paisley Refashion

The Vogue 8691 pieces have been altered and are ready for testing again. The changes to the front were were minimal.  I took 1/4" off at center front and left the same amount to the side seam, shaped the armhole, and added the flare of progressive sizes like I wished I'd done originally. In the back, I added an inch to the width from the underarm to the hem along the princess seam (2" in total) as well as the progressive flare and shaped the armhole to match my T & T. The angle of the front shoulder seam matched mine and the back was shaved ever so slightly.  I didn't alter the sleeve. I'll use the 3/4 version from my T & T since it fits well... but first...

... this has been my favourite t-shirt for a long time. The fabric is 96% rayon and 4% spandex. I've literally worn it out. The underarms were discolored and see through thin. The last time I washed it, it went straight from the laundry room to the sewing room for fear that if it went back in the closet I would wear it again. And then...

... I cut apart all the pieces. Perhaps the fabric is even too old and too worn for something new but I couldn't bear to simply throw it away. I'm a sucker for all things paisley.

As an example of what I was talking about yesterday, do you see how high and rounded the sleeve cap is? A higher sleeve cap and a sleeve seam that sits on the shoulder is the most flattering to my figure. This cap measures 5 1/2" and my T & T measures 4 3/4". The difference may be that this is purchased and regular not petite sizing but that difference is something to consider. Do I need a bit more height on my T & T sleeve cap?

I cut out a pair of panties from the front and back pieces and a Kwik Sew 3300 bra from the two sleeves. The bra pattern is designed for woven fabrics. I'm testing it with a woven lining and a knit upper layer to see how that works. If it does, it means that the lining factor can be the constant and the upper layer the variable and I'll have LOTS of options.

- - - - - - - - - - -

Edited 10: 30 AM to add...

Jodie asked: I just have a question about Kwik Sew 3300 - I thought it was for knit fabrics only?

You're right - or not. I have no idea what I saw the first time I checked the suggested fabrics but I sewed mine above from a stable lace and woven fabric and it fits like a dream even though the pattern does indeed ask for nylon tricot. Guess I've already tested the woven theory then. It works!

- - - - - - - - - - -

Today is my oldest son's 23rd birthday. I'm baking cupcakes to take to his office and making the requested corn chowder and mocha mousse for dinner. In-between, I can hopefully finish up this bra and panty project and start on the t-shirt. If not, tomorrow.

Talk soon - Myrna

Grateful - we've found what appears to be a water leak in the front yard which the strata will now look at and take care of. Thankfully the problem was discovered before winter. Frozen water is even messier.

Sewing Can Be Such A Puzzle

In the examples below, I was testing two things. One was what Peggy of Silhouette Patterns said in one of her videos - to wrap the knit around your body to get the amount of ease you want, measure that distance, and sew the corresponding size. The other was to muslin Vogue 8691 to see what I thought of the pattern, hopefully ending up with a cute new top.

For this example, I sewed a straight size 8. After I'd cut out the garment, I thought perhaps I should have tapered out at the hips because I'd normally sew a 14-16-18 and an 8-10-12 would have been a better comparison and would have tested the flare of the style lines at the hips better. I thought about that too late so....

In the discussion that follows, you might get the mistaken impression that I didn't like the Vogue pattern and that I think it's poorly drafted. That would be wrong. I like the pattern a lot. I think it's very flattering to my figure type and I think it fit together incredibly well. It simply wasn't custom drafted to my exact figure. Every pattern is a starting point. Fit is fine tuned from there. And even after fine tuning a pattern, there's always the fabric factor. The next time you sew it, you need to fine tune some more. I plan to sew this again with adjustments.

 

If you look at the garment top right, you'll see that the shoulder is quite wide and sits off the shoulder point with a lot of fabric under the armhole. The garment bottom left has similar issues. The garments look far better on the mannequin than the model but in either case there could be a whole lot of pinning going on behind the scenes. The only way to know if something fits you is to fit you.

Two things have significantly impacted the success of my garments since my return to fashion sewing.

• One was reading Lynda Maynards book De-Mystifying Fit: Using the moulage to adjust commercial patterns. I learned how to sew a moulage that fits me like a second skin and then how to use it to adjust patterns for a higher possibility of success. The more you use this technique, the more often you see that you're making the same adjustments and then you start to make them automatically.
• The other was realizing that I am petite. My body is 1" shorter through the armhole. That's significant because when the armhole doesn't fit properly, all sorts of other issues happen with the garment that you might want to attribute differently but they're really the armhole. I'm also petite through the crotch depth which is just about as big of an ah ha.

When I tried the muslin on, the princess seams in the front did not cross over anywhere near the bust point. The garment was too wide in the front. I took a 3/4" tuck or 1 1/2" in total. You might think that was a pattern issue. Maybe not.

The pattern underneath is V8691. It has a princess shoulder seam. The pattern on top is my T & T t-shirt sewn repetitively with great success for years. A quick comparison shows that the Vogue pattern is slightly wider at the armhole, narrower in the shoulder width, and that the armhole depth and the angle of the shoulder seam are similar. Therefore, if the resulting Vogue garment is too wide through the front, it is most likely the amount of ease in the fabric. Isn't that strange considering that I sewed a much smaller size than normal? Sewing can be such a puzzle.

Another thing to check for follow-up testing of the Vogue pattern is the bust point to bust point width which should be twice the distance from center front to the princess seam at the bust level. That number needs to equal my BP - BP measurement. The level of the bust point was good on me.

Here's the back. If the front is too big most likely due to too much ease, you'd expect the back to be too big also but as you can see that's not the case. While the shoulder points look about right, there is obviously not enough ease. Why is there too much ease in the front and not enough in the back? Is this the pattern or the fabric? I know from experience that I am wider across the back than the front and that I typically sew one size smaller in the front and one size bigger in the back than the size my measurements equal. It's a good guess that the back pattern was not wide enough.

In this image, the T & T pattern is underneath and the Vogue pattern is on top. You can quickly see that the depth of the back armhole is similar but the shape is vastly different. Imagine what will happen to the Vogue pattern as the side seams are sewn. The side seam that is angled in the image above will be pulled to the right and vertical and a whole bunch of fabric will push out at the back bottom of the armhole at the same time as the shorter front armhole pulls the same fabric in at the underarm point. The results will look like this.

The armhole is not a pleasantly rounded shape from the shoulder point to the underarm. It's being pulled and distorted with too much fabric in some places and not enough in others. Underneath...

... the underarm seam is being pulled much further back than the center of my armpit and the side seam curves backward. This tells me that not only was the shape of the armhole incorrect, the back was too narrow at the underarm which we could tell from the comparison of the two pattern pieces.

Another thing that affects how the sleeve and armhole look is the height and shape of the sleeve cap. I spent - literally - months finding the best depth and shape for the front and back armhole and the best width, height, and shape for the sleeve cap in my T & T pattern including an adjustment for tipped shoulders. Comparing the two patterns with the T & T on top and the Vogue pattern underneath, for me the Vogue pattern has not enough bicep width, too much cap height, and a lot of excess sleeve cap especially to the back and that's exactly what happened with the muslin.

It's a completely different fabric and the fabric factor always matters BUT here's the back of my T & T pattern with the correct depth and shape of armhole, the correct shape of sleeve cap, and the correct width of back for me AND...

... here's the front in a wrap variation. Based on what I've learned with the muslin, what I'll do now is transfer the information from my T & T pattern to the Vogue pattern as learned in Lynda's book and then I'll chose another fabric and try again and adjust the side seams for whether or not the fabric is super or not so super stretchy. That's basically the concept that Peggy is teaching in her video because bust point to center has to stay consistent and adjustments are made through the side seam.

Comparing the patterns, the Vogue is very close to my T & T and since the T & T is already developed, I'll stop re-inventing the wheel and go with what I know EXCEPT that my T & T requires easing through the bust level. When I trace it this time, I'll eliminate that aspect and then - with my next version of Vogue 8691 - test the adjusted pattern, the style lines and the fabric factor of whatever I pick next.

In terms of Peggy's concept. I can see that it has validity but for me, it would be a lot more work than just transferring the adjustments I need to the pattern I want to sew and fine tuning the fit and fabric factor from there.  Has anyone tried her method? What did you think?

Talk soon - Myrna

Grateful - for authors that write books to share amazing learning on their part that turns into amazing learning on my part and forever impacts my sewing for the better. Thanks Lynda.

Tour The Studio

I picked up my machine just after noon yesterday, thanked Chris (the repairman) profusely, and came home and finished all the make busy projects I'd started while waiting so I could get back to sewing without mental distractions or guilt. The machine - "she" purred and hummed. The hand wheel turned smoothly. The light shone brightly. The surfaces are clean and dust free. Perhaps, just maybe, I've been a bad machine owner. While I regularly dust the outside and clean and oil the bobbin case, I think I slipped into complacency and while she was slowly getting sicker and sicker, I was not paying sufficient attention. Just the sound alone is vastly different never mind the rhythm of the stitch. It seems that servicing is like a mammogram and a pap test. Once a year. Every year. Sometime around your birthday just so you remember. 

The studio is not finished and it's not progressing. I'm waiting for some store in town to have white flannel sheets in stock so I can cover the design wall and hang it up. Apparently, it's not cold enough yet for flannel. The stores are still focused on back-to-school and since it's taking forever - and since I didn't do anything yesterday worth talking about - I thought we'd tour the studio.

The walls are yellow because this room was originally the guest room and because it took six cutting ins and four coats of paint to cover the previous color and I wasn't repainting it until I knew for sure the space was going to work. If you've been reading my blog since we moved to this condo in May, you'll know that this is the third - and smallest - studio space. Thankfully, it works. The guys were afraid that if it didn't, we'd be moving again.

The door is just to the right of Millicent above. That white rectangle is the Styrofoam of the design wall waiting to be covered. The yellow wall is about 9'8" plus the doorway. I can't remember exactly. On the other side of the wall is the entrance closet and the entry way. A short hallway runs from the entrance past the sewing room to the main bathroom at the end of the hall. Across from the sewing room is an extra deep closet originally for the washer and dryer. We moved them downstairs into a bigger laundry room and the upstairs closet became first a linen closet and then my stash closet.

Directly ahead is a short wall from the right corner to the bay window. It's just wide enough for the button shelves and a bit of decor. There's enough space on the floor to the right of the sewing desk to put the serger down and utilize the desk top for other activities. It works great when a friend is over to sew.

The window is 8' wide and 2' deep. Having that bay is what saves the room. It allows me to angle' deep and 4' wide so they make a 4' square when placed together. Below...

... is a view from the opposite direction. The baskets to the forefront extend the surface space and provide additional storage. There are two that hold most of my lingerie supplies. On the far side, there's enough room between the desk and the window for another large basket. It holds work in progress.

In this image, you can see how the desks fit into the shape of the window leaving room to push my chair back and swivel to the garbage can or move to the working counter. The room is just over 12' long - I think - I'm guessing again - it's close. The room is big enough to sew in comfortably but there's no extra space and no step back space for picture taking.

The working counter was reconfigured from my previous island and computer desk. We had the two white cabinets upper left and the two brown ones directly below. The brown upper cabinet was originally a lower cabinet and Howard rebuilt it to fit the space. I'll eventually paint the edges white. The lower cabinet to the far right is new and replaced my pattern cabinet. The bottom drawer holds patterns. The two upper ones hold beads and jewelry and purse supplies. You can see those in this posting. I found the perfect baskets to fill the drawer space.



The computer is in the closet. When I'm not using it, the doors are closed. This is another space that needs more work. We just cut up the original, narrower, countertop that came with the kitchen island to use as shelves (we'd bought a wider one for the kitchen) because the shelves that were there before were pressboard and bowed under the weight of the books BUT... they will be good for lighter items so I want to install one, possibly two, between the monitor and the first shelf. The dowel isn't needed. It's just hanging around.

This studio space is working really well which is really good considering how much time I spend in this room. I still miss my large curl-up chair but that's life. I preferred the lime green color of the previous studio and may eventually repaint. I don't know. This is good for now. I'd rather be creating.

I'm very aware of the window. It's about five feet from one of the main roads in the complex and I've never been so visible. If they look, anyone driving by can see what I'm doing. Not that I wouldn't tell them if they asked but it's rather strange. I'm adjusting. Being on the main floor is different too. The last time I had a studio upstairs was before children. My daughter will be twenty-six this year. It's amazing how far thread can travel - LOL.

Until yesterday, this was the hottest room in the house. There seemed to be no air flow. Howard cleaned the vent from the studio side and found candy wrappers and shopping tags and paperwork and stuff he wouldn't talk about in the vent. Someone previous was using it as a garbage can. That's beyond my comprehension. Cleaning improved things slightly but not significantly so he looked at it from the furnace end and found that the venting was detached from the furnace and the ends were separated by a few inches and not square to each other. He screwed and taped them together and there was more flow so hopefully it'll be cooler now. I appreciate that he is able to do these kinds of things and that we don't have to call a repairman all the time.

On Thursday, I responded to Jean's earlier comment with a question and she answered with - It's hard to explain the difference between "finding" and "creating" a tribe ... perhaps it's more of a matter of intent. Remember, in the old days, when our 20-something girlfriends were rabidly dating, looking for that special guy? Nothing happened. It was when they let go that someone appeared. At least, that was how it was among my friends. And I've had the same experience when trying to find midlife friends, creative partners, etc. It's when I am not looking that interesting people appear. So for me, it's a combination of not pushing to make something happen plus being receptive when new people or opportunities present themselves.

Thanks for answering my question in more detail. I thought we might be on the same wave length. That's what I meant by accepting that what is, is and finding peace and joy in the here and now,  being open to possibilities while realizing there are no guarantees, and attempting to become more visible. Definitely, this approach has been more positive... and more peaceful.

Acupuncture this morning and then back to sewing the t-shirt.

Talk soon - Myrna

Grateful - to have my sewing machine back and working well without any major or expensive repairs