Residency & The Orange ReDo

You need a real passion for the subject of your blog. It's going to be something that you wake up in the night thinking about, and when you get out of bed in the morning you can't wait to blog about it. It's something that gets you talking animatedly, even to strangers. It's the thing that you love so much you can't figure out why everyone else doesn't feel the same way! - Blogging For Creatives, pg 10, Robin Houghton

That paragraph makes me laugh. It's so true in my life. Just try to shut me up when I'm talking about sewing and especially sewing plus creativity plus encouraging women to be all that they can be. Eyes glaze over and roll back. I'm a bit intense - LOL.

Yesterday, we drove two and a half hours to Kelowna to renew our passports. Since Howard was driving, my mind was free to explore possibilities for reworking the orange and black fabric. I'm calling it The OrangeReDo. By the time we got home, I was more than ready to pull it out of the stash closet and try again.

Linda T wrote - I've finally learned (after going through similar experiences) that, although it takes time, a muslin is always my friend, especially when I really.love.the.fabric. Hope you will be able to come up with a solution (when you feel like opening that closet door). I feel your pain.

LOL - the problem is that I fell in love with the muslin material. It was supposed to be an inexpensive experiment only the fabric turned out to be a wool blend with fabulous hand and drape, so fabulous that I went back and bought more in another color. Wool for $3.00 a meter. Great buy.

I'm big on muslins especially if I'm going to be doing a lot of creative work. Muslins and T & T patterns. But I also love refashioning and not knowing what the end result will be and seeing what happens. It's a bit of a roller coaster but often leads to fabulous results. I'll try again and it may not work and if it doesn't, this is still fabulous fabric and it can still be cut up again into something else so we'll see what happens.

What there isn't, is more fabric at the store. I bought the last of the orange and black combo and need to work with what I have. With the weekend renditions, there was a larger flared back skirt, a smaller flared back skirt, and a straighter front skirt. After taking the seams apart, I labelled those front skirt, back skirt, and extra width. I really liked the back of Vogue 8780 with its fitted and flared shape so I'm keeping that and it seemed that adding a flare to the front might do the trick especially if I move the smaller flared skirt, the angles will match. The reason for the extra width is that...

... I cut the bodice one size larger for a less fitted garment that could be worn as a sweater over t-shirts and blouses. This time, I left the bust point where it was. When I was making the petite adjustment, I needed to lower the bust point but now that I'm not doing that anymore, it's just fine where its drafted. Since I didn't develop much of a bust line until my forties, I guess it hasn't sagged with age. A nice bonus.

This fabric frays like crazy so the edges need to be serged right away. Earlier, I clipped for the notches but it's hard to find that mark later so this time I used chalk lines.

The sleeve I used last time fits the armhole I drafted this time. I'll test that by basting it in to begin with but it should be good. Did you notice in yesterday's pictures how beautifully the sleeve hung? Let's pause to truly appreciate how amazing that was. After all the sleeve work I've done, I absolutely LOVED seeing that.

Janine wrote - Do you think you will try the pattern again with the recommended fabrics since this seems such an interesting cardigan.

Carolyn (cmarie12) wrote - It's interesting how we take a pattern and try to adapt our vision to it. I "see" what you were attempting to make but I don't believe that pattern is/was your friend. I think you needed a better starting point. I'm sure after a short time out you will figure out how to make this work!

A rebellious moment perhaps? Several years ago, I bought a drapey sweater that I wear constantly, love, and live in fear of wearing out. It's not the same as but it's similar to Vogue 8780 and perhaps that was the drawing card because as noted, this style of pattern is not my friend. I am much better suited to garments with well developed shoulders.

With the fitted back, the pattern seemed to have possibilities that would work for me but now that I see where all the fabric comes from in the draft, it's not likely I'll make it again. I found it interesting when cutting the larger bodice that I still needed to add width to the back waist meaning that Vogue 8780 is drafted very small through the back waist. That seems off balance to the front. But. Whatever. Moving on.

What I will take forward is fitted shoulders plus some kind of flare and drape. Now that it appears the bodice is going to fit, I'll take the basting out of the shoulders and side seams and work on the skirt portion. I'm leaving the collar until the end and debating ways to use softness and flare - perhaps overlapping circles or... bias cut pieces or... a double collar... or ? ? ?  Ideas are brewing. I also have ideas for adding more contrast to the back but I'm not willing to go to all that work until I see if the rest comes together first.

This print by Larry Darnell is of the lighthouse near Port Townsend, Washington where I used to attend a retreat every fall. I've missed the peaceful beauty of that time of year. It's one of my favourite places. Yesterday, I received notice that I've been awarded a three week artist in residency from the end of September to the middle of October 2013. I'm VERY excited. The residency includes an older (war time, musty) three bedroom house with kitchen facilities and studio space. I plan to focus on more of what I'm currently doing - sewing creative everyday wear, making fabric from fabric, the zero waste concept, AND hopefully by then I've begun adding painting and silk screening and more decorative elements. If not, I'll add them there because that thought is tickling louder and louder.

This morning - acupuncture and coffee with a friend. This afternoon - working on the cardigan. Its final shot at fame.

Talk soon - Myrna

Grateful - the residency